Mio Strong Women: Saheli Mirpuri

An award-winning wedding planner and female entrepreneur, Saheli Mirpuri is the women behind Saheli Events, award-winning luxury wedding planners based in London. Always the one to organise a birthday celebration for her friends, her university's social events and the occasional night-out, Saheli decided to take her love of planning and organising to the next level and create Saheli Events.

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As a young girl, my mum was only allowed to go out if her brothers were with her and although she studied and trained, she was married in her early 20s and told that, as a daughter, she didn’t need to work. Never in her life did she have her own bedroom or space, she only ever had one holiday that wasn’t with a family member and her dreams and ambitions came second to running the household. Despite her traditional upbringing, she never raised my sister and I to be moulded into ‘great housewives’. We were given the best education and both my parents constantly encouraged us to be independent and to follow our ambitions.

"I’ve been lucky enough to have 3 strong women in my life - both my grandmothers and my mother, but my mum is definitely my biggest inspiration."

In 2018, for the first time, my mum took up a job, simply because she wanted to keep herself busy. After years of living for someone else, she was finally able to gain that sense of independence you get when you’re earning your own money and having your own routine. Do you know how hard to is to suddenly start working at 50? We take our 21st century lifestyle for granted. We live in the era of feminism and ‘girl power’ so we’ve already had it easier because we already had a voice. Ladies like my mum didn’t have these opportunities. It’s women like our mothers who have allowed us to have a voice by making a change in the way they treat and raised us as daughters. Thank you Mum for believing in my dreams and pushing me to be the best me!

Where to find Saheli

@sahelievents @sahelimirps

Launched on International Women’s Day 2019, #MioStrongWomen is a campaign to celebrate Strong Women from across the globe and inspire a new generation. Join the conversation on Instagram and let us know, who are your #MioStrongWomen?