Booking your wedding date in Goa? Read this first

You are just engaged and that lovely engagement ring is glistening on you by the minute. Your obvious next stop is the wedding date and you just cant wait to fix it. But hold on. Have you considered all the things that you need to be aware of while fixing your we dding date in Goa? Or have you missed something?

Before I pour my thoughts on you, the best way to go about setting your wedding date is to first think of the dreams that you nursed about towards a fairytale wedding since you were a small kid. Did you fantasize about a certain location, an appealing time of the year, flower seasons, or a certain venue for your wedding? If so, take all of these into consideration as you choose your wedding date in Goa.

The reason you need to choose that elusive and magical wedding date very carefully is because it is a date which will stay with you forever for the rest of your life. It will soon be your wedding anniversary day. So how do you choose your wedding date? Keeping the following thoughts in mind as you make your decision could help you a bit.

Which season is the best for your wedding in Goa?

Decide which season you want to get married in Goa. The months of June to September is the monsoon and if you plan your wedding during this time it is the off season period which could give you a good bargain with many wedding vendors. However you will not be able to have your wedding at an outdoor venue simply because of the threat of the rain. However a couple of  good indoor venues in Goa are available and some have a centralized air conditioning system. You could also consider hosting your wedding reception at any of the starred hotels in Goa where your indoor ambience is bound to look pretty good.

The weddings in the months from October to February  are the most busiest months in the wedding season for Goa and this period peaks in the month of December where most of the weddings are stacked heavily. There are a few reasons why this period is so much in demand.

One of the reasons is that this is the typical cooler season throughout the year in Goa and having a wedding can be a pleasant experience with the weather being favorable. Perspiration is minimal and comfort is maximum.

Another reason is that during this time most of the family members settled abroad, expatriates, cousins and NRIs love to visit Goa and it is therefore the ideal time to ensure that your family and friends are around you on your big day.

There are some who decide to have their wedding after the Lenten season beginning somewhere in April till end of May. This being the holiday season in Goa, where the children have the time off can also be a good period to have your wedding date set up.

Do you want to get married on a  weekend or a week day?

Weekends are normally at a marginal premium as compared to weekdays and you may want to be aware of this. However weekdays are hard on the guests as they will find it difficult to adjust to the routine of their work schedules the next morning after your wedding.

Are you planning to coincide your wedding with an anniversary/Birthday?

Some people have their wedding on the wedding anniversary of their parents or even of their close relatives and friends. Some others would like to match it up with their own birthday. So it could be the birthday of the bride or the groom that makes the big day even bigger. Some also consider choosing the date on which they first met or proposed to each other as their preffered choice.

Memorable dates

1  Do you have a fancy for memorable dates? Do you like something like 11/12/13 or 13/12/13? If it is possible, choose a cool wedding date. The above examples  make excellent and memorable wedding dates. But be sure to know that there is a lot of competition for these sweet dates. A lot will therefore depend on how much in advance you do your wedding planning and booking.

o    These few tips may help you to understand that your wedding date needs to be set as per your own convenience, your comfort , your budget and your desire to have the right people around you. Like I said before, your wedding day will soon become your anniversary day. The day which wedded couples eagerly look forward to renew their wedding vows every year.

How to choose a good wedding mc in Goa

Weddings are great and extravagant affairs in modern Goa and more often than not, running into many lakhs of rupees when it comes to the cost of getting married. However despite the cost, most wedding couples in Goa do not bat an eyelid to ensure that the list of things on their wedding shopping list is premium and is meticulously chosen to ensure that their wedding turns out to be a great event to remember.

Goa's popular wedding MC - Pio Kevin

However, more often than not, wedding couples often forget or rather neglect to give much attention to the wedding mc for their wedding and in fact engage someone who may be their acquaintance or a friend of a dear friend or sometimes a complete novice trying to "also dabble" in some pastime compering.......all at your wedding!The result of this can be quite disastrous and wedding couples in Goa have realised it only too late to help themselves to any change in their choice of the wedding mc. And since you marry only once in most cases, the chance of better planning "next time" does not exist and all that you can do is rue your decision or regret for not paying attention to this most important aspect of your wedding.

Says well known Goan compere Pio Kevin  " the cost of engaging a good master of ceremonies for a Goan wedding may be less than 2 percent of the total cost of the wedding but while it may be such a low cost head, the wedding mc in Goa is the centre of the wedding reception and is primarily instrumental in setting the right mood, enthusing the guests , infusing the optimum energy and consciously influencing the direction of which way the  wedding reception is headed". In short a wedding emcee is a celebration manager cum host and is the man responsible for setting the colour and the tone of your wedding. Would you still settle for someone average?  

However some wedding couples are hardly conscious of  the importance of a good wedding emcee and are subsequently left disappointed after the wedding, to no avail.  While good food, a great venue and a lively band may be the automatic first choices of a to-be-married couple planning their wedding in Goa  the choice of a good emcee should also be clearly on their radar if they are intending to make their reception an event to cherish. So how do you go about choosing a good mc for your wedding in Goa?

