Hello there, Maharanis! Get ready to enjoy Nikitha & Sagar's wedding in today's Platinum Guide Blog.
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
I met Sagar when I was a medical student in Dallas, Texas. He was a second year resident training in Ophthalmology at the time. I was interested in Ophthalmology, and I happened to be assigned to his clinic that day. Sagar had actually seen a picture of me on social media over a year before we met while he was living in Denver. He told his younger sister, who went to the same medical school as me, to keep an eye out for me (lol), but he had forgotten about it completely until that day when I walked into his clinic. Eventually, he asked me on a date, and from the beginning, I was always intrigued by him. He is so unpredictable and spontaneous with his wit, intelligence, and curiosity. He is also one of the kindest and most empathetic people I have ever met. I don't think there was one standalone moment when I knew he was my life partner, but over time, I realized that I couldn't be the best version of myself without him.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
Sagar is amazing at surprises, and his proposal was a complete surprise (I'm not lying lol). He thought of every detail to keep it a secret, and it worked. He created an email account for a fake pharmaceutical company and sent me an email inviting my residency program to a drug rep dinner at a nice steakhouse in Laguna Beach, where he actually was going to propose on the beach. He got my friends to convince me to go with them, and he told me he couldn't be there because he was on call, but that he would join later. I had just gotten off of a night shift that morning and was planning on bailing on this dinner. I texted my friends to try to flake, and of course, they wouldn't take no for an answer. So I begrudgingly got ready for the dinner and went with them to the resort. We had a great time bar hopping before the drug rep dinner, and it just so happened that same night was actually prom night for the high schools in the area, so there were people dressed up all around the hotel. My friend said there was this really great spot on the beach that she wanted to show us, so all of walked down to the beach. As we were walking across, I saw Sagar from a distance, and my first thought was "Oh, great, he made it to the dinner!". I saw a beautiful floral canopy set up on the beach, which I thought was for the high school prom. It wasn't until I saw a photographer taking pictures of us that I realized the set up was for me, and this was my proposal! Sagar said some beautiful words and of course, I said yes. We reunited with all of our friends, and I still thought there was a drug rep dinner we all had to attend, because Sagar's lies were so convincing!
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.
We basically planned our wedding twice because of COVID, as many other couples have had to do as well due to canceled weddings. To make things even harder, we were both still in training AND doing long distance; I was in residency in Dallas, and he was in fellowship in Los Angeles. You wouldn't think a 2 hour time difference was that significant, but it really was, especially when almost everyday we had a wedding planning meeting. Since we had to reschedule our wedding, it was definitely tough to coordinate new dates with all of our vendors. But we truly had a much easier experience due to our amazing wedding planner (Divine Wedding Details). One of the venues we had booked would not allow rescheduling or refunds despite the pandemic, which was unfortunate, but other than that, everyone was so accommodating and helpful. The theme for our wedding was initially "The 20/20 Experience" after Justin Timberlake's album, since we are both ophthalmologists, and our wedding was scheduled for 2020. We even modeled our Save The Date magnets after that album cover, which we later made into crew neck sweatshirts and hoodies for our wedding guests! Obviously, the 2020 Experience was terrible for the entire world, so we dropped the title and kept the cool picture of us. The vision for our wedding was always to make our weekend a unique, memorable, and fun experience for our friends and family. We wanted everyone to have a great time and were willing to go above and beyond to make sure our guests were taken care of. The other parts of the wedding weekend were just details to us. We collaborated with Bilen Walga with Prashe Decor for decorating our big events, and he made the process so fun and efficient. He picked up on what our taste was in our first meeting. The rest of our vendors were also really great to work with and their experience in the wedding business really showed. Both of our outfits came from a variety of different designers, some of which include Anita Dongre, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi, Valdrin Sahiti, Dolce & Gabanna and my personal favorite, Falguni Shane Peacock. I wore a traditional Telugu sari from India for our ceremony. We coordinated with the Indian designers via WhatsApp and video calls, which was great given that we could not travel there at the time. Planning a big Indian wedding is definitely a lot of work, especially when you have demanding jobs, but we both were so happy with the outcome of everyone's hard work! My favorite part of our wedding weekend was adding personal touches for those we love. For example, my sister loves Dippin' Dots, so we actually had Dippin' Dots cater part of the dessert at our Sangeeth!
