2. NSCI Indoor Stadium
One of the off-beat venues in town is the NSCI indoor stadium, that’s located opposite Haji Ali and boasts of the best facilities for a grand wedding where youre expecting upto 3000 guests. It’s a relatively new venue, but at par with The Turf Club in terms of the spend. Star Guild awards night, Steve Aoki concerts, JIO, Mahavir Jayanti function and various weddings have been held at this enormous venue.
Décor – Clients Preferred Vendor
Catering – Client Preference
Parking Space – Approximately 200 cars
Location – Worli, South Mumbai
For this venue, you are easily looking at a rental of twenty five lakhs for the indoor stadium, plus the décor and catering cost which depends on the choice of décor and the number of guests expected. Here again, you’d need to be a member, or have a member recommend you, hence, it is advisable to book the space as soon as the dates are set. You should consider making bookings atleast six months in advance.
1. The Turf Club
The prestigious Turf Club is one of the most sought-after venues in the city for grand weddings, with people trying to book the ground sometimes a year in advance only to find it booked already. Even then, you may require a members recommendation to make a tentative booking. The Turf Club offers 3 different lawns for holding your wedding, namely First Enclosure, Second Enclosure and Members Enclosure, the latter accommodating the maximum number of guests (upto 2000-3000 guests). It is also the same venue where the esteemed Derby races are held in the city. The racecourse’s Grandstand, is also included in the list of the ‘heritage structures of India’. One of the iconic grand weddings held here was that of Tanushree Dhoot (Videocon family) & Vivek Biyani (FutureGroup & Big Bazaar family).
Décor – Clients Preferred Vendor
Catering – Client Preference
Parking Space – Approximately 200 cars
Location – Mahalakshmi, South Mumbai
For this venue, you are easily looking at a rental of twenty five lakhs for Members Enclosure and fifteen lakhs for the First and Second Enclosure grounds individually, plus the décor and catering cost which depends on the choice of décor and the number of guests expected. Here you needn’t be a member to book the grounds, but if youre a member, the rentals are reduced drastically. It is advisable to book the space as soon as the dates are set. You should consider making bookings a year in advance, as its almost always booked for weddings throughout the year and well in advance. Ive even known of couples tweaking their wedding dates to match availability of Turf Club.
Generally, almost all the venues allow you to create your own wedding design with flexible catering options, barring a few options mentioned above, as they work on a contractual agreement with décor vendors, hence, it’s the only recommended option. However, if one wishes to engage a different décor vendor, they may end up paying an additional royalty sum to the venue.
Food For Thought – If you’re looking at a really intimate affair with only the closest of family and friends attending your wedding, a really good option is to tie the knot aboard a swanky white yacht in the middle of the sea with The Gateway Of India and Taj Mahal Palace hotel on one side and the wide expanse of water leading up to the horizon on other sides. This grand yacht can accommodate upto 100 guests and you have the same liberty of choosing your décor and caterer, as you would with an on-ground venue. It has a special deck area, which can be decorated to make a beautiful mandap. Also, there’s an air-conditioned lounge that can be converted to a dancefloor. It’s a venue that for sure will be etched in every guest’s memory for years to come. One of those out-of-the-world venue options, I’d say!
With the best options as outlined above, I’m sure you’d be well ahead on your way to saying, “I Do”, In Style!
Vaneeta Purohit, Director, Avant Weddings, Events & Artists, is a wedding planner based out of Mumbai. She has successfully handled weddings and events at locations like Goa, Bangalore, Udaipur and the like, apart from delivering complete wedding management solutions, other corporate events and religious congregations at esteemed venues. Her other interests include writing, reading, sketching, travelling, attending music concerts, trying out new cuisines and restaurants, watching movies, drama and stand-up comedy acts and cooking.
