The Platinum Guide Blog

Welcome back, daydreamers! The wedding reception of Mr. and Mrs. Patel is one of those celebrations a true wedding crasher would give their right arm to attend. Guests dancing their shoes off, an unbelievable mecca of delicious food, and the air filled with pure love, are all expected components at most weddings. Shilpa Patel Events certainly delivered the complete experience with bride-tastic planning and design. A wondrous flower wall on the stage, shimmering decor, and majestic purple charisma were also brought to life by Deepti's Floral Designs & Mandaps at the beautiful Westin South Coast Plaza. Their lucky guests enjoyed a juicy cuisine prepared by no other than Rasraj while Fusion Sounds slowly kicked off the later booming dance floor showcasing a fabulous playlist. We were thrilled to see that the heavenly wedding cake catered by Beverly’s Bakery actually matched the bride's navy blue and embroidered lehenga! Oscar Makeup made sure that the bride, with her red lips, sultry eyes, and dark waves, kept glowing throughout the night. Now, get lost in our full gallery or view the master shots below captured by Aaroneye Photography.

Happy weekend, Maharanis!

Aaroneye Photography, Fusion Sounds and Deepti's Floral Designs & Mandaps are members of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

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Deepti's Floral Designs & Mandaps VIEW PORTFOLIO

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

Happy Friday, lovelies! We have contracted a severe wedding fever from adoring the exceptional photographs from Vidhi & Mihir's wedding. We fancy reviewing wedding venues and the beautiful Westin South Coast Plaza located in Costa Mesa, California, is no exception. The memorable ceremony happened under an open sky with all the nearest and dearest attending. Deepti's Floral Designs & Mandaps brought an umbrella of orange and pink hues to life by producing a flowerful mandap as lavishing as could be. The bride's stunning lengha fit right into the color paradise with its traditional shades of rose red and bright gold. Oscar Makeup created magic by adding black contour to the eyes and hot red on the lips complementing the bride's dark locks and incredible, long and golden veil. The Mr. and Mrs. big day was filled with merriment and affection and everyone seemed extra appreciative of the newlywed. We will spill that Fusion Sounds kicked-off the festive reception with bravura, but you will have to stay patiently tuned for the additional reception buzz. Until then, view the crème de la crème ceremony pics below or enjoy the full gallery by pros from Aaroneye Photography.

How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?

Mihir & I first met summer of 2016 at Dallas airport. It started with a conversation between two strangers, while waiting for our bags to arrive. I am someone who can literally talk to anyone or anything and Mihir is more quiet and calm. I think at first he did not know what had hit him, gave me this look "who are you and why are you talking to me?" But this opinion quickly turned into an instant connection with a discussion over life events, medicine and a deep bond of friendship over the next couple of weeks.  Let's just ignore the part where he bored me with his immense knowledge of Medicare and MACRA. We had no idea at the time, that Dallas is where we will both be moving to in less than a year, to start our new life together. He also tried to convince me while we waited for our bags that Shreveport, Louisiana is a big city and I should have known where it is located. Being a California girl, I really had no idea where his hometown was! What can we say except that it takes a long time to get your bags at Dallas airport and sometimes cupids arrow can strike when you least expect it.

Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!

For my Birthday last year, Mihir gave me a Sephora bag at midnight. I expected it to be perfume but as I opened it, there was a karat solitaire ring. Mind you, this was only 3-4 months since we met.  I very gently closed the box and returned it to him and said that it was too early.  He said with shaky hands, "its, not a proposal, you will know when I am proposing. This is a promise ring and I want to give this to you as a promise of my commitment to you. It was the sweetest birthday gift and of course, I accepted.

For the actual proposal, we flew to Dubai for our friends Tharwat & Irina's destination wedding. The day after the wedding they had planned a Desert Safari/Arabic buffet & entertainment. As we arrived at the Sunset Buffet, the newlyweds called out our names for photos.  When we went on the stage the photographer kept repositioning us for the photo and somehow Mihir was kneeling in front of me and Tharwat and Irina had stepped off. So with a beautiful sunset and desert sand in the backdrop, Mihir proposed to me 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 started with me being completely clueless about wedding planning. However pretty soon my friend Kajal came to my rescue. She dragged me to South Asian Bridal Expo in Irvine. We were able to meet a whole bunch of vendors there and start getting an idea of the wedding budget. Since we only had four months to plan, finding a venue was the priority.  As luck would have it we knew Sheena, who is the wedding Coordinator at Westin South Coast Plaza. She took amazing care of us with her honest advice and great pricing she was able to get us. Then it all started to fall into place and we were able to find all the vendors that were our top choice. Deepti treated us like family with doing our decorations and her prices are truly the best. I just gave her a very generic outline of what I wanted and my budget and let her use her own creativity and she did not disappoint! Oscar did not just do my hair & makeup but was also a very big part of our wedding day by being a friend and making me feel like the most beautiful bride in the world. Shilpa’s team kept things running smoothly all day and always with a smile on their faces. Preeti did absolutely beautiful Mehndi designs for my guests and I. Sandeep and Krishan from Fusion Sounds were such a great pleasure to work with from beginning to end. Helping us with our song selection as well as keeping the crowd dancing all night. Aaroneye played such a big role in capturing all of our special moments. We were also able to get gorgeous and yummy fresh fruit cake from Beverly’s bakery in Yorba Linda for a great price. Last but not the least, our friends and family are still raving about the food from Rasraj. We truly feel we were blessed with all our vendors.

How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?

I really wanted red for my bridal outfit and after visiting multiple stores in India and not liking anything, opted for a custom order. For my reception, I got a peach gown however it got rejected by all my friends as they were worried it might get washed out in evening lights. Luckily my Mom was still in India and was able to find a perfect navy and gold lengha for me.

What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?

The best part of our wedding for both Mihir and I was having all our favorite people there with us and everyone has a great time celebrating our union.

What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?

For sure the dancing and food!! We did not have an empty dance floor all evening.

Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?

For me, the best memory was seeing the happiness on Mihir’s and all our friend’s/family’s faces throughout the day.

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 had our Mehndi at my brother’s place. My brother (Taral) / bhabhi (Ruchita) along with rest of my family, worked tirelessly in making this event happen. They not only did all the decorations but also the lighting and music setup. We also can’t thank, my cousin Palak, enough for taking amazing photos for our prewedding shoot as well as my Mehndi.

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

Wedding planning is a lot of work and can get very stressful at times. My advice to future brides would be to try an enjoy this time because it will be over before you know it. Remember if something goes wrong during wedding day most likely no one else will even notice. So try to relax and enjoy this truly memorable time.

Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)

My parents gave me a gorgeous long gold necklace set and Mihir's family gave me gold choker set. Together they both made up my bridal jewelry for the wedding. For my reception, I wore big earrings with my new Mangal Sutra.

Have a wonderful weekend, Maharanis!

Fusion Sounds and Deepti's Florals Designs & Mandaps are members of the Platinum Guide. Love what you see? Explore their portfolios.

Fusion Sounds VIEW PORTFOLIO

Deepti's Florals Designs & Mandaps VIEW PORTFOLIO

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