How it usually goes and what it costs, in Bengaluru
You plan a first birthday once. The decorator does one every weekend. We talk to decorators, photographers, priests, gardeners and trainers every week, and we ask them about much more than price: how the job really goes, what a quote leaves out, and what goes wrong. People across Bengaluru tell us what they're planning and what's worrying them. Each guide puts all of that together, the way a friend who's done it would tell you.
Coming up in Bengaluru
What people are asking us about right now.
Every guide
Pick what you need. Each list starts with what people ask us about most.
Baby showers, birthdays, housewarmings, poojas and the festivals.
Baby showers and seemantham
The month, the rituals for a seemantham or valaikappu, the decor and the food.
About ₹20,000 to ₹50,000 for 30 guests, hired out
Ganesh Chaturthi at home
The clay idol and where the visarjan goes, the priest, Gowri the day before, and when to book.
From about ₹2,300 for a small clay idol and flowers you put up yourselves
First birthday parties
Where to hold it, a planner or not, photos, the baby's safety, and the advance if the date moves.
About ₹29,000 to ₹78,000 for 60 guests, before the venue
Housewarming (gruhapravesha)
The muhurtham, what the priest charges, the food and the flowers.
From about ₹10,000 for a priest's pooja and lunch for 25
Milestone birthdays, retirements and reunions
A 40th, 50th or 60th: the venue, what a per-plate price leaves out, the liquor licence and a singer.
From about ₹8,500 for 25 at home with food ordered in
Varamahalakshmi at home
Dressing the Goddess, the kalasha, a priest or not, thamboola for guests, and the 2027 date.
About ₹3,000 to dress a kalasha yourself, the first year
Ganesh utsav in your apartment
What each flat gives, what needs permission, the 5 ft clay idol, the DJ ban and the accounts.
From about ₹16,000 for three days, with residents doing most of it
Diwali decoration at home
When to book, fresh flowers or artificial, and what a house costs.
From about ₹1,500 for marigold at your door
Decor, hosts and lights, and the people who put it all up.
Birthday decoration
Why one decorator costs more than another, what the venue allows, and what to settle first.
From about ₹1,000 for balloons on a wall
Pooja decoration at home
Fresh or artificial flowers, festival-week prices, and what the pandit brings.
From about ₹2,000 for a flower seller's garlands
Emcees and anchors
What a host costs, what's extra, and how to judge one you've never seen work.
About ₹25,000 to ₹45,000 for one function
Diwali lights
Rice lights you buy, an electrician, or a firm that lights the whole building.
From about ₹700 for a balcony you light yourself
Rangoli
A kolam at the door to a showpiece in the lobby, and getting an artist for Diwali.
From a few hundred rupees for a kolam, by our estimate
Newborn and maternity shoots.
Balconies and gardens.
Balcony makeovers
Plants you pot yourself to a firm that redoes the whole balcony, and what to settle before anyone drills.
From under ₹5,000 for ten plants
Balcony gardens
What will grow in your light, who waters when you travel, and whether a plant wall is worth it.
From about ₹2,200 for a dozen nursery plants you pot yourself
Office events and the decoration for them.
Classes and teachers for grown-ups.
What we do for you
These guides come out of knowing the market, and you can read how we make our guides.
We listen
Tell us what you have in mind, in your own words. We ask until we've got it right.
We know the market
Who's good, what it really costs and what tends to go wrong. It's what these guides are made of.
We bring the right few
Checked people who fit exactly what you asked for, with their prices.
We see it through
We do the chasing and put what's included in writing. If something isn't going to plan, a person here sorts it out.
Rather not do it yourself?
Tell us what you need, where and roughly when.
Planning something?