Marigold Events – Indian Wedding Inspirations

Happy New Year you all! We are going to kick off the new year with inspiration boards for Color of the Year 2012.

Pantone Color Institute has announced Tangerine Tango as the Color of the Year 2012. A vivacious and spirited reddish orange, dubbed as “Tangerine Tango”, will be in fashion this year. Wedding, Home, and Fashion websites/ blogs are already buzzing about this new color.

How will this color come into play in your wedding? Here are some inspiration boards using shades close to Pantone Color Palette for this year. Hope you enjoy!

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High school sweethearts, Jasmine and Gautam, met (and were eventually engaged!) on a tennis court. Their beautiful wedding took place at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC.

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Rangoli is a traditional Indian folk art of making colorful and decorative patterns. Today we are featuring numerous Rangoli designs from various Hindu Wedding Ceremonies photographed by Alex Moi.

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While Somya and Sanam’s wedding has all the elements of being royal, I can tell that the couple is really in love. In this post we are featuring their Reception which had a Pakeeza Theme.

Somya and Sanam’s Reception would take you back to the Mughal era. Imagine Kathak Dance Performances, Live Ghazal and Qawali singers, and lounge style seating.

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A few months back we had featured the Cherry Blossom engagement session of Aman and Gurdeep. We are so excited to feature their wedding and reception pictures. Thank You Photographick Studios for sharing beautiful photos of the couple with us!

Aman and Gurdeep’s wedding was an intimate affair with close family and friends.

Getting Ready

I absolutely love Aman’s outfit and jewelry. Her kaleeras are my favorite – they perfectly match her outfit.

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Happy New Year you all!

Pantone Color Institute has announced Honeysuckle Pink as the Color of the Year 2011. A vibrant reddish pink hue, dubbed as “Honeysuckle“, will be in fashion this year. Wedding, Home, and Fashion websites/ blogs are already buzzing about this new color.

How will this color come into play in your wedding? Here are some inspiration boards using shades close to Honeysuckle and other shades, like Blue Curacao, Coral Rose, Peapod, Russet and Peony Silver, in the Pantone Color Palette for this year. Hope you enjoy!

Inspiration Board: Shades of Honeysuckle, Peapod and Blue Curacao

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Hello Lovely Ladies! Wedding Wednesdays just got more interesting on Marigold Events. We get many questions from brides asking for wedding advice. We will be selecting and answering “Question of the week” every Wednesday on Marigold Events. Ask your question by filling out our contact form on the right.

Q. I am getting married in six months and am very confused on how to plan my wedding. How should I go about my shopping. I want to have a royal wedding with traditional Punjabi touches and want to make it a memorable event. I would prefer pinks, reds and lots of gold.

A. Dear Bride-to-be: Congratulations! Planning a wedding can seem to be a daunting task, and you should break it down to smaller tasks and have a plan of action. Following is a list of things you will need to shop for:

1. Wedding Invitations
2. Wedding Outfits
3. Wedding Jewelry
4. Accessories: Bindis, Bangles, Shoes, and Purses
5. Trousseau
6. Favors and gifts for family and friends
7. Money Envelopes and other gift wrapping/packing supplies

Now that you know what you need to shop for, I would suggest picking colors for your wedding. Pink clashes with red, so I would suggest that you pick shades of red, orange and gold. These would be great colors for a traditional and royal look. You can tie in your colors in all the things you get for your wedding – from invitations, to decor, to your outfits. You can find beautiful invitations in many colors and themes on invitation websites. Here is an example of a unique invitation that I think will go along well with your colors:

For a traditional and at the same time royal look, I would suggest that you include marigolds in your decor. You can also incorporate orange gerbera daisies, red roses and chrysanthemums for accents. You could ask your decorator if he can incorporate different styles of rangoli (on floor and water) and fabrics like organza and chiffon in your wedding decoration. For shimmery look in your decor, you can ask the decorator to use strings of crystals. You could also have antique chandeliers at your venue for a royal look.

