Fashionably romantic wedding.

Picture a bride who is super chic and has never seen the face of flat shoes, the groom who planned a romantic proposal on the beautiful beach of Bali, a rocking dance performance at the Sangeet ceremony, beautiful traditional Nikah and a reception where the bride wore a smashing lehenga. This Mumbai wedding had all the elements to make it an event to remember for the couple and guests who attended. Lets now look at how this was planned. 

Our bride Rashida went to a lot of wedding exhibitions in her hometown Mumbai before the wedding.  This is where she got her inspiration. It was not easy to plan the wedding as she was working at the same time but nonetheless she managed a super wedding. Not only did she plan the wedding but also had to help  her groom's family plan the wedding as they were all the way in New Zealand. She researched online for various styles when it came to her outfit and the end result was simply magnificent.

Couple's first event was the Sangeet held at Krishna banquet hall in Mumbai.  Rashida can be seen sporting a beautiful red and black lehenga at this event. The couple performed a romantic dance at this event. The song chosen for this dance, o soniyo was really close to the couple's hearts, even more so as the groom Mufaddal sung this song often to the bride **Aww moment**.  This was the best moment for Rashida as the couple got an overwhelming response and the audience couldn't get enough of this performance. Maybe they should think about joining a dance competition.

Nikah, this was tradtional event held at a Hatemi mosque in Mumbai. Rashida is wearing a printed lehenga which is very trendy and traditional at the same time. Both her Sangeet and Nikah outfits were designed by her designer Asgar Munshi and she was extremely pleased with what the designer had delivered.

Makeup by Shirin Merchant

Grand finale, the reception was was held at Jacob open grounds at J.J college in Mumbai. The colours of Rashida's lehenga are nothing less than exquisite. She bought this outfit from Jade by Monica and Karishma. All the colours of this outfit complement each other nicely and give an additional glow to the blushing bride.

Rashida's advice to future brides is to not get caught up with what your family says and to follow your heart. It is also important to take it easy, not sweat on the small stuff and smile like you mean it. Enjoy your big day as it will only come once.

Rashida now lives in Auckland and is happy to call this place home. We wish her and Mufaddal a happy married life.

Honorable mention

Photography by Diljeet Tejnani

A perfect fusion

You’d be excused for confusing the latest Bollywood hit ‘2 States’ with this week’s feature– albeit low on drama, but high on love and complete with two good looking leads , Pooja and Ajay, who planned and pulled off a North and South Indian wedding in Auckland. 

The Plot

The couple met at an Indian social event and the mutual feelings culminated over time into a proposal and of course, a big fat Indian wedding. Like any traditional Hindu wedding, the festivities consisted of a Sangeet/Henna night, Wedding ceremony and a Reception. 

With 6 months to plan the big event, the bride, Pooja, who describes her style as  “conservative but sophisticated” sourced her various outfits from designers both in India and Indian Fashion outlets in New Zealand. She wanted to keep things “simple but unique”, and the photos below are testament to the fact that this bride has bags of style!

For the Sangeet, Pooja wore a lehenga inspired by Bollywood fashion queen, Priyanka Chopra. 

Supplier: Alvaslon sarees

Without any first hand experience, I can only depend on reported accounts of the ‘bridal walk up the aisle.’ They say that it has a surreal feel to it. Everything fades into the background - all the months of scouting, budgeting and planning for what is most likely going to be the most significant event of your life. Everything fazes out, of-course, other than the love of your life waiting at the end of aisle!

Wearing an intricate Tarun Tahilini lehenga that she would later change into a Kanjeevaran saree, it was no different for Pooja. Her best moment of the day in her  own words “would be when I walked down  and my Husband was smiling at me waiting for me to join him on the mandap.” (can we get an universal ‘N’awwww’). 

  

Initially, Pooja was stressed about having to “change into my Kanjeevaran saree half way through the ceremony with only half an hour to look like a South Indian bride.” Anyone brought up on a steady diet of Bollywood movies is accustomed to ‘costume changes’ but in real life, it can be a bit tad bit difficult especially when it’s in the middle of a wedding ceremony! However thanks to her stylist, everything came together in the end and this bride was the perfect picture of fusion with her chura and beautiful Kanjeevaran sari. 

The Finale

For the Reception, Pooja looked resplendent in a blue net saree embellished with sequins. 

Supplier: Aroma fashions

Technical Awards – The Backstage Magicans

Hair & Make Up 

For her big day, Pooja was styled by Nimisha Bikha, hair and makeup artist

Venue & Photographer

The wedding was held at Bhakti Center in Panmure and the venue was decorated by 0800 Mandaps. The Kodak moments of the day were captured by photographer, RitzyStudio-Photography 

The Review 

So there you have it folks! In the scheme of things, you could like your lassi and he his sambar, you your pancakes and he his biryani but I’m guessing that it all just becomes a minor detail once you know that this person complete with their different cultural background, weird eccentricities or habits makes you happy perhaps because and not in spite of how different they are from you. 

Fusion is described as “the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity.” So it while it not is the easiest thing to ever do, fusion weddings are all the richer for all the distinctive rituals ‘fused’ together to form a perfect union.  

And with New Zealand becoming more multicultural by the day, it’s becoming easier than ever to plan and pull of such culturally rich and colorful weddings. 

Our congratulations and best wishes to Pooja and Ajay and a Happy Sunday to all our readers! 

*Cue the music*

- Written by Neha Prasad