Welcome to Maharani Weddings

Good morning, Maharanis! We can't think of a better way to start this week than sharing Gorsharen & Manraj's Sikh wedding with all of you. So get yourself ready to dive into this fantastic journey filled with inspiring ideas and charming scenes. Celebrated during COVID, this intimate wedding took place at the Bride's residence with the help of Always & Forever Weddings, who took care of the planning of this enchanting celebration. The on-point design by LUX Affairs and the captivating decor by Botany and Bloom tied everything up, creating a dreamy backdrop for Gorsharen & Manraj Sikh to say "I do" in the company of their family and closest friends. In case you were wondering who were the masterminds behind Gorsharen stunning look, take a peek at this fabulous vendor lineup. Denise ( Thủy ) Đinh on the beauty department, Vivah Collection on the fashion choices, and last but not least, Jiji Studio on the dazzling pieces of jewelry. Hands down a winning combination that still has us sighing. If you don't want to miss any detail of this celebration, make sure to visit today's gallery by Pardeep Singh Photography for a full reveal of all the charm. Believe us; it is worth the while!

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Manraj and I met in high school. We were close friends in grade 8, and later began dating in grade 10. I knew he was the one when I realized there was no one else I wanted to spend my days with.

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
In grade 10, Manraj asked me to be his girlfriend on an old couch from the 80s in my parents basement. Exactly 7.5 years later, Manraj asked me to marry him on that same exact couch. With the help of some friends, the couch was moved to a forested cliff area at Whytecliff Park. The area was adorned with candles and lanterns. He popped the question and I said yes!

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.
Planning this wedding was definitely interesting. Manraj and I began our planning in 2018, pre-COVID-19. We originally planned a 750 person wedding at an outdoor venue, with an equally as large reception the following day. We-replanned just four months before our wedding date with a lot of help! Thankfully all of our vendors were available for our new date and were excited to be a part of our new plans. There was not a lot of time to discuss nitty gritty details, so we put a lot of faith into our vendors and gave them a lot of creative liberties. We were not disappointed!

How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
Like many brides, the lengha I wore was not the lengha I originally envisioned. I knew I wanted to stick to traditional colours, so I opted for a red and gold lengha. I originally saw myself in an incredibly simple lengha with minimal embroidery. Instead, I went for a moderately embroidered lengha, which I loved!

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
While the planning and re-planning process was stressful, I enjoyed all of the planning sessions with my family and friends. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many family members and friends were not able to attend the ceremony. But they were excited to see all of the details we discussed as they watched via live stream. I also enjoyed working with an incredibly creative and insightful vendor team. My vendors made incredible suggestions throughout the whole planning process. I felt lucky to be working with so many wonderful creatives.

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Our guests loved the intimacy of the wedding. The wedding Manraj and I originally planned was quite large and our guest list was bursting at the seams. COVID-19 was almost a blessing in disguise and allowed us to host incredibly intimate events that we wouldn't have under normal circumstances. Many guests commented that this was the first wedding they attended that they actually got to spend time with the bride and groom!

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The chaos before the wedding often replays in my mind. We chose to host our ceremony in my parents backyard. The morning of the wedding there was an unexpected shower of rain. Vendors were scrambling to make sure nothing got wet and guests were being rained on as minimally as possible. As soon as the ceremony began the rain let up, and as we finished our fourth laavan the sun came out and it turned into an incredibly sunny day. It was definitely something out of a movie!

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 wanted our pre-events to be bright and lively, paying homage to the energetic and cheerful ambiance of traditional Indian weddings. For our wedding, we envisioned a lot of greenery and florals but trusted our decor team to make final calls with colour schemes and specifics.

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Planning a wedding is a lot of work and often takes years of planning. In uncertain times such as these, the best thing Manraj and I did was accept the situation for what it was. We knew we wanted to be married and that was all that mattered. We also had a phenomenal team of vendors who we felt went above and beyond for us. We definitely suggest getting to know your vendors and choosing personalities you think will understand your wants and needs.

What a great way to start the week! If you want to enjoy more inspiring stories, make sure to join us tomorrow. We have new content every day!

Hello, beautiful ladies! Don't miss Akila & Neil's lovely wedding in today's Platinum Guide Blog!

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Akila and Neil met in elementary school, when Akila was on the same swim team as Neil’s younger brother. There is an alleged online conversation between Akila and one of her bridesmaids where she confessed that she thought Neil was cute! The two re-connected after college and have been together since. Akila knew that he was the one after one month of dating,

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
Neil’s proposal to Akila was sweet and sentimental. He took he out for dinner to the same restaurant they went to on their first date and proposed over pancakes, the same meal they ate on their first date! When they returned home, both of their families were waiting to surprise Akila and celebrate the wonderful news.

