It doesn't matter where we are born, if we are meant to be, then nothing can stop us! Such is the case of Pooja and Suren. Born in different parts of our country, met in a totally different one, became friends, and fell in love! From a fun filled Engagement at the sunny beaches of Goa, to a beautiful wedding at Chennai, this globe trotting couple tell us that love has no boundaries! Please read on to know more about the fun and energetic Rajasthani and the shy and quiet Tamilian!
"Once in a while right in the middle of an ordinary day, love gives you a fairytale"…Our engagement story was published here.
Succeeding the destination engagement, wedding preparations were in order and were taken upon on a grandeur scale. Since we live in the US, we had limited time for shopping in India.
Following our engagement day, we flew to Chennai in quest of authentic tamilian bride wedding trousseau and jewellery. Due to time constraints, jewellery shopping took precedence. I fashioned all my wedding ornaments to be unique, elegant, and intricately designed.
Handmade antique nagas jewellery representing the superior craftsmanship of its kind, available at GRT, @joy-allukas#, and VBJ Chennai, caught my eyes and was the conclusive choice as my wedding jewellery. I cannot help but emphasize on the awe-inspiring and wondrous designs of the wedding adornments.
Next on my bucket list was the wedding saree. While in Chennai, my in-laws and I visited the popular and notable saree boutiques, but none had any sarees to my liking. Our next stop was the city of Kanchipuram, which is well-known for its hand woven silk sarees, and hence a paradise for silk saree lovers. I purchased my wedding saree from Prakash silks. This being my first trip to south India was completely enjoyable and to add, the food was delectable.
Before leaving for the US, my reception lehenga also needed to be finalized. After days of hop in and hop out of multiple designer studios, I met designer Vikram Phadnis who provided bridal consultation and customized reception outfits for me and my fiancé. In addition to the wedding and reception dresses, I purchased a @sabyasachi-hyderabad# saree for the Nalungu function from a designer store in Mumbai.Our limited stay in India left us with no time for deciding the outfit and jewelry for the sangeet and mehendi. After returning to the US, I had to spend many a hours browsing multiple designer websites. This search led me to Anushree Reddy, whose work I have fallen in love with. I finally placed an online order for my sangeet lehenga from her designer studio in Hyderabad.Never did I imagine I would buy my dress off the internet. But extreme situations called for extreme measures, and the fit of the dress to my delight was just right. From the incredible design of the lehenga to the ever so pleasant customer service, I couldn't have been more pleased. For my fiancé, we purchased a tuxedo from Hugo Boss, Chicago.
For mehendi, I was keen on wearing a dress with mirror work but with a touch of uniqueness, which led me to designer Arpita Mehta’s store. She specializes in mirror work and has a vibrant palette to choose from which was ideal for my mehendi. For jewellery, it was tough to zero in on flower and gotta jewelleries and hence came up with the idea of mixing both the styles. My flower/gotta jewelry was designed by Kavita from Coimbatore. For my fiancé, we bought a kurta pajama and jacket complimenting my dress from Kora, Mumbai.
The long standing hours and inevitable dance scores demanded for a comfortable (yet sparkly) pair of footwear. I got a pair of Jimmy Choo’s and Stella McCartney for the reception and sangeet respectively. However, the wedding footwear was a wee bit traditional. I wore custom made Kolhapuris with zardozi work designed by Aashka Mehta of Fushia Fame.
The jewellery for both my sangeet and reception was undecided until a week before the wedding when we arrived in India. Going by the dictum, ‘Wearing jewels is a way to express the woman you are...without saying a word’, I wore a diamond set for both the occasions. The sangeet diamond jewelry was purchased from Mahesh Notandas Jewelers, and an uncut diamond set from Anmol Jewelers for the reception. Both the jewelry stores are in Mumbai.
Having said all this, I cannot miss out on the custom made blouses for the wedding. The yellow silk saree’s blouse was designed by Ritu Seksaria and koora pudavai’s blouse by Bharti’s at white solitaire. The other saree blouses were also designed by Bharti’s at white solitaire.
Our wedding photography was done by @minchu#. I am glad to say they did a fabulous job. My hair was done by Gopinath Yashica, makeup by Ramakrishna, and saree draping by Saraswati.