Since you are Punjabi, consider using kaleeras in your wedding decor. When you walk to the stage/mandap for jai mala, your cousins/brothers/sisters/bridesmaids will be walking along you – At that time you can have your entourage carry a “Phoolon ki Chaadar” or a sheet made of flowers over your you. You can have your decorator/florist decorate this with many different kinds of flowers, fabric and even kaleeras.

Hope I was able to provide some helpful wedding planning pointers to make your wedding memorable. Good Luck and don’t forget to have fun while planning your wedding!

Finding Indian bridesmaid outfits can be a major challenge. You may want the exact same sari or lehenga for your bridesmaids, or if you are having a hard time finding exact outfits, then you may want something that goes well together. I strongly recommend that your bridesmaid saris match the colors of your wedding. I would stay away from buying the same sari in different colors. If you are having trouble finding the exact same sari, I would go with one color with a slight variation in pattern. I strongly believe, that one color looks more elegant. Here is some inspiration for bridesmaid saris:

Magenta Bridesmaid Saris with a turquoise border

Blue bridesmaid outfits - Although the outfits are different, they blend well together

Vermilion Colored Bridesmaid Saris

Orange Bridesmaid Saris

Mustard-Green bridesmaid saris

Maroon bridesmaid saris

Sea green bridesmaid saris

Fucshia bridesmaid saries

Pink bridesmaid saris

Plum bridesmaid saris

Red bridesmaid saris with golden work

Lavendar and pink bridesmaid saris

Purple bridesmaid saris

Candy buffets are the hottest trend in weddings these days. Not only do they satisfy the cravings of that sweet tooth, but also make for great eye candy at your wedding reception. They make a unique alternative to favors and also serve as late night snacks. So how do you go about creating these lovely candy buffets? The key points to remember when creating a candy buffet are: colors, presentation and quantity of candy. Let’s go in more detail.

Image Credit: Things Festive

Colors: Try to pick candy using your wedding color palette. If your colors are pink and white, go with the fairy tale theme for your table, where you go with bubble gum flavored candy, pink and white jelly beans, pink and white chocolate eggs etc. It might require some research, but you can find candy in shades that complements your wedding colors!

Presentation: The display of your candy buffet is equally important as your colors. The whole purpose of having a candy buffet is to add color and another element of decor to your wedding. The options are endless! However, some easy options might be to use similar vases as your centerpieces. Add some unique touches by using huge martini glasses or other shapes of floral vases. Vary the shapes and heights to make it look more dramatic. You could also add some bags of candy, for guests to take away with them. Often times, brides would accessorize the candy buffet with a separate centerpiece, fabric and ribbon.

Quantity: In order to have a perfect display, you need to have the right quantity of candy. One would think to start with the guest count in order to determine the quantity. I would say no! If you have 100 guests at your wedding and you decide to serve 3 ounces of candy to each guest, that is just going to be 18.5 pounds. This is not enough to have a good display! For a presentation of your buffet that will wow your guests, choose from 5 to 10 types of candy and buy around 15 pounds each – even if you don’t need that much. When it comes to candy, the more the merrier!

There are variety of themes that can be used for Indian Wedding. You should choose one that best suits your personality and style. Also consider your audience and what is most likely to click. Discuss the various options with your fiance and decide jointly.

We will go through traditional, typical Indian and romantic themes to add a flair to your wedding. These themes can be applied to your decor, stationary, cake, mehendi…the possibilities are endless!

1. Peacock Theme: This would be a traditional theme and would typically apply to your decor, stationary, outfits, mehendi, cake, place settings and even overlays! Turquoises, Purples/Fuschias, Browns with splashes of green would go best with this theme. Peacock feathers, orchids, and crystal strings are what you definitely need.
   

