Hello fellow wedding aficionados! Sorry for the interim, but we’re back with more bloggers for our BLOGGER WEEK SPECTACULAR. After our US-based bloggers, Anam & Zahra, and the lovely Sharn in the UK, we make a trek to India for the blogger Roli’s crazy Indian wedding (pun intended)!
Roli Gaur Vashisht is the founder of the Crazy Indian Wedding blog. She graduated with a degree in Fashion Design from the ever-famous NIFT-Mumbai. Yep, NIFT, like the sister school of the one attended by designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Manish Arora. While working with leading designers in the Indian fashion scene, this little lady got married and started her own label. Talk about beauty and brains!
Who is ‘Crazy Indian Wedding’ aka Roli Gaur Vashisht?
1. If you could describe yourself in three words, then what would they be?
Crazy, Traditional and Unwritten
2. What was the inspiration for your blog?
My own wedding! The blog basically just started to keep me sane from all the wedding madness. It was my safe place where I could store all my memories, I have absolutely no idea how it grew so popular. But when I saw other people were reading, I felt very encouraged!
Pre-Wedding Details:
Engagement: Our Engagement occurred on 18th March and I had met my husband only twice before! We had a typical traditional arranged marriage and if I had to redo it I won’t change a thing ? Our engagement was held at The Lalit, Delhi. I was wearing a lehenga from Frontier Raas and Makeup was done by Ramita (she works only with clients she knows personally). Post engagement it was all hectic shopping and planning till 8 months later the final functions started, it was during this period that the blog was born.
Tilak: On November 22nd, we had the tilak function at the Executive Club in Delhi. After the function, there were Ghazals and dance performances by both sides of the family.
Fun Fact: I told my husband and my in-laws that I don’t dance at all and will not be performing at all, while I secretly prepared for one. On the day of the event the shock on their faces was priceless! My beautiful lehenga was from Frontier Bazaar.
Haldi and Mehendi: That day was super fun! A day before the wedding, I got up early and we held the Haldi ritual at home. In the evening, we had our mehendi event in our local club with a DJ and loads of performances and dancing! We had a sound proof hall, which meant that we could easily dance away the night without any fear of noise complaints. It was also my parents’ wedding, so we celebrated that as well. What an auspicious occasion to celebrate the start of your wedding! I designed the lehenga that I wore that day.
Wedding Deets:
Roli and Varun were married on November 24, 2012 in Delhi, India with a traditional, Hindu wedding ceremony and reception. Roli has provided us with an exclusive description of the festivities that took place below!
According to Roli, “The morning of the wedding was a mix of emotions and truly the day was over too soon, as so much was going on! I really can’t explain it much better than this post I originally wrote.”
1. What did shopping for your wedding entail? Did you have any absolute musts in your quest for outfits, décor, and jewelry?
I had a HUGE list! Every single thing I wanted to buy must either have a reason or should be traditionally connected to our roots. It was the other way around as well, everything traditionally the bride must have also became a must have in my list.
2. What was your inspiration for your outfits? How did you find “the one” for your wedding day?
My wedding inspiration was my mother. I’ve dreamt of looking as beautiful as my mother on my wedding day since I was little girl. I had been searching really long for my lehenga and I wanted one, which was super traditional with gota work and zardozi. It was very difficult to find, as no one wears that style these days. When I finally found it at Frontier, I could not keep my eyes off of it! I was in absolute LOVE with it! In fact, when I tried it on, I danced around the shop!
*We love brides and their happy dances!
3. What was your inspiration for the colors or themes in your events?
I wanted everything absolutely traditional!
4. What was your favorite/most memorable part of the wedding? And what was your least favorite part?
Oh my god, there are so many favorite parts, but if I had had to choose… I guess my absolute favorite part would be when my brothers lifted my husband up from the raath. This had been a dream of theirs since childhood. I felt so emotional at the moment. I had grown up with my brothers and now they were taking on this responsibility that signified a change in our dynamic. We had always been like kids in the family and then I became the first to get married in our group. Everything suddenly felt so different.
The moment I would list as the least would be my father crying during the vidai. I don’t think I need to explain why.
5. If you could go back and re-do one part of your wedding, what would it be and why? (or did you love everything as is)
I loved every single part of my wedding; it was crazy, fun, traditional, full of love, and exactly how I wanted it!
6. How did you plan all these beautiful events without going crazy?
Oh I went totally crazy! The ‘Crazy’ in ‘Crazy Indian Wedding’ is me.
7. What is your advice for other brides-to-be?
Do everything you ever dreamt of for your wedding, these days will not come back!
8. What was it like seeing your husband for the first time on your wedding day?
He looked like MY prince, I couldn’t be happier!
*Cue Aww-ing!
9. What piece of advice would you like to offer newlyweds based on your years of experience?
Accept this fact early on: there will be changes in your life and your lifestyle. While it’s also true that it shouldn’t be just you who makes all the compromises, sometimes you might have to adjust more than your partner. There is nothing wrong in this! It’s YOUR life and YOU chose to share it with your husband. So YOU need to work towards making your marriage a happier place for both of you.
Keep up with Roli on Social Media!
Blog: http://www.crazyindianwedding.com/
Facebook: Crazy Indian Wedding
Twitter: @crazyindianwedd
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/crazyindianwedding
Vendors:
Photography: Anjali’s
Decorator/Caterers: www.mantraevents.in
Groom’s Sherwani: MohanLal and Sons
Bride’s Wedding Attire: Varmala lehenga- Frontier Bazaar, Vidai-wali Saree- Chabbra
For more details on her Crazy Indian Wedding, click here.
Stay tuned for more fabulous Blogger Wedding Spectacular features this week!