Specialties
Anila Keswani has been planning weddings for 30 years with the goal of bringing a client's vision to life. Anila is actively involved in everything from reviewing vendor contacts to planning and executing the rehearsal dinner, the wedding ceremony, and even the post-wedding brunch, to assure that everything goes as planned. "I love being challenged. I can never have enough back up plans." She is tactful, diplomatic, and a problem solver with abilities that are both unique to our culture and cross-cultural.
History
Established in 1999.
Anila Keswani and her son Anjay opened Nirvana Indian Cuisine in 1999 on Magazine St, which included a second floor private banquet room available for parties. The planning of these events as well as the off site catering led Anila to her new passion, planning weddings. She coordinates every aspect, from the food, flowers, and music to the wedding attire. Anila says, "Most Indian weddings are week-long events. I enjoy getting to know the families and doing everything I can to make every weddings special for the bride and groom. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make everything perfect."
Meet the Business Owner: Anila K.
In 1982, Anila Keswani and her husband Har G. Keswani opened their first restaurant, Taj Mahal, in Metairie. Their trip to Europe that year inspired their venture into the restaurant business. After having been surprised with the number of Indian restaurants in the cities they visited, including one named Taj Mahal in Vienna, they knew they had to bring the flavors of their homeland to New Orleans. They opened Taj Mahal with a chef recruited from India, and they went from there. Anila Says, "Not that either of us knew what we were doing, but food had become our passion, so we worked very hard to make it a success." They later opened Keswani's Indian Cuisine (1985-1989) in Uptown Square and Shalimar Indian Cuisine (1994-2000) in the French Quarter.
In 1999, Anila and her son Anjay opened Nirvana Indian Cuisine on Magazine St., which included a second floor banquet room. The planning of these events as well as the off site catering led Anila to her new passion, planning weddings.
