Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, New Jersey will never recover from this event. A cold, hard, concrete jungle of a convention center was turned into a Shaadi Wonderland for a day, where thousands of bridal dreams were designed and realized. Never before a Bridal Convention of this magnitude and hype has been presented in any part of the globe, never! Sumit Arya along with Samina Mirza of Dulhan Inc. took his 8 year old series of events to a whole new level of Versatility, Perfectionism, Detail, Professionalism, Organization and Comprehensiveness with this single event. A trade show practicality and an entertainment value of ticketed events that cost more than $200 per person, were combined with utmost perfection.

A total of 8000+ people attended the event, with total 950+ groups or families, consisting of couples-to-be, far-sighted future brides and casual attendees who visit the DulhanExpo for the entertainment value of it. Besides the 2 of GSEC’s parking lots, another 3 of the neighboring Business Parks’ parking lots were full as well. The lobby had lines out of the door, with an average of 50 people waiting to register in the lobby at any given point in time. However brides and visitors who pre-registered and presented their entry passes were able to almost instantly enter the show floor without any delay.

This Grand DulhanExpo was the 5th Annual Edition of this scale and overall the 36th Bridal Show, presented by Dulhan Inc., since January 2003. The South Asian Wedding Industries in Canada and England have been organizing Desi Bridal Shows for 15-20 years respectively. In a matter of 8 years, DulhanExpo has become the Most Powerful Entity in the South Asian Wedding World hands down. The detail of perfection, the list of amenities, the amount of activities, and the world of choices among vendors make this truly the largest and most comprehensive event of its kind when it comes to the Worldwide South Asian Community. Even India and Pakistan, our original homelands, with their population overflow, can’t brag about an event of this scale.

This year’s Grand DulhanExpo represented 175 vendors, from 51 categories occupying 250 booth spaces. 7 artist groups/individuals with 12 live performances, 8 rounds of international designer fashion shows, and 7 seminars/demonstrations made the crux of the continuous stage show, and it had the audience intrigued and stirred up for six long hours!

It all started out with a Red Carpet Welcome along with a Paparazzi Team lead by Finny George of Celebrations Photo who photographed and videographed the visitors as they walked into the GSEC lobby. Another DulhanExpo first, or let’s say a Bridal Show Industry first. Each bride was handed a Red Rose by Anderson Flowers and a Goodie Bag with $50,000 worth of coupons along with an Issue of Contemporary Bride Magazine, while being serenaded by the real live instrumental sounds of Studio Anand’s Shehnai and Tabla.

The mile long list of free amenities and benefits included admission, parking, goodie bags, raffles and coupons for every family/group that walked in. Free Food Festival was sponsored by Chand Palace, Baluchi’s, Masala Kitchen and Sona Caterers. Sonam Sondhi of Chocal8Kiss went all out with her Cake Tasting, while VIP Event Rentals provided their guests with Champaign Toasts. B-Boyz Entertainment offered Specialty Drink Sampling. Free Mehndi Applications were provided by Dipu Desai of BridalHennaArtist.com, Ruchi’s Mehndi, Mehndi by Hina and others. Free Studio Portraits and Instant 8‘x10’ Prints were given away by Photos Made EZ, Preeti’s Exclusive Creations offered Photo FlipBooks and RentThisBooth.com sponsored the Free Instant Photo Strips.

For the first time ever the Grand Dulhan Expo had a food court with dining tables elegantly decorated with Centerpieces from Mandaps by Dhoom. There was an exotic car rental showcase with a Lamborghini by Reve’ Exotics and a Bentley by VIP Event Rentals that astounded the audience. The highly interesting & unique first time showcases also included Curry Acura’s wedding gift option, the 2011 Acura MDX; Bobby’s Pottys’ upscale restroom trailer; Buggy & Rickshaw displays by DJ Yogesh that brought back wedding nostalgia; Horse and Carriage by Caliber Farms and White Dove Release by Kaila’s Love Doves. Lounge Furniture Rental is making waves in the Wedding Industry lately. At this GDE, large areas were converted into Lounges by Volcanik Entertainment, Ultra Lounge NY and VIP Lounge Rentals for the audience to enjoy a complimentary bar and to relax.