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.
The wedding planning was definitely a team effort. After the venue was selected, Akila took control of all of the bridal planning i.e. working with the hair & makeup stylists and outfits for the couple. Neil was the primary liaison between the families and the wedding planner. It is so important to have a good planner. Nitty, from Marigold Wedding Planners, worked very closely with us and helped us with vendor selections and communications, color palettes for the various events, and designed and styled our decor, which was so personalized and reflected our love for each other and what we enjoy.

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
Neil and Akila agreed that their favorite part of the planning process was the food tasting and sari shopping. Both of these allowed them to showcase their individual tastes. Neil particularly enjoyed picking the entrance music (they walked out into the reception to the Avengers theme!). The wedding also had a lot of special touches that were important to the bride and groom. As avid readers, they based each table theme on their favorite novel and each guest was given a beautiful, customized bookmark at their place setting.

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
There are a few things that our guests have brought up to us as their favorite part of the wedding. People have mentioned that the venue was spectacular, their service was amazing, food was so good each night – the caterers did an amazing job. They have also complimented the customization and detailing of the décor. And finally, everyone enjoyed the heartfelt performances from our family and friends who traveled in from all over the world.

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Saying our vows to each other...very very special!

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
The words of wisdom that we would pass down to all couples-to-be is that it’s very important to plan together. The bride and groom BOTH have ideas on how to make their day special and work with each vendor, as a couple. Throughout Neil and Akila’s wedding planning, Neil took a major role in planning while Akila was simultaneously studying for the bar exam. As stressful as the planning process is, the most important thing to remember is that you are getting ready to spend the rest of your lives together! If your families have specific requests or preferences, let them! The wedding is an important time for them as well. Don’t stress the little things because at the end, the memories will be better.

Mehndikalogie and Marigold Wedding Planners are members of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

Mehndikalogie VIEW PORTFOLIO

Marigold Wedding Planners VIEW PORTFOLIO

For more information on how Platinum Guide members are chosen, click here.

Hi, ladies! Get ready to enjoy Ayima & Hamza's wedding in today's Platinum Guide Blog. You'll love it!

Hakims Studio - Photography and Cinematography is a member of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

Hakims Studio - Photography and Cinematography VIEW PORTFOLIO

For more information on how Platinum Guide members are chosen, click here.

Happy Friday, Maharanis! If you were seeking for bridal inspiration, you've come to the right place! Today, we are featuring Meena & Yogesh's big wedding celebration, and believe us, you are going to love every bit of it! The big day arrived, and these lovebirds were more than ready to unite their lives in marriage. They both attended the wedding ceremony hosted inside the Livermore Temple's halls, looking elegantly and fashionable in their traditional attires. Still, it was our gorgeous Maharani who captivated everyone's attention. But we are not surprised as she trusted her beauty needs to TM's Makeup Artistry, who step up and created exquisite makeup and hairstyle designs that made Meena look like a princess! And let's not forget about the marvelous Mehndi outlined by Henna by Ridz. Mindblowing! The wedding venue mirrored our lovely duo's glamorous look thanks to the fantastic decor crafted by none other than Avasar Mandap. After the wedding ceremony, it was time to celebrate the newlyweds with a fabulous reception! This event followed the line of elegance and style that characterized the entire wedding, and it was the best way to bring the festivities to an end. The halls of the Castlewood Country Club transformed into a cornucopia of beauty and flair thanks to the fantastic decoration by Sai Decor. Without any question, this winning combination took this reception to the next level and made this a night to remember. And no reception is complete without an epic DJ! Thankfully Absolute Vibez was there to set the dancefloor on fire while the guests enjoyed the mouth-melting cake baked by Cake Delight. If you want to take a closer look at this wedding, head into this gallery to enjoy the incredible shots captured by Michael's Wedding Group!

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Meena's friend, Mamta and Yogesh's sister's friend, Mala, were chatting at work one day. Meena's friend had her facebook page open and Mala asked who that girl was. She thought they needed to introduce her to her friend's brother. Mala stated "This is the girl that he is going to marry, I'm sure!"
Mala then added Meena on facebook and introduced them both and the rest is history! Yogesh lived in Connecticut and Meena in San Francisco. Yogesh was drawn to Meena's warm personality, and her joy of life intertwined with her affectionate nature and a spontaneous and contagious ability to laugh.
Yogesh's refined demeanor, his closeness to his family, his willingness to accept and work on his weaknesses, and his calming sense of wit and humor are some of the things that attracted Meena to him.
They later discovered that they attended the same elementary boarding school between the ages of 4-7 years old!

