A fairy tale comes true

It was a multimillion-rand wedding most girls can only dream of - a beautiful bride in a Swarovski-encrusted outfit, a dashing groom on horseback and a Cinderella-themed setting complete with a castle set in a forest.

That's what about 800 guests witnessed when actress, dancer and show producer Yarisha Rajcomar, 25, tied the knot with marketing manager Vinay Panday, 26, at an elaborate fairy-tale-meets-Bollywood wedding at Durban's International Convention Centre (ICC) yesterday.

Rajcomar, the daughter of jeweller and show promoter Dalip Rajcomar, merged her passion for Bollywood song and dance and the fairy tales Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and Snow White, to stage her "wedding production" yesterday.

The producer of the South African leg of Sony Television's Boogie Woogie dance competition, who grew up meeting Bollywood stars from Amitabh Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan through her father's work in entertainment, said she was in love with India's Tinseltown.

"I have grown up loving fairy tales and I always dreamt of having a wedding like the story books. We wanted to have a Prince Charming feel but at the same time I didn't want to lose the essence of our Indian colour and ritual.

"We might have done the Western concept of a wedding but used the idea of India."

The ICC's stage was transformed into an Indian castle by events designer Koogan Pillay, with Moroccan walls and a courtyard over which Rajcomar and Panday held court.

The guests - which included Shalandra Bunseelal from Saffron TV as master of ceremonies - were treated like subjects in the couple's make-believe kingdom, seated in an enchanted garden with a bridge arching onto the stage.

The hall featured figurines of enchanted animals, as well as birds and butterflies.

In typical Bollywood style, the wedding included several dance performances and one in which the bride herself performs. She choreographed the routines for seven songs.

Rajcomar, who plays a character in a radio soapie, said after playing Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Snow White in local plays, she had been inspired to model her dress after the fairy-tale characters.

Six designers from India took several months to complete her blood-red sharara.

"It is very princess-inspired with its falling-off-the-shoulders-to-the-heart-shape neckline and dangling crystals on the arms.

"It is exactly what a princess would wear. I have overdone it but I love living like a little princess," she said.

Panday, who took riding lessons before the wedding, arrived on a horse to fulfil his role as Prince Charming. He wore a sherwani with pearls and crystal and diamanté work, along with diamanté shoes and the traditional turban, which was made in India.

Rajcomar designed every detail of her wedding, including the 15-page gold invite book adorned with beads and crystals which explains the Hindu ceremony and gives a description of their love story.

And who footed the bill?

Rajcomar's father pulled out the stops for his second daughter, who has two other sisters and a brother. Panday said it was a multi-million rand event.

Rajcomar had a week-long celebration which included an Arabian-themed mendhi night. On Friday she donned a yellow Swarovski sari for her hurdee, a Hindu ceremony performed on the eve of a wedding.

The couple, who met while studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, dated for seven years before Panday made a romantic proposal.

He took his sweetheart on a sunset ride in a horse-drawn carriage in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

Because of her love for Paris, the groom-to-be arranged Eiffel Tower props, street lamps and an array of candles in an open field.

He said: "I recited a poem and told her I knew I could not take her to Paris so I decided to bring Paris to her."

Panday laid out candles which spelt the words: "I love you, will you marry me?"

Rajcomar, who says she was blown away, said marrying Panday was like marrying her best friend.

Bringing their love story full circle, the couple will leave on a cruise to the Mediterranean on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Italy and Barcelona.

Finally, they will celebrate a white Christmas in Paris.