Hello, Maharanis! We are glad to take you to Mandira & Nipun's wedding ceremony; this is an event that you will definitely love and enjoy! This celebration was full of colors and elegance and just by taking a peek at the incredible photos of Balerina Films, we are sure you can agree with that! The beautiful scenarios of The Richard Nixon Library were witness to this happy marriage since our lovely couple wanted to look for something unique, classy, and romantic. The amazing venue was decorated with delicate floral arrangements that created a peaceful and captivating design; it was more than perfect! But this could not be possible without the help of Promises Forever Events; they did not allow Mandira to be stressed for a second, thanks to their excellent job planning and designing her dream day! And we have to say that our gorgeous Maharani was the one that overtook these captivating scenarios! She stole all the looks when she started walking down the aisle; she was rocking the traditional and fashionable red-golden lengha that Seema Gujral designed! She looked so beautiful by complementing the outfit with such luxurious golden jewelry; we are sure that more than one of the guests couldn't help it and dropped a couple of tears of joy while seeing her! Every part of this event was unique, and the reception party was no exception; many features made every corner different, from a vast LED screen to a cocktail extended time! But if you want to get more of this great event, don't miss the incredible gallery we have prepared for today. You will love it!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
As soon as I graduated from medical school, my mother was on my case of finding a boy as are most Indian mothers. I was very adamant about marrying another physician for really no good reason and struggled to meet another physician I was compatible with for about 5 years. One evening, we had a family friend come over for dinner who happens to be a lawyer and married to a physician. The lawyer's uncle says to me, "Mandira, what's your problem? Why are you not considering guys from other occupations?" Ask your auntie, she's married to a non-physician and she's happy." I replied, "Well, that's not a fair thing to ask her while you are sitting here. But fine, how about this, if you find me someone then I will consider it." I had only said that just to get him off my case and did not think he would come up with something. To my surprise, the next day he presented me with Nipun's biodata. Before I could say anything in return, he told me, "Look, I already had his dad talk to your dad this morning so you have to talk to him now." Lesson learned: don't mess with a lawyer. Line by line I went through the biodata and found every reason possible as to why this would not work. but of course, because our dads had talked, so I was emotionally blackmailed into talking to him. He politely texted me how I was doing, and so I replied, "I'm doing well, just studying for my board exam. How are you?" He responds, "Hopefully you don't get bored studying for the boards (sorry bad dad joke). I'm just relaxing at home with my book." I then couldn't resist and said "Well sounds like you're booked with a good read (one bad joke for another)." After that within two days, we had our first date. Instantly we both just knew there was just something different about us and we couldn't resist learning more about each other.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
4/3/21...the final countdown. While dating, Nipun had come up with the idea to play 20 questions so that we can break the ice and learn about each other. He proposed to me on April 3rd, 2021. His mother's birthday is April 4th so we had planned a dinner at the house for her was the impression I was under. I was on call that weekend and was finishing rounds in the hospital. My supervising physician insisted I leave early so I wouldn't be late and he also mentioned he would cover me if there were any overnight patients to see which I found a bit odd but I went along with it. I quickly go home, freshen up and change, and head to their house. He opens the door and there is no one in sight at the house. I asked him and he just simply replied that they all went for a walk. He takes me to the backyard and we walk to the edge of the yard. (His parents live on Crystal Cove in Newport Beach so the view from the backyard is spectacular.) He gets down on one knee and says to me "I have my 20th question to ask you" and with his American accent he says "Mujhe Shaadi karoge?" Obviously, I had said yes and to my surprise, our parents and his siblings were hiding on the balcony watching the entire time. Later I learned that Nipun had spoken to my supervising physician to let me off the hook for that weekend - so shout out to Dr. Sethi for allowing me to have this moment.
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 started planning during the second COVID surge which was surprisingly a lot easier than we were anticipating. We assumed because there was never a guarantee when COVID would disappear so no one would respond to us; however, to our surprise, every single one of our vendors went above and beyond communicating with us, answering all our questions, and walking us through the entire planning process. We really had an amazing team of people to work with and actually finished planning 1 year in advance so all we had to then was wait for the big day.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I had ordered my lengha about 1 year in advance online because at that time I had no idea if would have the chance to go to Mumbai and find my perfect dress. A couple of years ago, I visited the Pernia Popup Shop in Bandra, Mumbai, and met their manager Deepika there who helped us look at outfits, however, at that time I was very singed and had no plans of getting married anytime soon. My mom and I did keep in touch with Deepika over the years so when the time came to get my wedding dress, we knew she was the one we could trust during that time. We spend days and days on their website, browsing through all the possible options. I knew I want a bright red lengha, but I did not want it entirely red. Then Deepika introduced us to the designs by Seema Gujral and within minutes of looking at her stuff, I found my dress. I was a little nervous about ordering online, but Deepika kept me informed the entire time. She would even send me pictures and videos of the dress being made at Seema's workshop. The service at Pernia's Popup Shop was out of this world. They delivered exactly what was promised and made online shopping so simple and trustworthy.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
I actually have the top two enjoyable parts of planning. The first was brainstorming with Nipun on how we wanted our events to happen, which was actually not the easiest part either. Families would have different opinions, and even we would disagree. Nevertheless, it was one of the best parts of the process because we learned how to work with each other and how to work with each other's families. That was a very valuable experience for both of us because, at the end of the day, a marriage is between two families.