   Image Courtesy: hellobellaevents.blogspot.com, and iStockPhoto.com

2. Bollywood Theme: For bollywood theme, think of your favorite romantic Hindi movies. You can choose from many a Yash Chopra and Karan Johar movies. For decor, you could get posters of romantic Bollywood movies and put them on the walls of your reception venue (make sure you use good scotch tape, which won’t leave marks on the walls!). You could also name the tables after those movies and the table name/number that is placed on the table could be a postcard with an image from that movie. The place cards could be tickets to those movies with the name of the guest and the movie name on it. You could even incorporate bollywood in your outfits, where you could dress up as a famous Bollywood couple. Your first dance could be to your favorite romantic bollywood tune. The possibilities are endless! Colorful hues, like reds, oranges, fuschias, sequins, and brocade borders would go best with this theme.
3. “Our first Dates” Theme: This would be a very romantic and personal theme and perfect for couples who have dated. You would start with compiling a list of your first dates: It could be restaurants, coffee shops, sporting events, movies etc. You could name the tables after your dating spots and the place cards could be designed as receipts from the restuarants/ coffee shops, tickets to sporting events/movies etc. Table number that is placed on the table could be a picture of you both with the name of the date spot. I think black and white pics with sepia tones look just fantastic! You could incorporate the sepia tones in your decor, and linen as well. This is something very personal for some people, and the theme should be used only if you are comfortable sharing it with your guests.

So which one is your favorite theme? What other themes can you guys think of?

If you are planning your wedding this year and are thinking of wedding colors, look no more! The verdict for the hottest colors this year is Mango and Turquoise. Different shades of tangerine, coral, mango, warm orange, golden yellow, peach, turquoise, blue are here to rule this wedding season. This complementary color scheme is very unique and very refreshing, especially for a summer wedding.

You can go crazy with these colors! Use them on your invitations, favors, centerpieces, specialty drinks (mango lassi!!!), accents, vases, cake, flowers, napkins, linen, and even your candy buffet! Don’t be afraid to add a splash of oranges and turquoise.

Suggested flowers: Mokara Orchid Stems, Asiastic Lilies, Gerberas, Birds of Paradise, and of course Marigold!

Here are some mango and turq inspiration boards for you:

Congratulations on your engagement! Wondering where to start from? Here is a checklist of items which will walk you through your wedding planning process. According to 2008 Wedding Industry Facts, the average length of engagement is 16 months (Courtesy: Hudson Valley Weddings). For this checklist I am going to assume an eight month engagement and wedding planning period, since Indian engagements are usually shorter. Your first month planning will definitely be the busiest. Even though the list is top heavy, don’t be afraid as the more work you do in the beginning, the less you will have to worry later.

Week 1

1. Pick a Date/Weekend: Give yourself enough time for preparation when picking a date. Also, think about the season you would prefer to get married in.
2. Estimate your Wedding Budget: Are you planning on using your own savings for the wedding? Are the parents chipping in? Now is a good time to get to talk to your fiance and both families to get the finances together for the wedding.
3. Finalize all the events: There are many events associated with an Indian Wedding Celebration. Do you want to have an engagement party, haldi, mehendi, sangeet in addition to the wedding and reception? Now is a good time to decide.
   • Tip: Take your budget into consideration when deciding the number of events and how they will be scheduled on the weekend to accommodate your out of town guests.
4. Estimate the number of guests and start a guestlist: Once you have a set budget in mind, you should estimate how big of a wedding you want. This will help you decide the other planning aspects of your wedding.
   • Tip: Make a spreadsheet of all the guests. I would suggest using Google Docs and use the following heading items for your spreadsheet, which accounts for all the details related to your guests: Guest Family, Number of people invited, Address, Email Address, Phone Number, Events invited for, Out of Town?, Save-the-Date sent?, Invitation Sent?, Gift received, Thank You Card Sent?
5. Hire a Wedding Planner (optional): If you want a planner to assist you find you your venue and other vendors, go ahead and book your wedding planner in the first week itself. This will ensure that you get maximum benefit out of hiring a planner. Make sure you get referrals from family and friends. Yelp and Wedding Wire are great places to start looking as well. A lot of planners have negotiated (discounted) rates with vendors, which can work in your favor. On the flip side, they may steer you towards the vendors with whom they have a relationship.
   • Tip: Most planners and even other vendors offer a discount if you pay them the full amount when you sign the contract. Consider doing so only if you are sure about your planner/vendor selection.
6. Start researching Venues: Finding venues for all your wedding events, which are open for the dates you picked can be very trying. Get a head start so that you can book the wedding venue of your dreams!  Schedule appointments to go visit the selected venues and start shortlisting.
   • Tip: Find out the venue requirements and policies for lighting candles, havan rituals/ fire, alcohol, parking, vendor and event insurance, cancellation or postponing the event.

