Dearborn, MI Indian Wedding by Ravin Bhandari Photography

Feast your eyes on the beautiful Indian bride getting ready for her big day in Michigan, thanks to Ravin Bhandari Photography. Her traditional, bold makeup, filled with shimmery gold shadows & a ruby red lip, is beautifully executed by Todd's Room - who also styled Jaya's hair. I love the choice of the ruby & gold jewels she went with, which doesn't overpower her look, just compliments it. Frontier Raas was her one-stop shop in India that she found her red, gold & green lengha in. In fact, it was the very first lengha she tried on. Love at first fit is what that's called, ladies! As the bride gets ready, we see the man of her dreams being welcomed in at the baraat. The big moment is nearly approaching, but until then, see more of this special moment in the gallery!

From the bride, on the proposal:

"Vivek and I knew each other for almost 8 years before he proposed. I still can't believe he managed to pull of a surprise engagement! It started off about 5 months before the proposal: without telling me, he flew to Michigan to formally ask my parents for my hand in marriage. Fast forward 5 months: I traveled to Florida for a weekend to spend time with his family. Little did I know that his entire family was in on this secret. His mother insisted that Vivek take me to the Harry Leu Gardens in Orlando to see the special Azalia exhibit. We walked around the gardens until we reached what he called "lucky spot." He told me to make a wish, and then he got down on one knee and said, "you know what i wish for? I wish that you would marry me." Totally stunned, i replied "of course!" Then i saw cameras and found out that our entire trip in the Gardens was being video and audio recorded. Vivek had hired Alex and Samm from Imprint Cinema to capture our magical moment. In fact, he had spent several hours with them the weekend prior scoping out the perfect spot for our engagement memory checking out various sites in Orlando and preparing a special video. After this surprise, we went to dinner at Jiko restaurant. Still surprised by the earlier events, I was even more shocked to see my parents, sister, his parents, brother, and grandparents waiting for our arrival! It was an amazing weekend and memory that we shared with our whole family, just the way we would want it to be."

On the lenghas:

"Just like with the hairstyles and makeup, I looked at hundreds of lenghas in Indian bridal magazines and on Pinterest. I knew that i wanted a very traditional RED look, like Aishwarya Rai in Jodha Akhbar. I wanted a classic touch with golden embroidery and pearls, not the super shiny "diamond" look. on the first day we arrived in India for our shopping trip, we went to Frontier Raas - South Extension in Delhi. I was overwhelmed with the hundreds of beautiful lenghas they had on display as soon as we entered the shop. They were all so much more elaborate and vibrant than the ones I had saved on my iPad. Believe it or not, the very first lengha I tried on was the one I ended up choosing for the wedding ceremony, and the second one for the reception (after spending hours trying on others of course)!"

Ceremony shots are next!