Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Indian Wedding by Shaadi Story

Good morning, ladies! We hope you are ready to join us on a new love story because today's wedding is full of surprises and inspiring ideas that you don't want to miss. So let's check it out together! As mentioned before, today's wedding packs tons of surprises, and here we have the first surprise for you: We are going international! We'll be taking you on a visual journey to the Cyberview Resort & Spa in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to join Tanika & Chetan at their lovely wedding! And right from the bat, we have to say that we truly love every bit of this event, thoroughly planned, designed, and decored by Desi Events Malaysia! This talented and highly experienced team nailed the theme our lovebirds were looking for their big day, and they made it look so easy! Both our lovebirds embraced the evening's overall theme and wore soft-colored matching attires that made them look flawless. And we cannot stress how good they looked together! Still, it was our gorgeous Maharani who stole the show. She walked down the aisle, donning a fashionable lengha by Sawan Gandhi and rocking a glamorous hairstyle and makeup designed by Dave's Touch. To crown this dreamy look, she got dazzling pieces of jewelry from PP Jewellers, and an artistic Mehndi outlined by Nakreze Henna. Beauty and finery at its best! If you want to take a closer look at this unique wedding ceremony, don't forget to visit today's gallery by Shaadi Story. It is an absolute visual delight you don't want to miss!

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Chetan and I are 'childhood' sweethearts, to say the least! Together since a decade, we met by chance in one of our first jobs, and ended up together by choice. 

I joined the organisation in 2010 where I met Chetan, expected to co-share the space for everyday work - and believe me, it wasn't love at first sight! In fact, on the contrary, one of my first conversations with him started off on a wrong note. I remember the first day I was ushered into my work space, I had my belongings and office materials all over the space not knowing that I would be sharing the space. Rushed into an urgent meeting, I came back several hours later to an empty desk and belongings stowed away at one corner of the room like a heap of waste. Obviously, the sight of it sent me into a fit of rage which ensued into a huge argument, and I silently vowed to myself to never cross paths with this boy in this lifetime. Little did I know that I would be sharing a lifetime with him!

As time passed, I grew fond of his presence and his occasional gestures of care. Six months in this comfortable friendship, Chetan expressed his feelings for me. While I did have an inclination for him, the idea of an office romance would send shivers down my spine. But one evening and a Bollywood moment changed it all!

My parents live in Malaysia and I was going for a 15-day leave to meet them. That evening Chetan insisted to drop me to the airport. For most part of the drive, we were either silent or made small talk to avoid addressing the 'elephant in the room'. We soon reached the airport and I left him with a swift goodbye hug excited to go home. As I began to queue for the immigration, my excitement ebbed and I felt something amiss - I realised that I actually missed having him by my side. That moment I realised that I too had feelings for Chetan.

Without wasting a minute, I called to check if he was still around the airport. I rushed out of the immigration queue and stood near the entrance from where I could see him and confessed my feelings over the call!

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
I have never been a fan of over-the-top gestures and thus my proposal happened in an unexpected place and time, in an unexpected manner. Chetan was very clear in the first year of the relationship that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, and this translated into him walking into my workspace post work hours with a ring in his hand and on his knees. He mustered his courage and popped the question!

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.
Pulling off a wedding in less than three months was quite a task! And unlike most, we started with the venue hunt and then onboarded our wedding planner. We chanced upon our venue, Cyberview Resorts and Spa, and what caught onto us was the lush landscape and a small waterbody amidst. Once this was decided, we selected our wedding planner, Desi Events Malaysia, from thereon, they took over. Mostly everything was arranged singlehandedly by them including the hair and makeup, decor theme, mehendi, DJ, food catering. They were simply a boon!

How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I am a complete simpleton when it comes to my sartorial choices. Despite the occasion, I would be caught dead in bling! Thus, keeping my aesthetic sensibilities in my mind, I knew a soft pastel lehenga with tone-on-tone subtle thread embroidery would be the ideal choice. I fell in love with the Sawan Gandhi pastel lehenga from the very first moment I saw it and it was exactly what I had in mind from the design to the color combination.

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The shopping, hands down! With only three months in hand to plan a wedding in Malaysia, me and my mother (she has been the only support throughout this process) had a task at hand to shop absolutely everything from India and ship it back within time. Right from our outfits and jewellery for the four functions, to the wedding favours - everything was handpicked exclusively by me and my mother

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
The decor and my wedding outfit!

