Sapna Weddings & Events @ The ANOKHI Gala
So Sapna Weddings jumped into events with a BIG undertaking this year, the 5th Annual ANOKHI Gala, celebrating excellence in the South Asian community and establishing itself as the premier South Asian event of the year.
It began as a meeting, a pitch for our services, showing ANOKHI that our excellence in wedding planning could be translated into handling a major event. All of the skills we had mastered while planning our client weddings were those that would help us tackle this challenge. People management, working under pressure, attention to detail, conflict resolution, ability to make informed decisions on the spot, balancing priorities, the list goes on! Our meeting impressed the ANOKHI team, who invited us on board as the official Event Managers of the Gala.
Managing the event this year was no small feat. ANOKHI had rasied the bar once again, combining their success of the past with a new twist. Not only did we host a VIP Celebrity reception, Fashion Show and After Party but this year they added a sit down dinner - it was like combining 4 events in one night 
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We began the planning in November for the February 4 show date. Our role involved managing all of the logistics of the event: scheduling, coordinating vendors, liasing with sponsors, managing inventory, floorplans, on-site advertising components, guest list management, the list goes on. We worked closely with the ANOKHI team, giving our expert advice and learning lots along the way. Events are ever changing and as predicted (or unpredicted) we had some major show changing events which occurred only 2 weeks before the show but quick adjustments and some reorganization on our part helped to smooth things over.
As the planning progressed, our role became larger and we were soon the point team for over 20 major sponsors, all who needed direction and decisions from us while we managed the overall interests of the Gala. Not a logistical decision was made without our input – we needed it this way as ultimately on the day of the event, it was our responsibility to ensure things ran smoothly.
We began to oversee set up at our event venue Liberty Grand 3 days before the event, collaborating with the venue, A/V team and the various other companies involved in the setup of the event. Every decision ran through our team, we knew the event inside and out and were responsible for making sure it was setup exactly as planned. When the Gala day approached, we were super excited and took over managing the execution of all of the months of planning.
Our team had a leader for each of the major events, each leader was responsible for ensuring the setup and flow of their area as the night went out. We were all linked into each other for support as issues arose during the evening. Each instance was dealt with one by one as we troubleshooted things which could not have been predicted and made sure Raj Girn (ANOKHI CEO) was not bothered with minor details as she hosted the event. By12midnight our job was over and we partied in the VIP lounge, toasting to the success of our first event
It was our pleasure to work with some of the best in the business: the event venue Liberty Grand, event sponsors Johnny Walker and Moroccan Oli, event decorators Design 2 Decor, caterers Fine Cakes by Zehra and The Host, photographers Projected Life, just to name a few.
A big thanks to ANOKHI for giving us an opportunity to be involved in such a milestone event!
photos courtesy of Projected Life Photography
