Mantena Wedding at the City Palace in Udaipur

INDIA 2025

For four days in Udaipur, the Mantena family wedding turned Udaipur’s most iconic venues into a live stage, where sacred rituals shared space with full-scale shows by Cirque du Soleil and a private concert by Jennifer Lopez. What was, at its heart, a family celebration became a rare meeting of royal-style tradition, world-class performance and meticulous production.

Cirque du Mehendi at the City Palace

Over several days in Udaipur, the Mantena family wedding turned palaces into stages, but one night in particular felt like another universe: Cirque du Mehendi, the Cirque du Soleil show at the City Palace. The mehendi evening fused a traditional pre-wedding ritual with a full-scale contemporary circus production built into one of Rajasthan’s most iconic courtyards.

Guests walked through the arches of the City Palace into a space transformed: aerial rigs and platforms hidden in the architecture, stone softened by light, flowers and fabric, the lake still visible beyond. When the show began, Cirque du Soleil’s performers moved in waves above and around the crowd, blurring the line between performance and party.

Across the wedding, names like Jennifer Lopez, Madhuri Dixit, Nora Fatehi and Dia Mirza added to the sense of unreality—but Cirque du Mehendi stood out for its mix of scale and intimacy: a hyper-viral wedding moment built quietly by designers, producers, technicians, florists, costumiers and artists so that, for a few hours, guests could simply experience magic.

Concept & performance: Cirque du Soleil. Artistic directors: Jean Guibert & Bastien Alexandre. Costume design: Nicolas Vaudelet. Wedding & event direction: Wizcraft Weddings & Social Events. Design & décor (Cirque du Mehendi): Ambika Gupta – creative direction and design; The A-Cube Project – event design and visual concept. Florals & installations: Interflora India. Venue: City Palace, Udaipur. Couple: Netra Mantena & Vamsi Gadiraju. Additional performances & special guests (across the wedding): Jennifer Lopez, Madhuri Dixit, Nora Fatehi, Dia Mirza, among others.