We have your daily dose of wedding inspiration ready! Today, we are reliving Kavita & Mitul's wedding out of Michigan and I guarantee you will be taking lots of notes for your own wedding! Aria Films' keen eye captured our lovebirds' wedding weekend and has all the deets for us to enjoy, starting with a fun sangeet filled with garba dances and delicious food. Maharani Kavita looked absolutely adorable in an orange and gold lengha and enjoyed a special girls time while getting ready with all her bridesmaids and female family members close by. This wedding especially moved my heart with a touching moment in our bride's own words "When the first look came around, I set up a first look with my dad first. I was always daddy's helper and wanted to see him before I went to see Mitul. And bring on the tears...he cried and eventually I cried." How adorable this moment must have been! The ceremony took place in one of Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest's halls where Blaire Exclusive Events teamed up with Flowers by Amore to bring the couple's garden theme vision inside and what a wonderful job they did! The greenery continued in a starlit night garden reception with a touch of glam where guests were delighted with Krishna Catering and Restaurant's savory dishes. Our bride shined in a perfect blue and silver sparkling lengha with Raja Mitul next to her in an elegant black tux. Hit play and watch our lovely couple dance the night away!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Mitul & I first matched on Tinder back in Fall 2014. We had exchanged a few conversations here and there but neither of us seemed to really put in a lot of effort to keep the conversation going to it kind of fizzled out. Come April 2015, we both happened to match on Coffee Meets Bagel. We weren't sure if the other person remembered our Tinder encounter but we both took a chance and started chatting it up. For those who don't know, Coffee Meets Bagel has a day limit on how long your chat is "open" via the app (something like 10 days) and a couple days before ours "closed" Mitul messaged me his phone number saying that our chat was going to close and here's his number and that we should hang out and grab some dinner soon. So I texted him and roughly a week passes by where he still hadn't actually asked me out...so I texted him and was like "hey, so are we going to go on this dinner or what?" He finally set a date and time and we had our first date (mind you, it was NBA playoffs and the Bulls were doing well and he chose an important game day to ignore the game and go out with me). Our first date lasted 5 hours.
After that, we didn't see each other for like 10 days and I thought he was ignoring me. He brought up the fact that he had been sick and I said well are you up for a movie and that I could come there. Since then, we had seen each other essentially every day.
Our relationship developed very quickly and within a month I told my parents to stop sending my biodata out and that I have met someone. Within another month and a half, we said that magical four-letter word and that is when I knew he was the one.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
Mitul proposed over Labor day weekend in 2016. We had moved in together recently and I was expecting a ring with the move-in...that didn't happen. Then we went on this family beach vacation in early July 2015 and I thought he would propose then because I mentioned before how I would want my family there...it didn't happen (later I find out this is when he tried to ask my parents for permission). His brother got married in July 2016 and his mom so wanted Mitul to propose prior to the wedding so she could introduce me to all the extended London family as her next daughter-in-law. Mitul thought it wouldn't be fair to his brother and new SIL to take away from their wedding so he waited. The weekend right after his brother's wedding we plan a weekend getaway, so here I am thinking okay, the wedding is over and he's going to do it this weekend (bought a new dress and all)...didn't happen.
Saturday of Labor Day weekend we decided to host a BBQ at our apartment and it ended up being a family affair with like 20 adults and 6-7 kids crammed into our 1300 sq ft place...lots of fun but very stressful "hosting" the family for the first time. The next day, we had planned a date day in the city. I had lived in Chicago for a few years now and had not done all the touristy things (architecture tour, to to the top of Will Tower, Hancock building, Lincoln Park Zoo). We started with the architecture tour and of course were running late due to the sleep deprivation from the event before. He seemed super stressed but I just put it to him being extremely timely. We get the last seats on this boat and head out. When we get back to the dock, we wait for everyone to get off the boat so we could get some pictures that we didn't do since we were running late. He asks the captain to take some and as I was enjoying the scenery he goes to look at them and asks him to take a few more. I turn around and Mitul is down on one knee with the ring! I at first freak out, take like 5-6 steps backward and then the waterworks.
We leave the boat and are walking to this restaurant (Quartinos) where he has lunch reservations. The restaurant has a small sidewalk patio right at the entrance that we walk by because normally you go inside for your reservation. Mitul was like why don't we just grab this table outside (pointing to the left). I turn and there are his parents, siblings, significant others...and my parents! Again, waterworks. He had my parents drive in from Troy, MI (my hometown) that morning for the surprise! My sister and her family couldn't make it as they live in DC and her work schedule so we FaceTime-ed with her. It was perfect.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
In a weird way, I loved logging into the venue's seating and layout program and working on the layouts and color coding. Just knowing that I could easily organize this and depict what I wanted so clearly was satisfying. Seating assignments took no more than 15 minutes (I told my parents how many tables they had, the table numbers and layout and they did "adults", I did my younger cousins and friends)
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
The guests could not stop raving about the food and the DJ. Everyone kept saying that they went back for seconds and thirds even when they couldn't eat anymore. Love my caterers.
The DJ was amazing from pre-wedding touchpoints, dance music cutting, accommodating the schedule changes during events and kept the party going until 1:45 am. Our reception started later due to some issues with the Venue and so the venue graciously kept the bars open longer and let us go longer.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
I think every moment was really special. We didn't want anything to feel like a formal affair and just wanted to be surrounded by the people we love and the things we love. It was non-stop smiles all weekend and even our priest at the end of the ceremony said that this is one of the first ceremonies that he had just seen true laughter, playfulness, and joy between a couple.
