We’re on Cloud 9 after witnessing the gorgeously captured Indian wedding of Divya and Viral. The snaps by Purva Productions have us fantasizing of our own ultra romantic Bollywood bash. We have to admit that our favorite photos always contain a fully decked out Maharani bride, because we can’t get enough of the fashions and adornments involved in South Asian celebrations. But our absolute fave accessory is always the bride’s dazzling smile. We love it when the main Maharani’s personality pops off the screen, and lovely Divya exuded joy and bubbliness in every frame. What a sweetheart! Divya resembled a doll as she was festooned in her red lehenga, golden jewels, and sultry makeup by Bridal Rang by Samiha. In our next post, we’ll dive into Divya and Viral’s sensational Indian ceremony at the Hilton Huntington/Long Island which was festooned with the best and brightest decor by House of Dipali and orchestrated with care by One Events Management. Wait until you catch a glimpse of the grand, wisteria lined mandap! We can’t wait to watch all the live action footage captured by the talents at Lucid Lens. In the meantime, we've collected all the images by Purva Productions in the full gallery for you to enjoy. And while you wait, scroll below for our fun interview with Maharani Divya!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
On October 10, 2012, Viral and I met through mutual friends near school. I was out with my friends after a long day of studying and Viral was out with his friends for a birthday celebration. Throughout the night, Viral kept injecting himself into my conversation with others! Normally, I'd walk away from someone like that but he was so funny and charismatic, I couldn't ignore him. He made some jokes, we talked about sports, and that was that.
The next day, he added me on Facebook. Chatting on Facebook led to exchanging numbers and exchanging numbers led to dating. But because I'd never been in a relationship before and didn't feel ready, we decided to remain friends.
On April 23, 2013, everything changed. Viral and I were on the phone talking about the future of our friendship. We knew we liked each other so we couldn't go on as just being friends. So, because I still wasn't sure I was ready for a relationship and being friends was too hard, Viral suggested we stop talking to each other for a little while. I broke down crying at the very thought of not being able to talk to him. In that moment, all my hesitations disappeared and I asked him to be my boyfriend. He said yes and we've been inseparable ever since!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
Viral and I were off from work every Wednesday so we had a standing weekly date. Normally, since Viral is from New Jersey and I'm from New York, we'd meet in Manhattan, have our date, and go our own ways. However, February 17, 2016, things played out a little differently.
Firstly, Viral came all the way from New Jersey to Long Island, New York, to pick me up for our date in Manhattan. In hindsight, I should've realized something was up but I figured he was just being nice. When we got into the city, we went to see a Broadway show I'd been talking about for weeks. Little did Viral know, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," wasn't exactly the most romantic play but we enjoyed it and headed to our next destination. Viral knew I loved the banana pudding at Magnolia's so we grabbed two cups and walked to Rockefeller center. When we got there, we ate and talked about how happy we were with each other as we waited for the elevator for the Top of the Rock.
When we got to the top, he suggested we take a picture since the view was so beautiful. I asked someone to take a photo of us and as she started to hand the phone back to me, Viral asked her to take another and suggested we pose for this one. As I was thinking of my pose, he got down on one knee. He asked me to marry him and I said yes over and over as the crowd cheered. I can honestly say it was our best weekly date ever!
Tell us how you went about planning your wedding, and your overall experience with the Venues, Hair & Makeup, Outfits, Decor Theme, and all of the other important details.
Decorations: House of Dipali did an amazing job with our decorations. Viral and I arrived to our first appointment with blank faces when Devina asked us what we were looking for. The only thing we knew was that we didn't want jewel tones. She spent hours with us during our first appointment, picking our brains and drawing out exactly what was in our minds. With each appointment, she perfected every aspect and ran it by us so there were no surprises come the time of the events. Till this day, my husband and I are still receiving compliments on our decorations.
Food: Bukhara Grill was an easy choice for us. They already did my brother's wedding in July of 2014 with rave reviews from all his guests. When it came time to pick food for our garba, ceremony and reception, we didn't have to think twice about our choice.
