Sure, matches are made in heaven, but weddings are celebrated here on earth. As one of the world’s most ethnically diverse lands, India boasts unique, culturally rich wedding ceremonies that are elegant, sophisticated, and beautifully intricate. Part of the complexity stems from the concept that when an Indian couple marries, entire families and communities are involved.
Indian parents spend years wishing, hoping, and praying for their kids to get married. These celebrations represent love and commitment and epitomize the endurance of traditional family values. Today, the spiritual union of a young couple has become a great excuse to throw a blowout family reunion, with relatives travelling from every square foot of the Indian diaspora for the occasion. And if it’s a traditional Indian wedding taking place in the US, that adds yet another element of excitement and ‘taam-jhaam’.
The Road To Fruition Of A Dream
One man, twenty five years ago, envisioned building a firm that turned dreams of such families and couples to reality. That man was Smitin Mehta and he dreamed of creating a wedding and event planning company called Vermilion Weddings & Events. Determined in his pursuit, he sent his daughter, Minoti Mehta, to pursue a degree in Hospitality from the University of San Francisco to further cement the foundations of the firm. In her academics, Minoti, picked up a flair for Accounting and graduated with top honors in 2011. She went on to start her career with KPMG in Mergers and Acquisitions. Now, the idea was for Smitin to create and establish Vermilion Weddings & Events while Minoti lent a hand alongside her career at KPMG.
However, in January of 2012, life took a drastic turn as Smitin was diagnosed with late stage cancer. Within a few months, he left for his heavenly abode, leaving the keys to his dream in Minoti’s hands. Shattered as she was, Minoti took some advices not to make any dire changes in life after experiencing a sudden loss and continued with her career at KPMG for another two years. The emotions were overwhelming and first, Minoti needed to heal.
What followed was an inspirational coming of age journey to success. Minoti took six months sabbatical from KPMG to travel across continents in hope of finding her calling and purpose. Upon returning back to the States and with support from her friend whom Minoti’s father had helped while he was setting up his business, Minoti was given the opportunity to plan her friend’s wedding events. This was the beginning of Minoti’s reign at Vermilion Weddings and Events. She had finally taken the leap, made her father proud, and brought his dream to fruition. And there has been no looking back ever since.
“I must say this; I’m a very risk averse person and I come from a business and finance background. When I first started, I wanted to be prepared and careful at the same time. So, I did not quit my day job, but rather, I worked for another two and a half years while I ran Vermilion”, recalls Minoti, CEO of Vermilion Weddings & Events. “The point is, you want to make sure you’re making educated decisions”, she adds. Soon, Minoti started working on Vermilion’s processes, platform, and brand and eventually, quit her job at KPMG and began sculpting Vermilion Weddings & Events full time.
Vermilion Weddings & Events
From the Tuscan countryside to the beach resorts of Mexico, Vermilion Weddings & Events has been planning high-end luxury events globally for almost a decade. The dedicated team is here to make sure that the event is perfectly orchestrated and one that will be unforgettable for all in attendance. When hiring an Event Planner and trusting them with your vision, it’s imperative to find the perfect partnership. Vermilion Weddings & Events continues to go above and beyond for each and every one of their clients and is known for their streamlined planning processes, attention to detail, and problem solving skills. From creating project planning tools curated to your specific events to detailing event logistics via timelines and checklists and providing guidance along the way, Vermilion Weddings & Events will be here from start to finish as your confidant, planner, best friend and occasional therapist.
Leveraging On Experience
Minoti gathered extensive experience working at KPMG - learning project management skills, organizing tasks and work streams, and managing vendor communications. While running a luxury event management company, Minoti is able to implement these skills to further catapult the firm’s success with clients. For one thing, luxury means different things for different clients. Minoti says, “Sometimes luxury is synonymous with opulence. However, for the majority of my clients, luxury is really seen as process, organization, and convenience. So when building a luxury event planning brand, it's important to create a process that allows for tasks and work streams to be organized in a meaningful way and to educate our clients about expectations, vendor processes, from procurement to detailing to orchestration, and most importantly, patience”.
Patience and preparation, as Minoti emphasizes, are the two most important elements of event planning. And as the owner of an event planning company, it was important for her to incorporate these elements within the organization and with her clients.