Week 2

1. Choose your bridesmaids and groomsmen (optional): If you choose to do so, select your bridesmaids and groomsmen and invite them to be in your wedding party. It is always nice to send a hand written note to invite your friend/relative to your wedding party, followed by a phone call. Once they confirm, it’s a good idea to get their measurements for their outfits.
2. Pick a theme/colors and start collecting ideas: If you choose to do so, pick your colors/theme for your wedding. Regardless of whether you are having a theme of not, start gathering ideas for your wedding. Look through magazines, wedding planning blogs, even talking to your friends and cousins who recently planned their wedding.
3. Send out Save-the-Dates: Once the guestlist is finalized, send out your Save-the-Dates. You could go with something which you Do-it-Yourself, or even go to a local paperie/paper store and get them ready to be sent out. Often times, brides go with magnets with a picture of them and their fiance, or even very creative DIY Save-the-Dates according to their theme.
4. Plan your Engagement Party (optional): If you decide to do so, start planning your engagement party. You may want to have it at your parent’s house or backyard if the weather is nice, after taking the guestlist into consideration. Think about what kind of party you want: Brunch/ Hors d’oeuvres/Dinner.

Week 3

1. Finalize the Venue: By this time you should have selected your venue. Sign the contract and make the deposits.
2. Start your Wedding Registry: Decide the stores or online website where you would like to set up your wedding registry.
   • Tip: Most people go with Macy’s, Crate and Barrell, Bed Bath, Target,  Beyond and other big department stores. Personally, I recommend online websites like myregistry.com for setting up your wedding registry, as it gives you a lot more flexibility. You can add any product online and place it on your registry. Moreover, if you are a smart shopper, you can shop for the best deal to save your guests money!
3. Wedding Website (optional): Set up your wedding website with all the details of your wedding. You can purchase a domain and server space from website hosting companies like bluehost.com, godaddy.com, 1and1.com with your and your fiance’s name, for example: nehaandkart.com. Once you have the domain, you can have a friend/cousin/web developer or even yourself create a wedding website with details such as how you met, proposal, photo gallery, wedding venue and details, link to registry, RSVP, guestbook etc. Alternatively, there are many wedding planning websites, like weddingwire.com, which already have templates for wedding websites, and all you have to do is enter the content and the website is automatically created for you. You can choose to forward it to your own domain rather than the one generated by the website company. Email the website link to your friends and relatives.

Week 4

1. Start Researching Caterers: Put a little thought into your wedding menu. Are you thinking live stations, ice sculptures, chocolate fountain, fondue, specialty appetizers and drinks or simple buffet? Browse through directories of local restaurants, which fit your requirements and schedule tastings. Get per person estimates when you go for the tasting. You might also want to talk to your caterer about drink packages. Make sure that the caterer is licensed by your venue.
2. Start Researching Event Decorator/ Florists/ Mandap: Based on your theme, ideas and colors, start thinking of decor ideas. Make a list of things you need from a decorator/florist. Are you going to have special lighting for your events? Talk to various florists for centerpieces and flowers for the ceremony and reception. Also start looking for overlays, Indian event decorations, Mandap, stage for Sangeet and Sweetheart table set up etc. Get estimates for everything.
3. Start Researching Photographers: Good photographers are often booked months in advance. Get on your game and schedule meetings to book your photographer. You should definitely look at the samples of the different photographers so that you know their style (posed, photojournalistic etc.). You should also try to negotiate a photo package for all your wedding events as you don’t want to miss the special moments. Important occasions for photos include Engagement Portraits, Engagement Party, Mehendi, Sangeet, Getting Ready Pictures, Pictures of just Bride and Groom on the Wedding Day, Pictures with the Bridal Party, Ceremony, and Reception. You might want to ask the photographer for the rates of an assistant, should you need one.
4. Start Researching Videographers: Go for a videographer who has shot Indian Weddings before because they will have a good idea about the lineup of events on your wedding day and would not miss shooting your important moments. Also you would want to discuss how the media of the video: HD/ Blue Ray DVD/ Video Tape etc, whether you want raw footage or the edited video or both etc. Decide which events you need the videographer for and whether they need to have assistants or not.
5. Start Researching DJs: Do your homework to find a good DJ. Talk to different DJs to get a vibe of what kind of music they play and how often they switch it up. If you need a projector for slideshow, cables to hook up your computer to the projector, special sound system, other tech equipment, you might want to talk to the DJ and negotiate a package for that and all your other events. Also, ask the DJ if he can provide dhol/ entertainment/ music for the Baraat. It is best to select a DJ based on a performance that you have seen.
6. Start Researching Event Rentals (depends on the venue): If you are having your wedding at a museum, hall or a special location, most probably you would need to rent out everything needed for your event, from china, glassware, tableware, tablecloths to tables and chairs. This can get pricey depending on your guestlist and you definitely need the correct estimates for the number of each item to be rented with extras to spare. Do your utmost to research the most reasonable event rental company in terms of finding the best choice of rentals, as well as a company which has relaxed policies. Sometimes your caterer can provide some good referrals for the event rental companies.
7. Pick out your invitations: Start looking at different Indian Invitations Websites to look for the perfect invitation. Also, read our article on how to select a wedding invitation for some useful tips. Once you have a winner, finalize the invitation text (include your website and registry information on the invitation), and order the invitations as it takes a couple weeks for the order to be processed and shipped. You want the invitations at least 4-5 months before the wedding, so that you have enough time to address them.

Month 2

1. Finalize your Caterer, Event Decorator/ Florist/ Mandap, Photographer, Videographer, DJ, Event Rentals: You should have these vendors finalized and locked in so that you can start planning the wedding details with them. Review the contracts thoroughly before signing. Make sure they provide a reasonable alternative person/company to fill in case they are sick or under circumstances beyond their control.
2. Book your Priest/ Pundit: Based on the kind of ceremony you want, book your priest. Its always good if the priest can speak in English and translate the ceremony for the guests. Confirm their dakshina or honorarium and also the date of the wedding.
3. Select you Cake Vendor and Cake Design: If your venue or caterer does not provide one, then start looking for a cake vendor. Regardless, you will need to pick a design for your cake.
4. Make the Arrangements for Baraat and other transportation: Reserve the horse carriage, get permits if need be for the Baraat and make arrangements for limo/transportation for the day of your wedding. You may also want to book a shuttle to transport your guests to the wedding venue if different from the accommodation.
5. Book your trip to India (optional): If you are doing your wedding trousseau shopping in India, then book your plane tickets and make appropriate arrangements to take time off of work etc.

Month 3

1. Select a vendor for your Mehendi, Hair, Make up and Arranging your Dupatta or Sari: Make sure you have make up and hair trials, before you select the vendor. Interview them to make sure that they can arrange transportation to come to where you are. Also, you might want to bring pictures and discuss with them the way you want your mehendi, make up, hair, and dupatta arranged.
2. Select Wedding Outfits for the entire bridal party and Jewelry Sets for yourself: If not going to India, find a local store or travel to a city with huge Indian diaspora in the US to purchase jewelry sets for yourself and traditional outfits for yourself, your fiance and your entire bridal party. Also start looking into suits and tuxedos for the groom and groomsmen.
3. Travel to India to purchase your Wedding Trousseau (optional): Read our article on how to shop for your wedding in India for special tips.
4. Block Hotel Rooms for out of town guests: Get a block of rooms for a discounted rate for all of your out of town guests. Update your website to include the hotel information and the code to get the discount.
5. Honeymoon Suite: Book accommodations for your wedding night.

