The Platinum Guide Blog

No need to hope on a plane cause you''ve got a virtual invitation to Priyt and Vishal's Destination Indian wedding planed by ANR Events in Florida's luxurious Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort Golf Club & Spa! Our lovebirds say their I do's at a stunning mandap designed by the talented Occasions by Shangri-la. The vibrant organic fabric is the perfect color in such a serene beach setting. Our Maharani looks gorgeous in her sari and a mehndi design by Henna Allure. Kimberly Photography captures all the ceremonial moments from the fashion to the decor to the uttered joy. Stay tuned for more, and make sure to check out the gallery to see this darling's romantic first look photo session!

From the bride, on how they met:

"We both attended the Ernest Mario school of pharmacy at Rutgers University and met through our professional pharmacy fraternity, Alpha Zeta Omega."

From their website, on the proposal:

"Priya was preparing to finish her last year in California and Vishal was preparing a proposal. He is a person who loves his games (AKA Gamemaster), and of course, that is what the proposal turned into. He enlisted the help of his friends, both old and new, and created a game-oriented proposal with a full introductory video (which you can see here: The Introduction Video Used in the Proposal). The game consisted of a zoo puzzle, trip to the zoo, real life clue game and then a scavenger hunt before finally meeting up with Vishal at the beach. Although it seems quick and straightforward, nothing with Vishal ever is, and the whole ordeal took Priya about 3 hours. But Priya endured, made it all the way through and even managed to say YES (even though she was hungry, tired and it was pitch black outside instead of "at sunset" as planned). They were thrilled to tell all their family back east and very EXCITED to start their lives together."

From the bride, on the hair and makeup:

"I had an idea of what I wanted but I worked with the hair stylist to find the perfect look for each of my events. The trial was key to really figure out what I wanted so when the wedding weekend came, we already knew what I was going to do."

On the fashion:

"The wedding outfit was chosen at a shop in India. I didn't really spend much time on the Internet first, I just wanted to go into the shops to see what they had since the styles changed pretty quickly. The wedding outfit was non-traditional in color but perfect for a beach wedding. The outfit for the mehndi/garba was from a different shop in India. I knew what colors I wanted for the outfit and was able to customize the borders and colors of the outfit which was pretty cool! The bridesmaid and groomsmen wedding outfits were also from India. I was very particular with the color of the bridesmaids' saris as I wanted that indigo color by using a two-tone fabric. I was able to find the perfect color in a silk sari."

On jewelry, venue and flowers:

"Jewelry was from India. Marriott was an awesome venue to host the wedding with their private white sand beach and amenities. Bouquets were beautiful especially the one I had while I was carried down the isle."

On the wedding style:

"We started with a theme, the bird of paradise which is a very unique and tropical flower. From there, we chose the colors indigo and orange/yellow to be our main colors for the wedding."

On the planning:

"I enjoyed spending a lot of time with vishal and both of our parents to sit down and brainstorm different ideas. We also really enjoyed the food tasting experience at the Marriott."

On a special moment:

"The special moment I will always remember is coming down the isle on the doli which was carried by my brother and cousins. Everyone was looking up at me like I was royalty and at the end of the isle I could see my parents smiling up at me with pure joy and happiness. I will never forget their faces."

On special details:

"Our family and friends helped out with a lot of details of the wedding weekend including making making the invitations, welcomes bags, hosting the hospitality suite, putting together our favors, and helping with the table seating arrangement the day of the reception."

The reception celebration is coming up next!

Occasions by Shangri-la, Kimberly Photography and Henna Allure are members of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

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We're back at the Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa, where today's beautiful Indian bride is about to take her walk down the aisle and say "I do" to the Raja of her dreams! Lito Sy Photography was there to capture all the candidly captivating highlights from the happy couple's wedding ceremony, which featured Maharani Nish in a spectacular, burnt sienna-colored, bridal lengha. The event's decor, by Pink Flora, was delightfully divine — with fabulous florals and an exquisite mandap. Following the morning's vow exchange, the groom, Raja Sono, held a uniquely unforgettable anime-themed soireé, dubbed Sakura + Sake! Maxx Entertainment's own Sadhu Beats delivered the party's body-movin' sounds and kept partygoers happily on their feet. Head into the complete gallery for and exclusive look and more exciting details from the post-ceremony celebrations, including the black tie reception!