Weddings are extremely emotional events with lots of moving parts and preparing clients for the element of chaos is important. Most of Minoti’s clients, as she explains, are working and trying to excel in their respective careers, and the last thing they need is chaos in their wedding planning. Therefore, Vermilion Weddings & Events uses a project management tool to keep all the tasks, work streams, deadlines, and meeting discussions organized. “When I created my company, I wanted to create a process that was organized, streamlined, and easy for Clients to use”.
Overcoming Challenges With Patience & Gratitude
COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the wedding industry in 2020. March 2020 was supposed to be the start of a busy season for wedding vendors — a time to freshen floral bouquets, ask guests to take their seats and wrangle wayward bridesmaids into picture-perfect arrangements. But instead, Florists, Event Planners, Photographers and DJs were staying home. And since then, the actual event planning process itself has changed drastically due to the labor shortages across the country, global supply chain issues, and the skeleton teams that are still in place as a result of the pandemic. Thus, Minoti points out, it is extremely important to have patience during the planning process and be fully prepared for multiple Plan Bs. Taking lessons from the pandemic, Vermilion Weddings & Events is encouraging Couples to plan their weddings well in advance and allow adequate time to prepare all the event details. This, according to Minoti, ensures the quality of the entire experience.
Minoti has been a one man army for her firm. As challenging as it may sound, Minoti takes on obstacles and hardships one day at time. She says, “I am my own business partner. So while there is freedom and creativity, I don’t really have a go-to person to discuss the variety of challenges that affect the business. One of the biggest challenges of owning your own company is setting your pace and balancing it all, including growth. I think being honest with yourself about the mistakes and failures and knowing that there will be some, is really important. But the best part here is that the world is your oyster. You can climb the highest mountain; achieve any goal you're prepared for. At the same time, you have to prepare to fail sometimes, and then you just have to pick yourself back up and keep going”.
"The spiritual union of a young couple has become a great excuse to throw a blowout family reunion, with relatives travelling from every square foot of the Indian diaspora for the occasion"
Minoti breaks the stereotype when it comes to success stories. Her successes are defined not by her clients, but by herself. She believes one has to be one’s own cheerleader. While everyone seeks validation, it is imperative that first and foremost, you value your own work. As Minoti put it, “You’ve got to be your own cheerleader first”. Minoti begins her day with meditation and yoga to keep calm and focused throughout the day. Then, she journals about the three things, she is grateful for the three things, she is proud of herself and three intentions for the day. This morning routine, she says, has helped her persevere through the challenges she faces and especially those in these last few years.
Milestones & Achievements
From a number of significant works, Minoti recalls her ‘firsts’ of every milestone. She remembers her first paid wedding event, her first corporate event, her first destination wedding, and the first time she was invited to be a part of a global network of event planners. Minoti consistently reminds herself that constant growth is the most important factor of success. She has been invited to attend and speak at global conferences and has conducted interviews with wiki How and other various platforms for wedding and event planning. And at this time, she is working on launching a consulting arm of Vermilion that will work with vendors & venues looking to enter and succeed in the South Asian Wedding Market.
‘Shoot For The Stars’
As mentioned earlier, Minoti is a firm believer in meditation, yoga and practicing gratitude every day. “You learn and grow every day and try your level best at everything you set your mind to. Remember to be grateful that you can and have the ability to achieve those dreams”, expresses Minoti. Minoti carries herself with appreciation for life. She understands that every day is a gift. On any day that tides are low, she remembers her small little gifts. Every hurdle overcome after a setback is a milestone for Minoti. And her advice to young entrepreneurs is “Prepare, work hard and persevere, make mistakes, get up and move ahead, but do not stop. Shoot for the Stars”, smiled Minoti.
Minoti Mehta, CEO, Vermilion Weddings & Events
Minoti has a BS in Hospitality Management and Accounting from the University of San Francisco and is considered among the top Event Planners in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Indian Women Leaders in the US from Women Entrepreneur Magazine in 2022. She has been invited to participate in various speaking engagements and thought leadership platforms and is considered a Delegate of the exclusive Destination Wedding Planners (DWP) Congress and Planners Xtraordinaire (PX). Minoti's work has been featured on CNBC, NDTV India, and WikiHow. In 2022, Minoti achieved her Level 1 Sommelier Certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers. As a connoisseur of hospitality experiences, Minoti keeps her fingers on the pulse on what’s trending around the world, allowing her to bring those special bespoke touches to her Clients’ events and experiences.