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
After Meena met with Yogesh's family in Chicago, Yogesh flew in from Connecticut that night. They met at Acadia's for dinner. As the courses were being served, suddenly, a cute little wooden box of dimsum arrived, and it had the ring and red roses in it! Yogesh was so nervous that he forgot to get down on one knee and also forgot his speech which all came later!

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.
Meena decided not to hire a wedding planner but rather, to do all the arrangements herself. It was something that brought together all of her strengths and she enjoyed it no matter how stressful it was at times. Everything came together beautifully in the end!

How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I love pastel shades--favorite is pink. Since I could not make it to India for wedding shopping, I went to every single store in the Bay Area. I bought my lehengas from Grand Trunk in Pleasanton which has the best designer stuff! The designers were Ashwini Reddy for the reception and Astha Narang for the sangeet. My wedding saree was the traditional pink and gold South Indian silk from Chennai, India. My clothes matched the theme and color of each event--yellow lehenga for sangeet, dark pink and gold for the wedding morning in the temple and blush pink and white shades for the evening reception.

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
I love organizing things and multitasking. I also enjoyed sending pictures of everything from flowers to venues and clothes to a few friends and my then fiancé and having them help narrow down my choices. I enjoyed meeting various people and seeing the whole thing coming together. 

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
They enjoyed everything but they did mention that the reception was the best they had ever attended. Filled with beautiful decor and good food, drinking and dancing and most of all, so much love! We had people attend from all over the world and everyone enjoyed meeting each other!

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
We really enjoyed all the speeches given by people close to us. I still have goosebumps when I hear them. I have not really danced since the age of 16 so it was special to me to practice for and perform solo at my sangeet after so many years.

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?

Wait for the right person rather than taking whatever comes--life is long and this is the most important decision you'll ever make.  Communicate--this solves so much unnecessary headache! Marry someone you love talking to--as you grow older and can't do much else, conversations will play the most important role for the two of you.

That is all for this week, ladies. Enjoy your weekend and don't forget to join us on Monday for more.

TM's Makeup Artistry is a member of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

TM's Makeup Artistry VIEW PORTFOLIO

For more information on how Platinum Guide members are chosen, click here.

Let's get ready to enjoy Annapurna & Madhav's intimate wedding in today's Platinum Guide Blog!

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
I had just graduated nursing school, with a world of opportunities at my feet. My sister, Srivi, and I decided to go down to California for a few days to kick back, relax, and celebrate this huge accomplishment. We stayed with some friends and while we were there met various people but didn't think much of it. It was a pretty uneventful trip, and we joked about how crazy it would be if we met the person we were going to marry on that trip. We both thought there was absolutely no way that would happen. Oh how wrong were we. The last day we were there, we met Madhav's parents through some mutual family friends. Soon enough, Madhav and I were introduced and started talking and the rest, as they say, is history.  A few texts every so often turned to daily phone calls and FaceTime dates. Some words exchanged here and there quickly turned into conversations about life, our goals and dreams, plans for the future, our hardships and struggles, our successes, and what makes us who we are today. Every minute I spent with him felt natural and real, like we had known each other our entire lives. We quickly became best friends and realized that we couldn't spend our lives without each other.

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
As much as I hate surprises, one thing I have dreamed about since I was 10 years old was my dream surprise proposal. Madhav was planning to come into town to visit, and we had made plans to go see Hamilton in Detroit, since it was one of his all time favorite musicals. What I didn't know was that he was planning to propose that night, and that his sister, brother-in-law, and parents all flew on the same red eye flight as him to be there for the surprise happening later that evening and hid in the airport until after I picked him up to leave. Madhav had made a huge deal about the show, saying we should go full out with getting dressed up, having my hair and nails done, and just getting all decked out for the show. I thought it was fun how excited he was about the whole thing and went along with it because who doesn't love getting dressed up?  We got to the venue and were taking pictures and having a great time. While the show was amazing, Madhav was acting super strange throughout. He would scoot me to walk in front of him so I wasn't directly beside him and wouldn't look at or talk to me during the course of the show. Naturally, I just assumed he was just so mesmerized by the show, even when he was shady and left me alone for a few after the show, which I later found out was to make some calls. What I also didn't realize was that during the show, my sisters and family had ventured to a beautiful local park where they created an ideal scene for the perfect proposal. Usually I like to know the entire plan of the day and was getting antsy that I didn't know what we were doing after the show, but I was attempting to be less uptight about plans and trying to play it cool, even when he randomly suggested that we go to "the park you always went to as a kid" to take some pictures. When we got to the park, I started telling Madhav tons of stories from my childhood that happened in that park, completely oblivious to the fact that he was very clearly not paying attention. As we were walking, he randomly pointed to a tree, which i soon realized was covered in lights and pictures of us throughout our lives. Immediately, I knew what was happening. Madhav made a nice speech and popped the question with a stealthy photographer capturing the whole thing. All parents and siblings joined in to finish the surprise and capped off this special day with a delicious dinner!

