Happy Friday, ladies! I hope you are ready to dive into a new love story because today's feature will take your breath away. So wait no more and get ready to enjoy this cornucopia of beauty and flair! When Shivani and Ajeet both swiped right, sparks began to fly! After countless dinners, travels, and laughter, a surprise proposal in a Sea Plane, over the Golden Gate Bridge led to a magical “I do.” The Covid pandemic hit this wedding hard, numerous reschedulings, starting and stopping the planning process, and finally, as they approached the groom’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary the bride suggested having their traditional ceremony on the same day. What a good daughter-in-law! Vegas was a middle ground for the families and friends attending from both CA and CO. And the sweetest twist? They legalized their wedding at the local courthouse in Marin, the day of the bride’s parents' wedding anniversary. Blessed with love, the couple married at the Las Vegas Sikh temple and ISKCON center. From dawn to dusk this couple enjoyed every moment of their wedding day. From the fashionable ensembles from Kundans Bridal Couture to the exquisite makeup by M-Sutra Bride, down to the jaw-dropping shots captured by Lux Wedding Studios, everything was a dream day come true. But don't take my word! Browse through this spectacular gallery and see it by yourself. It is amazing!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
We both swiped right! We met online- through Match.com
Within a few days of connecting, he called me and within a week thereafter, he visited me from Denver, CO. I was hesitant to pursue a long distance relationship. I relayed this to him during one of our first conversations but that didn't deter him from coming out to meet me. He swooped me and here we are. After 4 years of long distance courtship I must have been persuasive enough for him to eventually move to CA.
During all those years, I don't think there was only one moment. There were various occasions and instances that kept bringing us closer and solidifying our love for each other. On our first date as we had dinner in Downtown Sacramento, he had toasted - "cheers to our last - first date" and boy he was right! Since then, and many travel adventures together, ups and downs later I knew he was the one for me!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
This was the perfect, most thoughtful and surprise proposal to my awe. About a month before he had the date planned, he informed me that one of his close friends from back home (Denver, CO) who has a passion for photography was going to be visiting us in the bay area and he had offered to take some pictures of us. My husband planned for the 3 of us to go on a Sea Plane ride (out of Sausalito) to tour over the bay area. While we were in the air, flying over The Golden Gate Bridge, Ajeet popped the big question. My immediate response was- yes yes yes! After we landed back and as we exited the sea plane I saw both my brother and brother-in-law running towards us with excitement, champagne and roses that Ajeet had previously planned with them. We then took some pictures at the Lover's Lane, Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco as the Fleet Week planes flew by on that beautiful sunny day. Ajeet even brought us our rival football Jerseys of our team quarterbacks to take some fun pictures. In the evening there was another surprise awaiting. He had planned a dinner with our parents, siblings and our closest family members. This all happened on my birthday eve. This has been my favorite surprises of all time.
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.
There were a lot of twists and turns with our wedding planning.
As almost all our wedded friends advised- we started with the dates and venues to get the ball rolling. After the 2 most important things were squared away, I began my search into the outfits, hair make up and henna while my husband started with the photography, decor, food and cake vendors. Of course after we had all these arranged, the COVID pandemic hit us....hard. As we continued to postpone and limit the guest count according to the allowed attendees at a gathering, often, we felt a lot of hard work we accomplished together was wasted but looking back at how beautiful everything turned out I am glad I had him by my side to make all wedding planning stress manageable.
We started over many times. At last, as we approached my in law's 40th wedding anniversary, I suggested to have our traditional religious wedding ceremonies on the same date as them. With about 2 weeks left to begin the process for our intimate destination wedding in Las Vegas, NV, non stop phone calls and emails began yet again, as we scrambled through finding new venues and vendors. Vegas was a middle ground for the families and friends attending from both CA and CO. The sweetest twist- we legalized our wedding at the local court house in Marin, the day of my parents' wedding anniversary.
All our vendors we had contracted except my previously contracted make up and hair artist- Neetu Josh were understanding of our multiple postponed dates. After receiving a deposit of about $1000 from us, she was not willing to acknowledge that the COVID 19 pandemic was not any individual's fault. She decided not to refund this to us despite knowing the current circumstances caused by the pandemic. However, I feel lucky that Mitasha was very accommodating and available for my big day.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
Wedding dress shopping has to be my favorite experience from it all.
As a little girl, I used to look through my parents’ wedding album, sometimes even wore my mother’s wedding sari and jewelery on to feel like a bride myself. From those childhood days- I knew I wanted to wear the traditional red color.
Pre-pandemic, I went to Delhi where my maternal uncle and his family were at the time. My cousin- Pooja Sharma, a Fashion Stylist guided me with all my outfits as well as my husband's matching wedding look. She understood my vision and helped me create my dream bridal lengha with one of the shops in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
Trying on various different bridal outfits and jewelry while spending quality time with my cousins, uncle and aunt in India were my most enjoyable days leading up to the wedding. The moment I tried on the first lengha is when it really struck me- that it was happening. I was about to be wedded. So many emotions, laughter, tears of happiness and purely joyous moments I shared with my doting family members I still hold so dearly in my heart. They were not able to come to the US and attend my wedding due to the pandemic but those 10 days spent with them are the sweetest memories of my wedding planning process.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
We wanted our closest family and friends present to come bless us, but most crucial, was everyone's health and safety, including those of our vendors.
We ensured that our families and best friends who attended felt comfortable and safe being there for us in the midst of the pandemic. Hence, we chose Las Vegas. Keeping everyone’s safety in mind, we requested all our guests to drive after having quarantined for 2 weeks, instead of taking a flight as the vaccines had not rolled out at that time. This eased everyone's anxiety and fear. Other than everyone's health and safety- there was nothing more important for my husband and I as we celebrated our day.
Those that weren’t able to be physically be present, attended it virtually through zoom.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The entire day that began with waking up at 4am to get ready to our cake cutting ceremony at 9pm, we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of that day.
As a young girl, whenever it rained, I would often a make a wish that it would rain the day of my wedding also. Careful what you wish for- not only were there showers that afternoon but there was also a rainbow as we were getting ready to begin the Hindu ceremony. It was like a dream come true, which constantly replays in my mind as one of my fondest memories of that day!
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.
Our wedding photography turned out to be amazing! All the pre wedding, ceremonies and the Vegas strip pictures are exquisite. As we walked the grand halls of The Caesar's Palace and The Venetian especially, striking poses in our traditional dulha-dulhan attire we felt as if we were the Maharaja-Maharani in some magnificent palace. Those visiting and passing by asked if we were the King and Queen from a different country or if I was a princess visiting from some far away land. Many even wanted to snap pictures with us, complimenting how elegant we appeared. Those were also some very special moments that my husband and I often reminisce. We walked holding hand in hand, laughed, danced and were just in each other's presence as Vishal made us take some of the most gorgous pictures we have together.
How appropriate that our wedding is also being featured in "Maharani" because i sure did feel that way then also.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Do not sweat the small stuff! I know many of us brides worry and get consumed with the smallest of details but the big picture is what matters, I promise! Focus on yourself and enjoy every moment you can that day with your partner. It's your day- so make it special and memorable for both yourself and your partner! Leaning on my husband throughout this process made everything better and I would advise the same. If you as a couple can survive wedding planning, especially during COVID, that’s a testament to your marriage!
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
I love everything about that day and especially appreciated how intricate my henna was. Big shout out and thank you to Minal! I had so many designs in mind but the "Shehnai" themed henna she recommended and patiently drew, perfectly matched my "baraat and doli" themed bridal lehnga.
That is all for today, darlings. See you on Monday for a new love story!
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