When you know, you just know. This couple knew from the moment they were engaged they wanted to have a destination wedding in Cancún because it's where they took our very first trip together.
Although the Pandemic threw off our original plans of getting married in December of 2020, took a gamble on May 2021 in the hopes of increasing chances that everyone would be vaccinated and be able to safely attend and they won!
Working with Shaadi Destinations to choose Generations Riviera Maya/El Dorado and coordinate guest travel and itineraries, The Shaadi team was extremely flexible and very helpful with moving around dates, as it was a challenge to reschedule anything these days, let alone a destination wedding!
Generations/El Dorado is an one of a kind property in Riviera Maya, located a bit further south from the hectic Hotel Zone area. Featuring existing South Asian motifs the resort is the perfect backdrop for Indian weddings. To add to the list they have a wonderful on-site Indian Restaurant, Haab, that catered all of the Indian food items for the wedding. They are known for Chef Kaushal who uses fresh ingredients grown on site.
It was important to the bride to make sure that her bridal outfits matched the overall theme and decor for each event. The Sangeet was filled with many bright colors so an outfit from Aisha Rao became the natural choice. The bride’s lengha was a beautiful shade of deep crimson with peach and green floral accents that matched the floral decor of the mandap. For the reception she donned a dusty pink lengha that had mirror work which danced under the fairy lights.
“We both played equal parts in wedding planning which made us feel like we had a shared project and true partnership. We both brought our strengths to the table and added creative elements to our events that reflected our personalities. For example, my husband's a gamer, so he put together a playlist of video game jazz covers for our cocktail hour, which also featured custom cocktails named with Gujarati puns (Majama-rita anyone?) that made everyone smile.”
What a breath of fresh air! Congratulations to the beautiful pair!
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.
We knew right from the start that we wanted to have a destination wedding in Cancún specifically because it holds special meaning to us (it's where we took our very first trip together and where we realized we had something special).
We also wanted to make sure our guests felt like they were on a vacation where we just-so-happened to be getting married. The Pandemic threw off our original plans of getting married in December of 2020, so we took a gamble on May 2021 in the hopes of increasing chances that everyone would be vaccinated and be able to safely attend (which they were).
We worked with Shaadi Destinations to choose our resort (Generations Riviera Maya/El Dorado) and coordinate guest travel and itineraries. The Shaadi team was extremely flexible and very helpful with moving around dates, as it was a challenge to reschedule our wedding to a date that worked with all of our vendors. They were also helpful with recommendations for vendors such as Federico Salmeron (photography), and JC Castillo (planning). One of our favorite things about working with Shaadi Destinations is their private Facebook group which helped us collaborate with other couples going through the same process. It's a great resource to discuss all of the questions that couples have, and to get insight into picking vendors in Cancun.
Generations/El Dorado is an extremely unique property in Riviera Maya, located a bit further south from the hectic Hotel Zone area. A lot of our venues had decor "built in" because of the existing South Asian motifs (such as the beautiful Ganesha statue at the Palapa Ganesha where our sangeet was held). The resort also had a wonderful on-site Indian Restaurant, Haab, that catered all of our Indian food. Chef Kaushal did an amazing job making incredible food from fresh ingredients grown on site.
When we first started planning, we quickly realized that we wanted the whole experience to be as stress-free as possible, including the day-of. After choosing a few vendors on our own, we decided to bring in a wedding planner, JC Castillo. He has a tremendous amount of experience with Indian weddings. Any time we had a concern, he was able to address it. Every meeting we had with him made us feel more confident for our big day, and we felt like things were really in motion once brought him into the process. He has great relationships with a lot of local vendors and was able to bring our vision to life, and introduced us to other vendors such as DJ Krish and our Dhol player Jonathan from Drums in Paradise. He also partners with Pistillo Florals to bring luxurious floral arrangements and decor to every event.
Federico Salmeron has a very unique style of photography and has worked with many Indian couples. He has a firm grasp on all of the best locations for photo ops at our resort. He knew how to work with the backgrounds and light and bring out all of the amazing colors to make our photos really pop. His cinematography colleagues at Saptapadi Weddings captured incredible moments and put together cinematic videos that still brings us back to this day.
My makeup artist, Alex Corbanezi, was amazing at recreating each of the inspirational looks I showed him. He made my entire bridal party look stunning and he also offered bridal draping services, so I really felt taken care of.
