Fayeza and Himanshu had a love that transcended cultural differences and long distance. Though they had to wait a long time before they could get married, their wedding was a blast with tons of dancing and beautiful outfits.
We talked to Fayeza about her wedding day:
Tell us about what it felt like getting married.
Our wedding was a dream come true for us. We are high school sweethearts. Himanshu is a Hindu Punjabi and I am a Muslim Bengali. We had many cultural and religious barriers that we had to overcome in order to get married to each other. We waited 10 years to get permission from our parents to be finally married.
He joined the US Air Force after high school and I attended Law school in Michigan. It was always a long distance relationship for us due to our career choices. Yet, we never for a day broke up. We knew in order for us to be together we had to become something in life.
What was the wedding like?
We got married in a traditional muslim Nikah ceremony on March 8th, 2014. Our Nikah was very intimate and we had very few people in our guest list. 3 months after our Nikah Himanshu got deployed to Middle East. Both families wanted a big wedding so we decided to have the mehndi and reception ceremonies next year after Himanshu gets back from the middle east.
Our mehndi ceremony was a traditional Bengali Haldi/Mehndi ceremony. It took place in Antuns by Minar. My mother made the haldi with turmeric and sandalwood from scratch. We sat down and had all the guests apply tumeric on our forehead as blessing for our new life ahead and afterwards the guests fed us sweets to wish us luck in our future life ahead. We also had a Punjabi dhol player at our mehndi. Guests were doing Bhangra with the rhythm of his dhol. We had a mix of Punjabi and Bengali food on the menu.
What was the reception like?
Our reception was an elegant affair. Himanshu and I always wanted a proper ballroom type of wedding so we pickd Jericho Terrace as our venue. Our guests were welcomed with strawberries and champagne and escorted to a beautiful garden style cocktail room. We had over 25 different types of Italian, Indian and American dishes on the menu. After the cocktail hour guests were taken to the elegant penthouse room which had a glass ceiling.
What was the inspiration for your wedding?
“Love can conquer anything.” We went through 10 years of obstacles in order to just get married to each other. So, we really wanted to let the world know through our wedding that love can conquer religious and cultural boundaries. It was an amazing feeling to see both families getting together and blessing us for our life ahead of us.
My favorite part of the wedding was after our first dance Himanshu looked at me and told me “Fayeza, WE DID IT! WE SHOWED IT THE WORLD!”
What 3 words of advice do you have for future brides and grooms-to-be?
Do not stress.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful events with us, Fayeza. We wish you and Himanshu all the happiness in the world.
Vendors:
Bridal Outfit: Nazranaa
Nikah Venue and Caterer: Cotillions
Mehndi Venue and Caterer: Antun’s by Minar
Reception Venue and Caterer: Jericho Terrace
DJ: DJ Gudah
Photographer and Cinematographer: Camrafair Studio
Stage and Decor: Exclusive Events
Makeup For Mehndi Ceremony: Romana Ali
Bridal Henna: Tamanna
Makeup for Reception: Maliha Khan
