Traditional notes, cozy intimacy and pops of red dominated this South Indian wedding in Colorado. Bride Gouri submitted her lovely wedding in the hopes that it can help other Colorado (who doesn’t have a large South Asian population) Indian brides plan their big day!
We asked bride Gouri about her big day.
Tell us about the wedding.
We had a beautiful wedding on May 22nd in the newly built Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies in Centennial, Colorado, and wedding reception on May 23rd at the Denver Botanical Gardens. My family is from Bangalore, Karnataka, and my husband’s family is from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Our wedding was done in a traditional South Indian style up until the Kannyadhaana (giving away the bride) portion, where we mixed in the North Indian customs. We felt incredibly special as the first wedding in the newly constructed Hindu Temple in Colorado! Our wedding reception was more of a Indo-American fusion, with traditional Western aspects like the wedding cake, and father-daughter dance. We had an incredible backdrop of the Denver Botanic Gardens, which was just beginning to bloom for our wedding. My husband and I as well as my whole family, are “nature people” and it was the perfect fairytale venue for the reception.
What was the hardest part about planning your wedding?
I grew up in Colorado, so it was incredibly important to me to be married in the place that meant the most to me. At the time, however, I lived and worked in Arlington, Virginia and my husband lived in State College, Pennsylvania. Trying to plan a wedding from across the country was truly a challenge, and meant many more phone calls, emails and trips home. It took a lot of coordination, and I’m lucky that my parents helped so much with every small detail. I wouldn’t have done it any other way!
It was also somewhat difficult to get everything needed for an Indian wedding in Colorado. Unlike places like Virginia and New Jersey, it takes a lot more effort to do small things, like get an Indian caterer for the event, or find someone who can do the mehendi. It was a challenge, but I think that I found some incredible vendors in the process, for many of whom this was the first Indian wedding that they’d been a part of. It was a lot faith in people who had never been introduced to Indian weddings, but it came out wonderfully in the end!
What was your favorite part of your wedding?
There are so many parts of the wedding, it’s hard to say…but it was all such a dream come true. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be there, marrying someone I love in front of everyone I love—my parents and brother, my entire family including my grandparents, who came from across the country and the world for me, my friends from childhood and college and people who had been such a big part of my life! I’ve just never felt so full of happiness like I did in my wedding!
Thank you Sarah Roshan Photography for sharing these lovely pictures of Gouri and Rohit’s magical mountain wedding with us and all our love to the beautiful couple! Be sure to check out the rest of the pictures in the gallery below.
Vendors:
Makeup Artist: Chelsea Leigh
Cake Artist: Nancy Best
Florist: Family members
Wedding Planner: the bride
Mehendi: Hummingbird Henna
Photographer: Sarah Roshan Photography
Makeup Artist: Chelsea Garcia Beauty
