I am so honored to bring you this beautiful destination fusion wedding straight out from the 2017 Maharani Weddings Magazine pages! A magnificent setting for a magnificent wedding! We are whisking you away to the capital of Austria, a seriously beautiful city for a destination wedding celebration. And yes, here is where Aditi and Jeff joined their lives. The couple initiated their wedding journey with a fantastic Sangeet night at the Kunsthistoriches Museum followed by a traditional Indian ceremony at the exclusive ambiance of the Stadtpalais Liechtenstein, in the heart of Vienna. With such an amazing venue there is no need for a big décor, the ethereal yet chic ceremony mandap created by Doll Blumen, is the best example of this affirmation. Our pair shared their wedding festivities with a group of privileged guests that observed the gorgeous union, among them was the talented Sergio Mazurini, who produced a breathtaking footage for the couple to enjoy and look back on over the years. Following the Indian union was the western nuptials where Maharani Aditi glowed in a white wedding gown and Jeff patiently waited for her in a well-tailored black suit that also matched his large entourage outfits! Manuela Princic orchestrated and planned this classy love story that seems endless! Following the religious unions, the most anticipated event took place at the Garden Palace of the Palais Liechtenstein where Planet DJ Productions fueled the party with the best beats until dawn! Remember to stop by the best photo selections of this destination affair in our previous feature in our main blog! With that being said, scroll down and hit play to watch this utterly romantic film by Sergio Mazurini!
I can't wait to share more beautiful images with you, Maharanis!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
I met Jeff through my brother, Anish. They were really close friends at UMich and Jeff ended up being one of the groomsmen at my brother's wedding. While me and Jeff always knew each other, it wasn't really a close relationship by any means. It was around the time of my brother's wedding (back in 2013) that Jeff and I started really hanging out. It wasn't anything serious, but he'd come visit NYC often, and our friendship really grew from that. In December 2013, It was a fateful weekend trip to Vegas, where his group of friends and my group of friends partied together, and Jeff and I became more than just friends.
I knew Jeff was the one during a friends trip to Miami for Ultra weekend. It was totally innocuous but we were all at a pool party and just watching the way Jeff took care of me and my friends and everyone around him made me realize how lucky and happy I was. I then proceed to slip out an “I love you” in conversation with him, which I then immediately took back in a panic. It’s an insane moment when you realize that this is it.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
The proposal story was a little wild! Jeff dropped a surprise trip to Amsterdam, my absolute favorite city. I was a little taken aback by the random trip, and I even asked my mom if she thought this could be a possible proposal. It was her answer that really took me off the trail. “Well if he’s proposing that’s news to me. He better talk to your father and me before he proposes!” At that point I thought, there’s no way Jeff is proposing, he knows better than to not ask for my parents’ permission.
The plan was for me to fly to Brussels and meet Jeff at the airport (as he had arrived the night before), eat some of our favorite Belgian Frites, and then drive straight to Amsterdam. I took a nighttime flight there and landed in the morning. I was a complete wreck from the travel and we decided to take a quick nap. It was after we freshened up and packed up, Jeff asked me to grab our passports from the safe cause he couldn’t get it to open. Thinking nothing of it, I went to go grab our passports. I crouched down and opened the safe and I jumped back. Inside was his phone flashing a light on the most beautiful engagement ring. I almost thought it was a mistake that I saw this. But I turned around and Jeff was right behind me and asked me “Well…” and I looked back at the ring and saw a hand-drawn picture (Roger the alien from American Dad) that said, “Let’s Just Do It!!!!!!”
The surprises didn’t end there. I found out, after calling my parents, that they’ve been WAITING for our phone call and of course they knew. Jeff has talked to them a few months back. They were absolutely thrilled. However, the craziest news of all came back from NYC, my niece, Arya, had been born the same exact day. It was the absolute best day of my life. When we finally got to Amsterdam, we opened the door to our Airbnb and inside were my two best friends, Kerri and Michelle, waiting for me. Jeff had flown them out for the weekend. I don’t deserve him.
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.