If I did have to pick one, I think it would have to be the first look....with my dad. I know most brides have their moment with the groom and don't get me wrong, that was really special...fist bump and all. I chose to have a first look with my dad because during my sister's wedding 11 years prior, she got ready at the house and he got to witness all of it. I got ready with all my bridesmaids far away from the guests and my dad was needed to help out with my sister's 4-year-old twin boys and get them ready. I remember it being very quiet as I walked down the stairs, walking to my dad and just hearing all the clicking from the camera. I remember him hold my hand, putting his hands on my face to look at me and then starting to tear up. And then I distinctly remember saying while choking up myself "you can't cry...because I will too and my makeup will get ruined before I see Mitul". We get it together, get some pictures together and then see my mom upstairs in the balcony just smiling away and taking pictures. She felt the FOMO and then wanted to come down and join us so we said fine and got some pictures with her as well.
There was also the bet that I found out the groomsmen had on how many rounds of garba Mitul would do. He doesn't know anything about Bollywood, doesn't do garba/raas and when he hears Indian music at the reception he heads for the bar. I, on the other hand, have danced my entire life, was on a college garba/raas team and love to choreograph and perform dances. He humored me enough and did at least like 15 rounds with me.
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.
Mehendi - We did it at a temple that I grew up in close to the house. Mitul had a lot of family from London here and I wanted them to be a part of it so they caravanned over from Chicago to Troy and had the Mehendi at the temple. We had done my sister's garba there 11 years prior and I wanted it to be a part of the celebrations in some way. I let my mom and her friends handle the decor. Honestly, with my sister's wedding, they all handled it and I trusted them.
Vidhi - Again, my mom had been collecting things for years from her trips to India (I think she was just hoping at some point I'd get married) so the house decor was directed by her.
Garba - I wanted a garba. Mitul's siblings didn't have one at their weddings and I know Mitul's mom loves garba so it was nice for them to have one. I just wanted multicolors and a swing. I picked the backdrop colors and linen colors, but the table centerpieces and side decor next to the swing was all my mom's doing. We had a bridal party dance, my sister did a dance and I did one. I was super nervous for my dance. I had been working out for the wedding and twisted my ankle pretty badly 6 weeks before the wedding stepping onto a kettle ball accidentally. I'm already a perfectionist when it comes to dancing so only being able to start choreography 10 days prior and hoping to stick it was extremely stressful. I remember icing my ankle after the garba because it was swollen and icing it again in the morning, hobbling around in my 5" heels (having a 6'4 husband is rough on the heels) for pictures and then making the game-time decision to not even wear heels walking down the aisle since I could barely walk as is.
Reception - I wanted to turn the garden part of the ceremony into a midnight garden and I got exactly that. I wanted to reuse decor from the wedding because honestly, you pay so much for things and its used for a couple hours during the ceremony. I changed out the backdrop from bright and white to maroon, added deep colored linens and flowers and lots of candles and crystals. We actually bought a lot of the votives and candles ourselves and had our planner give them to the florist to set up on the table. It cost 1/3 of the price just made more sense. A lot of our stage crystal decor we bought at discount stores like Marshalls and I now use them as decor in my apartment. Wherever I could find a way to save by purchasing on my own or re-using I did...really who is going to notice that?
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Nothing will go perfectly as planned and you have to be okay with it. The Wednesday of the wedding week, we had people over while I got my mehndi done on my feet and to kick off the wedding with some Bollywood karaoke at the house. Just earlier that afternoon, our basement flooded with the pipes backing up. I got down on my hands and knees and was using our tank vacuum to suck up water more quickly than it was backing up, we had to call emergency plumbers who put a camera down the pipe and when they found a clog like 80' away from the house that was causing the backup. Basement all wet and smelly, having family staying with us, carpet all cut up...just had to go with the flow. The garba day, the garba part was going to start at 7:30 and not even half the people were there by then so we pushed back the entire program by 30 minutes twice, made on the spot decisions to cut garba to 30 mins and raas to 30 mins just to accommodate the schedule change. My sprained ankle. My makeup artist showed up 45 minutes late the morning of the wedding. The venue forgot to check if they had all the table numbers for the reception and my planner had to print them last minute. My florist couldn't figure out how to get the flowers to stay "sunken"...just wasn't working that day. Doors opened 30 minutes late. The bar opened in the middle of my dad's speech and I couldn't hear a thing over the crowd noise. So many things will happen that you can't plan for and you just have to remember that in the end, everyone is still enjoying it and honestly you and your vendors are probably the only people that noticed. Smiles all day every day.
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
The cake...White Bavarian Cream cake...was delicious. Thomas Cake shop is this small mom & pop bakery in Troy, MI and we got my sister's bridal shower cake from there back in 2006. Its this layered white cake with a custard layer, a fresh cream & raspberry jam layer, covered with fresh cream (no sugared icing or fondant...just fresh, light cream) and then pressed into the cream all over the cake these large, thick white chocolate shavings. We used it at my sister's bridal shower, her wedding, her baby shower, every event thereafter and it was going to always be my wedding cake. We then found out that they can make it eggless so we tried the eggless version and it tasted exactly the same. Mitul has some family (including his mom) that don't eat eggs and there are always the grandparents that don't and I wanted to make sure everyone could enjoy it so we did it eggless. Needless to say, that bakery now is popular with all of our family and friends in the Troy area especially since they do it just as well eggless.
Let me know what did you loved the most! See you tomorrow!
