Anushruti Singh
Prerana Agarwal Saxena makes dreams come true—the dreams of a perfect wedding.
She is the founder of Theme Weavers Designs, a wedding planning and wedding design firm incepted in 2008 along with her sister Annushree Agarwal. Before that, she was a part of the corporate world and worked hard in the banking sector for four years. But for her, the passion was missing in this job.
And this realisation came to her after a return trip from the Andamans back in 2006, when she had planned a beach-themed birthday party. Subsequently, she started to organize planned theme-based events for her dear ones, gaining a great response and eventually a varied and rich experience from her endeavours. And that’s how her brand came into being.
Today, her company comes in the top 10 luxury destination wedding planning and design firms in India. In a conversation with SME Futures, she tells us that her firm is constantly working towards the overhauling of the tourism and wedding sector, as it has the potential to contribute to the national GVA.
“We, at Theme Weavers Designs (TWD), have taken up a semblance of urban and social responsibility. Under the banner of “Weaving Hope,” the non-profit organisation set up by our firm, we aim to incentivise the local economy and consistently serve the under-privileged. We are also constantly working towards initiating a major overhaul of this sector through tourism. We wish to put India on the map as a global destination wedding location as the top choice. This can lead to the much better growth of the service and tourism sector of the nation,” she said.
Edited excerpts:
How would you describe yourself as a person? Tell us about your family background.
All people are greatly varied, so much so that they need to be described using different words and adjectives. This subjectivity in personal differences can lead to a lot of varied answers by each person. When it comes to me, I would like to describe myself as an eclectic individual who is ambitious and is always looking for growth and learning opportunities.
Moreover, there is a major aim in my life to uplift the wedding community across the globe. In many of my projects and events, I have tried to incorporate the local arts and crafts to breathe life into the local economy. Thereby providing an incentive to the other artisans to keep up their work and not lose out on their hope and optimism.
My parents have been my biggest supporters when it came to starting my own business. I am also from Jodhpur located in Rajasthan. Living and growing up in such a cultural city rooted firmly in the heritage of royal regalia, it feels almost cosmic that it was in my fate to plan regal weddings – it almost seems as if regality was imbued in my blood. My childhood experiences of having so many parties gave me the solid basis that has enabled me to create my own company.
From childhood parties to throwing parties as a professional, how has this entrepreneurial journey been for you?
Who doesn’t love a good party? Growing up, I had always seen my parents throw these big bashes. From pomp and circumstance to luxurious events, these parties had it all. These parties were the perfect place for me and my sister to meet new people. As a child, I always had creative inclinations, and so, when I got an opportunity to plan my son’s beach themed party, I saw a lot of success. It felt like I had found my calling. My parents were also extremely supportive when it came to these endeavours, and so, it propelled me further into the industry of wedding planning and the rest is history!
The journey has been like a roller coaster ride and Theme Weavers Designs has been loved and acknowledged by various print and digital platforms and mainstream media houses. They have documented what we do and have shared our story with a million readers.
Also, all the experiences that I have had in my life have eventually led to my success. My team has always been my strength and so, I would like to credit my success to my partner and sister Anushree and to my team.
What was the high point of the work that you do that you will never forget?
The high point of my career was when I was given the chance to work with Yuvraj Shivraj for his wedding, who hails from the culturally rooted city of Jodhpur. Being a part of the Rajput Gharana in Jodhpur, the family was able to give me and my firm the chance to plan this very royal wedding. This event acted as a huge catalyst for my career wherein it welcomed and introduced me to the world of royalty.
Being in a male-dominated working environment, what were the challenges that you faced?
Did you know that globally, there are over 252 million female entrepreneurs? In my case, I was supposed to juggle being a wife, a mother, and a CEO while managing my business like the other female entrepreneurs and this balancing of tasks became more difficult as time went by. But eventually, I was able to mitigate these challenges due to my large support network.
An interesting story that I would like to share is that of Royal Rendezvous, which I consider as one of my greatest accomplishments as an entrepreneur. It is a unique platform developed to showcase the best of India’s rich cultural history, royal heritage, and legendary luxury as a compelling proposition for world-class weddings. Displaying immense creative prowess, we have transformed a simple idea into a spectacular initiative.
