Ladies! Don't miss Karishma & Thomas' fusion wedding in today's Platinum Guide Blog. You'll love it!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
My husband proposed to me in nature! Him knowing I love nature, so he decided to propose to me at a beautiful park in the Chicago suburbs. He had the area decorated with roses and had pictures of us all over the Gazebo and proposed to me.
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.
After doing a lot of searching on how to get started we decided to get a wedding planner. We got lucky and partnered up with J2R who held our hands throughout the whole planning. With covid, we werent sure if our venue would even be open or allow the number of guests but everything worked in our favor. Planning for outfits was hard as we wanted to go to India and shop but I got lucky again and ended up ordering my designer outfits from Atlanta and nearby store in Chicago. My mom did family shopping all from India via videoconferencing and my best friend in India shopped for my jewelry. It was so heartwarming to see all the family members and friends putting in effort preparing up to our big day! Since this was a two states wedding, myself hailing from North India and my husband from Kerala, we had a fusion Hindu and Catholic ceremony. It was double the work and double the stress, but we made it! My in laws bought the most beautiful Kerala sarees for the ceremony from Beena Kanan and Jayalaxmi. I am a nature lover, so the theme for the wedding was lush greenery. For the hindu ceremony, I was adamant about having an outdoor location and after doing lots of research, we came across Lincolnshire Marriott Resort which had lush greenery and a lake in the back. We were able to design a mandap full of roses and eucalyptus which came out just like I wanted.However, my vision for both ceremonies and reception was to make it feel a little bit like a jungle. Thankfully, everything came to fruition, the way I wanted and even got my pup to be part of my big day.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I always wanted to go the traditional red route for the the hindu ceremony. Its a color that never goes out of style. Now, the real deal was how do we get in touch with the Sabyasachi store since we could not go to India. Upon further research, we came across The Bollywood Closet who works alongside the Sabyasachi team in India and helps brides living in the US get their Sabysachi outfits. With me being a big Sabyasachi fan, my fiance at that time drove me to Atlanta, to get my outfit and it was a dream come true!!! The moment I walked into the showroom, I knew which one I wanted. For the Catholic wedding, we opted for a beautiful silver saree and for the mantharkodi ritual, a beautiful heavy maroon saree was used. These were both brought by my in laws from Kerala. However, the search for my outfits was not over. I have been following Falguni Shane Peacock for a while and knew I had to get my hands on their magnificent pieces. I got super lucky and got in touch with Studio East. They are a multi designer store based in Chicago for Indian bridal and party wear. I got my reception piece from them and could not stop admiring the piece the moment I saw it.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The most enjoyable part of the planning was venue shopping! This is probably one of the most important parts of the planning!!! Going to different places and imagining our big day made it exciting!
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
The guests loved the fusion! This wedding truly brought the two states together! It was like watching 2 states all over again. Our reception was loved by everyone specially when the boys danced to lungi
Dance. Our different cultures definitely brought its own set of challenges during the planning, however, that made it unique and everyone got to see the beauty of both cultures.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
There is definitely a special moment that replays in my mind and it was during the pheras. It made both of us very emotional as we had come a very long way and our union was here. Our love story was not the easiest coming from different cultures and religion but through years of hard work, we were standing here around the holy fire and ready to be husband and wide. During the pheras, we had the same song that played during the movie 2 states, when the characters were taking pheras and thinking of their long journey. Here we were in the same spot as them. It was definitely a moment I couldnt 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.
Our decor remained pretty consistent for all our events- green and lush!!!! If I could, I wouldve had my events in a jungle.
For the hindu ceremony, the grooms family came in full on south indian style. The women wore traditional kerala sarees and the men wore mundus! For the catholic ceremony, my bridesmaids wore a beautiful white/gold anarkalis.
My friends and cousins put together different dances and I did a mix of hindi/tamil/malaylam dance to surprise my husband. The groomsmen killed the dance floor and gave power packed performances. They went so hard they got some lungis stuck on the ceiling of the venue which made the guests die with laughter.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Wedding planning as you know is very stressful but remember the end goal and not get caught up in little silly things. This moment flys by, so make sure to capture those moments and not let things get to you.
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Most of my jewelry came from India, picked specially by my best friend. We shopped for jewelry in nearby Chicago as well.
Since I am a vegan, I made sure to have vegan dishes and desserts at all events. Our cake was tiered and we had vegan/non vegan layers on the wedding cake as well!
