Here at Maharani Weddings, we're absolutely in love with outdoor Indian fusion wedding ceremonies. Nothing beats the warm sunshine, sweet floral fragrances, and refreshing breezes that can't be replicated indoors. Christine and Samir's Swan House Gardens wedding at the Atlanta History Center was the epitome of an outdoor soiree. You can peruse through all the lovely wedding images in the complete gallery by Elly’s Photography. For the ceremony, Christine chose a delicate white gown with a sweetheart neckline and looked like an angel! As she made her grand entrance down the steps leading into Swan House Gardens, guests were overwhelmed with her bridal glow! To plan such a seamless event, Christine and Samir enlisted the experts at Envi Event Planning who made sure all the behind the scenes details were executed to perfection. Maharani Christine shared some advice with brides to be: "I had a binder that my maid-of-honor gave me with a 12 month planning timeline. Best thing I received for my wedding planning!" So smart. We are huge fans of wedding binders and can't emphasize the importance of following an organized timeline. She also told us, "Something will absolutely go wrong but it is totally true when guests tell you they don't notice. We had a number of things go wrong but no one knew but us!" Thanks Christine! To learn more behind the scenes wedding scoop, scroll down for our complete interview with Christine. Make sure to hit play for the gorg wedding film by Wages Films, and head into the gallery by Elly’s Photography where a treasure cove of photos awaits you!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
After dating in New York City for a year and a half, Samir decided to move back to his home of San Francisco to start a business. We continued to do long distance for a year. My family moved into a new home that year and started discussing planning a housewarming party. I helped organize and planned to go to Atlanta, where my family lives, for the party. On April 2nd, which happened to be Samir's birthday, my best friend asked me to attend a business meeting with him as support. I was dressed well and had my nails done, thanks to my roommate, and decided to let Samir enjoy his birthday and not constantly call or message him since he was ignoring the calls that day. I arrived at a hotel in Times Square and entered the lounge area where I searched for my friend. From the end of the bar I saw a woman taking pictures that were directed towards me. As I walked closer to her searching for my friend, I realized the photographer was my roommate. As soon as I saw her I knew Samir would be close. When I looked at the bar I saw Samir turn around on the bar stool with a wooden ring box he had carved. After a speech, some champagne, and plenty of tears Samir had organized a private dinner for the two of us in the hotel's rooftop balcony which overlooked Times Square. Once dinner was over Samir said "we are going out" so we headed to a bar where I instantly saw co-workers, my boss, and our friends all gathered to celebrate our engagement. Samir had contacted everyone and invited them out. The following day Samir told me he was coming to Atlanta for my parent's party. When we landed in the Atlanta airport another surprise awaited us. My brother, Samir's brother, sister-in-law, and parents all flew in within an hour of when we landed to celebrate with us that weekend. My parent's housewarming party quickly became an engagement party and a three day span full of surprises.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
My bridal lengha and sangeet lengha were both from India. For our reception in California I stuck to the traditional red and gold but for my sangeet I wanted to wear a every color because I could not choose. I chose bright and happy colors of blue, green and pink with gold details.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
Food and cake tasting and attending bridal shows were the most fun. I went with family and friends to a number of different events which brought me closer to all of them. At the wedding the most enjoyable part was seeing all the hard work, meetings, decisions and plans come together. It is hard to envision how everything will work but I learned to trust my vendors and was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it all turned out.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
My entrance which was a last minute change due to a fountain flooding. For our ceremony we had initially decided to have the bridal party, family and groom walk down the stairs of the Swan House gardens and me, the bride, to walk down the aisle. This way we would have pictures from both sides of the ceremony. When we arrived at the venue our coordinator told us the fountains had an issue and flooded the ground making my plan to walk down the aisle a bad decision. As a result, we made a last minute change to allow me to walk down from the Swan House at the very top of the stairs. This last minute change became the highlight of the ceremony. My guests told me that when the doors opened up at the top of the stairs and I walked out there was a brief moment of gasping and emotion that was shared by all the guests. This was a pleasant surprise because it wasn't one of the hundreds of details we had planned and became a highlight for so many people.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
I was quite surprised at my own reaction during my father-daughter dance. Throughout the entire dance I was crying profusely. Each time I think about this dance I still get emotional but the thought that helps counteract it is my memory of our parents dancing with us throughout the entire night. We have photos of my dad dipping all the way to the floor and our mothers dancing together throughout the evening. We made sure to dance throughout the entire evening and felt that we got to see almost all of our guests on the dance floor.
Thank you for sharing Christina. Have a wonderful Monday Maharanis! See you all bright and early tomorrow morning.
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