Welcome back, ladies! Today's filmy is one that you will remember forever; we can guarantee that! Our friends from Michael J. Scott Productions truly outdid themselves, and we are absolutely loving every single part of it. New York was our place of destination and The Sand Castle Caterers venue was looking at its very best for Candace & Reginald's union. The icy mountains and green plateaus were the absolute perfect and breathtaking scenography for these two lovebirds as we will see. Believe me, there is some serious style happening in today's feature that you can't miss! The color palette chosen was this ode to style and elegance and we know you are going to be dazzled with it. More of this gala? Hit play below for details!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
We met in 2010 at a family barbecue, but we didn't speak to each other. After the BBQ he added me on Facebook and we started talking. I think we officially started going out in 2012. And I say "I think" because we don't have an official anniversary date. I always told Reggie the only anniversary date I wanted to have was our wedding date. I knew he was the one when he started to talk to me about our future together at such a young age. He would talk about marriage, kids our house together.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
My Fiancé Reginald arranged a surprise weekend vacation for us. I packed my bags the Friday before work and left directly after work to head to the airport. I did not find out where we going until we got inside the airport terminal. Puerto Rico! Once we landed he handed the taxi driver the directions. After 30 minutes we arrive to the beautiful estate of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort! Overwhelmed by the beauty of the entrance alone, we entered and checked and we're escorted to our room. A beautiful oceanfront suite. The following morning we had breakfast, walked around to explore the beautiful resort. He had arranged a wonderful couples spa treatment, which took place in a private cabana on the beach. So relaxing! Then once we got back to our room he told me to get ready, he arranged for a photographer to take some pictures of us. We took pictures for about 30 minutes ending on the beach, I told Reginald I was hungry, he looked at me and said "good, we're going to eat soon." We walked over to a dinner table on the beach that I had somehow completely overlooked while we were taking pictures. And at that point, the photographer left, so I was confused. Obviously with the photographer I had my suspicions that he was going to propose but when she left so did my suspicions. We had a personal waiter and a full personalized 5-course menu. We had our first course when he pulled out the box and asked me to marry him against the beautiful sunset where I then burst into tears and 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.
We began planning our wedding in 2017 after our engagement prayers. We received our wedding date from the pundit, July 14, 2019. The first thing we did was decide on wedding hashtag, #RosesAreRedPoliahIDo, a play on roses are red violets are blue. Which ultimately helped us conclude we wanted our wedding to be rose themed and in a garden setting. The first vendors I booked were my makeup artist for the wedding day, my henna artist and the cinematography team. Then we booked our two most important vendors after much shopping around, the venue and our decorators. The rest of our vendors were booked throughout 2018 with not much issue. We got our bridesmaids outfits from Shingar Bridals. The Groom's and groomsmen outfits came from Lisa's Bridal Couture.
We did price out a few wedding planners, but we ultimately decided we wanted to put the money we would have spent on a planner towards our decorations. And anything we could provide ourselves for decorations we did, like the parasol umbrellas for our guest during the ceremony we bought. And the floral phoolan ki chadar used for my first entrance was made by one of our groomsmen and bridesmaid.
We did have a few vendors fall through on us. And our biggest problem vendor was our tent company, All-in-one Party Rentals, which we needed for our pre-wedding events at each of our homes. From poor communication to poor measurements to delayed service, to last-minute fees, their service was all around terrible. We did our best to work around every inconvenience and not let it affect our excitement for the happiest days of our lives.
Our overall experience with our venue, Sand Castle in Franklin Square NY was beyond compare, they catered to our needs both during the planning and on the actual wedding and reception days. Their team helped us navigate through the day as seamlessly as we could. My hair and make-up artists Tamanna was also exceptional. She got me ready by 4 am in my first outfit at my home and then came back to the venue to help me change into my Sabyasachi bridal lengha. We were running behind when it was time for my outfit change but Tamanna was ready to go. Picture those pit crews in NASCAR, I was the car and Tamanna and bridesmaids were the pit crew undressing me, redressing me putting my jewelry on, retouching my makeup and hair, and pinning my dupatta in what felt like less than 10 minutes. Our photographer, Efrain of J'adore Love Photography was a Godsend to us, we literally booked him the week of or wedding. We were able to book him for 3 out of the 4 days we needed for photography. He came to each event ready to capture the beauty of everything and everyone. And from all the previews we've seen, I know he did a wonderful job as well. The cinematography team, MJS production did an amazing capturing the true emotion of our wedding in such a beautiful manner. And the next day edit is still being talked about amongst our guest.
We appreciate every one of our vendors that provided their best service to us on our wedding days.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
For my bridal lengha I knew I wanted traditional red, and I knew I wanted it to be a Sabyasachi piece. Reggie had previously worn a Sabyasachi sherwani for our engagement, so I knew who to contact. They sent some styles in my price range and I choose the one I felt was the most traditional but still sparkly. And I have to be honest I was sure I was going to be able to do the outfit justice because of how short I am but I have to say, I think everything came together beautifully.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
For us, the most enjoyable part of planning our wedding was trying to figure out how to include our dog, Pluto in the wedding. As much as we wanted to have him with us on the wedding day we knew he wouldn't be able to handle all the noise. So we decided to have him with for the pre-wedding events while we were home.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
Our guest enjoyed all the food Sand Castle had to offer, from the cocktail hour to the main entree, to dessert. The biggest compliment we got was that the food was never-ending and it was good. The guest also really enjoyed the screening of our next day edits our wedding reception.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The moment I was being carried in on the doli and I saw Reggie waiting for me at the front of the mandap. I could see him getting emotional and I just felt so at ease at this point. Finally, we were going to be husband and wife.
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.
Johnathan of Johnny's Royal Events did a wonderful job decorating my stage for my Mehindi night. He listened to what I wanted and was open to feedback throughout the installation of the backdrop.
My siblings and cousins planned a great group dance for my Mehndi night that everyone loved. I personally loved it the most because most of them aren't dancers and still agreed to it!
At Reggie's house for his Maticoor he had a performance by Rakesh Yankarran, which everyone really enjoyed. He also had a large group of Tassa players who came and played.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
As hard as it may be in the moment, remain calm and enjoy your day!
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
My jewelry came from three vendors Kundan Sets, Anayah Jewellery, and Free Rani. My Pre-wedding events and the jewelry in my first bridal outfit (the yellow lengha) was from Kundan Sets. My jewelry for my Sabyasachi bridal was a mixture of Anayah Jewellery and Free Rani. The manpathi and nose ring was from Anayah Jewellery and everything was from Free Rani.
My mehndi was done by the amazing Monita of Henna orally, of course including Pluto in it again.
More to come, stay with us!
