A huge round of applause to Mpire Events for their terrific win at the DWP ACE Awards! Recognized for its custom creations and spectacular settings, Mpire is a boutique wedding planning and corporate event management company, specializing in luxury soirées, destination weddings and celebrating life’s most anticipated occasions. We got in touch with the Executive Director of Mpire Events, Vikram Mehta who gave us an insight about the company’s aim to bring an all-new definition to the business of wedding planning.
How does it feel to win this prestigious award?
It’s surreal. Everyone in the company has been in a bit of frenzy since the evening of March 29th. I’ve always felt that there are no shortcuts to success. Winning this award was a token of appreciation at a global level for the company and its journey throughout these past 5 years.
How was your experience at the luxurious Destination Wedding Planners Congress 2019 that took place in Dubai?
The DWP Congress 2019, with delegates and connoisseurs of the wedding industry, was by far the most educating platform I’ve participated in. Listening to veterans speak at the conference sessions, seeing stalwarts on the edge of their seats during the raffle draw announcements, and partaking in deep discussions at round table meets (coupled with random moments of everyone breaking into laughter) are some of the things that I brought back with me. I had the pleasure of exchanging ideas and building contacts with like-minded people from the industry during interactions at the networking breaks and one-to-one appointments. As far as the DWP team is concerned, everything from that rainy evening at Nasimi Beach to the final moments at the Asateer Tent was immaculate and clinically planned. They worked tirelessly for three whole days and were always ready to tackle roadblocks that the 500 of us faced. I have only love for this team! A special shout-out to the team of the Atlantis banquet and kitchen, for pulling out all the stops.
What motivates you to be so active within this dynamic wedding world?
I think I’ve realized through years of experience as a company owner, that it’s imperative to stay relevant. You can’t really take your foot off the gas. I’ve been a victim of it in the past (with my first company) and that has only made me hungry for more. I also feel, the beauty of weddings lies in the fact that our job is to make someone’s dreams a reality. People envisage their weddings for years and have certain expectations of how it should pan out. Our job entails cultivating this vision into a reality. Every project is our baby and every venture is a new challenge. That leaves very little room for complacency and to be inactive. I also stay active personally, because I tend to soak knowledge in from all the travel, and that helps me keep up with trends and bring in innovation into our services.
Tell us about your overall journey and how you have achieved this milestone?
I took to events like a fish to water. I found my calling and at 21, I launched Red Om Entertainment. The company through its tenure managed Mumbai’s finest nightlife destinations. Red Om Entertainment brought the world’s biggest names in entertainment to India for some of the nation’s largest high-profile concerts and events that have won both, critical and mass acclaim. Over time, I noticed a significant demand for my services in terms of personalization of events. I noted that my clientele valued creativity over cheap clones. Through my own social interactions, I reasoned that soon-to-wed couples in particular were weary of copy-paste events that overlooked individuality and creativity. In 2014, I launched my second company – Mpire Events, specializing in luxury soirées and destinations weddings. Headquartered in Mumbai, Mpire operates the world over, with set up and staff spanning across Hawaii, Florida, Washington, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Middle East, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Goa, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mussoorie, Kerala, Bangalore and Chennai. Mpire also has the honour of being the first and only wedding planning company to plan a wedding at the Walt Disney World, Orlando in July of 2018. Elle Magazine ranks Mpire in the top 5 Best Wedding Planners in Asia (at number 2). My concept of wedding planning was a simple ABCD formula – awe inspiring decor, breathtaking locations, creative ideas and detailed execution. This helped me find the right partners, specialize in destination weddings, come up with fresher ideas and concentrate on the minute details of execution.
According to you, what are some of the best weddings you have planned till date and how have they shaped your incredible career pathway?
It’s hard to list a few and skip the other, but if I had to pen down four weddings that really had an impact on my career, I would say:
1. Walt Disney World, Orlando – This wedding was special on so many counts. Flying to the Disney office twice from Mumbai to close the contract, running through 27 Disney resorts before locking a 120 room deal for the guests’ stay, doing site inspections of Epcot, Animal Kingdom, etc. and finally executing events at their Wedding Pavilion and Cinderella’s Magic Kingdom is an experience that is worth its weight in gold.
2. Our first ever wedding in Sri Lanka, at Jetwing Blue, Negombo – This has more to do with the fact that we chanced upon our all-time favourite couple and family through this wedding. We have been fortunate to build a lifetime relationship through weddings, with a lot of our clients. Vishnu and Panchami are family to us, and their wedding not only was a story of Mpire overcoming huge challenges (since there was a thunderstorm during the reception that we overcame), but it also was a lesson of how human nature and emotions have such a huge impact in our profession.
3. Pawan and Taneesha’s wedding at the Anantara Riverside Resort, four years ago– Although this was our second wedding in Thailand, it was our first real challenge because we handled end to end at a very large scale. That wedding also opened us to a large UK market of Indians who look for destination weddings. Those 5 days also gave my team exposure to all sorts of challenges and helped us build a relationship with the hotel, vendors in Thailand and guests from Europe. We were supported thereon by the bride’s father who we developed a special bond with, and we have never looked back. We now have a big hold on the Thailand market for weddings; we have set up a local team, we have hotel tie ups in every city of Thailand and we also get ample support from the Thai Tourism Board.
4. My first ever wedding in Park Hyatt, Goa – it was a high-profile wedding with the right target market, and it also was the start of the (still ongoing) reign of Mpire, as a company specializing in beach destinations. That success transcended into beach weddings by Mpire across different parts of Goa, India, Thailand, rest of Asia and eventually Europe.
Please provide a word of inspiration for the new, upcoming set of individuals who strive to follow in your footsteps and make it big in the wedding industry?
For any of you aspiring to join the wedding industry, I’d like to say, hailing from a family of white-collar professionals with no industry connections, I forged ahead only led by my passion, creativity and desire to delight customers. Fifteen years since and this customer obsession still serves as the guiding principle for all of my businesses. The trust built by my brand is easily demonstrated by the fervent support of the clientele, who look to me not just as a business owner, but as an advisor, guide and friend. Ultimately this is what I value the most. As my favorite quote goes; “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
All Photographs Courtesy: Mpire Events
