Namma Chennai's Fitness Demi-Goddess Gets Engaged! Fitness And Family!

Let's accept the inevitable! Most of us start waiting for our Prince Charming right from the day when we hear the first fairy tale... don't we? Some of us find him, some don't, some come pretty close, some of us think we have found him but are unsure and so on and so forth! But our bride-to-be, Akshaya Agnes, is absolutely sure that she has found her prince. And they just got engaged! This is their story...

It is difficult to describe Akshaya in one word because she is so full of life and has so many facets. Talking about her would be like reading a list of achievements. An entrepreneur, owner of three fitness studios in "Namma Chennai", Akshaya is a health and fitness professional from Indian Institute of Sports Medicine, a licensed Pilate instructor, yoga and Zumba instructor and a nutritionist.

The groom Anton Manuel is a Network Consultant at CGI where he has been living for the past ten years.

When her mother asked Akshaya to put her profile on a wedding website if only to humour her, Akshaya had no idea how it might change her life. Soon Anton got in touch and in a single call, floored the bride. "Anton ticked everything on my checklist in a single call", Akshaya laughs heartily. There is a certain fondness in her voice which just proves how lucky she considers herself to be! After an amazing courtship period, Akshaya got engaged to the man of her dreams. And well... the engagement was a complete event in itself, so we got curious before she is even legally hitched! And Akshaya, in all her graciousness, divulged all the tit-bit we were eyeing!

Anton and Akshaya got engaged at Raintree, Anna Salai, Chennai. The entire event was planned in two phases. It must have left the bride pretty happy because now she could have two outfits instead of one. Pretty smart, huh? We love the idea! Why settle for one if you can have two, right?

For the first half of the event, she settled for a lehenga from Nakshatra, Anna Nagar even though she had been eyeing a trip to North India for the lehenga shopping. But looking at the gold and red ensemble, we think she still got the best deal. Doesn't it look absolutely fantastic on her? She went for Punjabi wedding bangles to match her outfit.

For the second half, Akshaya decided to drape herself in a green and orange saree which she says was picked from Kumaran Silks in T.Nagar in five minutes flat! She went for a contrast blouse with matching bangles. All her jewelleries were bought from Vummidi Bangaru, Anna Nagar. Akshaya is a huge fan of traditional kemp stone jewelleries which she had incorporated in her attire. The netti chutti was bought from antique collections, Joy Alukkas.

And who did the makeup so flawlessly well? Myself, she utters with pride. Well... we discovered that this girl has more fingers than we counted! It so happens, that Akshaya was also working as a freelance makeup artist. Make up is one of her passions but she couldn't go main stream because... come on guys, a clock can have only twenty four hours!

And what about the blouse? We asked, half hoping that she might say the word "Myself" again but she had a different name this time. Lakshmi, a local tailor who stitched only for her close circle of friends, handled the blouse stitching.

The decor for the premises was handled by Raintree itself. Akshaya was specific about having marigolds because not only are they considered auspicious, they are versatile and the yellow and orange colour gave a completely natural but subtle look. Her mehendi was handled by Sanjeev, a mehendi artist whom she got to know about, through word of mouth.

The photography was handled by Focuz Studios who handled even the candid shots. It went like a breeze, Akshaya recalls, because the photographers made everybody feel comfortable. The photo shoot was a lot of fun, she remembers fondly. The best part was that most of the guests made it to the reception, despite the fact that it was raining cats and dogs on the day of reception and the area was on the verge of flooding!

Now, Akshaya is looking forward to a three day wedding event at Leela Palace complete with dance events, DJ, photo booths and cocktail party. I am sure she must be waiting for it and eh... so are we!

Before we winded up, we were careful to ask a few important questions on behalf of all the brides out there! So what's the secret behind that beautiful glow on her face? Taking good care of your skin, she replies with emphasis. Keeping oneself hydrated with coconut water that has high potassium, carrot juice, berries etc will go a long way. She also insists that exfoliation must be done by every bride every fortnight at least. And as for the body, sweat it out! It improves not only the blood circulation but also the skin tone. One needs to give a proper base for the make-up artist to help make the face glow on the wedding day, she states. We think that makes a lot of sense. The better your skin, the less the make-up artist needs to struggle. We ask her if she plans to do her own makeup for wedding as well. Guess, she smiles before she signs off! We think it means yes. What about you?