Month 4

1. Purchase your Accessories: If not going to India, then start looking for matching purse, bindis, bangles, and footwear.
2. Start planning and book your honeymoon: Decide on a destination, and book your travel, and hotel for the honeymoon. If you are traveling internationally, make sure you have valid passports and appropriate visas/ other travel papers, vaccinations etc.
3. Finalize your Menu and Service details with your caterer
4. Finalize your Decor Arrangements

Month 5

1. Get your invitations ready and Mail them: Address all your invitations and put stamps. This process can take a good week, especially if you are still in process of compiling addresses and have a huge guestlist. Use vellum or metallic labels to print addresses. You might also want to consider calligraphy.
2. Order your wedding rings/bands
3. Start looking for favors: Read our article on suggestions for special wedding favors.
4. Childcare for your Ceremony and Reception (optional): If you have many guests with babies and small  children, you might consider making arrangements for them.

Month 6

1. Alcohol and Bar Arrangements: Order liquor/alcohol for your event if you are not getting it from the caterer or venue. You might have to get a permit to serve your own alcohol at your venue and hire bartender as well.
2. Prepare Ceremony Programs and Other Stationary: Design the proof of concept for your ceremony programs. If you are designing any other stationary, scrapbooks for display etc., you should consider doing it now.
3. Research Marriage License Requiremnts: Also schedule a blood test appointment, if required by your state.
4. Song for First Dance: Select the song for your First Dance. Consider taking dance lessons or choreographing it yourself.

Month 7

1. Purchase your Guestbook, Pen and Pen Holder
2. Purchase gifts for your bridal party and close family members
3. Contact close family and friends for Sangeet Performances (optional)
4. Get all the sari and lehenga blouses stitched: You should do this for yourself and your bridesmaids.
5. Make sure that all your outfits fit properly: You still have some time to get the outfits tailored to fit you in case there have been a size change.

Month of the Wedding!

4 Weeks Before

1. Have Sangeet Performers submit their music to you
2. Send a Song List to the DJ: Make a list of your must-play songs and do-not-play song list and send it to your DJ. You should also send all the sangeet songs and the song for your First Dance to make sure the DJ has all of your music.

3 Weeks Before

1. Call guests who have not yet RSVP’d and get the final head count
2. Determine the order of your receiving line, if you are having one
3. Prepare a timeline for all your wedding events
4. Prepare a list of assignments for your bridal party and family members

2 Weeks Before

1. Give the final head count to all your vendors
2. Give the timeline of wedding events to all the vendors, members of your bridal party and family members helping
3. Create your seating chart and make the place cards: Give your seating chart to the vendors in charge of directing guests to their tables, arranging the chairs, tables, table numbers and place cards.
4. Prepare your toasts and thanks to family and friends
5. Confirm all your final payments and have them ready to be mailed out or handed over to the vendor

Week of the Wedding!

1. Hand over all the favors, guestbook, placecards, programs etc. to the event planner or the person in charge of arranging them
2. Put together an emergency kit: This should contain Aspirin, Hairspray, Make up, Safety Pins, Mints etc.
3. Pack your suitcase for the honeymoon
4. Get pampered at a Spa
5. Enjoy your Wedding Celebrations!

After you come back from your honeymoon

1. Ensure all your vendors have been fully paid: As a courtesy you may review them on wedding planning websites.
2. Arrange for your outfits to be cleaned and preserved
3. Write all your Thank You Notes: Traditional etiquette gives you an 8 week grace period.
4. If you choose to do so: Do all the paperwork to change your name, and arranging to combine finances, insurance policies etc.

I hope this checklist is comprehensive enough and will be useful for you in planning your wedding. As usual, please comment on this entry with your suggestions or email me  at neha@marigoldevents.com.

