Real Wedding

Niketa and Ishan

Photographer:
FengLong Photography

When Ishan Patel, 29, product manager, and Niketa Agarwal, 27, a registered nurse, first met for coffee, they felt a connection immediately. Their first date night was nothing short of interesting with them sneaking into Piedmont Park after midnight to talk for hours. It was a moonlit night and the pair danced to Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years.”

Ishan’s proposal was unique. One day while reading a local newspaper Niketa found her and Ishan’s photograph with the caption: “I’d like to order a lifetime supply of gulab jamun.” He got down on one knee with a ring and popped the question.

After the surprise engagement, the couple started planning for their big day on September 2017. They didn’t hire a wedding planner, but did use a day-of coordinator. Family and friends played a huge role in assisting the couple with wedding event preparations.

With Ishan and Niketa both living in Atlanta, they chose to keep their search in the city. In the end, they chose the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North, which is known for hosting South Asian weddings.

haldi, mehndi, and grahshanti events of Niketa and Ishan

Ishan and Niketa’s wedding was steeped in Hindu traditions like the haldi, mehndi, and grahshanti events held prior to the wedding at their homes. The families organized the sangeet at Westin complete with performances from friends and family. The decoration, backdrop and candle rangoli in the venue was done by Myar Décor.

The grand ballroom of Westin came alive for the wedding with candles and fresh flowers in tall vases. “I wanted the mandap to match the bridal party attire and hence chose white and pink with drapery and fresh flowers.

Chiavari chairs were spread with small pouches of dry fruits for the 330 guests,” said Niketa.

The groom arrived on horseback for the baraat, as the DJ played top 40 Bollywood songs. The bride made a royal entry to a song from Bollywood blockbuster Jodha Akbar.

For the reception, the ballroom resembled a colorful garden with flowers, bouquets, of red and pink roses and green and white hydrangeas. There was a flower wall backdrop with candles and a small couch with flower vases on each side. The guests’ tables had floating candles and flowers — all this with Indian and American music playing in the background. The newlyweds were on cloud nine and danced to “Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai.”

Ishan and Niketa advise couples to enjoy every minute of the big day as it really does fly by!

Vendors

BANQUET HALLS
The Westin Atlanta Perimeter North
770-395-3933

BEAUTICIANS/COSMETICIAN
Gunn Glamour
678-558-7637

Noorface
678-472-5292

CATERING
Cafe Bombay
404-320-0229

DECORATOR/FLOWERS
Myar Decor
404-268-7342

DISC JOCKEY
XtraHot DJs
404-425-2130

EVENT PLANNER
Anokhi Events
706-473-2734

MEHNDI
Henna By Pria
727-459-6448

HORSE AND CARRIAGE
Nottingham Shire and
Carriage for Hire
678-621-3414

MEHNDI
Beauty You Deserve
404-663-5344

PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER
FengLong Photography
404-955-8311

PRIEST
Sandeep Patel

Katherine and Sameer

Photographer:
Castaldo Studios LLC

Doctors Katherine Bautista, 34, and Sameer Draviam, 34, tied the knot on November 4 in Orlando, Florida. The couple dated for two years, before getting engaged and getting hitched this fall.

Katherine, an OBGYN Resident Physician met Sameer, an Emergency Medicine Physician (EMR) while working at the Osceola Regional Medical Center. Katherine is from Colorado Springs, while Sameer is from Cleveland, Ohio. From the very first instance when they met at the hospital, Katherine and Sameer connected.

It was on Katherine’s birthday on the Big Island, Hawaii, that Sameer popped the question. The duo went on a week’s holiday after attending Sameer’s friend’s wedding in California. It was a surprise trip planned as Katherine loved adventure. They hiked volcanoes and enjoyed scuba diving.

Katherine was not expecting a proposal, but rather was looking forward to a sunrise hike. However, when Sameer found a secluded waterfall while hiking, he went down on his knees and proposed. “I was very nervous and slipped on a wet rock, hurt my knee, but didn’t drop the ring,” he said. The duo celebrated their engagement with a private oceanfront dining at the Four Seasons that evening.

The couple hired a wedding planner — Casie Caldwell from Sparkleigh Productions. The couple also attended the My Shadi Bridal Expo in Orlando, where Katherine and Sameer had no doubts that the Hilton Orlando Resort would be the perfect venue for their wedding. Their guest list included 280 people.