Loto Mehndi did my Bridal Mehndi and I was blown away at how intricate of a job they did, especially on the Gayatri Mantra which I wanted included on my arms. They were very communicative and a total pleasure to work with.
At our Sangeet, after enjoying delicious Churros from Los Pockets, our guests went over to the Mehndi tent where Lemons & Mehndi adorned their hands with beautiful designs. Shaadi Destinations also hooked us up with branded coconuts at our ceremony from kocoo.mx which helped our guests cool off from the heat.
It was important for me to make sure that my bridal outfits matched the overall theme and decor for each event. The Sangeet was full of many bright colors so I wanted to wear an outfit from Aisha Rao because her vivid colors and designs, such as the beautiful shade of blue that matched the ocean, were a great fit for the tropical locale.
The bridal lengha was a beautiful shade of deep red with peach and green floral accents that matched the floral decor of the mandap. The reception outfit was a dusty pink lengha that had mirror work which really glimmered under the fairy lights.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The site visits! It was a lot of fun to have an excuse to go on vacation but also check out the venues, meet vendors, and taste a lot of amazing food. Planning in a tropical paradise made the process a lot more enjoyable.
We both played equal parts in wedding planning which made us feel like we had a shared project and true partnership. We both brought our strengths to the table and added creative elements to our events that reflected our personalities. For example, my husband's a gamer, so he put together a playlist of video game jazz covers for our cocktail hour, which also featured custom cocktails named with Gujarati puns (Majama-rita anyone?) that made everyone smile.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Our intention was for our guests to enjoy an intimate wedding, but the pandemic pared down our guest list even more. This ended up working to our advantage, however, because it allowed us to spend more individual time with our guests. They also loved the overall vibe of the resort and spaced-out schedule which helped everyone feel like they were on their first truly relaxing vacation in a long while. Choosing an all-inclusive resort made it easier for people to have a great time and not have to worry about anything. They loved our personal touches such as our music selection, custom cocktails, and decor, which all reflected our personality.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
At the end of the "Vidaai" after the ceremony, our car had to rush us straight to our COVID test in order for us to get our results in time before heading back to the US. This was completely unplanned but we decided to make the most of the situation and brought our photographers along with us. They captured a moment we'll never forget! Fortunately everyone at the wedding tested negative, but every time we look back at that photo it reminds us how extraordinary the times were.
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.
When it came to decor I was really intent on each event having its own vibe. For example, with the Sangeet, I really liked the idea of having very "Old Bollywood" style decor elements with lots of colors. We had fantastic entertainment lead by family, and an impromptu Gujarati Garba and Raas which we taught to a lot of our guests on the spot. It ended up being a really fun and memorable experience. We also planned a special surprise at the end of the night: fire dancers and water drummers from Drums in Paradise!
All of our venues were outdoors due to COVID, which worked out in our favor given that the weather was beautiful and the natural scenery provided a gorgeous backdrop. This enhanced our chosen decor while helping us out budget-wise: win-win! Our Pithi was held amongst palm trees and flowers, and our decor company added flowing marigolds and religious motifs.
The reception incorporated more western decor. We used some bohemian elements such as Pampas Grass and blush tones. The fairy lights reflecting on the dance floor made for amazing photos that we didn't anticipate so we're glad we opted in for the upgrade. We were pleasantly surprised with a performance from my sisters and their husbands dancing to "Señorita" from "Zindagi na milegi dobara" which was the perfect song for an Indian wedding in Mexico!
We wanted our first dance to connect to where we were getting married, so my husband and I taught ourselves a salsa dance to a beautiful latin-fusion rendition of "Chura Liya" by Jonita Gandhi. My husband edited the music and I found the choreography, which we practiced every night as a regular part of our wedding planning process. Learning the dance ourselves felt really special and brought us even closer together.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Learn to let go! Once I had arrived I stopped worrying about all of the little things and told myself that I was just going to have a good time and go with the flow. I trusted the process and it showed, because everyone commented on how relaxed I was throughout the weekend.
You only get this time once and it will go by quickly, so make sure to enjoy every minute, and don't forget that you have guests that want to spend time with you as well, so make sure they feel your presence.
When planning, don't get so caught up in the whole show of things that you forget about the guests' experience. Try and keep the guests' point of view in mind, because what you think really matters may not even be that important.
Things may not all go precisely as planned but keep in mind that while people won't remember details like the color of your napkins, they will remember how good of a time they had.
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