WALTHAM, MA—With almost 90 percent of Indian and South Asian weddings in New England now being multi-cultural, inter-religious, inter-racial or fusion, Tanvi Rana is on the fore front of this industry.
She is founder and CEO of Mint to be Events, a luxury event planning service specializing in Indian and fusion weddings. Founded about five years ago, her team members at Mint To Be Events come from a variety of backgrounds beyond weddings, from electrical engineering, information technology, travel management, project management and more.
“Our ability to treat your event like a project ensures that we deliver your dream on time and within budget and beyond your expectation,” says Ms. Rana. “We have established rapport with some of the industries’ best, from decor, catering, entertainment to photo and video…Our motto simply is, for what you are able to do within your budget, we can do it better in establishing this collaboration and within the same budget. Meaning, for most cases, our services do not impact your existing budget.”
Ms. Rana studied electrical engineering at Case Western University and has an MBA from Northeastern University and has held roles of Engineering and Product management at Rockwell Automation.
Here is a Q/A With Ms. Rana:
INDIA New England News: Please tell our readers about your work and what you enjoy most about it?
Tanvi Rana: As an event planner, my work entails helping hundreds of bride’s plan the most important day of their lives. Some brides are doctors, some engineers, some are painters, and others plan to be amazing mothers in the future, but as they approach their wedding day, its all one emotion, and my job is to help make their day more special for them than it already is. To be forever engrained in somebody’s special day is the most enjoyable moment for me.
INE: To what charitable, community and professional groups do you belong and why?
TR: Mint To Be Events is a facet of Boston Sound and Light Company. While I’m married to the person that runs BSL, we are the “sister” company that manages all of the events for them; from the coordination of staff, equipment, and finances, Mint To Be Events is sort of the behind the scenes entity in the organization of our involvement in the community. I have been involved with groups like Saheli, St. Judes, Pratham and many more.
INE: What are your hobbies and interests?
TR: By degree, I’m an electrical engineer, and as I how I got into weddings is beyond me. But my inspiration and excitement comes from how our customers find inspiration in their weddings and force me to learn of their taste. The research we put in to find exotic places, to drafting color schemas to match clothing to décor, to trying different foods – I’m learning new things every day. Take for example; I am currently working on two weddings in 2020, where one is based in Madrid, Spain and the other one in Morocco. To learn the local language, to research how we can fit the clients needs with the local options, to plan a masterpiece wedding…for our clients its their dream, but it is also like I’m living in a dream too.
INE: In what way you feel you have most positively influenced or served the local community or your company/organization and professional field?
TR: I’m honest in saying that I’m far from a person who should even be considered a nominee for Woman of the Year. It’s not something I even want, because I feel I have a lot more to prove before standing with the other 19 women here, and standing in front of several other women who weren’t nominated for this special award. Life to me is to do my job, stay behind the scenes, and be able to have dinner with my family, that’s really it.
Mint To Be Events is also not a non-profit organization, so we are genuinely working to earn our keep. However the premise and importance of wedding planning is what I feel is my greatest achievement in this community. I started wedding planning professionally nearly 10 years ago. There was no other Indian wedding planner at the time. My goal simply was to be a voice for the bride, and the pressures that came with it. I was newly married then, and I wasn’t able to share my feelings with anybody, and being American born, I barely understood half the customs and cultures and nonsense the was involved in planning weddings. Ideally, I just wanted to bridge a gap between a bride’s biggest moment and balance that to the Indian and American customs of things. And that is my most positive influential characteristic.
INE: What is the most pressing issue that you believe women are facing today?
TR: There are quite a few but again I’m not going to pretend to be an expert at all of them. I can only relate this to my field, weddings and events. Lately the trend has been a fusion of weddings, where Indians are marrying non-Indians, and rightfully so. The issue I find in this trend however is that our beautiful Indian culture and customs may get lost in this transition.
Every bride wants a fusion, they want to wrap the ceremony up in an hour when it should take 3, they want to get out of their lengha to be in their “western gown”. My observation is that women are trying to shy away from what made them Indian and become something that they are not. There has to be a way to balance the two.
INE: What is your rare talent that people don’t know about?
TR: I make an amazing Tiramisu. There is probably nobody better than I in making that dessert.
INE: What are your favorite books?
TR: In my business, we don’t really do books, we are more into magazines. The only books I am reading right now are for my 6 year old, and I am rather fond of “Diary of a wimpy kid”. I used to be addicted to romantic novels. As for magazines I love reading the Premiere Bride, Wedding Style, Martha Stewart Weddings, Destination Weddings and Honeymoons.
INE: What are your favorite quotes that motivate you or make you smile?
TR: While at weddings we have the luxury of hearing all types of quotes, so there is no favorite per say. But a couple weeks ago our bride was thanking her family and her new husband and she claimed “Live for the moments you can’t put in words”. That is my current favorite.
INE: Who inspires you the most?
TR: The obvious answer are my “brides”. But truthfully it is my son, Keshav. Sometimes as we grow older we shift our ways to norms. Keshav teaches me to have fun sometimes, and to be able to find my inner self again. His innocence and enthusiasm makes me smile throughout the day, and I hope to implement some of that same innocence again in everything I do.
INE: Who is the one person you would like to meet and why?
TR: In the wedding world, especially local, I would love to meet Bryan Rafanelli. He is one of the top wedding planners in the world. So often when we do luxury events in Boston, I’m often competing with his services, but what he doesn’t know is how much I look up to him and his work. I have goals of making Mint To Be Events as big as his business.
INE: What are your core values that you try to live by?
TR: My core value is rather simple. Work each day to support yourself, your dream, your family, but none of it is worth it if you can find time to have dinner around your dining table with your family. Family is by far the most important thing, and if we aren’t around the dinner table each night, then something I’m doing is blatantly wrong.