The bride, on her wedding style:

"Our style was to just enjoy those three days with our friends. We had people from so many places flying it, we wanted to be able to spend time with them.
Each party was planned in a way that represented us or what we really enjoyed. Our welcome dinner was Cuban themed, because on our first date we ended the night at a salsa bar and danced the night away. Our wedding was in the morning, so that evening began with an Anime-themed dinner and after-party because my husband loves all things Japanese. It's as much the groom's wedding as it is the bride, and it's funny that they never really get to plan much. My husband thought of everything for this party, from the activities to the signature cocktails. We even had an outdoor sake bomb bar. Our poojas and pheras were all standard Sindhi rituals, as we both are Sindhi. Our reception was a garden theme, black tie - full of laughter, lots of food, dancing, and merriment."

On selecting her dream wedding lenghas:

"I decided to go to Delhi for a week about 3 months before the wedding to buy EVERYTHING. Lots of pressure to finish in 7 days. I had no intention of going to a designer or spending too much time on one dress, I left it to more of a gut feeling. I had an idea of what I wanted to wear long before, from an Indian Bridal magazine in NY.
I figured if you are going to wear red this one time, it might as well be classic and traditional. It was only my second day in Delhi and once I tried "the dress" on, I knew. I ended up leaving it behind thinking it was just my second day there and I may find something else I liked. I came back to the store, and they had sold it. It was a frustrating moment. But my soon to be mom in law saw the emotion, and came to the rescue. We quit shopping at the point, and went out to dinner and had a bottle of wine. Two days later, on my last full day in Delhi, we found the exact same dress in a small hole in the wall store and did not think twice.
For the other occasions, I purchased at stores like Aza where I was looking for colors that went with the themes we had chosen. My Japanese outfit was ordered online. It all just comes together."

On her most memorable wedding day moment:

"Sono and I had completed all the reception rituals - the walk in, the dance, the cake (cupcakes!). But there was a point during my husbands thank you speech that we looked at the crowd and had this vibe. We had never been in a room radiating with that much love, laughter and all around good cheer. There was an energy that you cannot describe, which filled the ballroom."

On her and her Raja's first dance song selection:

"We danced to Return of the Mack, by Mark Morrison. It is not a love song at all. It's not slow or romantic. It has been one of my favorite songs, though, since high school. My husband knew that all too well, we danced to it during our first night out. He spent a lot of time on this and found a doo-wop version, slow beats and one we could slow dance too. Best. Husband. Ever."

On her hair and makeup looks:

"I am really not fussy when it comes to make up perfection. My make up artist and team had come recommended and since they are in fact artists, Gari-son had all the freedom to come up with looks for each event. The team spent time looking at my outfits, and went all out. Traditional bridal looks for the poojas and the wedding, then they took it to the next level when we were doing my Japanese look. Great team with lots of laughs."

On the role that family and friends played in making her dream day a reality:

"From the food to the activities, we had advice everywhere. Our guests even brought party goodies to Cebu for us. But the most important thing - Our family and friends kept us sane through the planning."

Sound advice from the bride:

"In the end, you just have to roll with it. There will be things that come up, that you have to deal with and face, in the months before or the days prior to the wedding; things you may never have encountered before...stress from all avenues...but in the end, it is about you both and celebrating that union. Don't forget that."

Hope you all enjoyed this wedding gem with us today. We'll see you again tomorrow for another amazing affair!

