Happy Friday, ladies! This week has been full of inspiring ideas and romantic stories, and today is no exception! We are ending this week with a flourish by taking a look at Meghna & Pragnesh's grand wedding celebration. So get yourself ready to have a blast! One of the first things that you have to have in mind when planning your wedding is to have beautifully crafted invites as they will announce your wedding, and it is the way you will notify your family and friends that you want to have their presence on this special day for you. So you need to choose them wisely! If you want to have extraordinary invites, do what this lovely couple did, and contact The Royal Collection. Believe us, with this fantastic team, you can never go wrong! Once you have invited everyone, you need to have a great venue and perfect decoration, and Meghna & Pragnesh's wedding bash is an example of what a dreamy wedding looks like! Fully orchestrated by Events by Ridhi P, this wedding event seemed like taken from the pages of a fairytale. Abhishek Decorators decored the exclusive halls of the Albany Marriott, and we absolutely loved the final result! The color palette, the floral arrangements, and the overall decor were as elegant as captivating, and it created a beautiful setting more than suitable for this life-changing moment! After the wedding ceremony, all guests celebrate along with the newlyweds at a big reception party enlivened by D&S Event Solutions. And oh, boy, they owned the stage and put everyone to dance. The only time the dancing stop, was to enjoy the culinary experience prepared by Rasoi, right before having a bite at the sweet treats baked by Villa Italia Bakery. Ladies, if you can't get enough of this wedding celebration, don't miss today's gallery brought to you thanks to Fine Art Productions. You will get tons of inspiring ideas for your big day!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
We “met” on the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel! Pragnesh came across my profile first, thought a 6’ tall Gujarati girl was too good to be true, and took a shot. When I saw his profile, I thought that a 6’2” Gujarati boy was definitely too good to be true, so I had to pursue!
I knew he was the one fairly early in our relationship, we had similar core values and family backgrounds, but more so I felt more myself with him than I did with anyone before. He also stood by me during some tough family situations, and I realized how important a role he played in my life so quickly. Definitely helped that he got along so well (without me having to navigate the scenario) with my best friends!!
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
We had planned a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico as a getaway (2018 was a crazy year for us, 6 weddings of which I was a bridesmaid in 2!). We had decided to do little surprises for each other during the trip - I had planned our spa day with some special add OMS, and he planned a photo shoot around the resort - this was because I always wanted to get nice couple pictures of us! At the end of the shoot, we came to this gazebo overlooking the beach and ocean. Our photographer had us stand back to back and take a few steps apart, then had me turn around, where I saw Pragnesh on one knee asking me to marry him! I looked next to him and saw this heart made out of candles and flower petals spelling out “Marry Me Meghna” and in his other side a hotel staff member came out with a bouquet of roses and champagne! Needless to say I was surprised, and said “seriously?” after he asked the question!! Of course I shortly thereafter said yes!
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.
Having been to so many weddings in the past, and helping plan some of them, I had a solid idea of what I did and didn’t want. Finding a venue was easy, as there were only 2 in the Albany, NY area that could accommodate the number of guests we were inviting. We chose the Marriott, which not only is 5 minutes away from my childhood home, but was where I had my sweet 16!
For hair and makeup, I chose a local salon (J&C Beauty Bar) - they had done the hair and makeup for one of my close friend’s weddings the year before, and they were amazing. They were actually the first vendor I booked!
For outfits, I knew I wanted to wear a traditional Gujarati Panetar sari, with my groom in a sherwani with matching accents. We were able to find those at shops in Mumbai. I also found my reception gown in Mumbai, and had my other outfits (mehndi - custom shortened green chaniya choli, grahshanthi - pink sari with purple blouse, pithi - yellow salwar kameez with palazzo pants, Garba - multicolored chaniya choli) custom made by a designer aunty in Mumbai - I was able to pick the fabrics And accents for them all. In fact, my Garba chaniya was made of pieces of my bridesmaids’ chaniya cholis (also custom made). My bridesmaids’ outfits for the wedding were custom designed simple gowns (fabric chosen by my mom, best friend, and me) with maroon dupattas. The groomsmen had the same dupatta to go with their navy blue kurta pyjamas, and the maid of honor and best man had special borders put on their dupattas.
In regards to decor, my husband and I were very hands on. We wanted simple themes, and wanted everything to feel open and lively. Abhishek Decorators definitely helped us achieve that vision. I also wanted to incorporate peaches, maroons, and white for the florals, and loved a wisteria canopy our decorator showed us for the mandap. We had gold “bookshelves” as our backdrop for the wedding, and a moss wall with a gold lantern shaped cutout wall for the reception. The Garba was very colorful, with 2 canopied seating areas with colorful couches, and a bangle station for guests to take pouches of bangles, bindis, and jhumki earrings. We even entered the Garba in a colorful bicycle-driven rickshaw!