The sangeet or mehndi was organized at the Winter Park Community Center. The décor was traditional Indian, while the mood was set by the DJ with foot-tapping numbers.

The couple had a church wedding followed by a reception. The church wedding was held in the First Congregational Church of Winter Park, Florida. Decor at the church included flower arrangements on the altar and front, a white runner, tall candelabras with bright colored sashes tied on both sides. “We left the ceremony in a horse drawn carriage with ‘Just Married’ written across,” said Katherine.

The baarat arrived after the Christian wedding ceremony dancing to Bollywood, Bhangra, and desi numbers as a dhol player played on. Sameer sat on a white horse that was visibly restless, while the bridal party arrived in a black Hummer limo. Three cabana tents were erected at the Hilton; one was transformed into a hookah lounge with live flamenco and a guitarist.

The outdoors, sunset with candelabras, crystal chandeliers, and flowers were perfect for the cocktail and reception. Bollywood, Bhangra, Hip Hop, EDM, Reggae, Reggaeton, and dancehall music played.

Katherine advises couples to spend more on decorations rather than the venue. One incident she laughs about is how Sameer’s brother forgot the mangalsutra in the hotel before the ceremony, but luckily his mom was able to find it on time!

Vendors

BANQUET HALLS
First Congregational Church
407-647-2416

Hilton Orlando
407-313-8458

BEAUTICIANS
Michele Renee Hair &
Makeup Artist Group
813-531-7770

CAKE
Party Flavors Custom Cakes
407-578-2082

CATERING
Tabla Bar and Grill
407-248-9400

DECORATOR/FLOWERS
Prizm Event Design
407-921-1804

DISC JOCKEY
Encore Event DJs
478-231-6282

HORSE – CARRIAGE
Orlando Horse & Carriage
321-278-8007

MEHNDI
Henna By Pria
727-459-6448

PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHY
Castaldo Studios LLC
407-347-8926

PRIEST/OFFICIANT
Rev. Shawn Garvey

WEDDING PLANNER
Sparkleigh Productions
321-431-6990

Riya Sen Weds Longtime Beau Shvam Tiwari


Riya Sen Weds Longtime Beau Shvam Tiwari


	Gone are the days when celebs shied away from marriage or kept them under wraps. The latest to join the bandwagon is Bollywood actress Riya Sen, daughter of extremely talented actress MoonMoon Sen and younger sister of actress Raima Sen. News that Riya Sen agreed to marry her longtime beau Shivam Tiwari has gained momentum recently. However, her sudden and closed affair wedding on August 16 in Pune with just family and close friends as attendees took everyone by surprise. The wedding was earlier supposed to take place at the end of August. Rumor has it that the 36-year-old actress’ pregnancy is the reason behind the hush-hush marriage though there has been no official confirmation about the same. Riya has dated actors John Abraham and Ashmit Patel in the past. Nothing much is known about her now husband Shivam Tiwari
apart from the fact that he loves photography, judging by his Instagram account. The couple recently enjoyed a vacation in Slovakia during which they shared oodles of photographs of the trip. Pictures of the low key Bengali wedding have been released with the promise of a lavish reception party to be held in Mumbai. Judging by the pictures, Riya looked drop dead gorgeous as a Bengali bride in a red outfit while Shivam was seen adorning the traditional headgear of a mukut and topor, staples of any Bengali wedding. There was also a picture of Riya covering her face with paan leaves and carried by her brothers and male friends for the ‘shubho drishti’ ceremony. Pictures of the pre-wedding bash thrown by sister, Raima Sen were also shared. Riya Sen currently appears in Ekta Kapoor’s web series Ragini MMS 2.2. Her last appearance was in the the web short film, Lonely Girl. Earlier, she appeared in movies that include Style, Jhankaar Beats, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar and Tere Mere Phere. She even did a Tamil movie, Taj Mahal as well as dozens of Bengali films. From our side, we wish the newlyweds a happy married life.

Neha and Tejas

Photographer:
Sona Photography

Tejas Patel, 33, and Neha Patel, 34 dated for two years before tying the knot in March 2017. Tejas, a computer engineer, and Neha, a clinical pharmacist, met via Shadi.com in 2015.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two met and continued to meet every month. It wasn’t long before the couple realized they were in love. Neha’s family lives in London and were bowled over by Tejas’ well-mannered and polite nature.

Beginning the summer of 2016, the two began discussing plans to get married. On one occasion, when they met Neha had her nails perfectly manicured, in case Tejas proposed. It turns out the elusive proposal didn’t happen until November.

