Happy Wedding Wednesday lovelies! Today we are wishing the lovely couple Khushbu and Paras a happy eight month wedding anniversary. They got married on Sharad Purnima last year in Ahmedabad, India.
They truly had The Big Fat Gujarati Wedding!
One of my favorite things they did was to make a newsletter about their life, the wedding information, and stories from friends. It’s a great way to introduce your friends to the wedding events and share stories.
Khushbu shares her wedding story with us.
How did you meet?
I am from Mangalore, studied and worked in Bangalore and Paras is from Ahmedabad. Having been born and bought up down South, tying the knot with a person up North rather West-India (Gujarat – where my roots lie) was more than astounding!
Thanks to our parents, it was more of a love-cum-arranged wedding. We conversed for about four months before we first saw each other. Things didn’t click right away but we certainly knew we had a connection! And as we saw each other for the first time we already knew one another more than anybody else could ever imagine. We got engaged in Ahmedabad on Sharad Purnima (full moon day of the Hindu lunar month marking the end of monsoon, and the most auspicious day in the Gujarati calendar).
Like we often hear “Destiny has its own role to play.”
Tell us about the wedding!
On the day of the wedding, I took a stroll outside my cottage at 6AM. It was special to see the guests relish the morning mist with hot coffee/tea served in their cottages along with the wedding newsletters we created. As the day progressed, the guests proceeded for breakfast at the Pool Deck, following which were the auspicious Gujarati rituals known as ‘Panch Kori’ (‘Panch’ meaning five and ‘Kori’ meaning 25 paise) – Here, five elderly men in the family pass on to each other 5 coins of 25 paise each tied together in a pure white cloth indicating that they take pride in witnessing the holy matrimony.
And we had the ‘Chundadi’, where in the groom’s mother drapes a red saree/chunari on the bride’s head signifying her acceptance in the family. It is customary that a Gujarati bride wears a red & white saree called the ‘Panetar’ at the time of the ‘Mangal Pheras’. Hence the wedding theme had been centralized with red & white décor including mandap, flowers, furniture etc.
The ‘Grand Baraat’ termed as ‘Samayu’ in Gujarati stole the show for about two hours where in the groom’s family & friends danced to glory on the tunes of band-baja covering every walkway in and around Chouki Dhani premises. As per tradition, the bride’s mother greets and welcomes the groom at the entrance of the wedding hall with an aarti and then playfully tries to grab his nose (known as ‘ponkhvu’)! It is the official beginning of a Gujarati wedding (The quoted reason behind this ceremony is to remind the groom that he has come rubbing his nose at the girl’s doorstep asking for her hand in marriage).. In return the groom tugged his Mother-in-law’s saree pallu and wouldn’t leave until she promised to give him the desired gifts.. this custom is known as ‘Chero Pakarvo’!
I entered under a floral chaddar for the first garland exchange ceremony (‘jaimala’). and then returned to the cottage to await the main wedding ceremony. In the meantime, my father performed the ritual ‘Madhuparka’, where he washes the grooms’ feet with ‘Panchamrut’ (a liquid composed of five ingredients: Milk, Yogurt, Ghee, Honey & Sugar).
On the other side the bridesmaids tried stealing the groom’s shoes and the best men played games by having multiple sets of shoes in exactly identical boxes so as to confuse the bridesmaids!
Then the priest announced the arrival of the bride by saying ‘Kanya padharo savdhaan’ (also known as ‘Kanya Aagaman’- the bride is asked to come to the mandap for the main wedding ceremony). The grand entry was a magnificently decorated ‘doli’ carried by my brothers from my cottage to the wedding hall. My maternal uncles then escorted me from the doli to the grand mandap.
We then had the anthrapat, haste malap, pheras, saptapadi. Then there were the six women (three from each side) who blessed the bride by dropping rice grains in my ‘Aanchal’ and whispering in my ear ‘May your marriage prosper like the holy Gods & Godesses’ did’. Then came our favorite moment wherein Paras tied the blessed ‘Mangalsutra’ around my neck and applied the holy ‘Sindoor’ in my hair parting 🙂
As soon as the priest pronounced us married, we headed to the cottage to seek blessings from Lord Ganesh and then proceeded for lunch along with close family & friends (the ‘Pancholu’).
What was the hardest part of planning the wedding?
Well, to think of it, nothing was terribly difficult. My dad and I (with of course the help of my extended family) had started planning and finalizing every little detail (taking one thing at a time) ever since February 2013!
Probably though, the hardest part of planning the wedding was finalizing on the dates. We wanted the big day to come as early as possible, but we wanted Paras’ brother (who resides in US) to be able to make it to the wedding. We made sure we could find a date that he could come and was still auspicious.
What was your favorite part of the wedding?
Our favorite part in the wedding was the mangalsutra & sindoor rituals. If we were to take a pick of our favorite moment from the entire function, it would be the 1 minute 33 seconds of the song ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ on which we performed with absolutely no practice (as we hadn’t really met for about two months just before the wedding). It was a part of my stage performance where I walked down to the lawn from where Paras watching me and we performed on this piece together. Paras was totally surprised!
Anything else?
Having always dreamt of ‘A Big Fat Indian Wedding’, I am extremely thankful to my dad for making my dream come true and my family for having visited dozens of places while finalizing every little detail in making this event a grand success. And, of course my husband who’s the reason for it to have happened.
{Wedding Suppliers}
Photographer: Snapshot Studio (Munna Manek)
Email: snapshot.studio3186@gmail.com
Planner (Venue, Accommodation, Catering, Florist, Décor, Doli, Band & Event Management): Chouki Dhani, Rajkot
Email: info@choukidhani.com
DJ: Kapil Ashara
Email: kapil.ashara@gmail.com
MC: Tejas Shishangiya
Email: tejaajtak@gmail.com
Media partner: Jeel Entertainment
Cake – ‘Delicacy’, The Imperial Palace, Rajkot
Email: mail@theimperialpalace.biz
Wedding outfits
Wedding Saree: Vivaah – The Perfect Trousseau
Email: inquiry@vivaahsurat.com
Wedding Eve (Bride’s Ghaghra & Groom’s Shervani): Pooja Koshti, Tailor’s Point
Email: info@tailorspoint.com
Bride’s Choreographer: Pramod Alva (Ocean Kids Dance Academy)
Email: Alvapammi@gmail.com