Have you ever dreamed of your dream wedding reception entrance? The twinkling lights, the anticipation of your arrival floating in the air. For Maharani Vahini, it was Storm Troopers that escorted her into her grand finale and we can officially say we have seen it all (for now). After being dolled up by Drea V Makeup, Vahini and Aaron hit the outdoors to take some gorgeous portraits with Greycard Photography. Fusion Sounds provided all the lighting and music euphoria that kept guests on the dancefloor all night long. No doubt fueling up on fine Indian fare from Mantra Indian Cuisine was the key to keeping it groovy! Event designer Lindsey of BEL Event Productions took the love to cosmic levels with details that glittered throughout the night. Planned and designed by Dana Erickson of BEL Event Productions - this is one wedding team we want on our side! The bride herself has a few words for future Indian brides. "Wedding planning is a stressful time, but it’s also one of the most memorable times of your life. Make sure you enjoy every moment and always listen to your Future Husband, as this is his big day as well. Make sure you are realistic and remember there will always be some comprise in anything, it’s a huge test for the future but it’s a wonderful way to begin the journey. Trust me, it’ll be amazing!" Read more from the bride down below as you enjoy all of her special moments in our gallery.
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How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
The way I met Aaron truly felt like a love story straight out of a Bollywood movie. We met in 2013 in UC Irvine. Our first impressions of each other were: “he seems like a nerd”, “she seems quiet”… but boy were we wrong! We slowly became best friends, bonding over our love of the gym, Hindi movies, music, and most importantly FOOD! Slowly, that friendship turned into something more and before we knew it we were in love.
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.
Our first step in wedding planning was finding a coordinator to help us through the process. We fell in love with Dana at BEL (Bridal and Event Lounge) she was absolutely amazing and truly helped us with the wedding planning process.
For our venue, we knew we wanted something that stuck out and somewhere we could have multiple events while still feeling “new” every time. The Hyatt Regency in Long Beach definitely checked all those boxes, the moment we walked in there we knew it was where we would get married. Hair & Makeup was the easiest, I had my first bridal makeup trial with Andrea (DreaVMakeup) and before she even finished, I knew she was perfect. She quickly understood what I wanted and helped me form a look for each of my events.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
Believe it or not, my husband Aaron helped me with both of our Bridal Outfits and Reception Outfits. I have always been in awe of designers like Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra so I wanted my bridal lengha to be a one of a kind unique piece just for me. Aaron was crucial to this, he truly took “being a husband” to another level and helped me design my entire wedding dress from top to bottom along with my reception dress which was inspired by Katrina Kaif’s velvet emerald dress in the movie Fitoor. I knew I wanted antique gold and a deep red color for my bridal lengha to keep it traditional and Aaron designed his wedding outfit to look like a true Mughal Maharaja to complete our look. We both finished off our events with custom Velvet emerald outfits for the both of us, our outfits truly were made for a King and Queen and I couldn’t thank Aaron enough!
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Two words: THE FOOD! Our food was the talk of the town and still is! We catered our wedding and reception food from Mantra Cuisine of India. The food was amazing, authentic Indian food cooked by the owner Sumit himself. For our Garba Night we had catered from the hotel with an “Around the World” theme, full of different stations, leading from a Taco Bar, Paneer Pizzas, Thai Lettuce Wraps, and so much more, ending with a full Sundae Bar. Let’s just say the guests went home with happy and full tummies.
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 6 events, one was my Pooja back in NorCal at my parents’ home, 2 pithis (one for Aaron and one for me), a Garba, the Wedding, and the Reception.
For our reception, we wanted to do something a little different and be able to surprise our guests along with having a “special” wedding entrance. Both Aaron and I are big Star Wars fans so we had our Grand Entrance escorted by two Storm Troopers! This was definitely an unforgettable moment seeing the guest's jaws drop with surprise! We also had our first dance sung by a live performance from an incredibly talented singer @savereemusic (Saveree Joshipura). To top it off we ended our slow dance with a surprise twist with both our little sisters jumping into the mix and ending it with a fast “Aaj Ki Party” ending. Throughout the reception, my sisters (who were the Emcees of the night) played skits, announced our two performances (one from Aarons side and one from mine), and 4 speeches. Overall we had our dream wedding and couldn’t be happier with the memories we made.
Until tomorrow, dolls!
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