Does anyone else tell there partner that they don’t want any fuss for the occasion but secretly hope that he will take you to some luxurious hot country?! hehe I was a little shocked to be honest as he told me I have a travel addiction and that we were not to travel for some time! haha yeah right!

He loves it just as much as I do!

Monaco is a sovereign city-state and country located on the French Riviera; France borders the country on three sides while the rest faces the Mediterranean Sea.

Anyway Nice Airport is only around 1 hour and 45 minute flight from the UK and the scenery is just beautiful, the best time to fly would be in the afternoon when you can see the lovely sun shining across the coast.

As we landed we went to hire a car. We figured it would be cool to be able to drive ourselves around instead of spending loads on taxi’s. It’s a lot easier if you use a hire company in the airport, ours was a 5-7 minute free shuttle away. They were really friendly but the last thing you want to do when you land is to have to hunt for where you pre-booked your hire car from.

We stayed in Nice for the night and drove to Monaco the next morning, which was only a 30 minute drive from where we stayed.

Now..it was my first visit and I didn’t really know what to expect, I have to say if you ever decide to go you should visit the Fairmont hotel, if you take the lift to the top floor you will see a restaurant/bar called Nikki Beach with its own rooftop pool, bar & live music.

This where you will see the best views of Monaco for sure! You will also see yachts and super cars driving around the small roads of Monaco.

Driving into Monaco itself was one my favourite memories. It is literally what you see in the movies. Lots of high top cliffs where you will just follow the road round and round! Looking down is quiet scary if your scared of heights like me!

It was at this point my partner re-lived his childhood dreams of becoming a race car driver as he was going a little crazy around the tight bends, as you can imagine I was holding on for my dear life whilst trying to take a million selfies and videos him of course!

Now lets not forget the famous Monte Carlo Casino which is also a must visit. We stood outside and were taken by all the super cars parked up, Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Rolls Royce. After taking a million selfies we walked along to the casinos around the corner where you didn’t have to pay to go in to lose your money lol.

Why is Monaco a country? Because, like Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, it is a relic of Medieval Europe that more powerful neighbors allowed to survive. The House of Grimaldi, the clan that seized control of Monaco in 1297, adroitly played Italy, France and Spain against one another over the centuries and remained sovereign — to a degree, as per NYTimes.

The post Monaco travel: Top things to do appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

When Shahid Kapoor’s Ishaan Khattar was spotted with Sridevi’s daughter Jhanvi Kapoor on a couple of occasions, Shahid Kapoor was concerned and had a one-to-one conversation with Ishaan warning him that his link-up rumours could prove damaging to his film career, as it could take away the focus from his debut film ‘Beyond The Clouds’ (directed by acclaimed Iranian film director Majidi Majidi).

Aamir Khan

Qayamat se Qayamat Tak was a huge hit and the chocolate faced Aamir Khan’s popularity soared after the movie. But for a long time the Khan hid his relation ship status.

Juhi Chawla

The same with Juhi Chawla, who hid her marriage when she secretly married businessman Jai Mehta. It was only when she got pregnant that Juhi reluctantly revealed that she was married to the man. Later, Juhi confessed that she did it to save her career as she was sure that offers would start dwindling after marriage.

After her, actresses like Mahima Chaudhury and a few others tried hiding their marriage as they were insecure about their career.

Sridevi

In the case of Sridevi, its difficult to say if she hid her marriage status because of her career because her ‘husband’ Boney Kapoor was still married to first wife Mona. So Sridevi went on denying the relationship till her baby bump started showing. Eventually the couple had no choice but to admit to the relationship, giving the shock of her life to the now deceased ‘Mona’. At that point, Mona had said, “There was nothing left in my relationship with Boney to give it a chance because Sridevi was already with a child.”

Rekha

While the other actresses later confessed about their deceit, actress Rekha never agreed that she was ever married to the late actor Vinod Mehra.

Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’souza

When they were dating, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’souza would shoo away any reporter asking them about their relationship, till one day when they suddenly announced their wedding date.

In relationship? No! We are just good friends

Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra: IT officials had found Shahid Kapoor in Priyanka Chopra’s house. When they made a surprise visit to Priyanka Chopra, they were surprised to find Shahid Kapoor inside the flat. But later PC tried another version of her own when she said that she had called Shahid after the IT raid.

Anushka Sharma & Virat: Anushka still goes red in the face denying her romance with Virat Kohli, even though there has been enough photographic evidence to tell us otherwise.

Even Television Stars Are Hiding Their Marriage Status

Why just Bollywood stars, even several TV actors have kept their marriages under wraps.

But do they really have to be so insecure about their career? Well, in this case it could be the Television heads and producers (most are women – Ekta Kapoor, Rashmi Sharma) probably don’t like married men

Nevertheless, here are their reasons.

Karan Suchak, who played Laxman in Siya Ke Ram says, “I was trying to establish my career at that time. So, I wanted to earn my audience’s love and connect with them, before they got to know more about my personal life. Now that I am doing a prominent show, it is okay for them to know more about me.”

Bidaai’s Angad Hasija, says, “I got married very early. I felt I was too young to be known as a married man. The pressures of career and losing your female fan following were there, so I decided to keep it under wraps for a while.”

Aham Sharma, best known as Karna from Mahabharat, however says he is a very private person and hence didn’t feel the need to talk about his marriage. “Why should people know whether I am married or not? Work has nothing to do with your relationship status. When you are chosen for a role, it is not important whether you are married or not,” reasons Aham. Fair enough, even we agree to that!

Rohit Khurana of Uttaran fame says. “I am very guarded about my personal life. Those close to me know about my wife and son. I go out for dinners and movies and do everything a normal husband does. My family is my concern and not for the world to know.”

Actor Avinesh Rekhi says, “I married my girlfriend even before doing TV shows. Nobody asked me, so there was no reason to make a public announcement.”

The post Top Bollywood Stars Who Hid Their Marriages appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

No stress, relax and exchange vows
Compared to the usual hustle and bustle of a traditional wedding, where family members are always stressed about the arrangements because they’re constantly worried about what the guests will say about the arrangements, and even the couple tire themselves going through the numerous customs and several photo sessions, beach weddings are much more relaxed and slow-paced.

Here’s what one couple had to say about their beach wedding.

“Nothing could be more beautiful than the beach with its soft and natural light, and the music of the waves. We didn’t have to care about any interior decoration.”

Seems straight out of the movies
Beach weddings also serve as the perfect means of enjoying a few movie-like-moments, which you can savour for a lifetime. Wedding sequences in movies involving beaches, especially with a European aura to it, often inspire couples to go for a beach wedding.

Less comparisons
This is another advantage that one of the couples mentioned to us. Because beach weddings are not so common in India yet, there’s bound to be much lesser comparisons.

Besides, Guests also feel as if they’re on a holiday. In most beach weddings, the brief ceremony is usually followed with live guitar and light snacks, which makes it quite relaxing for everybody present at the wedding.

Here’s what a wedding planner has to say, “When you invite guests for a beach wedding, expectations are already set in their minds that ‘it’s going to be different’. That in itself saves you from all the nasty comparisons that are common in our weddings. Moreover, beaches have always been serving as relaxation points, why not bank on their calming effect when you exchange vows which is for a lifetime?”

Popular locations in India for Beach Weddings
Kerala and Goa are the two most popular destinations for most Beach Weddings in India. Among those locations, Kovalam beach is fast turning out to be the ideal destination for most beach weddings in India. Its clean, less crowded, and provides a no-stress environment to exchange vows.

Most guests prefer local snacks or delicacies at beach weddings. At the same time, those looking for luxurious and elaborate wedding spreads also have the choice of conducting the ceremonies at the private beaches of hotels, where there are options to conduct the function on a large scale as well.

Wedding planners’ checklist for Beach Weddings

• If possible, keep the guest list short.
• Monsoon season is a ‘No’ for beach weddings, for obvious reasons
• Always look for a place that has a backup foul-weather option, like a shelter
• Ask guests to carry informal clothes while inviting…basically footwear and attire that are appropriate for a beach. Light fabrics are more comfortable at beach weddings.

One wedding planner says that beach weddings can be done for under Rs 5 lakh, inclusive of food and accommodation. I’m sure most young couples will find that tempting.

The post Exclusive Beach Weddings for Those Who Won’t Settle for Anything Ordinary appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

1. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor created quite a stir when they announced their nuptials. But when it came to the honeymoon, they chose to go to Gstaad in Switzerland where they visit frequently both before and after marriage.
2. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan serenaded across Europe but not before stopping over at Cannes where Aishwarya was required to be present as the L’Oreal brand ambassador. They also like to go to New York often whenever they take time off from their busy schedule.
3. Vidya Balan and Siddharth Roy Kapur, who’re known to be a very private couple, headed to the beautiful Caribbean islands for their honymoon.
4. Shilpa Shetty, who has married Raj Kundra (UK born businessman) also went to the Caribbean islands, but the couple opted for another island, the Bahamas.
5. Tennis star Mahesh Bhupati and Lara Dutta were busy with work commitments when they got married but they couldn’t resist the charm of Bali in Indonesia, where they headed to as soon as they got some time off from work.
6. Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne may not be a couple anymore but they were the very much in love couple when they got married and chose Europe for some private time after marriage.
7. Surprisingly, the two top Khans of Bollywood, who literally rule the box office today – Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao and Shahrukh Khan and wife Gauri Khan opted for local destinations.

   You may think that being superstars they would have chosen an exotic location abroad but the fact is Aamir Khan swooped his wife to Panchgani, a hill station in Maharashtra and SRK who was not the baadshah yet when he married opted Mumbai as their honeymoon destination.

8. Everything was a secret about Aditya Chopra and Rani Mukherjee’s wedding. Their honeymoon destination is another big secret. But it was rumored that the lovey dovey couple visited a new place almost every month and one of the places was their honeymoon destination.
9. Salman Khans little sister Arpita Khan and Aayush Sharma may not qualify as actors but they are celebrities nevertheless and their recent wedding was widely publicized. They flew off to New Zealand and Bora Bora for their honeymoon thereafter.

The post Favorite Honeymoon Destinations of the Top Bollywood Couples appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

So is this a really viable business model? Is it possible to earn good money doing a wedding planning job or would one struggle to make ends meet?

Demand has Grown in Recent Years

Over the years, there has been an increase in the demand of wedding planners. There are various reasons for that, one of them being that people have become busier and don’t want to go into the nitty-gritties of their own weddings.

Another reason is that the weddings are happening on a much bigger & grander scale with celebrities doing guest appearances, so you really need experts who can help you with the execution of your dream project.

And believe me, the weddings that are shown in Bollywood movies are nowhere close, in grandeur, to some of the weddings that take place nowadays.

What Skills Does It Require?

Okay, so what sorts of skills are required to be a wedding planner? Two very important skills you need to have as a wedding planner:

1. Excellent planning & organization skills
2. Excellent personal relations skills

These two skills will help you to do well in this line of work (event management).

You’ll also need to brush up on your knowledge of weddings, the preparations required, and the various rituals/ceremonies that are held as part of weddings/shaadis/nikaahs.

However, for luxury weddings, you need to offer more to the clients! High-end clients are not going to be happy with the stuff you did at other weddings; they would definitely want their wedding to stand out. Wedding planners nowadays offer its clientele conventional yet exclusive ideas and design to match the theme of the wedding to the couple’s personality.

So as you get more knowledgeable about the industry, you’ll also be expected to come up with newer ideas all the time to make every wedding unique or customize it as per the bride/groom’s request.

Weddings are Big Events

Here’s why you could land up a 50k plus job in this industry…

Weddings, in general, is big business, and its one of the fastest growing segments in India as disposable incomes are rising and aspirations are growing even faster and so everyone wants their wedding to be bigger & different.

Besides Rajasthan & Goa, Indian weddings are now happening in destinations such as Italy, South Africa, & Austria, with guests coming in not just from India but from across the world.

Even our Bollywood celebrities make a good income by doing special appearances at luxury weddings.

So you can imagine why most event management companies are so excited about this segment, and that’s also the reason why everybody is trying to get a pie of this business.

Can You Make a Good Living?

Definitely yes! But if you’re trying to start your own wedding planning business, it may take some time to get established (just like any other business).

If you’re keen on taking up a job of a wedding planner, there are several event management companies where you can take up this role.

The good thing about working for a reputed event management company is that you could be part of the next luxury wedding at Salzburg or Munich, right away!

Irrespective, the fact is that this is one of the fastest growing business segments in India, and you should definitely capitalize on it, especially if you also love doing this kind of work.

So if you’re eyeing a 50k plus job and wish to be a part of the entertainment industry, planning weddings could be the job for you.

The post Can Wedding Planning Really Be A 50k Plus Job? appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

Yes that’s true! There are several Bollywood celebrities who have opted for arranged marriage, where their partners were chosen the traditional way, by family and close relatives.

The latest to join the list is none other than the “Haider” star Shahid Kapoor, who’s all set to tie the knot with Delhi University student ‘Mira Rajput’, in an alliance that was arranged by their families.

Even superstar Salman Khan says he’s open to arranged marriage and has expressed his desire to settle down in an arranged set up. “Sometimes, love marriages don’t work and arranged marriages do. And sometimes, it’s the other way round. It depends on the individuals, how they go about their lives, how compatible they are,” Salman had said.

“Masti” star Vivek Oberoi (son of Suresh Oberoi) had an arranged marriage to Priyanka Alva (daughter of Karnataka minister Jeevaraj Alva). Vivek says he’s changed a lot as a person after his marriage. He’s more calm and at peace with himself, and doesn’t have place for hatred in life (Vivek and Salman Khan were involved in a big fight at one point of time).

Most Bollywood stars were romantically linked to their co-stars, with many involved in a serious relationship for years, but could not get married.