My second favorite part was planning our menu for each event. Rasraj was an amazing catering team to work with, especially with Chef Saumil. Unlike most caterers, we were not forced to choose from a fixed menu selection. Instead, Chef Saumil sat down with us multiple times and help curate new varieties for our menu and came up with dishes that really represented Nipun and me. We really wanted Malaysian food at the sangeet and they just knocked it out of the park. Tasting, planning, and execution were phenomenal with Rasraj. Even our venue, Nixon Library, was very impressed with how they worked.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
I believe there are three things that our guests loved:
1. The food - even though 6 months have gone by and so many other weddings within the family, but still our guests cannot stop raving about the food
2. The themes - everyone really enjoyed that every single one of our events was very different from one other it felt like 5 different parties and at each party the energy just got higher and higher.
3. The flute player - Anis was part of our sangeet, wedding, and reception. He got every dancing at the sangeet with his live band. He set the perfect romantic mood with the melodies he played on his flute during our wedding ceremony. He turned our cocktail hour at Nixon into a raging dance party which Nixon was even blown away by.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
For me, a really special moment was when my cousin's brothers rushed around me when I entered to lift me up during the vaar mala. It was a very special feeling to know that they always have my back (quite literally).
For Nipun, a really special moment was when he entered after the baraat and my mom with her sisters and friends performed a special dance for him right before I entered. It was a surprise for him and still to this day, keeps replaying the video. He was left blown away by it, especially the special appearance of my dad in the dance. (I could have had bridesmaids for my entrance but I thought why not let my aunties have some fun!)
For both of us, a really special moment was how well both families just mixed into one another that we actually couldn't figure out anymore who was from the "boy's side" or who was from the "girl's side."
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.
For our Haldi/welcome party, we wanted to do something fun so decided to host it as Havana nights. Our guests were amazing in dressing up per the theme. We blasted reggaeton music all night. Nea by Nikita Tiwari created tropical-themed outfits worn by me, my mother, and my mother-in-law. Rasraj set up an awesome Mexican fiesta. And of course, we had tropical-flavored mojitos to keep the party going.
For our sangeet, Nipun and I wanted to add a personal touch so we folded over 1500 origami butterflies (Per Japanese tradition, origami butterflies flying around each other represents marital bliss.) Our decorator - Royall Ball Designs - beautifully incorporated into the decor and thus naturally the theme of the night was an enchanted butterfly forest. Rasraj had set up a variety of different stalls from falafel burgers to chaat to Malaysian street foods. My dress came from Netr Boutique, owned and ran by my very own masi, Trupti Kothari. She designed and created by outfit for me which I will say is my favorite outfit of all the outfits I have worn.
For our wedding reception, we didn't want to go with a romantic theme because Nipun and I are not the most romantic couple and we just wanted to have fun so we thought what's more fun than a disco party at the 'White house! Royal Ball Design did a fantastic job turning The East Room of Nixon into a disco tech. Our DJ Dhamaka Productions provided the LED screen for our stage backdrop which we used for slides of old pictures of Nipun and me growing up. These slide shows were played during speeches and certain performances, for example during the father-daughter dance, we played a slide show consisting of pictures of my dad and me over the years, or when Nipun's friends gave a speech, we played a slide show consisting of pictures of him and his buddies over the years.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
There may be things that won't go exactly as you planned but just remember all your hard-working in planning will pay off. It is not worth stressing about, just enjoy the moment because it is your day and no one can take that away from you.
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Nipun and I felt that we had the perfect wedding, there is not a single thing we would want to change about it. This would not obviously be possible without our amazing coordinators - Promise Forever Events. Those girls made magic happen. They made sure everything happened on time, with not a single delay, something I thought was actually impossible (especially being Indian and running on IST). We also could not thank our photo/video team - Balerina - enough for capturing all the moments so perfectly. The same-day edit video they created for us truly is a beautiful rendition of all our events.
Thanks for joining us today, sweeties! Remember to come back every day for more romantic events!
