Grand Dulhan Expo attracts thousands to New Jersey

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The 2018 Grand Dulhan Expo was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, on Sunday, December 2.

Touted as the “World’s Largest South Asian Bridal Show,” the annual Expo featured seven designer fashion shows and 11 performers, including Mickey Singh and Raxstar from London, among others.

Such performers are also willing to perform at weddings, according to organizer Sumit Arya, who said that Singh’s enthusiastic performance was so appreciated by the audience that he performed for 30 instead of 15 minutes as scheduled.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 people from 10 different states attended the Expo, where 265 booths were present, including six decorators, eight caterers, 9 hotels and banquets, 9 make-up artists, 10 DJs, 11 photographers and 45 fashion and jewelry booths.

While food stalls were set up like what you would find in a traditional wedding, tastings were served by Rasoi, Dimple’s Bombay Talk, Palace of Asia, Amiya, Shezan, Mantra and Bhog.

There was also free paan tasting from The Paanwaala; coffee tasting, a snow cone station, cake sampling, mehndi stations and photo booths.

The seven-hour long event is a one-stop shop where brides-to-be can get all of their wedding needs under one roof.

“The Grand Dulhan Expo is a bride-to-be’s one-stop shop for all her wedding needs. At the expo, she is able to pick a well-suited make-up artist according to her budget and have a personal, one-on-one contact with them, something that she would not get by a simple phone call,” Arya said, adding that they have five other small Dulhan Expos throughout the year.

Raffles took place during the event, including one which was worth $15,000 for the brides-to-be, in which the lucky winner would get free services for her wedding, including DJ, mandap, make-up artist and more.

Arya told Desi Talk in an interview that the Grand Dulhan Expo is the most comprehensive one as they have vendors in 42 business categories.

Although it is called the Grand Dulhan Expo, the event is not just for brides-to-be and wedding planning.

“It is an event where people come to plan their own parties like birthdays and anniversaries,” Arya added.