The Big Weddings of 2011

If marriages are made in heaven, it must be one busy place.

The number of weddings in the Indian entertainment industry alone makes for quite a statistic.

2011, too, saw a number of celebrities walk down the aisle. And while it's impossible to list them all, here's a look at the big weddings of the year.

Imran Khan-Avantika Malik

Having dated each other for a good eight years, actor Imran Khan and Avantika, daughter of television news channel CNBC-TV18's head honcho, Vandana Malik, decided to make it official with a registered marriage at his uncle Aamir's residence replete with mandatory festivities like mehendi, sangeet and a grand reception that was attended by the who's who of Bollywood and beyond.



Gorgeous sunset and Goan cuisine marked the highpoints of Lara's white wedding to her tennis player beau Mahesh Bhupati.

After registering their marriage in Mumbai, the duo flew to Goa's erstwhile Portuguese fort of Aguada to make their special day a spectacular one with friends like Raveena Tandon and Priyanka Chopra among its many star attendees.

Image: Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi 



In an interview to rediff.com, Kalki Koechlin reveals, 'We thought the best way to get married was quietly... chupke... before everybody finds out.'

And that is precisely how the That Girl in Yellow Boots star went about it when tying the knot to writer/filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.

The duo opted for a traditional South Indian early morning wedding in a village called Kalhatty in Ooty under a 100-year old mango tree.
Image: Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap



Once Bigg Boss 4 contestant Sameer Soni was out of the madhouse, it's most gracious inhabitant rushed to take the seven pheras with his on/off actress-turned-jewelry designer girlfriend, Neelam Kothari.

Being a second marriage for both, Neelam was previously married to London-based industrialist Rishi Sethia whereas Sameer was attached to model Rajlaxmi Khanvilkar (now married to actor Rahul Roy), they kept the celebrations low-profile limiting it to very close friends like Ekta Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Farah Khan and Raveena Tandon.

Image: Samir Soni and Neelam 



If there's one celebrity who truly knows how to marry in style, it's beauty queen turned actress Gul Panag.

Right from sporting cool aviators with traditional attire to entering the reception venue in a Royal Enfield with a sidecar, Gul made a beaming bride in pink exchanging vows with her pilot beau of 10 years, Rishi at a Gurudwara in Panchkula, Haryana.

Image: Gul Panag and Rishi Attari



Unlike his superstar brother, Suriya who went in for a love marriage with co-star Jyothika, Tamil actor Karthi, also son of yesteryear actor Sivakumar, decided on an arranged one to Ranjini.

The ceremony took place in Coimbatore wherein a grand feast was organised for more than 4,000 fans.

Image: Karthi and Ranjini 



The star of Aamir and Shaitaan gave up his bachelor ways this year to say 'I do' to Manjiri, who works in an advertising agency.

The wedding, which was conducted according to the Arya Samaji rituals, took place in Jodhpur's resplendent Khimsar fort.

Image: Rajeev Khandelwal and Manjiri Kamtikar



It was a strictly private affair when Malayalam star Prithviraj tied the knot to longtime girlfriend and BBC Entertainment Journalist, Supriya Menon.

Their reception, however, hosted in a five-star hotel in Kochi, witnessed megastars like Mohanlal, Mammootty and Prakash Raj in attendance.

Image: Prithviraj and Supriya Menon 



Opulence reigned supreme to mark the marital union of Telugu actor NT Rama Rao Jr, grandson of legendary superstar turned politician NT Rama Rao, with Lakshmi Pranathi.

The actual ceremony was preceded by a magnificent reception at Hyderabad's sprawling IT township, HiTex and graced by industry stalwarts as well as political bigwigs.

Image: NTR Jr and Lakshmi Pranathi



Nikhil Dwivedi's movie career with films like My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves and Raavan is yet to take off.

But that hardly dampened the turn out of his lavish wedding to model-turned-Telugu actress Gauri Pandit (Andhrudu and Kasko) with names like Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Abhishek Bachchan on the guest-list.

Image: Nikhil Dwivedi and Gaurav Pandit 



Unlike her colleagues, the No Entry beauty broke the news of her wedding to a Dubai-based hotelier on a social networking site.

Posting a picture of their union, in which she wore a simple chiffon sari, Celina wrote, 'With great pleasure I would like to announce my wedding with Peter Haag on the 23rd of last month at a thousand year old monastery in Austria.'

The couple is expecting twins in April next year.

Image: Celina Jaitley and Peter Haag with Haag family members



Grandeur was the order of the day when Chiranjeevi's nephew and Telugu actor Allu Arjun got hitched to Sneha Reddy at Hyderabad's prime venue, HiTex.

Celebrities from all walks of life walked in to bless the young couple in this traditional yet super glitzy ceremony.

Image: Allu Arjun and Sneha Reddy 



After showing many a superstars how to make a great move, it was choreographer Ganesh Hegde's turn to take a major step when he decided to marry Sunayna Shetty.

And the industry showed up in huge numbers with the likes of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Priyanka Chopra to wish the newly married couple

Image: Ganesh Hegde and Sunayna Shetty



He may have lost Sonam Kapoor to Imran Khan in I Hate Luv Storys but Sameer Dattani had no problems winning his real time girlfriend's hand.

The young couple got married amidst family and friends at a cozy ceremony in Dehra Dun and later on threw a huge reception for industrywallahs in Mumbai.

Both Sonam and Imran were present to congratulate their newly-married co-star.

Image: Sameer Dattani and Ritika Jolly 



It was an emotional moment for daddy Boman Irani when son, Danish, who runs an event management company in Dubai wed Reah in a traditional Parsi ceremony in an agiary in Colaba, Mumbai.

The fine actor later held a reception inviting star friends like Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Aamir Khan, Shabana Azmi, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal and Dia Mirza to be part of the festivities.

Image: Danish Irani and Reah Cama with Boman Irani and Zenobia Irani
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar