Falling in love and getting married to your beloved is one fantasy. Getting married to the guy your parents choose for you and then falling in love is another whole new league of fantasy. Such is the case of our architect bride, Rukshana Afrin and her beloved, Ansari.
“I am an architect, who is very passionate about my profession. I run my own company in Chennai. When the time came for finding the suitable groom for me, my parents had registered in various matrimonial websites and I found my partner, Ansari (software engineer) through Muslim matrimony. My parents used to keep showing me a minimum of 10 profiles a day and I wasn't interested in any. However, when I saw Ansari's profile, I secretly went and stalked him in all social media websites (all girls do it and I am no exception). Our parents arranged for a meeting and I had prepared like some 50 questions to ask him and had some 100 criteria based on which I should be judging him. I was very nervous and excited at the same time because he was the first guy I was meeting. But when I actually met him, even before I could finish with 3 questions I knew he was the one. Everything synced so beautifully and we eventually fell in love.
I was always dreaming about my wedding and was planning for things even before my wedding got finalised. Being an architect, I was very keen on all the design aspects of the wedding like stage decor, theme, colour coordination etc., We had 6 months time to plan for all the events. It was my mother who stood by, throughout the hectic wedding planning.
Photography - @ashokarsh-photography#
Decorators
Engagement - Mr.Basheer, Jawahar Grand Palace, chennai
Sangeet and wedding - Mr.Senthil, @sri-raghavendra-decorator#, Coimbatore
I had sketched the stage setup and the entire décor for him and he just executed it exactly the way I wanted. Nothing to be disappointed.
Reception - Mr.Zaki, New college, chennai
Venue:
Engagement - Jawahar grand palace, Engagement
Sangeet - OVM resorts, Kumbakonam
Wedding - Maharaja mahal, thanjavur
Reception - New college, Chennai
Jewellery - Challani jewellery, T.nagar.
They have an exquisite collection of antique, temple and diamond jewellery. I have shopped in almost all the jewellery shops in Chennai and have found them to be the best! (Tried and tested)
Dresses
Silk sarees - @palam-silks#, Mylapore (Best choice if you want to avoid that trip to Kanchipuram)
Engagement lehanga - Designer Nisha from NIDA boutique, Hyderabad. I met her at an event in Chennai and she beautifully customised the lehanga.
Sangeet and reception lehanga - Palki, Kolkatta
Sangeet outfits for men (relatives) - HIS Studio, T nagar.
Blouses were designed by Kriya boutique, Anna nagar, Chennai
Groom's dress
Engagement - Lagaan, T.nagar
Sangeet and reception - Swayamvar, T.nagar
Wedding - @gabbana-life#. Osman is the best designer for men in Chennai. Ansari just can’t stop talking about the fit of his wedding suit. It was so perfect.
Makeup artist
I went with different makeup artists for different functions because I was very particular that I need a different look for all the events. I would suggest all the brides to do the same. Each MUA brings out a different personality in you.
Engagement - Mrs.Preethimenon, Naturals, Kadar Nawaz Khan road. She is such an experienced and calm makeup artist. I am going to recommend her to literally everyone I know.
Sangeet –Nowshiba Fathima from Chiselle makeup artistry. My friend from college, truly talented and passionate about what she does.
Wedding - Mrs. Pramila Lepcha from @vurve-signature-salonbeauty-salon-hair-salon-makeup-artist# , Nungabakkam. She clearly stuck to the brief and made me feel like royalty.
Reception - Ms.Akriti Sachdev from @mesmereyes-makeup# She was the first person I booked once my wedding was confirmed. She is very busy and it is difficult to get trial sessions with her. But you can completely trust what she says.
Invitations – Marvel cards, Mylapore – very flexible and cooperative. They customised every element of the card for us.
Informal invitations – I designed the informal invitations. We wanted a colourful invite and we had included caricatures of both of us.
We also did a video invite (save the date). It was an impromptu shoot which was a major hit among friends and family. My brother shot the video for us in our home and I edited it.
Congrats to the amazing work you guys are doing at Shopzters! You are like a guiding lamp for many young brides including me. You are doing a great job and covering various aspects of South-Indian weddings. Kudos, team.