Happy Monday, Maharanis! Welcome to our first official video blog feature! In case you've been hiding under rock, we said goodbye to Filmy Fridays, and are thrilled to pieces to be dedicating an entire page on our site to becoming the ultimate destination for South Asian wedding films! We thought what better way to introduce our new page than with the help of Bay Area bridal fave, ! They covered Indian bride and groom, Sheba and Harshil's, shaadi in San Jose, California, and came away with a treasure trove of incredible highlights — all of which are featured in this stunning film! Feast on some serious Indian wedding moments from Sheba and Harshil's mehndi celebration and sangeet, plus delight in all the unforgettable footage from their ceremony and reception at The Fairmont San Jose! Mehndi Designer wowed us with her talents once again at the 2:22 mark, and MUA, M-Sutra Bride, took our's — and the happy couple's guests' — breath away with bridal hair and makeup that was flawless as can be. Harshil played the role of Prince Charming perfectly, arriving to the ceremony venue's iconic rotunda on a white horse from Vintage Carriage Company (also, notw his ultra gold bow tie during the reception!), and the event planners from Mita Events decked out the amazing affair with the most stunning Indian wedding decorations this side of Mumbai!
Maharani Sheba, on meeting the Raja of her dreams, Harshil:
"Let's go back about 9 years ago to when we were in high school. I was on the school basketball team and I was at Harshil's school for a tournament. Harshil was there with some of his friends when he suddenly sees me..an Indian girl that played ball? That too so well? Now that was seriously impressive.
So, he starts asking his friends if they know me and turns out my childhood best friend is his family friend..my other high school friends all knew him somehow..my other best friend's cousin is now his sister in law..it seriously is a small world that just entangled our paths together.
So then we started talking..hanging out..dating..but since the first day it has always been this beautiful friendship that really is the base of our love story. He used to always tell me that when we grow up I am going to marry you, and I used to just laugh because who knows who they will marry at that age. But, as the years passed we started realizing it was not just the friendship but it was a bond much deeper that no words can do justice. There was no "one" moment that made me realize he was the one but moments where he proved to me there is nobody else in the world that would ever love me how much he does."
On her Raja's romantic proposal:
"When we were in high school we had talked about in the future when a guy proposes to me where would it be? I said Paris..seriously we were kids talking about an imaginary situation where some crazy guy would whisk me away to paris and propose under the Eiffel tower perfectly at that exact time of day when the tower sparkles for a few minutes.
Fast forward 9 years later..we are planning a trip to India together and Harshil is insisting we fly Air France to India?? Because apparently they have really good service and it would be great to just squeeze in Paris since it is "on the way". After knowing a person for this long you obviously know when they are up to something..and of course I knew something was happening.
So we are off to Paris for a short stop before continuing our trip to India..and we arrive the first day. We are getting ready to go to dinner at some fancy restaurant..so we take an Uber and we are driving there..and we are passing by the Eiffel tower..when suddenly Harshil asks the drive to pull up on the side so we can take a quick look. So we get out of the cab and walk towards this bridge..and you can see the entire tower..we are walking around and there is this random table on the side..On the table is a rose, a small Eiffel tower, a small treasure chest, a poem ..and this wooden sign with check boxes that lists all our goals together..be best friends..high school sweethearts and make it last..buy a house..new year's in Times Square..vacation in Paris..and the last box which is unchecked reads "Get Engaged".. Harshil gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him and says the sweetest things..and I am in tears by now. Of course I say yes, and like magic the tower starts sparkling! It was perfectly timed just like I had imagined all those years ago. I am not even sure how he did this...And of course he hired a photographer to capture all this and then even planned a photoshoot in Paris for the next day! It just happened to be a National holiday and we were the only ones at these super popular tourist locations..which made for some picture perfect shots."
On her wedding style:
"We had been talking about our wedding for years!! Every time I would see a decoration, cake design, cute signs..I would take screen shots of it. When we finally got engaged I had hundreds of pictures of what I want to include. We wanted our wedding to be very personalized and unique where modern meets culture in a beautiful blend. I am Bengali and Harshil is Gujarati, so we combined both our traditions for the ceremony and pre-wedding events. Our reception theme was Paris and the decor was classy and romantic..lots of flowers and crystals..and each table was a location in Paris."
On what she enjoyed most about planning her dream wedding:
"The best part about planning our dream wedding was all the little details that made our wedding so personal and unique. From our pedicab entrance at our reception, an ice sculpture, a huge chocolate fountain, a life size wine bottle, confetti showers, rose petals showers..you name it!!! We have it all!!"
On shopping for her lenghas:
"We went shopping to Mumbai for all our wedding clothes. We spend an entire week just shopping for our wedding clothes because we wanted each event to have a different style outfit and of course match!! We have got a gold bow tie made for his tux for the reception that would perfectly match my blue and gold lengha."
On her most magical wedding moment:
"The rose petal shower that was perfectly timed when the priest announced us as husband and wife — That was the most magical moment in my life! Rose petals started falling from everywhere as we stood under the mandap!!!"
Additional thoughts from Maharani Sheba:
"We are so excited that our wedding is being featured because Maharani Weddings was so helpful when I was planning mine. And, I am so happy to be able to inspire Maharanis around the world as they plan the most important day of their lives!"
Don't forget to join us every day for the most gorgeous South Asian wedding films! We'll see you tomorrow!
