Erica and Hersh took the first big stop of their wedding journey throwing a lavish engagement party for their nearest and dearest at the Texas Safari Ranch! The engagement soiree was all about the bride and groom, evoking their personalities and essence thanks to the event planners of Rathi Menon Events who masterfully coordinated every detail of the night! The celebration was a huge hit also thanks to Decor One, they brought to life a sophisticated environment with baby pink, white fabrics, and tender blooms. The creative crew created a romantic and adorably elegant backdrop stage for the couple to receive many meaningful presents and to pose for the lens of Bella Lumi’s camera. These two knew each other through dancing, therefore, this part of the celebration was extremely important, our smart bride and groom to be, hired the wedding DJ expert Dhol Beat International who kept the guests busy at the dance floor! Wait no more, loves, and go straight ahead to the full gallery to see more inspiring details!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
How Erica met Hersh:
I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on Hersh. I was standing in an elevator after taking a grueling morning exam. Right as the doors were about to close, the cutest guy in a light blue button down dress shirt rushed in. I chuckled quietly to myself as I saw him struggling to remember what floor he needed to get off on. I naturally assumed he must have been distracted by my ungodly beauty. I tend to have that effect on people. I eventually got off on my floor and realized that Hersh really didn't know where he was supposed to go. I found out he was actually visiting some of my friends, so I pointed him in the right direction and went on my way. I thought to myself, what were the chances of bumping into "elevator guy" again?
As fate would have it, I would meet him again at an Indian dance mixer. The elevator gods had blessed us with a second encounter! Naturally intimidated by my dance moves, Hersh had to gather up some courage before he asked me to dance. Recognizing how hard it must have been to approach me, I said yes. We hit it off immediately, bonding over our mutual love for killing it on the dance floor. At the end of the night, he had my number and I had butterflies.
How Hersh met Erica:
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was Spring 2011 at The University of Texas at Austin. Erica was 19 and I was 21 when we first met. Erica was a part of an all-girls Indian dance team called Ajooba, and I was a part of an all-boys, kick ass Indian dance team called Punjabawockeez. In the spirit of friendly competition, both teams decided to host a mixer to get to know each other, but little did they know that the mixer would turn out to be the setting of a beautiful love story, our love story.
That night was the first time I saw Erica. She claims to have met me earlier that day in the elevator, but I am 90% sure she was just creeping. The dance mixer was filled with competitive dancing games and a trip to Sixth Street. But the entire night I couldn't keep my eyes off the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had really short hair and was wearing a light brown dress. I can still picture it. I approached her, not knowing what she would say, but luckily Erica and I connected instantaneously and talked all night. At the end of the night, I knew this was the start of something special and asked for her number. And Erica, having never seen a man as handsome and awesome as me, gladly gave it. We hung out often in college and got to know one another inside and out. Before we knew it, we had fallen in love.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
It was April 26, 2017. I was a bridesmaid for one of my friend’s, Jenny’s, weddings on Saturday so the day before the whole wedding party was at the Church for her wedding rehearsal. Earlier that day I was upset with Hersh because I had paid to get a beautiful manicure done the weekend before (thinking he was going to propose to me when we were in NewYork visiting family the weekend before) and had to take off my manicure to apply a purple nail polish color Jenny wanted all her bridesmaids to wear for her wedding the next day. As I was taking off my nail polish I kept making small remarks about how much I loved my nails and wished last weekend was the proposal. He kept his secret in the whole day and through my angry comments, he didn’t once let the secret slip that later that night he would be proposing to me!
The Church rehearsal ended and I got into the car with Jenny’s bridesmaids to drive to the dinner rehearsal. We parked in the parking lot and I noticed in the car next to us were two of my best friends (who did not know Jenny)!! I was so confused as to what they were doing here at the venue that I thought I caught them looking at venue’s for my own proposal! I quickly jumped out of the car yelled AHA! and next thing I knew I was blindfolded, shoved into the car, and we started driving off.
After what felt like forever my two best friends led me down a path that I could tell was all gravel. Next thing I know I hear a piano and my blindfold is lifted. I look around and there in front of me is Hersh with flowers in his hands smiling from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe that this was it. Hersh led me down a trail and that was aligned with candles and on each side of me were canvases of pictures of us from the past seven (7) years we had known each other. At the end of the trial I could see a massive tree that was completely decked out with lights and to the left of the tree was a stage with a piano and a pianist!!! I couldn’t believe what was happening and I couldn’t control any of my emotions. For a girl who normally is pretty tough, I was bawling like a baby. I couldn’t comprehend anything that was happening and just led Hersh lead me along the path until we were standing under the tree. I looked down and there was a circle of rose petals aligned with even more candles and then I noticed it, my nails. He had come up with the most clever plan ever. He knew I wanted my nails doen for my proposal and he knew I no longer had my manicure so he had the girls apply sticker nails while I was blindfolded!! I started laughing at how clever he was that I didn’t even notice when he got down on one knee. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what Hersh said to me that night nor did I remember my response. He claims that after he asked me my reply was “Of course stupid” but we will never really know. He placed the most gorgeous Tiffany ring on my finger and as I looked around I realized how much effort he had placed into making this night special for me. I will never understand how he had somehow brought a stage, a piano, and a pianist into the middle of a forest that he had decorated, but he did, and he’s awesome. I thought the night was ready to end there but then he told me there were two other surprises for me that night. We got in the car and pulled up to North Italia . So many memories came flooding back to me. At the mere age of 19 Hersh had brought me to North for our first date. When I opened the doors to the restaurant all of my friends and family were there to celebrate this night with us. After dinner, our friends and family joined us at Za Za Hotel (my favorite hotel) and we all talked about what an amazing job Hersh had done. I met the man of my dreams when I was 19 and finally at the age of 26 I can officially say that I will now have Hersh for the rest of my life.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I've always wanted the traditional Indian wedding where the bride wears a red color and that inspired my entire selection from my outfit to decor! My wedding lengha was a blood red color.
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.
Other than my actual wedding ceremony I loved my haldi! Haldi is when the families get together and put turmeric on bride and groom and it was the most emotional part of the wedding festivities.
Can’t wait for their wedding images! Stay tuned for more timeless Indian love stories tomorrow!
DJ: Dhol Beat International |
Floral & Decor: Decor One |
Venues: Safari Texas |
Planning & Design: Rathi Menon Events |
Catering: Bombay Brasserie Restaurant |
Cinematography: Epique Cinema |
Photography: Bella Lumi
Dhol Beat International,
Decor One and
Safari Texas
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