With demand comes supply and the wedding emcees in Goa have therefore grown in number over the years. It is therefore an unenviable task for a wedding couple to make the right choice given the number of wedding comperes available in Goa. Talking to the emcee over the phone before booking him should be the first step says Pio Kevin adding that this could provide the couple the basic and most clear indicator of the personality of the emcee through his speech. A casual meeting with the prospective emcee is also not a bad idea although this might be a bit difficult since many of the good emcees may not spare the time to schedule a meeting before being booked. However if you do have such a meeting you could get a better idea of the stature of your wedding emcee and could subtly generate information about his past exploits in this field. A small chat can do wonders and give you a small insight into the personality of your wedding mc and his scheme of doing things.However if your emcee is genuinely busy to schedule a pre-booking meet don't hold it against him. Its a busy world, remember?

You could still pour over the internet to add to your investigation and if your wedding mc has a website,all the better. A website would also mean that your wedding mc takes his job seriously and is not a part timer. The very fact that he chooses to have his own website tells you that he is keen for his prospective clients to know and understand him. That in itself could be a statement of confidence and you should check his website before you dial his number to make the advance payment and secure your booking.

When you indeed pay the booking amount don't forget to fix a post-booking meeting with your wedding compere to help him plan the wedding day in a much better way. It is always better to have all the information about the couple a bit in advance to the wedding day says Pio Kevin while revealing that  understanding the aspirations of the bridal couple is the key to hosting a good wedding celebration.

So if you are planning your wedding celebration in Goa, it is not too difficult to choose a good MC if you apply basic principles. A litlle research here and there can work wonders and you can rest in peace as the  right master of ceremonies will take control of your big day. Here's wishing all you prospective couples the very best in your search for the right master of ceremony for your wedding in Goa.

Pio Kevin - Goa's Ace Master of Ceremonies

When you touch the topic about the best "Master of Ceremonies" on the Goan wedding scene, one name that cannot escape you is that of Pio Kevin. An eloquent speaker, Pio Kevin has been playing the envious role of the Goan wedding emcee, hosting hundreds of weddings in Goa every year for close to 17 years, long after his first wedding in the mid nineties. In his own words, compering is an inborn passion which comes naturally to him. A Mechanical Engineer by profession, he has worked as a Purchase Engineering professional in various corporates and says that the professional experience supplements his skills in wedding management.

Guiding entertainment to where it belongs

Having begun his wedding stint with an unexpected call to emcee a wedding of his colleague at IFB washing machines way back in the April of 1996,  Pio Kevin recalls that it was a moment that changed his whole perspective on how good writing and powerful speech are so much in consonance with each other. While in college, he was the front runner at the youth festivals to bag the first prizes for literary skills ,be it composing instant poetry or writing essays or simply coining some wisecracks. His speaking skills were also harnessed at group discussions and elocution competitions at many early stages of his life. It was therefore only a matter of time  for him to demonstrate his eloquence at a professional level.  So when opportunity to emcee at a wedding came knocking, Pio Kevin Barretto says he took it with both hands.

"The rest wasn't history" says Pio to scratch at the 'oft too repeated' cliche. One has to work honestly and intently to be successful as a compere in Goa he avers.Nobody takes you just for the sake of it. You don't want to be the run of the mill type of a host. Its about creating an identity for yourself.  Pio says that he cherishes the days in the nineties and the early part of the century when Goa had a slew of dance and festive events happening throughout the year where comperes in Goa had many more avenues to demonstrate their penchant for spontaneity and effectively regale the crowds.With time not set at a premium in those days one could take the festivities closer to dawn leaving the compere a lot of scope to showcase his abilities. He says he can never forget those wonderful funfilled days of non-stop entertainment and has reveled in some great nostalgia filled moments with many fellow comperes, having had the privilege of compering for hundreds of dances and events all over Goa over those years. However things have changed in Goa since those days and with the sound decibels being "not so welcome'  after 10 pm , most of these dance events have seen their last days often abruptly closing down a long thriving traditional dance event either due to sound restrictions or due to lack of participation in a busy modern Goa.

Today, Pio Kevin has a very busy calendar mostly with Goan weddings throughout the year. Not only does he find himself busy with Goan weddings but he is a regular at many foreign weddings in Goa which are hosted mostly on the Goan beach fronts. His humour with a range of audiences and expertise at handling different cultures at weddings in Goa  have made him an automatic choice with many wedding planners in Goa. What sets him apart is the fact that he writes most of his witty one liners and coins many of his phrases in a bid to deliver some hilariously picturesque speech.Spontaneity is a big help he avers. Pio also ensures that every wedding is treated differently and that the wedding couple have a  distinct chord and connection with the humour which he says should be relevant to their part of the story. Wit and humour being his forte, he says the basic love of both writing and speaking simply ensures that the wedding at hand is a fun experience.