Under the valuable guidance of HH Maharaja Gaj Singh Ji II, of Marwar Jodhpur, TWD meticulously planned and hosted international and Indian wedding planners, media, and other professionals in the wedding industry for the unveiling of ‘Destination Jodhpur’ at the Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace.
When TWD embarked on the journey of starting Royal Rendezvous, we were faced with a lot of naysayers. However, we were able to overcome those issues and received an overwhelmingly positive response for Royal Rendezvous.
Do you feel that the participation of women is on a surge in the events and wedding sector?
The opulent industry of wedding planning has a lot of sides and spheres attached to it. Women have the power to multitask and can change perceptions since they can handle all the nuances of life with an increasing amount of ease, making them nothing short of superheroes.
Women are able to balance various aspects of life, making them a great asset to have in a wedding planning company. Ever since childhood, almost all the women I have had the pleasure of knowing had a knack for planning and organization. Therefore, my opinion is that women have an innate sense of what is aesthetically pleasing and what goes perfectly well with the given wedding at hand.
People join the wedding industry usually with this passion, and I have seen an increasing number of women in this industry in leadership positions. Women can add to the charm of wedding planning, making it more concise since they run a tight ship that effectively relegates work to each available resource that they have.
At the same time, the industry that we work in is very welcoming, especially for the women who wish to have a career in it. They have long been known to be family-oriented, making it easier for people to open up to them.
The events sector took a huge beating during the pandemic, how did TWD fare?
As vaccine mandates are being put in place, and travel restrictions have been lifted, the wedding industry seems to have resurfaced with the same vigour this season.
TWD fared fairly well during the pandemic. Even though the Big Fat Wedding concept was restricted during the COVID phases 1 and 2, many people simply chose to have a wedding in their homes and hometowns.
We were happy to host such weddings during the pandemic. Also, since TWD had already gone digital, we were able to tackle the managerial issues that were thrown our way by the pandemic.
Tell us on how India’s wedding culture has transformed due to the pandemic.
The pandemic has greatly changed the face of weddings. One of the biggest changes that I have seen is that people are looking for more intimate but luxurious weddings. Therefore, it can be observed that weddings are becoming more personal in nature and yet have the perfect touch of regality and royalty.
Bigger, bolder and more intimate weddings are in season, making destination weddings the perfect option for people, while indirectly uplifting local tourism and the artisans as a whole. To put it simply, people are looking at Indian destinations, from luxurious wedding destinations like Jodhpur to quaint locations like the Kerala Backwaters, with a lot of interest. Since one cannot simply take a jet and fly to an international destination; people have become more appreciative of the local destinations in this stunning nation of ours.
People are becoming more aware of the importance of a wedding planner. Getting married is supposed to be a time full of fun and joy, and we, as wedding planners, aim to make things easier for both the bride and the groom.
With the passage of time, folks are beginning to understand the need of the hour, which is to look out for the sanitisation and segmentation of the wedding venues. Post pandemic, they want to have a stress-free wedding or event and wish to leave the actual planning to the experts.
What is the one thing that you would like to see change about the Indian events industry?
While there has been a trend of streamlining and planning weddings, the industry needs to be streamlined as well.
The wedding planning industry is almost perfect, but it lacks transparency in terms of having ironclad contracts in place. Therefore, many people are sceptical of going for an Indian wedding or an Indian destination since many have faced differences between what has been promised and what has been executed and have also been overloaded with hidden costs. Due to documentation troubles and the lack of transparency, many people restricted themselves earlier and some do so even now.
However, due to everything going digital now, things are looking up and even we at TWD have everything digitally accessible with clear contingencies in place.
What advice would you like to give to other female entrepreneurs?
Things might get a little tough, but always believe that nothing is impossible in the world of entrepreneurship. One simply must keep on moving forward and being brave to get what one works for. The crucial thing to keep in mind is that one never knows when that big moment will arrive, so until it does, you must keep thriving, and you will never know until you try. So, keep on working hard and give life your best, which always makes a great difference.
