Guest Editorial | October 2026
Planning Our Wedding with Desh-Videsh
By Anjali Vyas and Rohan Mehta, Atlanta, Georgia
How do you begin planning a wedding when every answer seems to bring another question? As an engaged couple in Atlanta, we are discovering how much thought goes into a celebration. Choosing a venue is one decision. Understanding what matters to our families, finding professionals, and bringing everything within a budget require conversations. Desh-Videsh’s September wedding issue serves as a valuable starting point.
Reading real wedding stories helps us picture possibilities. We can see how couples approached their celebrations and consider which ideas might suit us. These stories give us something concrete to discuss when our plans still feel like a collection of photographs, questions, and unfinished decisions.
September’s issue featured Siena and Anjay’s Miami wedding, Nikita and Pranav’s destination celebration in Orlando, Komal and Vishnu’s wedding bringing together Gujarati and Tamil-Brahmin traditions, and Nadira and Keith’s journey from an unexpected meeting to marriage. Together, these accounts showed different ways couples can create celebrations that reflect their relationships and family backgrounds.
For us, their usefulness extends beyond enjoying the photographs. A setting can prompt us to think about guest comfort and travel arrangements. A ceremony can lead to a discussion about our schedule. A detail in the décor may help us explain our preferences to a professional. Seeing an idea in an actual wedding makes it easier to decide whether we want to explore it further.
The stories also help us involve our parents. Occasionally it is easier to share an example than to explain an idea from scratch. Looking through the issue together can open conversations about ceremonies, family participation, and the atmosphere we hope to create. It gives everyone a chance to explain what feels important before we begin making commitments.
We especially appreciate the practical resources accompanying the stories. The Wedding Resource Directory brings together businesses serving wedding celebrations, giving engaged couples a place to begin their inquiries. We still need to ask about availability, pricing, and whether a service fits our needs. Having a starting point helps us organize that work and approach conversations with clearer questions.
This is where Desh-Videsh’s contribution becomes a valuable community service. Families who share their wedding experiences help couples they may never meet. Wedding professionals become easier to discover. Young readers see how traditions can remain meaningful as couples make decisions shaped by their lives in America. For those of us planning a wedding, these pages connect inspiration with the next practical step.
September’s issue also encouraged us to think about our relationship after the celebration. Shireen Chada’s “The Seven Vows We Never Speak: What Marriage Runs On” considers everyday commitments, including protecting a spouse’s dignity during disagreements, taking responsibility for one’s own peace, and returning to conversation after anger has cooled.
Her article gives us questions worth discussing now. How will we handle disagreements when we are tired? How can we ask for time to cool down while making sure we return to the conversation? Wedding planning itself offers opportunities to practice listening, explaining our concerns, and making decisions together.
As we continue preparing, we expect to return to September’s issue for ideas and resources. We appreciate Desh-Videsh for publishing stories that young couples can learn from and use. We encourage other engaged couples to read the issue together, share it with their families, and keep it handy during planning. It can help turn a promising idea into an informed conversation.
About the Authors: Anjali Vyas and Rohan Mehta live in Atlanta, Georgia, and are planning their wedding.
