A love story that sprouted between two individuals from far different cultures but were united just by one inevitable element called love.
Let's hear it from the beautiful bride Namratha herself.
"We both met through our common friend in Delhi as I was based there at that time. I originally come from Kerala and my husband is from Haryana. Never thought Kerala and Haryana would come so close one day. It started with a trip to Rajasthan where we came to know each other and became good friends. In a few months time, it turned into a love story when I could not imagine a life without him. He later proposed me in front of his family with a ring. Initialy I was so shocked and speechless that I could not give him an answer but soon after I messaged him with a "yes".
Every love story has twist and turns, this was when I was offered a job in Abu Dhabi but before leaving I decided to take things further and spoke to my parents about our relationship. Sagar came to Kannur for the first time to meet my family. It took a while for my parents to accept everything as we had huge cultural differences. Eventually they agreed keeping in mind their beloved daughter's decision.
Then it became a long distance relationship for four years. We faced many ups and downs together but managed to hold onto each other.
On the 9th of April, 2017 we formally got engaged in Kannur and after 9 months of engagement, on the 15th of January, 2018 we got married.
Since then, till today we are together and will always tend to be.
I got all my gold jewelry from @malabar-gold-and-diamonds#, Abu Dhabi as they had a wide range of designs.
I bought my footwear and wrist watch from the USA, Jimmy Choo and Fossil.
My wedding saree was shopped from Kalyan Silks Calicut, Kerala, because they had the best ranges of wedding sarees.
Reception gown and my lehenga were from Karol bagh, Delhi, as it is one of the biggest and best markets for wedding shopping in India.
My Mehndi was done by Shazna jazeel and I loved it.
Decoration purposes were taken care of by Sree Deepam wedding events planner, Famous light decor and sound and Star decor, Kannur, Kerala.
I have always dreamt of getting married to my husband since the day we got into a relationship. I had many things in my mind such as how the decor should be, what color combinations look good, what kind of lights look good in pictures, which flowers do we love the most and many other things related to decor.
Catering was taken care of by Malabar catering, Kannur, Kerala. Any kind of cuisine you ask for will be available with them. Absolutely no compromises with the quality and taste of the food.
Make up for all the events were by Ms.Tahirah from Queens Innovation, Global village, Kannur, Kerala. She is a very talented woman. Her team's super quick and amazing. She uses highly recognized brands such as Sephora , HUDA Beauty , Lancome , MAC ,Cover fix etc.
Photography and videography needs were taken care of by @iswarya-photos#. They are one of the best and highly professional photographers in South India. Mahesh Waran and his team are very cooperative and best at what they do.
We had haldi, three days before our wedding. As it might make you look a bit yellowish or pale because of the turmeric stain, we made ubtan - a mixture of turmeric, gram flour and yoghurt, definitely a very good mask for your skin and won’t be staining. One more important thing before haldi is to do a patch test on your skin few days before as it might react to your skin and we definitely don’t want to look bad on our big day.
Followed by the Haldi was the Mehndi in the evening.
I took many ideas from Pinterest for decor on my haldi and Mehandi. And not only my decor ideas but my Mehandi designs as well. So that my Mehandi artist didn’t have to struggle much to decide what she has to do for me.
Shopping sounds very easy but definitely is a difficult task when it comes to your own wedding.
Having a good breakfast is a must before you start your day, so don’t even think of skipping your breakfast as this is going to give you a lot of patience and energy. Carrying a water bottle is a must as we should keep ourselves hydrated. Do your research before you decide what you want to wear. Try and think of all those colors that look good on you. In my case, I had faced few difficulties as we come from two different cultures. But as I did my research at home by deciding what I wanted, checking what is in trend and stuff.
Taking care of yourself during this period is a challenge as you are always occupied with so many things. First and most important thing is to get your beauty sleep. Sleeping on time and sleeping for atleast 8-9 hours makes a big difference. It’s a task for a lot of us as we have so many things going in our mind about our wedding so to have a camomile tea or even warm milk before bed time will really help you.
When it comes to supplements, I will personally suggest you all to start taking vitamin-C for immunity as we don’t want to fall sick during this period of our life and Vitamin-E ,Boitin and prime rose oil supplements are very helpful for your skin to get that glow for your big day. Start taking these supplements atleast a month or two before your wedding and you will definitely see the difference on your skin. But one of most important thing is to drink atleast 3 litres of water every day and a cup of green tea will do wonders. Do not stress yourself much with a lot of facial treatments from a saloon but yes going to a dermatologist atleast 4-5 months before is definitely worth.
And the most important exercise atleast for an hour in a daily routine. Some home remedies pack for face will do wonders as well such as 1 tea spoon gram flour (besan) +1 spoon yoghurt (curd)+ 1/2 spoon fresh turmeric paste + some saffron petals is basic face mask but will definitely do wonders. Following basic skin regime ie cleansing, toning and moisturizing are very much needed even for a normal routine. Scrubbing your skin twice or thrice a week is important as well as it will take away the dead skins and let the new skin breathe.
So finally after so much struggle we went for our short honeymoon trip to Dubai. Being a resident of UAE, we have experienced most of the things in UAE but we decided to relax in Atlantis, The Palm - one of the best 5 star hotels in UAE. We went to the water park and the aquarium on our first day and the next two days we enjoyed the spa and beach in the hotel itself. They also have one the best restaurants in Dubai. So this was the end of our short honeymoon trip. Thanks to our jobs that we couldn’t go on a proper one but yes, as we have planned to go to Santorini and Mykonos (Greece) for our full-fledged honeymoon. For the stay we have chosen Dana Villas Santorini, one of the most beautiful properties in Greece.
One of the most memorable and emotional moment was the portrayal of my face tattooed on my husband's arm. Yes, that too a permanent one. I would have never thought of this even in my wildest dreams. Writing my name was still be okay but having tattooed my face was the wildest thing EVER!