“I was expecting a surprise engagement and ring, but the engineer in him wanted to pick out a ring that I would like,” said Neha. She added Tejas took several months to choose a ring based on her likes and dislikes.

Tejas finally popped the question to Neha after flying her parents out to his childhood home. He proposed on a bridge in a park as his sisters and brother-in-law took pictures.

Neha didn’t hire a wedding planner for their destination wedding. After reviewing several locations, she zeroed in on the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in Florida, for its nice beach and large and gorgeous ballroom.

The couple’s 350 guests enjoyed a “big fat Indian beach wedding.” The pre-wedding events consisted of a mehndi, vidhi, and joint welcome dinner. The mehndi was peacock-themed, in sync with Neha’s lehenga. For the wedding there was an open mandap, and the colors matched the saris of the bridesmaids, magenta and fuchsia, while the groomsmen wore matching dupattas.

The groom’s floral necklace included fuchsia, magenta and coral flowers. The wedding necklaces were red and white to match their outfits as well as the hanging Ganesha. Guests were welcomed by Ganesha and Radha-Krishna idols welcomed the guests. Floating candles and fuchsia petals adorned the raised aisle.

Since it was a short walk, Tejas walked down to the hotel along with the baarat. The music was an upbeat mix of Indian and Western hits.

The reception was beach-themed with coral and teal color accents to coordinate with Neha’s reception outfit. The matching wedding cake was an eggless orange cake with chocolate filling and coconut cream. Its topper, miniature forms of Tejas and Neha, was shipped from Hong Kong.

Neha’s tip to couples is to plan in advance, but beware that no wedding happens without any hiccups!

Wedding and Reception photographs of Neha and Tejas

Vendors

BANQUET HALLS
Hilton Daytona Beach
Oceanfront Resort
386-254-8200

CAKE
Treats & Sweets Cakery
386-383-8256

DÉCOR/FLORIST
Nikun Events
407-448-7128

DISC JOCKEY
Dudha Productions
727-418-8498

HAIR & MAKEUP
Alladin’s Magic
321-201-0518
Stunning Studios
407-692-2019

MEHNDI
Tejal Henna
407-415-7994

PHOTOGRAPHER
Sona Photography
407-694-6032

RESTAURANT/CATERING
Khasiyat Restaurant
407-888-2147

VIDEOGRAPHY
Riant Films
407-603-6955

Dishant and Sara

Photographer:
Jessica Williams Studio

Dishant Dalal and Sara Gromoll dated for seven years before tying the knot. Dalal, 26, an IT analyst, and Sara, 26, a nurse, met in 2009 in high school, completed graduation the same year and then began dating.

Five years into dating, Dishant, just a day before his birthday, proposed to his lady love, Sara, an event for which he planned over a month. He said the magical words to his sweetheart mid-air on a helicopter over Atlanta.

For Sara, the entire experience was a complete surprise, though her family knew about it. “He told me he had a surprise for me that day, but I did not know what it was until we got to the airport. Even then, I thought this was something he was doing for his own birthday,” said Sara.

Sara did not have an inkling of what was to come, until Dishant popped the question and showed her the ring on the chopper ride. With the vast Atlanta coastline below, the azure sky and clouds surrounding them, and the deafening noise of the helicopter, Dishant’s proposal to Sara is what dreams are made of.

Sara could not hear a word of what Dishant told her, but he had written the entire proposal on his iPad. Even crazier still was that she had never flown before!

Indian and Western wedding of Dishant Dalal and Sara Gromoll

Dishant and Sara had an Indian and Western wedding at the Foxhall Resort in Douglasville, Georgia. The couple are from nearby Stockbridge, Georgia, so it was convenient for them to choose a wedding venue closer home.

Sara and Dishant fell in love with Foxhall as soon as they saw the resort. The resort houses two big halls that were perfect for all both wedding ceremonies and reception.

They hired a wedding planner so that the wedding and reception would be smooth and their families would enjoy without worrying about the arrangements.

For the Hindu wedding the bride and groom wore red and white floral necklaces. Indian music and pop songs played during the wedding ceremony. There were 130 guests in all who were introduced by the DJ.

The bride’s bouquet featured hydrangeas, tulips, roses and ranunculus. The mandap decoration included floral spray arrangements with hydrangeas, tulips, snapdragons and delphiniums.