Unexpected things happen in our lives for the very reason to give us the perfect love story. Nakul and Sruti took it to the next level with a lot of love showered from all the lovely people in their lives. We got to talk to Sruti, the beautiful bride and here we are with their oh-so-sweet love story and wedding details.
About you:
I was a home baker initially, then did a course in London and thereafter worked as a chocolatier and a pastry chef for one and a half years in the Leela palace. Presently, I'm at the Sathyam in the Experience Department.
A few lines about Nakul:
When the "Naaku Mukka" released, it went viral but I was not one of those crazy folks who would madly keep playing it a thousand times! To be honest, I was not a very Kuthu song person. I had just heard the song and when I first saw it on screen I was WOWed! Thought this guy can dance! After that I had seen an interview of him with his sister Devayani where he was so sweet and bubbly. The thing that I noticed and liked about him both on and off-screen is, when I met him in person was that he was very down to earth, very funny and mostly importantly he has a great respect for elders.
How did you both meet?
I had this neighbour and good friend called Tasneem Aunty, who we dearly call Ammee. I used to go over to her house often to give my clothes for stitching. Her son Feroze is friends with Nakul since childhood. So, after giving my clothes for stitching we generally used to talk about cooking and and our other varied interests. She seemed to talk a lot about Feroze's friend called Nakul and always appreciated him! But, I had no clue which Nakul she was referring to. I later came to understand that she had told the same to Nakul, that there was a girl called Sruti who is sweet and cooks and bakes extremely well. He was like "Oh! Okay!" (Typical guy thing to say!!) Even after a few years, I was still totally clueless about which Nakul she was referring to. We were in the same house at the same time, but never met each other in almost three years!!! Would you believe that?
One fine day, my phone rang "Oh Divya! Oh Divya" (A song from one of Nakuls movies), the ringtone I had set for when my sister Divya calls. Aunty asked whether I have seen the movie and only then she told that it was the same Nakul she had been talking about the whole time!!! Surprise of sorts!
I used to take cupcake orders and when once she had ordered from me she had sent a few to Nakul and told him to try it. He said, "Oh! Nice nice." He said nothing much to her, but I guess, he was intrigued to know who baked it and found me on facebook that day! He also asked Feroz introduce me to him. He then, texted me saying that aunty sent him the cupcakes and that it was really good and that is how our conversation started. When this happened, I was leaving town. Then, we exchanged numbers and spoke. Gradually, we started liking each other and suddenly one day, he just asked me if I would marry him someday! There was no proposal story of any kind. As plain as that! I was too shocked and shy to say anything and started laughing. He then, obviously knew that I liked him too.
How did you convince your parents?
I slowly and cautiously told my mum about us. But, she was not so keen. More than her, my dad was little skeptical, as he is already in the film industry. I then told my mum to talk to him and then decide. They spoke on the phone for the first time and it lasted for an hour, to add to it they were talking in Hindi too. I couldn't follow much of it. After this conversation, my mum affirmed that he is indeed a nice guy. After a few days, Nakul suddenly showed up at my house and told he wanted to meet my parents. I wasn't prepared at all! Thankfully, my mum spoke about us to my dad just the day before and my dad takes at least three meetings to get comfortable and that is what happened exactly. One fine day, Nakul suddenly took me to meet his mom and I was literally in my pyjamas!! He is always the shocker and told it was a surprise! Then, both the families met and talked. It was actually Mayur, Nakul's brother who started all the engagement talks.
Something memorable from the wedding:
My aunts and cousins sang a song for us during the oonjal for which they had practiced for 10 days and surprised us. That was really very fun and heartwarming. Other than that, everything was real fun. As Nakul and I, have been together for five years we felt so comfortable and everything was perfect, thanks to our families and friends.
And the wedding Shopping,
All my sarees were from Kancheepuram and Kanakavalli. Blouses were designed and stitched at Kaajl, T Nagar. My usual go to place for salwaars and sarees. Mahesh, the tailor there did an amazing job. They also deliver on time and are really affordable.My reception gown was from Man Madhir and Nakul's suit was switched from Raymond.Gold jewellery were from Tanishq, GRT jewellers and Kalyan. I really loved all the collections. Fashion jewellery was from Kushal�s who have an amazing customer service and also deliver on time as promised. I rented a few things from Sri Swarna Prabhu Jewellers for the wedding who also customize jewellery on request. I loved their Oddiyanam collections. The cake at the reception was done by Tasneem Aunty herself. It was a fondant free rich chocolate cake.
The wedding and reception was at Rani Meiyammai and they had their in-house decorator. Candid photography was by Rakesh Prakash and traditional photography was by our family photographer Jobi uncle. My makeup and all the pre-wedding prep were all taken care at the Jaishri Premium Rejuvenation at RA puram. She is so good and my saree draping was done in record time. The feel of her salon itself is something that I love. She has been Nakul's stylist for a very very long time and that's why I went with her. I love the lemon-tea we get there. No other salon in the city pampers you like they do it.
Any hitches during the planning?
We started planning for our wedding soon after our engagement. We had bought a lot of stuff for wedding but unfortunately the floods that ravaged Chennai took away all my things and we were had to start afresh. Hence, there was a lot of delay in our progress and it was at this time my friend/colleague Poornima Ranjith designed a card for us real quick and it was super elegant. We got it printed at Compuprint, my uncle Diwakar's press. Another friend Rehna who also Owns this page on fb called Paper planes designed a cute doodle e-card for us to invite people on FB. All of them understood the time limit we had and completed the job real quick. I even started giving out the invitations only from February 10th.