• Shahid was in a relationship with actress Kareena Kapoor Khan for over three years and later linked to Vidya Balan, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Bipasha Basu. Finally, he decided to go in for arranged marriage.
• Salman Khan has been in several relationships (with various actresses, including Aishwarya Rai) but could not get married.
• Even Vivek Oberoi, at one point of time, was close to Aishwarya Rai, but their relationship didn’t go too far
• John Abraham was in close relationship with Bipasha Basu for several years, but the couple got separated. John later married an investment banker.

Most Bollywood actresses, on the other hand, seem to be more comfortable with arranged marriages.

• Actress Madhuri Dixit had an arranged marriage with doctor Shriram Nene. Madhuri Dixit keeps shuttling between
• Mumbai and the US, but spends a lot more time in Mumbai now, with several TV assignments.
• Meenakshi Sheshadri, another superstar of the 80s, is happily married and settled in the US
• Actress Karisma Kapoor was once engaged to actor Abhishek Bachchan, but their wedding was called-off later. She later married Delhi-based industrialist Sanjay Kapoor, but several years later, the couple filed for divorce.

The post Bollywood Celebs in Arranged Marriages: Top Stars Who Took the Traditional Route of Matrimony appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

In order to spread to newer markets, and to attract more eyeballs, leading printing houses and manufacturers in the textile industry have lately been spending significant money on celebrities. And their seems to be a herd mentality currently with almost every body following that trend.

So why is suddenly everybody interested in using a Bollywood celebrity?
Here’s how a leading fashion house in surat puts it. The direct representation of the current fashion can only be best done by someone who himself/herself is fashionable. That is why trendy catalogues are getting made.

“A good quality catalogue can make or break the season’s stock. While a good design should speak for itself, Surat primarily manufactures saris and unstitched garments which are best represented on a good model to give a better idea to the wholesalers, retailers and clients of what the finished product will look like. The target crowd for Surat’s man-made textile in India and abroad is primarily middle class and lower middle class, who as we all know is besotted with Bollywood and adores celebrities.”

Read: How a studio is converted to make it look like a foreign location.

Soon, Priyanka Chopra will be seen promoting the Indian sari on international platforms, as part of the union government’s plan to promote the ‘desi’ handloom and textile industry in a big way the world over. While the Bararasi silk saris would be at the forefront of this branding, the larger branding by the actor would be for the Indian hand-loom industry.

Bollywood celebrities comes at a price
The textile industry in India is one of largest Industries contributing to the Indian Economy, with most of the action happening in the city of Surat. And because the current scenario is highly contagious, several leading printing houses and manufacturers in Surat are using Bollywood celebrities.

Getting a Bollywood actress to model, however, does comes at a price. Depending on the celebrity, prices can range from 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore per shoot (lasts a day).

Read: Bollywood celebs earn more from endorsements than films.

Actresses Sonakshi Sinha, Zarine Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Sonal Chauhan and Sushmita Sen have been seen posing in Surat manufactured saris and salwar kameez material for some time now. However, they are the A-listers and charge the most. Reportedly, Sonakshi Sinha is the highest paid actor for textile catalogues.

No doubt there’s lots of inquiry of celebrity shoots from the textile industry. However, some are too overpriced while the ones available within modest budgets are not too popular. So if you’re a photographer or a celebrity manager, the key is to find the right balance between price and popularity for your prospective client.

Go with the flow
Fashion trend changes every few years, and even the Bollywood hotties have their run and turns. There are several Bollywood actresses who may have done just a couple of films, but have several photo-shoot assignments for various brands of ethnic wear. Even fashion photographers are getting regular requests to shoot catalogues with celebrities. So for now, it seems our Bollywood babes are happy adding sizzle to Surat’s textiles.

The post Textile Industry Use Bollywood Bombshells to Promote New Line of Fashion appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

However, Sidharth Malhotra (rumoured boyfriend) feels she’s nowhere near the likes of Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, and Jacqueline Fernandes, who have a far better bikini body, probably the best in Bollywood.

Here are some of the other leading ladies of Bollywood who have donned the bikini in the past. Some of these movies may have been dud at the box office, however the audience still remember these leading ladies of Bollywood donning those hot bikinis on-screen.

Katrina Kaif in a bikini in Bang Bang
Kareena Kapoor in Tashan
Deepika Padukone in red bikini in Cocktail.
Aditi Rao Hydari in Bikini in ‘Boss’
Anushka Sharma in yellow bikini in Badmash Company

Surveen Chawla in bikini ‘Hate Story 2’
Nargis Fakhri in Bikini in Main Tera Hero
Shruti Haasan in Bikini in Luck
Lisa Hayden in bikini in Rascals
Sonam Kapoor in red bikini in Bewakoofiyaan

The post Who’s Got the Best Bikini Body in Bollywood? appeared first on Bollywood Presents.