Buckle up, ladies, because today we have a special filmy for your beautiful selves coming all the way from Africa! That's right, Kenya was the place that saw Paayal & Samir tie the knot for eternity and what an incredible way to do so! Our friends from Twogether Studios truly made magic happen with this highlight reel! So talented! We are so loving the vibrancy of the colors, lights, and everything that made this beachside flair, a truly unique feature here in Maharani Weddings. Imagine being in a gorgeous beach in Mombasa surrounded by the people you love the most and getting married to your significant other! Sounds absolutely enchanting, doesn't it? Well, that was today's couple vision and we have everything here for your delight. Also, for a wedding like this, you need invitations that can set the tone for the gala. For that, the team from Customizing Creativity. They indeed customized this gorgeous invites and believe me, they were outstanding. Hit play below for all the details!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
We met at a party around 4years ago but after that one night never saw each other again…until 2016 just before Christmas. A real-life Christmas Miracle!
Samir walked into Paayal’s dad's office to have a meeting with him in whilst Paayal was rushing around to put up Christmas decorations and as she walked past him, he turned back and said ‘Hey – don’t I know you?”. Without turning around, Paayal replied a firm no – then some strange feeling made her turn back towards Samir and immediately pointed at him and said ‘Aren’t you the ‘sign guy’?!” – which of course Samir agreed to but also corrected her with “Well, I work in the advertising industry!”
You could say from that point on - 2.5years later, with a Civil wedding, a Hindu wedding, an Ismaili wedding and Tribal Masai Wedding done – they’re married!
Samir is my absolute best friend and better and crazier half! I knew he was the one when I realized he was the one person who understood me, accepted me, loved me and made me laugh like no one else could ever! And let’s be honest - Samir knew I was ‘the one’ when he realized I was the ONLY one who would laugh at his crazy jokes and his wild impersonations!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
Honestly, I wasn’t even expecting the proposal AT ALL let alone an underwater scuba diving proposal on my birthday!!
In October 2018 for my birthday Samir booked a holiday to Zanzibar – a place I love!
Before the trip, Samir had suggested we try and create a bucket list of things to do over the year – scuba diving being on top of the list. I agreed (but with the hopes that Samir might forget it by the time October came around!) – nevertheless, the trip came around and it was a birthday
never to be forgotten!
21st October 2018 – my birthday! Samir woke me up to tell me my birthday present was that they were going scuba diving!! Woohoo! So we were going to be 2 dives of the day – I was so excited to be diving on my birthday – but told Samir there was only one way I was jumping in..he was to stay at least 2 meters away from me so he doesn’t pull any of his scare pranks on me!
After a successful first dive, we decided to do the second one after our tanks and tummies were filled up again. As we swam around 14feet below sea level around a sunken dhow covered in coral and fish, one of the other “divers” called me over and signaled that he would take a photo of Samir and I underwater. It was at that moment that I turned to my right to call Samir over for the photo that he was down on his knee(s!) with a signboard in his hands saying “I found a love for me.. darling, WILL YOU MARRY ME?”
Of course, I said yes, and he popped a ring onto my finger – with a hug and a high five we swam around now ENGAGED!
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.
Venue – we are so lucky to have had our wedding at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa – Mombasa. It was the most perfect venue and every single staff member, from top-level management of the group and that property General Manager, Food & Beverage Managers, chefs and to the guys on the ground – we had the best support and facilities so readily and happily offered to us. A big big BIG thank you shoutout to all the staff of the hotel and group for supporting us and making sure every single thing was perfect.
Hair & Makeup – I knew from the beginning I didn’t want anything OTT and having a beach wedding (and knowing how much I wanted to party hard at each function) – I was always keen on a light but standout makeup looks for all events. Bianca got my style completely and made sure I was happy with every single look – and she put up with me nearly passing out in the makeup chair!
Outfits – for a girl who loves shopping – wedding shopping was a DREAM! I went in with an open mind and enjoyed exploring the best styles for me. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to have had all my wedding outfits by some of the biggest names in the fashion industry and get goosebumps every time I look at the amazing craftsmanship and styles I was able to wear for my wedding.
Décor Theme & curation – the briefs were not brief! Come to the wedding set up week all teams were handed THE WEDDING BIBLE – a 200page, A3, bound and laminated guide on the décor setup with all theme and stylizations explained.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
It’s been my mum's dream to have my bridal lengha by Sabyasachi – and as expected our visit to the Mumbai – Kala Ghoda store was the only place we needed to visit as I found my perfect bridal lengha within 45minutes!
As the Hindu wedding ceremony was overlooking the beach, I was keen to have a nice pastel/light coloured lengha – and the Anushka lengha colour and style was perfect and was a dream to wear.
As our welcome party theme was Havana Nights - Papa Don’t Preach’s electric blue jumpsuit teamed with funky Outhouse and Prerto jewelry was a winner!
For the Mendhi/Sangeet I had a beautiful Varun Bhal outfit made which was a mix of 2 outfits I had liked - a gorgeous blue beaded skirt and an embroidered butterfly blouse which had all the right colours and allowed me to dance the night away!
