The couple left no stone unturned to make their reception a grand one.

While the wedding was conspicuous by its absence of star power, Tuesday’s party at Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt was something else.

The evening kicked off with arrival of the stars and the grand entry of the newly weds who were accompanied by family members.

Shilpa walked in hand-in-hand with Raj for her reception. She looked her best in a gold sari gown designed by Tarun Tahiliani.

TT has designed all of Shilpa’s wedding outfits. The matching diamond and ruby jewelry flaunted by Shilpa has been designed by Anmol Jewelers. Raj looked dapper in a black sherwani.

In his new avatar as Shilpa’s husband, Raj appears to be at ease in front of the camera. Check out the couple as they pose for the media. Raj appears to match Shilpa’s grace. Media reports say the couple ensured the guests were well looked after.

The frenzy outside the hotel made it clear that this was going to be a star studded night.

Shilpa’s sister Shamita looked pretty in an embroidered blue sari.

Shilpa’s co-star in Dus and Phir Milenge Abhishek Bachchan couldn’t make it. But his gorgeous wife Aishwarya Rai and father Amitabh more than made up for his absence.

It seems the Bachchans and the Kundras are going to be neighbours as Shilpa and Raj are moving to Juhu, a suburban area in Mumbai where Amitabh Bachchan’s famous building Jalsa is located.

Shilpa’s very first co-star in Baazigar Shah Rukh Khan also made it to the party with his wife Gauri. The two didn’t stay long though.

The whole Sanjay Khan family made their presence felt including Sanjay, wife Zarine, daughter Suzzane, son-in-law Hrithik Roshan and son Zayed, and daughter-in-law Malika.

Kangana Ranaut looked very pretty in a pink sari. Both Kangana and Shilpa have worked in Life In A Metro.

Rekha and Jaya Pradha looked like twins in similar gold saris. Jaya who is Shilpa’s friend and co-star in their Indo-Chinese venture The Desire, gave her blessings to the happy couple.

Also present were Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar who wished the couple “a very happy married life”.

Filmmakers Farah Khan and Nagesh Kukunoor also made an appearance.

R Madhavan, whose 3 Idiots is due for release this December was spotted with his wife Sarita Birje at the party.

This season’s Bigg Boss evictee Tanaaz Irani came with her daughter Ziah. Another former Bigg Boss housemate, Monica Bedi also made it to the party.

Shilpa’s close friend Suniel Shetty conveyed his best wishes to the couple as did Govinda who came with wife Sunita and daughter Narmada.

Unlike the other guests who were dressed up to the nines, Jackie Shroff went the extreme opposite in faded jeans, white-shirt, black jacket, a green scarf and brown shoes.

Filmmaker Karan Johar and designer Manish Malhotra, both in black made a dashing entry together.

Starlets Priyanka Kotari and Sameera Reddy added oomph to the proceedings.

We spotted Rani Mukerji looking quite fetching in a pink and gold sari.

While we didn’t see Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson or Rajasthan Royals’ captain Shane Warne they were reportedly invited to the party we did catch glimpses of Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League IPL Lalit Modi, director Madhur Bhandarkar and wife Renu Namboodri, producer Sanjay Gupta, actress Suchitra Pillai and husband Lars Kjeldsen, designers Neeta Lulla and Tarun Tahiliani, businessman Ness Wadia, actor Vivek Oberoi and liquor baron Vijay Malya.

“Everything went very well. All parents want their children to get married happily and that goes the same for Shilpa’s parents as well. They are very happy,” said Kiran Bawa, Shilpa’s friend and business partner, after the wedding.

“Raj and Shilpa both were very nervous before the marriage but now they are happy. We are going straight to Raj’s house in Mumbai,” she added.

Wearing a red sari designed by Tarun Tahiliani, the 34-year-old exchanged vows with Kundra as per the Bunt tradition, according to the Mangalorean community that the Shettys belong to.

The groom was sporting a maroon sherwani with golden embroidery and a turban with his face veiled by a sehra (string of pearls). He was also holding a sword in his hand, as per Indian tradition.

Kundra left Amrit Villa, located about five minutes away from Bawa Villa, where the wedding was held, in a two-horse chariot.

Photographers scrambled to train their cameras at the goings-on while curious star-gazers were kept at bay by both private and police security.

Sunday’s wedding was the climax of the two-day festivities that included a sangeet ceremony Saturday night here.

The buzz around the marriage started early this year and had been steadily getting louder even though Shilpa denied it officially before getting engaged to Kundra late October.

Expected at the marriage were celebrities like the Bachchan family, Shah Rukh Khan and family, the Kapoors, Rekha, Farah Khan, Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, the Deols and Sushmita Sen.

However, noticed prominently on the occasion were only actors Rohit Roy, Jackky Bhagnani and Tahiliani.

Shilpa also delighted fans by posting a blog entry titled “This is it” on her D-day. “Thanks for all the best wishes from family and friends…Will write to you very soon… As Shilpa Shetty Kundra. This is it,” she posted on www.shilpashettylive.com/blog Sunday morning.

Shilpa met Raj after her win on the British reality show “Big Brother” in 2007.

Shilpa’s sister, actress Shamita who was participating in the third edition of “Bigg Boss”, withdrew voluntarily from the show to attend the wedding.

‘Raj is just so absolutely wonderful. He is so calm, intelligent and good-looking. There could be no one better than him for Shilpa. He is just so perfect. I also want a man like him in my life,’ Shamita told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

The 29-year-old actress was until now a part of the third season of TV channel Colors’ reality show ‘Bigg Boss’ and came to know of Shilpa’s engagement only a week back. She has now taken a voluntary exit from the show to be able to be with her sister for her last few days at home. The episode will be aired Saturday.

Shamita said: ‘It feels fantastic to be out. I am just so excited about Shilpa’s wedding. Oh my god! She is getting married. I want to go home, cry, hug and chat with her. She has sent me a picture of her engagement ring on my Blackberry but it’s very hazy. So can’t wait to see that.

‘We tell each other everything, so I know how difficult it must have been for her to get engaged without me around. But since I got to know about her wedding date, I wanted to be with her no matter what. Family definitely comes first for me.’

Shamita was also worried about the clothes she would wear for the wedding functions, but to her surprise, her elder sister had already taken care of it all.

‘I was so worried about who will stitch my clothes within 10 days and how I will manage it all. But I just spoke to Shilpa and she said she has organised a few options for me. So I’m very happy that I don’t have to start planning from scratch,’ she said.

Shamita says her respect for Shilpa, who won ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, the international version of the show in 2007 after facing racist remarks, has risen by leaps and bounds after her stint in ‘Bigg Boss’.

‘I have begun to respect Shilpa so much more. I haven’t even faced 50 percent of what she must have faced. She was in a different country, with people from different cultures – it must have been hugely different. I can’t even imagine how she went through all that,’ she said.

As for her own stay in the ‘Bigg Boss’ house, Shamita said: ‘It feels great and fantastic that I wasn’t asked to leave. But I felt sad that I had to leave the house. My stay was pretty okay but I didn’t have an option. I had to leave for Shilpa’s wedding.’