But speaking is not everything says Pio. An emcee is the manager at a wedding and is engaged for the  task  because most often than not, the wedding couple believes that he can do the job better than anyone else to ensure that the wedding is a smooth affair. According to him, being punctual is imperative while it is also important to ensure that the various events take place in harmony to set timelines. So smooth co-ordination with  various wedding vendors such as the wedding band, photographers, the videographers, decorators ,the attendants  and most importantly the caterers is intrinsic to  good wedding management, according to his time tested view.

The ability of a wedding emcee to adjust, reset, reorganise, rearrange and be amenable to different situations that may arise during a wedding reception without pressing the panic button is the key to being a good master of ceremonies at a wedding , he asserts. It is desirable that a wedding mc in goa knows how to manage different moods and expectations from various guests some of whom may have emotional cords attached to their aspirations and a wedding emcee should ensure that he handles wedding guests sensitively and endeavours to make everyone feel comfortable to the best of his ability. According to him, a master of ceremonies is expected to make the family and guests happy and content, while ensuring that he sticks to the schedule as best as he can.

In order to ensure that the whole event is a well organised and well ironed affair , Pio ensures that he meets almost every wedding couple before the wedding reception day unless it is impossible due to time constraints. The closer the meeting to the wedding day the better it is he says, explaining that he can get to know much more about the reception , the guests and the speakers at the wedding if it is in close proximity to the meeting. Filling up a  meticulously structured information sheet, helps him to get the maximum details about the  wedding couple, the reception on hand, the scheduled timelines, the profile of the guests and much more which ensures that he has enough of fuel to lend the right spirits for a fun filled celebration.

So if you are indeed getting married and looking for a top master of ceremonies from Goa or a "been there done that" kind of a wedding emcee( wedding MC) who believes in good management of your wedding in Goa or a well seasoned, well groomed, well humoured and well spoken master of ceremonies, your able choice could not be argued at all. Look no further for it is indeed  Pio Kevin. Engage him for your wedding in Goa and let the butterflies sit on the flowers rather than have them fluttering in your belly.

Wedding day turns tragic for two in Goa

A wedding day is one which you tend to look forward to for a long time in your life and when it comes, a gush of great excitement naturally creeps in. All friends and relatives are around you and want to live the great moment with you on the great day at the appointed time. However on Saturday 20 June 2009, it was a day almost forgettable in many respects for a couple who was expected to tie the knot at a Church in Assolna, when their wedding car carrying the bride, her mother , the bridesmaid and a few others collided head on with an oncoming Mumbai bound bus, killing the driver instantly while the bridesmaid was declared dead upon arrival at hospicio hospital Margao.

In the tragic accident, the bride Ermelinda Fernandes escaped with minor injuries whereas the other occupants of the ill fated car which included her mother Elvira (56) neighbour Maria Carvalho (49) and a seven year old flower girl Rachel Coelho sustained grievous head injuries and are currently admitted to Hospicio Hospital Margao.

The tragic incident occurred when the wedding car carrying the above occupants was proceeding from Benaulim to Cuncolim for the wedding nuptial service of Ermelinda and Gilman at Our Lady of Health Church, Cuncolim scheduled at 4 pm when the tragic accident occurred at banda Assolna around 3.30 leaving a mangled car with the driver trapped inside and ejected with the help of locals. While the driver Greg Dias of Assolna died almost instantly he was taken to the hospicio hospital Margao in a 108 ambulance where he was declared dead and the bridesmaid Ms Brenda Rodrigues (24) succumbed to her injuries while on the way to Hospicio Margao and also met with the same fate.

While a pall of gloom was visible around the villages of Benaulim and Cuncolim from where the bride and the groom hail, the tragedy was worst witnessed at the Hospicio hospital Margao where the relatives of the dead and injured were seen wailing in despair at the loss of their dear ones.

Later, the nuptials of the bridal couple took place at the Our Lady of Health Church, Cuncolim in the evening after the bride was discharged.

Goa Catholic Minority front to lodge complaint with EC

The Goa catholic Minority Front(GCMF) a newly formed organisation is expected to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission and the Minorities commission Delhi against the office of the chief Electoral officer for the controversial statements made by him that " weddings in Goa should be cancelled if couples do not get permission to serve liquor to their guests art their wedding receptions".

The GCMF which has been formed in a bid to safeguard and protect the interests of the catholic community in Goa has appointed Mr Barnabe Sapeco from Panjim as its convenor while Mr Eddie Fernandes of Vasco is its co-convenor.

The association informed that weddings in Goa are events which happen after lot of advance planning, often a year before the wedding date. The organisation strongly condemned the statement made by the chief electoral officer that weddings be cancelled or postponed if the requisite permission to serve liquor is not obtained at their wedding receptions. This, they opined was a direct insult to Goa and Goans at large while highlighting the immaturity on the part of the Chief Electoral officer in responding to a very delicate issue which discriminates against a minority community.

The sentiments of Catholics have been hurt by the restrictions as the serving of wine at wedding receptions is an age old custom and a local tradition of Goans.

It may be recalled that nearly fourteen wedding couples had sought permission from the election commission to serve wine in line with earlier precedents when such permission was allowed in such special cases