Our DJs were very easy to choose. I had met D&S event solutions the year before when vendor shopping with my friend for her wedding. I was blown away by their energy and friendliness, and knew when I got married they had to be there! The planning process with them was just plain fun, it felt like we were friends and/or family forever! Thanks to them we also got our day of wedding coordinator, Events by Ridhi P!
For photo/video, we saw Fine Arts Productions at a wedding expo, and realized they had done a good friends wedding (also at the Marriott) 11 years prior! After a mire in depth meeting, we knew Amish and Chirali would help us achieve our vision for the wedding. They even helped us film a Bollywood music video for our reception introduction!
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
Orange is my favorite color, so I had my Garba dupatta in orange to contrast all the other colors in my chaniya. My reception outfit was a customized coral gown with embroidered duster, with the embroidery being in light blue. My husband wore light blue and coral socks with his navy blue and black tux to coordinate!
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
I would say having our family and friends being a part of the process, but still having some surprises that just my husband and I knew. We also had the best vendors that all had worked together before and also helped us with the planning process and details patiently.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
I think they loved all the personal touches. We wanted each and every guest to feel important at our wedding, because they were! We also had an endless stream of food and snacks, which everyone definitely appreciated! For parents of young kids, we had a kids only entertainment room with magicians, balloon artists, face painters, and cartoon characters to keep the kids entertained (and supervised with babysitters) which allowed the parents to cut loose too! In fact, the characters infiltrated the main reception and joined in on the dance party!
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
One that sticks out is our first look - I decided to “wear” a Chewbacca mask for when my husband turned around, definitely made us both (And the decorators, DJ, and photographers in the room) laugh!
I also remember sitting on the mandap and taking a breath to see all my family and friends in the room. I could make out almost each and every individual face, and even though there were 350 of them, I recognized them all and it made the wedding feel more intimate.
Another wonderful memory from our reception was that The dance floor never closed once it was open. People were always dancing, for 4 hours straight! I love dancing, and so that in itself was an extra bonus dream come true!
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.
We had all our performances at the Garba. Both our families had a few dances, and our friends and bridal party also performed (including my parents with aunties and uncles from my hometown!). We were surprised when my cousins started showing a clip of them dancing at my sweet 16, which was literally in the same ballroom 18 years before. I surprised my husband and everyone by jumping in with my bridesmaids to dance for a short clip, but then my husband one upped me by dancing with my friends for a short clip, but then also joining the groomsmen for a dance!
At the reception, we surprised everyone with an introduction video. We wanted it to seem like a dream sequence that occurs between the wedding and reception. We imagined we were dropped into 3 different older Bollywood songs, complete with “authentic” costumes and the original video dance moves! Needless to say, our guests were all surprised and definitely enjoyed it a lot!!
My husband and I had one more surprise for our guests. Our first dance was to a Michael Jackson song, and we decided to remix in an uptempo MJ song to which we threw in some of his classic dance moves! We are both MJ fans, so it was only appropriate!
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Enjoy the process, and delegate tasks as much as you can! Hiring Ridhi as a wedding coordinator was the best decision, as she took that weight off my shoulders!
During the wedding events, eat as much as you can, stay hydrated (I had a giant water bottle with me at all times!) and just stay calm - don’t stress over little things, because that will prevent you from remembering the important moments!
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Jewelry: for the wedding, I wore a sari clip that belonged to my late maternal grandmother, and the diamond in my nose ring was from a broken earring of hers as well.
Mehndi: I found a local mehndi artist (Henna by Nayalesh), and we incorporated elephants that matched our invitations, as well as a dulha holding a bagel and dulhan holding a cup of coffee to symbolize us meeting on coffee meets bagel!
Cake: we chose a local bakery (Villa Italia), and decided on a cake to cut and a variety of cupcakes to serve our guests instead of a traditional tiered cake.
Have a great weekend ladies, and don't forget to join us on Monday for more!
Have a great weekend ladies, and don't forget to join us on Monday for more!
Floral & Decor: Abhishek Decorators |
Invitations & Wedding Stationery: The Royal Collection |
Venue: Albany Marriott |
Planning & Design: Events by Ridhi P |
Hair & Makeup: JV Beauty & Salon |
Mehndi: Henna by Nayalesh |
Catering: Rasoi |
Cake & Treats: Villa Italia Bakery |
DJ: D&S Event Solutions |
Baraat: D&S Event Solutions |
Lighting: D&S Event Solutions |
Cinematography: Fine Art Productions |
Photo Booth: Actions Photo Booths |
Entertainment: Zing-A-Gram |
Photography: Fine Art Productions
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