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.
Before COVID-19 hit, I had pretty much our entire wedding planned by the beginning of 2020. I love weddings and knew pretty much exactly what I wanted my wedding to look like and which vendors I wanted to go with well before Madhav even proposed. Because it was important to us to have a pretty traditional and religious wedding ceremony, both of our parents were able to help communicate with the temple facilities and the priest in making that all possible. I had been following the Indian wedding circuit in the Metro Detroit area for a while now so when it came time to book hair, make up, photography, etc., I basically knew exactly who and what I wanted so I had most of our vendors booked within a few weeks after we got engaged. Booking all these venues and vendors early on in the wedding planning process eased a lot of my stress as we moved forward. All our vendors were incredible in being flexible and helping us make our day incredible, especially with the date changes and uncertainty that COVID-19 brought with it. If it weren't for these amazing vendors, our day wouldn't have been as wonderful as it was.

How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
We chose to have a traditional Hindu Telugu wedding ceremony, and so I relied on my parents and in- laws a lot for help picking the clothes I would wear for all the traditional ceremonies. My mom and I met my in-laws in India, and we traveled to Kanchi, where I ended up picking the sari I wore for the first half of our wedding. Before COVID, I had found the most beautiful purple lengha in Hyderabad but it was too grand for the backyard reception we ended up having because of COVID. So I decided to wear this elegant periwinkle chikaankari lengha that I got stitched in India with the help of my cousin.

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
Although COVID-19 significantly altered our original plans of big venues with large crowds, with the amazing help of our closest family and friends, we were able to share something really special. Being able to turn my childhood home into a dream backyard wedding venue was incredible. We shared so many laughs and DIY moments together, and these are memories I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
We recognize that any sort of gathering in 2020 raises eyebrows and I think the one thing that guests loved about our wedding was the care we took in making sure everyone was able to stay safe. We had a temperature screening station where all guests had to be screened for COVID symptoms prior to entering the events, provided masks for all our guests, had hand sanitizer stations everywhere, placed chairs at safe distances from each other, and had CDC guidelines posted throughout the wedding. Also, because of COVID-19 guidelines, we had a more intimate, outdoor wedding that guests said they loved.

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The two moments that still constantly play in my head are when I was carried to the madapam by my maternal uncles while sitting in a basket. It was such a cool feeling being surrounded by so many of my favorite people who I had known my entire life. The other moment was when the curtain separating Madhav and I was lifted and we got to see each other for the first time during the muhurtham. It was so surreal seeing each other and knowing we were going to be together forever.

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.
The theme for all the wedding events was simple but elegant, as all the events took place at my parents home. For the pre-wedding ceremonies that were more religious based, we tried to keep the decoration and outfits as traditional as possible. The decorations for our backyard reception were simple, with fairy lights illuminating all the trees and connecting the different tents spread out together. While our mandapam was rented and assembled by the kind folks at Marigold Weddings, the remainder of the decorations were a labor of love from close family and friends.

Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
In a world where everything is changing, sometimes you don't need a huge wedding with hundreds of people for your event to be special. Find the things that are most important to you and your fiance and focus your energy on that. No matter what, the day will always be special because it's your day. So try to find joy in all aspects of making it happen.

Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Because COVID-19 prevented so many of our closest friends and families from attending, we livestreamed all our events so those who were not able to attend in person could be a part of our celebrations from the safety of their homes.

Killer Creations Photography and Cinematography, Naveen Productions - DJ, Lighting, Entertainment and Photo Booth and Marigold Wedding Planners are members of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

Killer Creations Photography and Cinematography VIEW PORTFOLIO

Naveen Productions - DJ, Lighting, Entertainment and Photo Booth VIEW PORTFOLIO

Marigold Wedding Planners VIEW PORTFOLIO

For more information on how Platinum Guide members are chosen, click here.