The mere fact that we managed to pull off an intimate yet a grand Punjabi wedding in Malaysia astounded my guests from both, India and Malaysia, alike. Each function had a specific theme to it and our wedding planner ensured that the guests are immersed in an experience that they will take back with them even after the wedding, without burning a hole in our pockets!

Also, our guests loved how intimate the wedding was. We ensured that the functions weren't overtly choreographed and that everyone has a chance to participate and have their moment. Even our not so close friends felt this to be like a 'ghar ki shaadi'!

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Oh! There were plenty! But if I were to narrow them down to just one, then it would be Chetan's surprise performance/entry with a dhol on our cocktail/sangeet!

Since the entire wedding was in Malaysia and Chetan's had to travel back forth between the countries juggling work and wedding preps, it did not leave us with much time in hand to prepare a couple performance. The ad-hoc dance on our entrance to the event on 'tan tana tan tan tan tara' (which ironically is our wedding hashtag too) was the only performance we could give.

However, post the performances from friends and family on the night - the emcee announced about a special performance that was dedicated. Confused I turned look at the entrance and saw Chetan and his best man/best friend walking in strapped with dhols and playing popular beats. My hands flew up to gaping mouth to see him performance like a complete rockstar, stealing the show  that night.

P.S. Chetan learnt dhol in flat1 5 mins a night before our cocktail/sangeet function

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.
We tried to keep our wedding short with just 4 main functions i.e. Mehndi, Sangeet, Haldi, Wedding. The over-arching theme of the wedding was classic modern, with water body being a dominant feature incorporating the ‘chi’ of water.

The first function, Mehndi was a combined one for us and the colour theme was green and yellow for both of our families. We wanted to bring alive the spirit of a quintessential ‘Udaipur mehndi’ and thus we had an elegant umbrella theme with lots of colourful drapes, pillows, cushions, and lanterns. We also had massage area for the men while the ladies were busy with their henna sessions.
The second function was Sangeet/Cocktail where the colour theme was white with a dash of sparkle. The poolside venue had a lot of white flowers and candles giving the entire space a feel of ‘disco meets vintage’. The third function was the haldi-chooda where the colour theme was, as expected, yellow. The function was along the pool in a tent that was made of flowing yellow drapes and marigold flowers. And finally, the fourth function was our pool wedding where the color theme was pastel pink and peach. Our mandap was created on the central water body of the resort towered by huge palm trees with lots of pink and white flowers and drapes – which complimented our outfits. The following reception was in the adjacent space which was connected from the mandap area which fresh and artificial flowers.

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Well, a very matronly advice that would come from a bride that did it all for her wedding - budget, budget, budget!

I understand that this is a milestone moment in your life and you would want to go an extra mile to bring down the skies and stars for this, but believe me, the real world awaits you as soon as these magical moments dissipate! Thus, plan your wedding in the following way that it does not leave you high and dry once all the hullabaloo settles.

- Bridal outfit/lehenga/saree: as much as you think you'd revamp it for further use, the design and the workmanship of your outfit just does not allow it. Worst still, if the colour palette inches towards darker hues. Thus, be sensible about a healthy budget for your outfit and stick to it. Steer away from designers where customization is not accommodated. And lastly, plan and discuss the further viability of your outfit with your designer beforehand - it gives them a heads up to what is expected out of the outfit

The decor: It is lovely to have a space recreated into a musical set leaving your guest astound but the ones married would tell you how much does it actually eat into budget, only to torn down after your event. Thus, my advise is to keep it beautiful yet economical. Brief your wedding planners well on the decor theme alongside the budget for them to suggest prop/decor alternatives such as artificial flowers, battery floating candles, drapes, fairy lights etc. Such items lends a luxe feel without burning a whole in your pocket

The food: This point should actually top the list but nevertheless! The memories of a mouth-watering lavish spread outlasts the memories of your entire wedding together, thus ensure the food to be catered from restaurants/caterers that not only practice excellent hygiene standards but also are eco-friendly. Brief your wedding planner in advance to have the leftover of the function packed and distributed amongst the poor. Believe me, its the right start to an auspicious event!

The cards/invites: In the gamut of things that go into making your wedding a success, the cards have a bare minimum role to play, but it can be a budget killer. More often than not, your cards land up in the garbage, leaving you heartbroken. Thus, I recommend sticking to e-cards. They are inexpensive, efficient and extremely user friendly for your guests

Last but not the least, please dont forget to enjoy yourself. As beautiful a moment this is, it can be extremely stressful to pull everything together seamlessly - but remember this is your big moment!

What a lovely wedding celebration! Don't forget to join us tomorrow for more inspiring stories.