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I always knew I would wear a traditional South Indian sari for my wedding, and thankfully, I had the help of my mom and one of my best friends (Ambika Shivarajpur) to pick out the perfect one. I didn't have a color in mind, but when I shop for clothes, I know right away if it's the "one" or not. We went to about 12 different sari stores in Hyderabad (pre-pandemic) to find the right one (I am pretty picky), but I think it turned out pretty great.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The most enjoyable part of the process for both me and Sagar was filming our own music video to be played at our entrance at the Reception! I had always wanted to film a music video for our wedding, and Sagar is someone who would never think to do that. That's one of the themes of our relationship; I constantly have crazy ideas for us, and most of the time he goes along with them. But he not only participated, he was the best part of the whole video. One of his favorite songs is Right Above It by Lil Wayne ft. Drake, so that's the song we chose. We bought all the equipment to shoot a music video the same day and we recruited one of our best friends (Dheeraj Reddy: https://www.dpr.photos/) to film it for us. We had our closest friends and my sister direct it, and it turned out amazing. The video really showed us in our true element. It was one of the most fun parts of our wedding for both of us.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Our guests have told us so many positive things about our wedding, and that's all that mattered to us: our family and friends to have a memorable and fun time. Guests told us they felt very well taken care of; we had meals and drinks for all guests for the whole weekend even if there wasn't an official event. We also made sure every single guest was fully vaccinated for COVID before attending, and we made it mandatory to be vaccinated to attend. We also had sanitizing stations, masks, temperature checks, and rapid COVID testing on site at each event. As a result, our guests felt much safer celebrating with each other, and they felt grateful to feel a sense of community after a long time. That's what meant the most and made us feel like our hard work had paid off. We had a lot of people tell us that they loved our speeches and the fact that our personality showed in our planning.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Sagar has never been a dancer, and I am the total opposite. I have been dancing my whole life, and it truly is one of my passions. I was on an all girls Bollywood Fusion dance team throughout college, and we competed nationally. I still teach at a dance studio; dance is something I will always be passionate about. Sagar on the other hand, truly has zero coordination on the dance floor. I had always wanted to do a fun Indian dance together at our reception, but I knew he wouldn't be able to because it truly stresses him out! At our reception, Sagar surprised me with a 5 minute long Bollywood dance performance that he secretly coordinated with over 30 of our friends! He did a dance to Chura Ke Dil Mera with a bunch of my girl friends who were on my dance team, and it took every bit of self control I had to not jump on the dance floor with them! He looked amazing, and I was having the time of my life watching him dance. It was my personal favorite part of the whole weekend, and it shows the type of person Sagar is. He would do anything for the people he cares about, even conquer two of his greatest fears: dancing and dancing in front of an AUDIENCE. I probably watched his dance over 50 times on repeat the week after our wedding.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Wedding planning is HARD. And if you have a full-time demanding job, it's even harder. And if you are doing long-distance with your partner, girl, say a few prayers. But a good planning team, friends and family that care about you two, and reliable vendors make the process much easier. I have only planned one wedding, so we don't have a whole lot of wisdom on the matter, but I will say, make the wedding memorable the way YOU want it to be remembered. After all is said and done, you and your man should be able to look back and feel like it was exactly what you both wanted. Also, take time to relax during everything. I remember my sister pulled me aside the week of the wedding and forced me to slow down and meditate with her for 10 minutes (she's the best). Don't forget to take care of yourself, mentally and physically, because you're going to need that energy! Sagar's words of wisdom are as follows: "Have fun and may the Lord be with you". LOL, but seriously.
That is all for today, Maharanis! See you tomorrow for a new romantic story!
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