'Sparkle' in Mumbai: Catering to people's party needs
Two friends come together to create Sparkles, a bespoke party creation brand.
Organising a party, to most people, means blowing up a few balloons, tying a few colourful ribbons, putting on loud music and ordering food from the nearest catering service. However, all that is changing. With higher experience and awareness, people are not satisfied with what ordinary party-planners may offer and are always in the lookout for something, new, different and bespoke.
Utsah Kohli, a banker by profession with over 12 years of experience and Misha Khanna, a hotelier with a 12-year successful career at the Taj group recently came together to start 'Sparkle'.
'Sparkle' curates customised and bespoke party décor, elegant gifting solutions, stylish gift packaging and styling for photo-shoots. They call themselves party curators and "help convert their client’s dreams into reality".
Speaking about their endeavour, Utsah says the first time they collaborated was during a celebration in their building complex.
“We made something very unique,” she says, adding, “And since then our ideas and thought processes clicked and we started collaborating on a number of personal celebrations.”
Misha goes on to add that the small endeavours soon became big and they were helping cater to a variety of party needs.
“People became very curious about our projects and soon enough they were asking us to do events for them. Little parties is how 'Sparkle' started, and it seemed like the natural choice for us to take things forward.”
While the two friends have been collaborating for over a year now, they officially launched 'Sparkle' around six months ago.
“What makes us stand apart from others,” says Utsah, “is that we started doing a lot of interesting things which otherwise a regular party planner would either not do or only do in a big-budget event. We managed to bring it out of the regular done-to-death space and turn the décor into a little work of art.”
Not only that, they introduced the concept of punch piñatas in Mumbai as well. Utsah says, “For a construction themed party, we created a brick wall that the kids could break with a toy hammer and get a surprise gift. For an adult party, this theme was modified and we made a fortune balloon wall that gave a surprise fortune every time you burst a balloon.”
From baby showers to hen parties, adult parties and birthdays, 'Sparkle' has already run the entire gamut of events possible.
And while they are making some, Utsah says that right now, it is not finances that are pushing them forward.
“We will create, style and create an experience,” says Misha, adding, “We are having fun and that is what matters for us most.”
Misha elaborates further, “We are bespoke creators. We turn our clients’ themes and dreams into reality to the best of our possibilities. For us it is creating an experience for them and not just a party with a loud DJ, done-to-death games, banners and styrofoam decors. We concentrate on the little things, for at the end of the day, it is the little things that matter.”
Utsah adds, “We help in bringing the vision together. We act as curators to someone’s vision.”
Speaking about 'Sparkle', Utsah also adds there are two ways of going about, either they themselves decorate a person’s party or send a DIY box where people might be able to assemble it without supervision.
Both Utsah and Misha believe the party planning scene has seen a major exodus when it comes to aesthetics and sensibilities. The duo are of the opinion that people are both experienced and aware enough to know they want something that is different from the run-of-the-mill creations prevalent.
“Nowadays, parties are more about the experience rather than it being only about the event. It is a combination of the two where one is required to create an experience to enhance the event,” Misha concludes.