Yesterday we featured Mohini and Vincent’s mehndi ceremony. It was colorful, personal, and oh so sunny.

Today we have their Hindu ceremony and reception. Mohini, from California, married Vincent, from France. They are such a sweet and happy couple, it’s hard to not fall in love with them!

Mohini shared her thoughts about the wedding.
Tell us a little about your wedding!
We got married Labor Day weekend 2011 at the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel. As we already had a Catholic, provencal style wedding in the South of France in May, we were also planning a traditional Hindu/Punjabi ceremony back in my home state of California to compliment our Franco-Indian/American couple.

What was the hardest part about planning the wedding?
The hardest part was planning the entire thing from abroad! I literally only had around a month and half while waiting for my fiancée visa in the fall of 2010 to get a wedding planner, book a venue, book a florist, get my wedding lenghas, pick a caterer and DJ, etc!

What was your most favorite part of the wedding?
My favorite part of the wedding was the ceremony. In our family there were three cousins (including myself) that got married and everyone who attended my ceremony said that it was one of the best Hindu ceremonies they ever witnessed. I think that had to do with the fact that I put my heart and soul into making sure the ceremony went off without a hitch.

From designing my custom-made birchwood mandap to making sure the ceremony pamphlets explained the significance of the various parts of a Hindu ceremony, I was adamant about having a peaceful, beautiful, Hindu ceremony.

It was very important to me to not have a ceremony like so many other indian weddings when no one is paying attention or eating samosas at round tables. With strongly spiritual parents and marrying a French boy, I wanted our love and respect of each other’s differences to be witnessed before God and our family and friends through the beauty of what is a Vedic ceremony.

How did you choose your bridal outfits and jewelry?
I had a very particular look in mind when it came to my bridal outfits and jewelry. I guess all that French style rubbed off on me as I was absolutely against anything ostentatious, which is pretty much EVERY Indian bridal outfit out there today! I started researching Indian designers, browsing Lakmé fashion week runways, looking at color patterns and materials, and finally found a boutique in Artesia, California where they have designer labels, but also custom-made bridal outfits.

You could say that my jewelry + look I was going for was Rajasthani chic with some inspiration from Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha Akbar.

If you could give advice to brides to be, what would it be?
Your perfect day will be perfect because you are getting married. I was the TYPICAL bridezilla, worried and stressing about everything going wrong and not according to plan, I was against a typical Indian wedding that mirrored chaos (I am very much an orderly person), and HAD to control any sort of drama that was going to occur on that day (could not, it actually spiraled out of control). The point is not to scare you future brides out there.

The point is to remind you of what’s important: the guy you are marrying and your family (my parents and two beautiful sisters). Everything else comes second and you know what, you are so insanely giddy that day that everything just comes second!

Now to photos! Thanks to Erin Leppo Photography for sharing.

{Wedding Suppliers}
Photographer: Erin Leppo Photography
Hair Stylist: LUX Aveda Salon/SPA
Caterer: Jay Bharat Foods
Invitations & Paperie: Paper Crew
Event Designer: At Your Door Events
Floral Designer: Commerce Flowers
Reception Venue: Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa
Cinema and Video: Winston Tao
Cake Designer: Vanilla Bake Shop
DJ: Special Occasions DJ & Lighting
Equipment Rentals: Found Vintage Rentals
Photo Booth Equipment: PictureThis San Diego

More inspiration and ideas:

Filed under: Featured South Asian Weddings by Preeti