Outfits: I purchased my mehndi outfit from Asmairaa in Chattarpur, New Delhi. Their wide selection of unique pieces made it easy for me to choose my outfit in one setting. Viral's mother bought my garba outfit from Mumbai. I was nervous because I'm very picky but the outfit she chose was spectacular and received much praise. I purchased my ceremony outfit from Frontier Raas, a shop we knew we'd find at least one outfit in because of their large variety and excellent execution when it comes to customization. My mother picked out a blue velvet lengha that they were able to transform into the red and gold lengha I always imagined. Finally, I had saved a Shyamal and Bhumika outfit months before I traveled to India. Because I wasn't visiting Mumbai, I had to abandon the idea of getting the lengha I had saved for so long. I looked and looked for a comparable lengha with no success. Eventually, I decided on going with my dream lengha and did everything for it through Whatsapp. The lengha was sent just two weeks before the wedding but fit perfectly and looked amazing. I was so nervous to do the whole outfit virtually but Shyamal and Bhumika made it so easy.
Venues: Akbar Restaurant is a staple in our family so when we thought of where to do the mendhi, no other venue came to mind. Meanwhile, the Hilton Melville/Huntington was the setting for the remaining events of garba, ceremony and reception because the space and location was convenient for our 450 guests.
Hair & Makeup: I don't usually wear makeup so I was very picky when it came to my hair and makeup artist. I didn't want the look to be too dramatic so I browsed Instagram for weeks looking for the artist who would listen to me and do the effortless look I was looking for. Eventually, I came across Samiha Alam. The photos of her clients were so beautiful so, even without a trial, I decided to go with her. She arrived on time, finished on time and did an amazing job. The makeup wasn't too dramatic but helped elevate my features. Because of her, my pictures and video came out great!
Photography: Purva Productions is amazing! When I first met Rishi at our engagement party, I was a little hesitant. He was younger than I was so I felt like he wasn't experienced enough but Viral swore by him. When we got our pictures for our engagement party and engagement photo shoot, I was shocked. The pictures looked amazing. So when it came time to decide on our wedding photography, no other name came to mind. He and Unmesh captured the most beautiful moments, staged and candid. They did an amazing job!
Videography: Lucid Lens was suggested to us by Rishi with Purva Productions. Dan was so friendly from the moment I met him. The best part about this company was how invisible they were. Sometimes you have the large cameras rolling around on the dance floor, getting in people's ways with bright lights but you could hardly notice Daniel. We were almost worried there wasn't going to be enough footage at the end of the day because we never saw him work. We ended up getting some of our video back and were pleasantly surprised with how much he was able to capture without us noticing him. And because people didn't notice him, everyone acted naturally and didn't tense up when the spotlight was on him. His small cameras and the way he worked helped make our videos look natural and beautiful.
Wedding Planner: Although I picked all the right vendors, who was going to make sure that everyone executed everything as planned and on time? Without Surbhi and her team at One Events, I don't think our wedding day would've gone as smoothly as it did. They didn't let us catch wind of any issues or delays to stress us out. They handled everything effortlessly!
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
In March of 2017, I traveled to New Delhi, India to find my dream wedding lengha. I went prepared with a Pinterest board so I knew exactly what I wanted. When I got there, though, I went store to store with no luck. Finally, one day, I went to Frontier Raas. My mother spotted a blue velvet lengha and told me that's the one. She sat there convincing me that it'd look amazing in red silk with gold embroidery but I just couldn't imagine it. She told me to trust her so I threw my hands up and said, "Fine. I trust you." I exited the store with butterflies in my stomach, nervous about the decision I just made. I had to wait till the end of April, just a month before my wedding, to see the finished product and let's just say, I'm glad I trusted my mom.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
As cliche as this sounds, the most enjoyable part of the planning process was the time I got to spend with Viral, his family and my family. Halfway into planning, Viral and I began new jobs that demanded much of our attention. Because we were so wrapped up in work, we saw our families and each other less and less. Having to make decisions for the wedding, though, gave us an excuse to leave work behind and just spend quality time with each other and our families. I'm almost thankful for the process because, no matter how stressful it was, it gave me my family time back.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Although our guests all point out different details when complimenting us on our wedding, it seems that everyone says that they loved the atmosphere.
Although the mendhi, was supposed to end at 12pm because everyone had work the next day, the guests stayed and danced until the the restaurant kicked us out.
Next, everyone found the garba especially fun. I am Hindu Punjabi so my family has never been to a garba before. They had so much fun learning how to do garba and raas and Viral's family had so much fun teaching them.