Lito Sy Photography captured some amazing moments from this three-day Indian wedding event in the Philippines, and I'm so excited to share all of the unforgettable details with you today! First, let's take a look at some of the pre-wedding celebrations that went down at the Shangri-La's Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu! This extraordinary affair kicked off with a Misri, celebrating the bride, Nish, and groom, Sono's, exciting engagement! The blushing Indian bride wore a delicate green dress and had a no-fuss, yet flawless, hair and makeup style. For the following night's mehndi party, she turned up the volume and donned an orange and gold lengha with pink accents, and had a fabulously finished updo. Maharani Nish's jewels were on point and Pink Flora's decor work was stunning! Maxx Entertainment was also on hand to help keep the party going with their heart-pumping playlist and DJ'ing expertise, so you can be sure partygoers kicked this multi-day celebration off in major Maharani style! Check out even more from the pre-wedding festivities in the complete gallery!

The bride, on how she met the Raja of her dreams:

"We met almost a decade ago because of mutual friends, and that did not go well. We have good memories of that evening, but it was two years later that we met again in NYC that something "happened." He was living in Montreal and I was in NY - so it took a bit of planning and jumping around for our first date to actually occur. We both had one of the best weekends we can remember in (of all places) Burlington, VT, and that was it..."

On her Raja's unforgettable proposal:

"Although lacking anything too sentimental, Sono proposed on a speed boat, just the two of us. We were in Balesin, a private island in the Philippines. He managed to bring a handful of close friends, and said we were going away to celebrate his birthday.
Before he popped the question, he asked me a set of questions. Many that we had discussed along the course of our relationship. I was getting a little frustrated with the 20 questions, since I had come from a morning at the spa, and an afternoon sangria, that I really did not see it coming. It had all the 'down on one knee' cliches, but he was wearing Bob Marley shorts and calm as a cucumber. Speechless and engaged, we returned to the dock and his friends hopped on the boat for a lovely celebration."

On her wedding planning experience:

"I was planning a move, and traveling to Cebu to do site visits, heading to India for my bridal shopping, and the US to buy all the other "necessities" that a girl has to have before her wedding. It was an insane 8 months. But, once we saw how it all turned out in Cebu - we knew it was worth it.
I do have to add, the people we worked with (our vendors, all the people involved) - they were the stars. They made it what it was, and that much more enjoyable."

Stay tuned for highlights from the happy couple's wedding ceremony!

Z Molu Photography has captured the most breathtaking portraits of Maharani Shafeena, her Prince, Raja Vishal, and their gorgeous wedding party at the super stunning destination dream resort, Hard Rock Punta Cana. It's the big day, and our Indian bride is dressed in a phenomenal pink lengha from Variety Silk House in London, and her groom is dashing as can be in his aqua-colored sherwani. Minal Khatri and Kajal Patel of the Ash Kumar Beauty Academy lent their makeup expertise to the bride along with their mehndi skills to her guests — and they did a flawless job with both! Farhana Premji, Shafeena's equally talented sister, styled her hair and helped her complete her picture perfect look! You'll definitely be blown away by this collection of extraordinary images, but don't forget, there's even more in the complete gallery — including all the superb mehndi details by Ash Kumar! You have to check it all out!

Today's event was amazing, right? We knew you'd love it! See you gals tomorrow!

We have such a special treat for you right now, Maharanis! Not only is today's amazing affair an Indian destination sensation, it features a bride who is an Ash Kumar executive artist — so you know you're in for some of the most spellbinding mehndi details, like ever. Our bride, Shafeena, is celebrating her pre-wedding in true Maharani style, and we're bringing you details from the trio of fabulous festivities she had. From her mehndi to her sangeet, we're certain you'll find loads of lovely inspiration. The gorgeous oceanfront Hard Rock Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic played host to these incredible events planned by Dreamy Destination Weddings. Lucky for us, Z Molu Photography was in attendance to document the spectacular happenings so we could share it all with you! Maharani Shafeena enlisted colleagues and friends Harps Brar, Minal Khatri and Kajal Patel of the Ash Kumar Beauty Academy to spread the henna love to her guests, and the bride herself had her divine creation done by the guru of it all, Ash Kumar. We'll check out some of her extraordinary wedding day details in just a bit, but before we do, you have to head into the complete gallery for a closer look at all the marvelous mehndi and pre-wedding highlights!

Don't move a muscle, my dears! You simply can't miss the second part of this elegant exclusive!