Couples do meet in unique places and situations, and so is the story of our featured couple, Sneha and Rajat. Sneha and Rajat met in college during a fire drill! Once the two were ready to tie the knot, Rajat proposed Sneha on an Eastern Caribbean Cruise after asking her parents for permission. I had the pleasure to talk to Sneha about her engagement and wedding planning experience. I will share the highlights of her wedding and some of her planning tips with you.

Engagement Portraits can be a lot of fun!

When starting to plan their wedding, the first thing Rajat and Sneha did was have their engagement portraits taken. Tip #1: Engagement portraits are great for when you are designing your Save-the-Dates, Favors, Guestbook or just for display at the wedding/reception. The couple planned their engagement party at the Heritage Club in the DC Metro Area.

The Heritage Club has a Rajasthani themed decor and is perfect size for an engagement celebration.

As a part of their engagement celebration, Sneha and Rajat hired a limo to go on a tour of DC with their friends. Here is a beautiful shot of both at the Washington Memorial taken by one of their friends:

Picture Perfect!

As is the dilemma of most couples, Sneha and Rajat were faced with the same: Venue for the wedding! The couple wanted a small and intimate wedding with their close family and friends and were not having any luck finding a venue in the DC area. While Sneha and Rajat were visiting Sneha’s parents in California, they decided to take trips to the wineries nearby. They were fascinated by this one winery in particular called Hecker Pass Winery in Gilroy, California. The weather there was gorgeous and the owner of the winery was very hospitable. Sneha and Rajat were sold and decided that they wanted to have a destination wedding at the winery. Tip #2: A unique destination wedding venue could be a Winery; the weather is gorgeous and its perfect for a scenic and intimate wedding.

Candid Shot at the Sangeet

The wedding was a 3 day affair, where the couple had Haldi, Mehendi, Sangeet, Wedding and Reception. The Sangeet was held at the winery, where the decor was a typical Indian seating set up of “gaddas” and cushions. Sneha stressed how this was a group effort and everyone contributed towards the Sangeet arrangements. Tip #3: Don’t be afraid to ask for help and delegate the responsibilities, group effort often has the best results!

For the Sangeet entertainment, the couple hired live singers combining Punjabi Dhol, folk, bollywood and dance in a unique live performance. They sang Bhangra, typical Sangeet songs, Bari Barsi, Kala Shah and many other numbers, which all the guests really enjoyed. They had a lovely favor basket of “chudis” and “bindis” for the ladies.

Sangeet Favors: Bindis and Bangles

Sneha chose very trendy and unique colors for her wedding: pink and chocolate brown. The colors are rarely seen in Indian wedding, and I must say that everything was put together beautifully at the wedding using that color scheme. One can tell how meticulously Sneha planned the wedding by the attention to detail. Sneha made some beautiful welcome baskets using the colors of her wedding for the guests staying at the hotel. The basket contained a wine bottle from the winery with a custom label designed by the couple, and some chocolates. Tip #4: Apply your wedding color scheme also to the details like gift bags, money envelopes, programs, welcome baskets etc.

Welcome baskets: Coordinated with the Colors and Theme

I loved the way the pink organza fabric was draped around the chivari chairs that were used in the ceremony. For the decoration along the aisle, floral balls made of roses were hung on shepherd’s hooks. Tip #5: You can add beautiful aisle decorations by using shepherd hooks. You can use floral balls, lanterns, ribbons – the choices are endless!

The beautiful details

Sneha, along with her bridemsaids, spent hours designing the concept for her wedding program. The end result was fabulous! Tip #5: Using ribbons hang your wedding programs from the ceremony chairs. This adds to your decor.

