SO YOU have decided to tie the knot. In the Indian community this could mean anything from "he finally asked me" to "our parents finally gave us permission".

Before you know it you are planning your big fat Indian wedding and, whether it is a simple or extravagant one, you need at least six months to make your dream nuptials happen.

Unless you breathe the same air as the Ambanis, Mittals or Narayana Murthys, who would have an army to organise the wedding, the rest of us mere mortals, look to the wedding planners or do it ourselves with the help of Mum, Dad and the rest of the clan.

While it may not be on the scale of the National Day Parade, organising a wedding needs a proper plan; otherwise, instead of a beaming bride (like the way badminton star Saina Nehwal is seen on the right modelling wedding attire), you become a bridezilla.

Research, planning and communication are key factors to a successful wedding and to keeping the bridezilla at bay say brides who planned their big day.

Ms Ela Kumar, 35, who got married three years ago said: "Planning is a must, otherwise you will go crazy. You also need to keep an open mind because you are trying to make both sides happy and everyone has an opinion. Take it all in but you make the final decision."

Ms Preeti Dhillon, 26, who got married last month, added that patience and compromise are also key to preventing a meltdown.

"Something simple like choosing the wedding outfits could start a big argument - you could like the colour and he could hate it.

You have to keep calm and keep talking," she said.

Based on the advice of brides and wedding consultants, tabla! put together the six-month nuptial plan for the happy couple and a six-day strategy for the groom, tongue-in-cheek of course.

Good Luck!

>> What do you need to do before the big day?