There is something about a restrained color palette that makes a wedding range from the sublime to the immaculate. Muted elegance reigned at Hitasha and Kunal’s reception at Addison Park, thanks to Rangoli Decor, who fused vintage with glam. The stage was bedecked with dual-toned floral stems, peony bouquets, and a vintage champagne gold cage. Needless to say, the 10-tiered white cake in all its glory, was the highlight because it was made by the bride herself, who owns The Cakery Bake Shop! “The overall size and concept of the cake was done to have a grand yet romantic feeling, and this is the first time I did not have a sketch,” shared Hitasha, who painstakingly started making the ivory sugar flowers with her mother’s help a few weeks before the wedding. Hitasha brought a whiff of glam with her in a regal burgundy and soft gold Sabyasachi ensemble that had an embroidered tulle overlay with a baroque border, and Kunal looked swell in his black Ike Behar tuxedo. DJ Sunny Entertainment made sure the guests had a ball, and Bukhara Grill catered exquisite Indian gourmet food. The very skilled team at NYNJ Photography captured Hitasha & Kunal's extravaganza through photos and film.
We spoke to Hitasha to get more insights into this painted-in-pastels kinda wedding, and here's what she had to share with us:
How did you meet your Raja and when did you know he was "the one"?
Kunal's dad and my dad worked together about 33-34 years ago in Dubai. After a few years in Dubai, Kunal's Family moved back to Bombay, and we lost touch. Through common friends, the parents reconnected in 2004. It was the same year I had moved from Florida to New Jersey to attend college. A few months later, we met for the first time and started talking on AIM. And were here over 11 years later.
Do you have a super romantic proposal story or engagement memory?
Considering that our Misri (Sindhi Engagement) was in May 2015, I had been expecting Kunal to propose during the summer. On the 29th of November, we decided to go to brunch and change before we headed over to Central Park for the second part of our "save the date" shoot. On our drive to the park, Kunal casually brought up my nails and if I had them done recently (which I had not and I just did them in a rush myself a few days earlier), and how the outfit I was wearing looked good. He doesn’t usually bring up my manicures, but since we did get all dolled up for the pictures, and one of my nails had a little smudge so I just thought he noticed. As we were approaching the end of the shoot, I was freezing, and was ready to go back to the car since we had taken pictures at every spot that I wanted. Kunal, Saurabh and Jignisha said that we should walk over to a spot by the water, since it was empty and would showcase all the fall colors. Once we walked over, Kunal and I were talking between the shot, and he said, “we should totally have a picture where I am fake proposing, so we have it for later.” I giggled a little and wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. He then started to say the sweetest things, and before I knew it, I was in tears and he was actually on one knee, with the most beautiful ring I had ever seen, asking me to marry him.
Tell us about your wedding style. When you sat down to really figure out how your dream wedding would look, did you start with one central color, a palette of colors, or a theme that served as your inspiration?
Kunal and I are both very simple when it comes to our taste. We like things to be elegant and classic without being over the top. When we were scoping out venues, we came across The Addison Park and that set the tone for the entire wedding. It had such a polished and classy vibe and we knew right away that all we needed to do was pick things to enhance what the venue already had. I am a big fan of whites and pink and wanted a lot of flowers, so that was our starting point along with some Pinterest boards I had been creating over the last few years. We worked with Krupa and Rangoli Weddings to make all the details come alive.
What did you enjoy most about the process of planning your dream Indian wedding?
I loved the entire process. From the initial meetings with all our amazing vendors to seeing everything come together on the final days, it was all extremely special.
How did you choose your lengha or lenghas? Did you work with a certain designer? Did you spend hours on the internet first?
I took two trips to India. The first was in December 2015, I was hoping to get things done in one trip, but once I got there, I was so overwhelmed by everything. I left empty handed during that trip, and wasnt sure how to proceed. When I went back to Mumbai, our first stop on that trip was Anita Dongre’s flagship in Khar, Mumbai. I think I tried on their entire store since I was pretty sure I did not want a traditional red lehenga for the wedding ceremony. And that changed when I tried on the lehenga I ended up buying, and it was a red one. I loved that it was traditional, yet had the perfect feel for a modern bride. Anita Dongre also has a fabulous jewelry collection, Pink City, so we ended up getting all of the pieces I wore at both, the ceremony and sangeet, from there as well.
Looking back, was there a really special moment that you remember from your wedding that stands out as the most magical?
The first look. I trust Kunal's opinion a lot, so him not being a part of my wedding shopping was really stressful. He knew what designers I was wearing, but didnt know anything else. It was extremely special when we saw each other that morning in front of our mandap. It all suddenly just got real. All that planning finally led us to our wedding day.
We'd love to hear all about your other details!
One of the details of the wedding I was most excited about was the cake! I love roses, so we used the pattern as a backer to our invites and inside our envelopes, and we knew it would be a part of the cakes design. I started with the sugar flowers a few weeks before the wedding since each flower takes about an hour to make. I usually do all the sugar work myself, but I knew it was time to call in some reinforcements. I was lucky to have my mom around, who is super artistic as well, so I taught her a few things and she kept making small flowers for our cake (Thanks, Mom!), while I was working and trying to get things for the wedding done. I felt so overwhelmed about it all, but I just kept working and building on the initial ideas and knew that I would know when it all looks and feels right. I do wish I had a bit more time to dedicate to the cake, but with everything else going on, it was a bit challenging. At the end though, Kunal loved the way the cake turned out and so did everyone else.
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