Happy Film-y Friday, fabulous Maharanis! We're in gorgeous Northern California today for a double-ceremony event that is bright and brilliant in scarlets, golds, and greens. At the Sikh nuptials, our darling duo weds at the San Jose Sikh Gurdwara where Naveed Ahmad Photography is circling the traditional scene capturing plenty of posh pics. At the Hindu celebration, the happy couple opts for a beautiful outdoor union under a mandap created by Prime Party Rentals and our bride is absolutely glowing in a ruby red lengha sari with sparkle for days! Aside from the radiant look of this fusion wedding, what I totally love is the unique style of their cinematography feature from FilmTwist Productions that includes some contemporary footage of how they met. So sweet! You're gonna want to rewatch this original gem for sure!
From the bride:
"Sandeep and I met on eHarmony. In the beginning of the SDE, he's looking at a picture (that was my pic on eHarmony). I would have to say I felt that he was "the one" when I first saw him (yes, I know it sounds cheesy/cliche) and by the third date, I knew for sure."
On her engagement:
"Sandeep & I had a vacation planned to St. Maarten & New York, I had a feeling he was going to propose during our trip. I was talking to my cousin, Anita about it and she said, 'Oh, don't expect a proposal just yet, it's too soon.' I didn't know that he had called her for help with ring shopping. We stayed at the beautiful La Samanna resort on the French side of the island. Our day started with a couples massage, followed by rum tasting (living near the heart of wine country in CA, we opted for rum over wine tasting), and ended with a private dinner on the beach where he proposed. :)"
On her wedding style:
"The theme for the most part was simple & elegant. We picked 3 things which would be our 'splurge' items—photo & video/food/music. Sandeep's favorite color is green so we went with green & coral color palettes for the reception and orchids for centerpieces. My lengha and sari for both ceremonies were a traditional red with green borders.
The rest we let fall into place by working with vendors & DIY projects. Our memories are forever there with photo & video. During the reception we also had a photo booth and received duplicates of all the pictures which was a really nice thing to have. We're both doctors, so rather than the usual guest book during the reception, we used 'prescription pads for a happy marriage' and the tables had prescription bottles filled with M&Ms."
On special moments while planning the wedding:
"Meeting with our photographer & cinematographer and working with our decorator.
Our photographer, Naveed, has a preferred cinematographer and our cinematographer, Deepa, has a preferred photographer. We liked Deepa from FilmTwist but were not keen on his photographer and the same with Naveed. Sandeep and I set up a meeting with Deepa and Naveed to make sure they would be able to work together. It went great, and the two were comfortable working with each other and actual are friends of ours now. We were able to hang out with them during our pre-wedding shoots. Met with Naveed's fiance (now wife) as well during one of the shoots and she was able to do my make up for the sangeet. Both Deepa & Naveed went above and beyond for us, they showed up for all of the events and provided us with more coverage than our contracts had stated.
Moh from Prime Party Rentals was a blast to work with. We gave him a budget, everyone was blown away from the acrylic chivari chairs at main tables during the reception to the stunning mandap set up.
And lastly, all the DIY projects."
On choosing her bridal styles:
"I did all of my shopping in India—it was definitely a process. I worked with the designers at Roshans in New Delhi. My lenghas for the reception and Sikh ceremony were custom made and sent over a month or so after I left India. Fortunately they turned out better than I could have imagined! Yes, spent hours and hours on the Pinterest!!!"
On memorable moments from the event:
"While in the eyes of God, we were married on March 7th, in the state of California we still needed a court marriage. One of Sandeep's groomsman, Jason, was ordained and performed the ceremony for us. It was downstairs, in a private area of the Hayes mansion and took place right before the Hindu ceremony. Only bridesmaids, groomsmen, my brother and Sandeep's sister were present. No one except for Sandeep, myself, & Jason knew what was going on. Our day of coordinator took care of getting everyone together and my brother & Sandeeps' best man were able to sign as witnesses."
On her hair and makeup:
"I knew how I wanted my hair for the ceremonies so it was not too much of a challenge but with makeup, my original artist bailed 6 weeks before the big week. I was lucky enough to find Wagma who did a phenomenal job."
On friends and family helping out:
"One can not have a 'big fat Indian wedding' without the support of friends and family. My family helped out with the DIY decor, my brother's speech during the reception was amazing, my brother and male cousins decided in addition to wearing the same ramal & tie at the Gurdwara, they were going to get identical suits. Nearly a dozen guys of different sizes managed to find the same grey suit, they matched down to their white shirts, and purple socks. I was trying not to cry during the lavan as they were walking me so my youngest cousins were whispering jokes as they walked me. There are so many moments, I can't even begin to list them all."
On special vendors:
"Wagma Mayar - Make Up Artist (SDE, pre-wedding shoot, both ceremonies, and reception) AMAZING! I felt like a doll the entire time.
Shaida LoCascio - Hair (Hindu Ceremony & Reception) Shaida is my personal hair stylist, she did a wonderful job and worked great with Wagma.
They kept me calm and collected through out the entire week."
Gorgeous! See you in just a bit with another exceptional video!
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