From celebrities to mouth-watering Awadhi cuisine, there was every thing grand about the wedding of Shaad Ali, the young director of Bollywood blockbuster "Bunty Aur Babli".

Other than Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmad Khan and his wife, who arrived two days earlier to participate in several pre-wedding rituals, there were three leading stars from Mumbai's tinsel world and also businessmen, including Tata Sons bigwig J.J. Irani in the wedding ceremony of Shaad and Shamzeen Saturday evening.

While Vivek Oberoi, who played the lead in Shaad's first hit "Saathiya", was among the early arrivals, Saif Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan with his mom Jaya joined in later. They not only mingled with the crowd, but also went around the exquisitely decorated and well-lit Taj Residency Hotel, which was virtually taken over by the wedding of the season.

Ajay Devgan, Rani Mukerjee, who were expected to attend the function, did not turn up.

The large and impressive gathering, which included the who's who of Uttar Pradesh, also missed Rekha, the leading lady of "Umrao Jaan" made by Shaad's father, Muzaffar Ali. Governor T.V. Rajeshwar, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, his man Friday Amar Singh and Sahara India chief Subrata Roy were part of the celebrations.

Shaad's blue-blood lineage from the erstwhile princely state of Kotwara attracted many from what is known as the royal families of Awadh. His mother Subhashini Ali, a well-known woman activist, trade union leader and former MP of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, received all the guests along with her freedom-fighter mother, Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, a one-time associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Shamzeen's maternal uncle Wajahat Habibullah, a bureaucrat who is the country's Chief Information Commissioner and hails from Lucknow, played host for the bride's side together with his octogenarian mother Begum Hamida Habibullah, a former Congress minister.

Rizwan Ahmad a well known chef for authentic Awadhi cuisine was specially hired to provide the special flavour to the lavish spread - that included quite a few recipes from the kitchen of Lucknow's famous 19th century Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah.

The vast range of kebabs included Galawati, Pasanda, Kakori and Boti. Among the other dishes were Lagan Raan, Machli Mussallam and Murg Korma, to name a few. And the variety of breads included the rare Sheermal, Bakar-khani, Afghani roti, besides the usual roomali and nan.

For the thousands who attended the grand affair, it was a dream evening.