At the ceremony, our guests said they could feel the love in the room and loved that it was a traditional ceremony.
Finally, at the reception, guests said they had fun because there was something fun to do in every corner. Between the dance floor, the photo booth, and the scotch and cigar bar, people said they always felt entertained and had a blast.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Our first look. I often replay the moment Viral turned to see me and started crying. I already knew Viral was my soulmate and that he loved me but it's an overwhelming moment when you see the love of your life cry at the sight of you in a wedding dress. It's a moment I'll never forget.
For events other than your ceremony, please tell us as much as you would like about the decor, style, dances, and all the special details.
Mendhi: House of Dipali made the Akbar Restaurant ballroom look beautiful. Our color theme was green, purple and gold. I was worried it would look a little too much like a Barney theme but between the Moroccan lanterns, the beautifully constructed cart to display our party favors and the canopy for our mendhi station, the whole ballroom looked amazing. We kicked off the program with traditional sangeet songs, followed up by bridesmaid speeches and dance performances by my cousins. I was smiling ear to ear the whole time and couldn't wait to come off the stage to celebrate with everyone. After the program was finished, everyone broke out into dance. We announced dinner and even though everyone left the dance floor to eat, they all returned shortly with more energy to dance until the staff at Akbar had to kick us out.
Garba: The beautiful dances by Viral's family and speeches by Viral's groomsmen helped kick off our Garba. Since my family is Punjabi, we'd never really participated in Garba before. Viral's family pulled my family off their chairs though and taught everyone how to do Garba and Raas. I won't forget how happy everyone looked that night. Viral's family was amused watching my family attempt to dance and my family was laughing so much trying to learn. Eventually, though, we saw people leaving the dance floor and wondered why. We looked over to a corner of the ballroom where The Paanwala set up his station and saw more people on his line than the dance floor! Our guests enjoyed The Paanwala so much, they took flyers took book him for future events.
Reception: The reception began by family, bridesmaids and groomsmen dancing their way in to welcome us as husband and wife. We went straight into our first dance where we discussed the fact that we would be spending the rest of our lives together. That might be why we look so happy in the pictures! Next, we took our seats on the stage to listen to speeches from my brother, Tarun, my sister in law, Amrisha, my maid of honor, Puja and my bridesmaid and best friend, Bhumi. I promised myself I wouldn't cry at the reception but as they spoke about me and Viral, I couldn't help but to get emotional by the end of their speeches. After the speeches, I got up for my father daughter dance. We danced to "My Hero" by Mariah Carey, which may seem like an odd selection, but was actually the song my father and I danced to for my sweet sixteen nearly 10 years earlier. After about a minute, the DJ invited up the fathers and daughters in the room to join us. I didn't realize it was that unique to do that until people told me how emotional they got dancing with their fathers and how much they appreciated being included. Next came the big dance! At every family wedding, my cousins put on a big dance which everyone participates in. I understand that everyone is older and has other priorities and responsibilities than me but I was so happy to see that everyone was able to get together to put on an amazing performance for us. After the performance, Viral and I cut our beautiful (and delicious) cake made by Dortoni Bakery. The second part of the program belonged to Viral's family. We heard from Vinit, Viral's brother and best man, who took the room through our relationship and showed everyone how we got to this day, and his parents who thanked everyone for being here. Viral then joined his mother on stage for an emotional and moving mother son dance that brought everyone, including Viral, to tears. Now, the next part was supposed to be a groomsmen skit. About a minute in, I blinked my eyes and suddenly, Viral was no longer next to me. He jumped off the stage and joined his groomsmen for an amazing dance performance I will never forget. Not only did his family join the dance but Viral sang my favorite song, "Bholi Si Surat" for me. We kept up the energy from that performance by inviting everyone to the dance floor for a fun filled night. We kept the surprises coming by opening up the photo booth in the hallway, laying out desserts from Magnolia's Bakery, and setting up a scotch and cigar bar on the patio outside.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
This is going to sound cliche but don't lose sight of what all this is planning is for. Everyone, including myself, stresses out about every little detail. The truth is, everything might not pan out the way you imagined. But don't forget, no matter how the day goes, you still get to marry the love of your life and that's what matters.
The ceremony begins in our next post!
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