Big Fat Indian Wedding spices up Auckland

Accompanied by his father (far left), Vikram Kumar rides in a spectacular procession before his wedding. Photo / Steven McNicholl

A three-day Indian wedding taking place in Auckland is possibly the biggest, fattest wedding party this city has seen.

Last night, multimillionaire groom Vikram Aditya Kumar arrived at the venue of his wedding ceremony in one of nine helicopters with 53 close friends to a red-carpet welcome and seven "dressed-up" horses.

A fireworks display erupted at the close of the ceremony at the Formosa Golf Resort in Beachlands, where Mr Kumar professed his love to beauty queen-turned-doctor Pooja Chitgopeker exactly a year to the day after they set eyes on each other.

Earlier, traffic in parts of Auckland was brought to a standstill as streets were partially closed for two wedding processions, one led by the groom and his father, Shalabh Kumar, on horses to a temple seeking blessings for the marriage, and the other for the bride's party.

The invitation promised lions and cheetahs to lead the main "baraat", or traditional wedding party, but organisers said logistics had made it impossible, and they were replaced by horses. The change had little impact on the "grandness" of the party, however.

"This is the grandest wedding the Indian community, and I think New Zealand, has ever seen," said Pankay Gandhi, board member of the Bharatiya Mandir Temple in Balmoral, where part of the ceremony took place.

After the temple blessing, a plane pulling a banner "Vikram Aditya Kumar Weds Pooja" flew overhead.

Marriage celebrant Ella Kumar said it was the "biggest" wedding she had officiated at.

The couple met and fell in love when British-born Dr Chitgopeker, Miss India 2007, was studying medicine at the University of Auckland.

Mr Kumar, who was born in Chicago, is a CEO-in-waiting and will take over his father's billion-dollar high-tech global empire, Autotech Viktron Group, a Bangalore-based world leader in computer circuit board equipment.

Harsha Satyanarayan, a friend of the groom who flew in from India, said Mr Kumar was a man "very much in love".

"Just looking at them, I think they are a perfect match for each other."

Another guest from India, Suhas Galgale, said the groom's family had paid for hundreds of overseas guests to come, including about 40 from India.

A family friend, who did not want to be named, said the wedding was costing close to $2 million.

The Rajasthan-themed wedding is being filmed for the Indian television series My Big Fat Indian Wedding and will be turned into a movie.

Recent immigrant Veena Prashant, who is setting up an Indian wedding planning business, said the television programme would put New Zealand "in the forefront" for a growing number of affluent Indian couples looking for exotic overseas locations to tie the knot.

The Indian wedding market is reportedly worth over US$20 billion ($26.3 billion).

The public procession drew hundreds of onlookers. One, Georgia Thompson, said she last attended an Indian wedding 30 years ago and wanted to experience the "vibrancy" again.

Last night, the groom's party flew to the wedding ceremony venue with choppers in a V-formation, to signify the initial of his forename.

A horse-drawn chariot took him up the red-carpeted aisle, flanked by singers and dancers.

Today, on the third and final day of the wedding, the couple will visit a third temple by helicopter, followed by a feast and party.