Sneha's DIY Ceremony Program

Rajat and Sneha had five bridesmaids and groomsmen. The bridesmaids wore coordinated pink saris with golden sequins border and small flower shaped motifs stitched all over it. Sneha said that she was having the hardest time finding coordinated saris for all her bridesmaids in India. She said it’s nearly impossible to get two saris with exactly same color and design ready made. So on her shopping trip to India, Sneha got the saris made from scratch! She had to buy the sari material, get it dyed pink, and finally get the border and motifs stitched to each sari. I think this is a great idea for all the brides who want the exact same sari for their bridesmaids. Tip #6: Simplest way to have the same sari for every bridesmaid – Buy white material, borders and trimmings, Dye the material with your choice of color, get the borders and trimmings stitched on to the sari.

Here comes the Bride

Sneha wanted a brown mandap for the wedding, to go with the colors chosen by her for the wedding. It was impossible to get one in the States, and so on her trip to India, she got one stitched. She got the measurements and instructions for the mandap from her decorator and got them stitched for a very reasonable cost in India. During the wedding, the mandap was draped on pillars and hooked on for extra protection. Tip #7: If you have unique wedding colors, consider getting your mandap stitched in India. Ask your decorator for the measurements. Check out the beautiful mandap:

Ever seen a chocolate brown mandap before?

Sneha mentioned that one her memorable moments from the wedding was from the “joota chupai” ceremony. She said that the groomsmen and bridesmaids were going back and forth with the shoes and negotiating the amount for the shoes. The final deal between the two sides was for all the bridesmaids to dance around Rajat to “Joote do Paise lo” and then get the money!

Paise De Do, Joote Le Lo!

Since the wedding was at the winery, that ended up being the underlying theme – from the welcome baskets, to the table numbers, which were named after different wines. Tip #8: To add a unique touch, consider having table names instead of table numbers based on your theme.

Rajat and Sneha got portrait shots for all of their major events

Another DIY project that Sneha did was putting together their favors. Sneha put together a CD of her and Rajat’s favorite songs and put them in a beautiful case that she designed herself. Sneha used cdprintexpress.com for the production of the favors.

Beautiful Cherry Blossom Design for CD favors

Here are some beautiful pictures of Sneha and Rajat’s Reception:

First Dance: "Pehli Nazar Mein" from the movie Race

Beautiful Centerpiece on a chocolate brown overlay

Reception Setup

Custom Guestbook

Hope Sneha and Rajat’s gorgeous wedding photos and planning tips will be useful and give you ideas to plan your beautiful wedding!  (Photo Credits: Sandhya Photography)

If you would like to submit your wedding, please contact us through this form or email me at neha@marigoldevents.com.

Happy Holi to all my lovely readers! Let us take inspiration from some beautiful colors on this day of “festival of colors” and talk about how they can enliven your wedding decor. We will start with some beautiful flower topiaries:

Courtesy: Flickr - Idea by Sandra Austoni (L'espirit Sud Magazine)

Let us look at pink, white and green for a color combination. This combination is perfect for an outdoors/day/destination wedding! We will apply this color combo to a floral topiary centerpiece idea. Floral Topiary Trees are “in” when it comes to wedding decor. They create a very elegant ambience. Having topiary as your centerpieces will definitely wow your guests and will get you abundant compliments! You can use green hydrangeas, green, pink and white roses/ carnations/ crysanthemums to decorate your floral topiaries. If you want to glamorize these, you can use accessories, such as crystal beads to it. Here is a tutorial on how to make your own topiary trees .

Orange is one of my favorite colors! Shades of orange look beautiful and festive in Indian Weddings. Let us look at an orange and blue color pallette. In the picture below, we see many kinds of flowers with orange hues potted in metallic blue containers. The contrast stands out and adds a lot of glitz to the room. You can choose from a wide range of orange flowers: Mokara Orchid Stems, Asiastic Lilies, Gerberas, Birds of Paradise, and of course Marigold! For another way to add blue to your orange centerpieces, you can use blue glass vases, or even blue glass stones and beads around your arrangements.

Courtesy: Flickr - Orange and Blue Centerpieces

These splendid colors and ideas are bound to catch the eye of your guests! Enjoy and share some of your unique color combinations and centerpiece ideas.