Happy Monday lovelies! We know it’s the beginning of the week, and so we’re bringing to you a wonderfully colorful and happy wedding from the hill station of Lonavala, Maharashtra.
Charishma and her beau had a multicultural wedding celebrating both their families’ traditions, Maharashtrian and Sindhi, along with fusion elements (like an awesome photo booth).
Anyway, we’ll let her share her week of wedding festivities with us!
Tell us about the wedding!
After a lot of convincing, discussion and consideration, we decided to celebrate our big day at the Lagoona Resort, Lonavala. There was a lot done following the bookings: air tickets, decoration, mehendi artists, DJ, food menu selection, transport from Mumbai to Lonavla for both the sides, room allocations, return favors, color themes. The list was endless, but with a whole lot of coordination and attention to detail from the family members made it look easy. There were four functions: Mehendi, Engagement, Vedhi, Reception.
The Mehendi was by far the most fun occasion at the wedding. When the guys side arrived at the door they were welcomed with a dhol. After the usual greeting and welcoming the groom, friends stopped him from moving forward, claiming that the bride should come and receive him. What followed was the groom being snatched by the bride’s side and a whole lot of “”cheena jhapti”” . Needless to say the bride’s side won and he was almost “”carried”” to the swing where the bride sat.
The Engagement party was themed teal and gold. From the cake, decor and our outfits, all were coordinated. The ring exchange and cake cutting was followed by a fun session at a photo booth, where friends and family posed with funny quotes. Looking back at the pictures everyone has a great time even today. Cocktails and dinner was accompanied by non-stop dancing which carried on through the early hours in the morning.
The morning of the wedding started on a peaceful note but was followed by a lot of confusion. While a “”saath sun”” pooja was going on for the bride in her suite, a “”seemanth pooja”” was simultaneously going on in the mandap for the groom. After the saath sun the bride was supposed to get ready for the wedding and be at the mandap by 12:15 (mahurat time), but she was pulled into the haldi and seeman pooja ceremony which did not end up till 11:30. What followed was delay and more delay because my MUA would not hurry (which I liked). Finally the wedding started at 2:00pm.
The wedding was being conducted by a Marathi priest and a Sindhi priest. All the ceremonies were Marathi predominantly and wherever there was a ceremony which was not synonymous with a Sindhi one, the Sindhi pandit performed the necessary pujas.
What was the inspiration for your wedding?
The inspiration of the wedding was driven by the dilemma of whether the wedding should happend at Mumbai or Calcutta, the guy’s city or the girl’s city? With arguments, discussions and compromises coming into the picture, we decided to pick a destination which both families would be happy about. Lonavala it was! 😉
What was the hardest part about wedding planning?
The hardest part was that both of us were in the United States. One could do only so much planning and coordination over phone, Skype, and watsapp given the time difference. We would get only weekends when we could actually sit and discuss things at length with our respective families.
We did employ a wedding planner who helped us with booking and shortlisting resorts. Besides that, we used our own resources to secure the best pricing with vendors. That ended up being a lot of work but saved us a lot in the end.
What was your favorite part of the wedding?
My favorite part of the wedding was the photo booth at the engagement party. The messages on the boards and the masks were just “oh so perfect” !!
What advice do you have for future brides/grooms-to-be?
Do NOT get anxious about the little details that do not turn out as expected (NO ONE notices it) Instead enjoy each and every moment of the special day, it will NEVER come back.
Drink less alcohol and have at least six hours of sleep before the wedding. Sounds ridiculous but it is worth it because you dont want to be caught yawning at the mandap.
Always have a rehearsal dinner organized a day before all the functions start. Use this as an opportunity to make the two sides get introduced to each other. This will save the function from becoming an awkward party of ‘hi/hellos’.
{Wedding Vendors}
Photos : Nilansh Studio Photography, https://www.facebook.com/nilanshstudiophotography
Decoration : Tradition n Trendz
Grooms clothes : Manyavar, Zara, Express
Bridal : Swati Agarwal Couture, Mukhtaar, Kolkata, India
Bridal Jewellery : Indian Gem & Jewellery, Amrapali, Waman Hari Pethe