Aloha! We have a beautiful wedding from the island heavens of Hawaii. Kavita and Tejas were married last summer in the bride’s home state.
This is one of the weddings that took the beauty of the geography and married it to the wedding.
Since Kavita planned the wedding in just six months while living long distance, in Los Angeles, we had to ask her, how did she do it!
Tell us about your wedding!
After Tejas and I got engaged in January, 2011, we decided on a summer wedding of the same year. This meant that we had, give or take, six months to plan. Deciding the location of the wedding wasn’t too difficult.
We had two choices: India or Hawaii. While I would’ve loved to have a traditional wedding in India, I knew that many of our friends from the US would not be able to attend. With that in mind and the fact that I was born and raised in Hawaii, I decided that I would not want one of the most important days of my life to take place anywhere else.
Despite knowing that planning a Hawaii wedding from Los Angeles, where we live, would be that much more difficult, I knew that my mom would be there to help me out. And “help out” she did. She took it upon herself to make sure that my wedding would be perfect. The extravagant wedding that was a 3 day/4 event affair would not have been even remotely possible without my mom’s hard work, dedication, and sleepless nights.
Thankfully, there were three other major players helping us out every step of the way. My mom’s best friend, my mom’s sister, and my wedding planner.
The first event was the Mehndi function, which took place at my parents’ home in Kaneohe, Hawaii on July 7, 2011. With the gorgeous Ko’olau mountain range as the backdrop, Mira Savara Events transformed the backyard into a colorful and festive arena.
The second day was the Sangeet, which took place at the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 8, 2011. The lighting and color of the tableclothes were chosen to match the colors of my outfit. The centerpeices, which consisted of small silver instruments, were brought from India to represent the musical theme of the evening.
The final day, July 9, 2011, was the wedding and reception. We searched for a venue that would be elegant, yet historic. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was destined to be our pick. The color of the hotel (pink) matched the color of my outfit! I chose a pink lehnga for my wedding, because I didn’t want to go the traditional route of a red lehnga. A photograph on a wedding blog of a beautiful color combination of light and dark pinks was my choice for the color palette of the mandap and floral design. The wedding took place on the Ocean Lawn, facing the Waikiki beach shoreline.
Immediately after the ceremony ended, a short drizzle was followed by an auspicious double rainbow. I am confident that it was a blessing from above.
The reception also took place at the same hotel in the majestic ballroom named The Monarch Room.
I chose the fusia and silver colors of the tablecloths and lighting to match the colors of my reception outfit.
Our beautiful, Hawaiian wedding concluded with my vidai. I seemed to be having too good of a time being surrounded by my loved ones to feel any sadness; my brothers tried their best to make me cry by singing emotional songs. In the end, though, as I hugged by parents, brother, and sister-in-law, nothing could keep the tears from falling. The moment was bittersweet, as I bid farewell to my family, ready to start my new life.
What was your favorite part of the wedding?
Tejas: My favorite part of the wedding was the Baraat, because it was so much fun to be riding on a horse with family and friends dancing around me and being the center of attention.
Kavita: My favorite part of the wedding was walking down the aisle with all of my brothers surrounding me. It was amazing to see the beautifully designed mandap with the ocean in the backdrop and Tejas waiting for me at the mandap.
What was the most annoying part of wedding planning?
The most annoying part of wedding planning was the difficulty in finding certain vendors who had experience with Indian weddings and who would travel to Hawaii for a reasonable cost.
What three pieces of advice do you have for brides to be?
1. Cherish being the center of attention. It only comes once in a lifetime!
2. Start making a list as soon as possible of all possible choices for the different vendors. There should be ample time to talk to each one and narrow the list down so that there are no regrets later.
3. Make enough time to boogie down with your new husband on the dance floor! Also, try to make time to mingle with your guests. They’ll be happy to have some one-on-one time.
And now, for photos! Thanks to the talented Jihan Abdalla for these.
{Wedding Suppliers}
Photographer: Jihan Abdalla Photography
Videographer: IMF Visions
Wedding planner: Mira Savara
Floral/design/lighting for the wedding and reception: Yvonne Designs
Floral/design/lighting for the mehndi and sangeet: Mira Savara Events and Accel Rental
Design Makeup: Sabrina Sawhney