Models for the Fashion shows were provided by South Asian Model that included International Designers like Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Meena Bazaar and Ritu Kumar by The Mall at Oak Tree Road; Karamjit Bhinder; Ginni’s Boutique; Diamonds R Must; Sajjal’s Designerwear; Traditions; and Suits N Sarees. The live performances included vocal artists Sunita Kapur and Ritesh Rathod, Aatma Performing Arts, Belly Dancers of Dance Soul Company and Dhol Master Madan Madi. Wedding Planning Seminars were offered by Makeup Artist Nina Doshi, Photographer Vickie Kuan of VIG Designers, Wedding Planner Preeti Nanwaan, Wedding Venue specialist Susan Aita of The Merion, Shreekant Dhyani of Baluchi’s Caterers and a Makeup Demo by Ayesha Khan of Singhar.

The entire event was managed efficiently by Kanwal Ali and her Nobility Events team. Adnan Khawaja of AA Film Studios was the Official Videographer, while Omer Zia of Camra Fair was the Official Photographer. Kalash Décor was the Offical Stage Decorator. Karamjit Bhinder painstakingly organized, choreographed and coordinated the Fashion Shows. Nina Lamba was the Official Makeup Artist, Dipu Desai of BridalHennaArtist.com the Official Mehndi Artist, and Kanwal Batool showed her magic on the DulhanTeam Members. DJ Jay Rana Rocked the stage for 3rd year in a row. For the first time GDE had World Class Concert level Lighting/Sound/Video/Screens & Stage Décor provided by Robert Tobias of Tour Masters Productions & Global 1 MultiMedia.

DulhanExpo for the first time presented Wedding Industry Awards to the Pioneers of their respective categories of wedding services. Mrs. Mehtani of Mehtani Restaurant Group, Moghul Restaurant and Mirage was awarded with the Pioneer of Catering Industry Award. Other 4 Pioneer Awards went to Jay Seth for Photography, Nina Doshi for Beauty, Magic Mike for pioneering in the deejay category and Sharda Shenoy and Shobha Rao of Elegant Affairs for the Mandap Décor field. The award for the Most Creative Booth went to DJ Sharad of Ultra Lounge and DJs Unlimited South Asia.

Ash Kumar, the world renowned mehndi artist to the bollywood stars, one time Guinness Book record holder as the World’s Fastest Mehndi Artist, came all the way from London, UK alongwith his crew of 7 to be a part of Grand DulhanExpo for the first time. He personally gave mehndi demonstrations on the stage and his booth all day. This expo marks the launch of Mr. Kumar’s Mehndi & Make-up Academies and the Ash Kumar Mehndi Product Lines in New York.

Never before did DulhanExpo fly in 2 major International Pop Artist groups to come together and create a Fan Frenzy. The Bilz and Kashif from Montreal, Canada & The Culture Shock Treo consisting of Baba Kahn, Lomaticc & Sunny Brown from Toronto, Canada have an unbelievable amount of young fan-following in the Tri-State area, who came in hoards to the Grand DulhanExpo 2010, to create history. Screaming fans were crazed during the concert, singing along with their hit singles to the extent of getting carried away and pulling Lomaticc into the crowd. 6 Hours of non-stop entertainment concluded in signing autographs and picture taking with the heartthrobs.

There has never been an event that pampers their audience as such. The Grand DulhanExpo 2010 catered to the wedding planning needs of the visitors and went beyond their imagination, exceeding their expectations. With many firsts, and many improvements including a carpeted expo center floor, the Grand DulhanExpo 2010 has created a new height of excellence in the bridal show industry, setting the bar even higher for others and themselves. The entire 2011 Schedule of 6 Bridal Events has already been updated on the DulhanExpo website. Let’s plan not to miss a single one.

-Puja Shah