Planning this wedding wasn’t easy but we had really great help — our parents, friends, and family. Jeff and I had gone on a trip to Vienna the January before our wedding to pick out our venues. We wanted our venues to reflect the beauty and grandeur of Vienna. Every single place we saw was more beautiful than the last. We chose the Liechtenstein Palaces (City and Garden) for our Indian ceremony and reception. We had a vision of Jeff and his Baraat dancing (with our dhal player) through the streets of Vienna. It did not disappoint. One of my favorite events at any Indian wedding is the Sangeet. Something about the culture, the dancing, the colors and music. So when we first walked into the Kunshtistoriches Art Museum, I was completely blown away. I just knew that I had to hold our Sangeet there. Our Christian ceremony ended up being a last minute venue-switch. After learning that we actually had way more guests coming to our wedding than we originally ever thought (this was the best discovery of all time), we had to find a new venue. We found an opening at the Kursalon, literally a month before our wedding and jumped on it. It was incredible. A beautiful music venue which worked out perfectly for us because Jeff’s mother (a talented musician) played the piano for us during the ceremony.
Our decor was really kept as low-key as possible. The venues themselves were so incredibly ornate and beautiful that we were lucky enough to not have to do much with them. We kept our flowers local and besides having a mandap built from scratch, there wasn’t much we had to worry about by ways of decor. However, one thing we did splurge on was a massive screen at our reception. We wanted to play music videos during our reception and make it feel like a massive rave. It was pretty awesome.
Hair and makeup was beyond easy. I’m not too picky when it comes to my personal appearance, but I did have my makeup and hair person in mind for years. Dharti had done my sister in law, Tania’s, hair and makeup for her wedding and we’ve been in touch ever since. I wanted someone who not only knew how to do makeup and hair really well, but also had a personality that went well with mine. She calmed me down and made me feel like a princess.
For us though, it was having Ateet and his team there that really made the wedding special for us. We’ve known him for years and I’ve known forever that he just HAD to be the DJ at our wedding. His team is no nonsense, smart, dependable and they know how to throw a banger. His team kept our reception going until after 4am. It was the party to end all parties.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
Instagram. I was on Instagram trolling through outfit and designer and whatnot. I knew I wanted something very traditional for my Indian ceremony, but at the same time, I wanted something really different and modern for our sangeet. My reception outfit was so intricately designed and the silhouette was exactly what I was looking for. I went to India before my wedding to check out all the shops in Mumbai and I ended up working with my mom’s cousin, Shruthi Sheth. She’s an incredible designer and she made sure that she would deliver the exact type of outfits I was looking for. My Sangeet outfit came from Jade. My Christian ceremony white dress came from BHLDN. It was a cool bodysuit and skirt combo. It was lightweight and fit in with our venue. Did I have a favorite color in mind? No. I mostly just wanted my reception outfit to be different from all my guests.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The best party about wedding planning was going to Vienna with Jeff. Although it was a really quick weekend trip and I had to get back to the office the following Monday, we had such a good time frolicking through Vienna and really discovering all the possibilities for our wedding. We were still a the early stages of wedding planning so we didn’t feel as under the gun so we ended up having a blast. A little mini-vacation before all the craziness would begin.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
We think our guests just really loved being in Vienna. They all took advantage of traveling all the way out there and a bunch of them made vacations out of it. Or maybe it was a massive bottle of Belvedere we had passed around during our reception. You never know!
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
It was during our first event, the Christian ceremony. When I started walking down the aisle and I made eye contact with my mom. Tears streaming down her eyes. It just really hit me that this was actually happening. It was really emotional.
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.
I performed a special dance for everyone at my Sangeet. I mixed it myself but it had a good mix of Bollywood songs and EDM. It was something that I had worked for months on and was really proud of. We were really lucky to have my mother and her friends perform a dance for us, Bollywood and garba-style. Jeff's friends and groomsmen did a dance. My friends and family and bridal party all participated in their own dance. We all had such a good time.
My uncle, Anop Vora, performed our Jain ceremony. It wasn’t something he had ever done in the past but he brought so much heart into it and I’m just so thrilled he was able to do that for us.
We had bottle service at our reception. We’re pretty proud about that. We may have almost killed our guests with that little feature.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
As crazy as you get during your wedding planning, just remember that the wedding isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and that you and your fiancé are equally putting in work for it. It helps to share the burden.
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Jeff was on a horse and carriage during his Baraat, complete with a police escort while they all danced through the streets of Vienna to Liechtenstein City Palais.
We got our cake from the famed Demel Bakery. It was a three tiered cake, with our initials on it.
Jewelry was all curated from my mom, Jayshree, prior to the wedding. She's got an eye for good jewelry. I picked up a lot of my wedding ceremony accessories in Mumbai, during my trip shopping for clothes.
We brought Bianca (@hennabybianca) to put mendhi on all our guests during our Sangeet. She also assisted Dharti to help support on hair and makeup for my bridal party.