For our Ismaili wedding, I opted for a beautiful charmeuse silk sari from the renowned Kalaniketan.co in Mumbai - it was so elegant and had the perfect amount of sparkle for the beautiful dusk ceremony.
For our Reception, I had to have a stand out colour and had a custom-designed Nadine Dodhy outfit so I went her signature red shade and customized my outfit with feathers and a shoulder cape to make me feel SO glamorous and to match the Art Deco theme we had.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
Seeing my vision come to life during the setup week was the most exciting. Seeing months of hard work and many many MANY long nights sat with the Misaki Design Company – it was so magical to see my fairytale wedding come to life!
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Our guests enjoyed the fact that we had different functions and every single function had completely different design elements and the ambiances created for each event had their own distinct look. The wedding festivities took place at the amazing Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa, Kenya so although we were in Africa – for each function we made our guests feel like they were transported to a complete world. As with all Indian weddings, we knew the food had to be spectacular and the Sarova Group made sure our guests were served with the finest cuisine hand made by their country-wide head chefs specially flown into Mombasa for all of our wedding events.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Walking down the aisle during the Hindu Wedding Ceremony and seeing all our family and friends there to bless us and share these special days with us and that moment before I stepped up onto the mandap, I looked to the sky to remember my grandma who I truly felt was looking down on me that very moment and showering me with her love! I’m so lucky that the awesome Twogether Studio crew was able to catch that moment and incorporate it into our wedding video.
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.
WELCOME NIGHT – HAVANA NIGHT
A Cuban themed night to kick start the celebrations – cigars, rum based cocktails and music that made you dance until you drop! There was no doubt in our mind that our entrance song for this event had to be none other than Cardi B – “Like it like That” which is one of our most favourite summer jams!
PAAYAL’S PITHI/HALDI
A traditional function with the flower, haldi, emotions and all! (Secret: instead of using the old school mix of turmeric and water paste to be applied on me I bought some amazing turmeric based face scrubs and body polishes by Forest Essentials and KAMA so I technically got a pamper session during the function!)
SAMIR’S PITHI/HALDI
Wow! This was a completely WILD event - after the traditional formalities were done Samir’s friends got their back on Samir with a concoction of eggs, flour, ketchup, fish juice mixed up into buckets to throw on him - then adorning him with a necklace made of fish heads!!!
MENDHI/SANGEET - aka PASHALAND
This funky, colourful and extraordinary event was a collaboration of ideas all rolled into one to make an epic evening - all to be enjoyed after Samir’s family gifted me with trays upon trays of beautiful outfits and Prince Charming himself gifting me with what I thought was a stack of Dominoes pizzas (my ABSOLUTE FAVE!!) - which actually turned out to be a beautiful diamond set. Amongst the colours and pumping music, we had a chai wala serving tea out of the back of his rickshaw, the Mayuri Dance Group from Russia performing high energy dances on stage and on the cosmic designed dancefloor, customised cocktails and drinks being blended, shaken and stirred by the dynamic duo and team of The Bar Factory and dozens of live food stations and flying elephants suspended from the ceiling. I don’t think words could fully describe this function but i’m glad Twogether Studios captured all of it in its multicoloured glory!
HINDU WEDDING
We had a dreamy pink beachfront wedding for the Hindu ceremony with over 50,000 flower stems and a mirrored mandap adorned with ivory silk ribbons and pastel pink roses with mirrored hearts hanging overhead to reflect all the love in the air!
A heart-shaped arch cover in peonies, hydrangeas and roses welcomed guests to the wedding canopy custom-designed to make you feel like you are floating amongst clouds and beautiful lotus flowers.
ISMAILI WEDDING
A delicate and tranquil Ismaili wedding ceremony with a stage built within one of the hotels pools was an elegant and perfect way to end the traditional wedding functions.
RECEPTION
Amazing Decor (pun intended!), live jazz band, oysters on tap, and all the glitz to transport you back to the roaring twenties to experience a night in the Art Deco ear. This event was perfect to the tee. With an entrance song by Jay-Z & Beyonce - Ape S**t and fireworks lighting up the walkway as we danced our way in as the new Mr & Mrs. Shah - it was an entrance not to be forgotten! This was an incredible event with never seen before decor styles to give that larger than life feel!
Special shoutout all our cousins and all the little nieces and nephews who were ABSOLUTELY amazing to perform dances at our Sangeet and Reception and a big thank you to all the surprise dances by my cousins for shaking your money makers up on stage!
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Enjoy the wedding days – the planning of the wedding will be super stressful but make the most of all the love, happiness, and party vibes on your big days.
Follow your heart – this is YOUR big day – do what makes YOU happy
Everyone will tell you this, but it is 100% true – come the day of the wedding, don’t stress the little things! Trust me, no aunties are going to realize that the champagne glasses are not at a 35degree angle to the cutlery or that the pleating of your wedding tiebacks are not equal – go with the flow and BE STRESS-FREE ON YOUR WEDDING DAY!
Stay close, more to come!
