Hi lovelies! I am so excited to share the beautiful wedding of my friends’ Prachi and Gaurav held at Umed Bhavan Palace, Kota. It’s always such a pleasure to feature weddings of people I have known personally for many years. I was bowled over by their wedding festivities and insisted that they share photos of their big fat Indian wedding with our lovely readers at MWP.
I got to know Prachi through a common friend while studying in Manchester, and soon we became the best of friends. At the time, Prachi and Gaurav were in a long distance relationship as Prachi was in the UK and Gaurav was studying in New Zealand. Soon after getting back from the UK, they decided to get married. Kota was an obvious choice as that is Gaurav’s hometown. The wedding was a lavish three day affair at Umed Bhavan Palace with guests coming from Delhi, New Zealand and Mumbai. Prachi is a great planner and an organised bride, and this reflected in all her wedding functions. Everything was so well thought out and there was a lot of attention to detail. But more than the planning, the details, and the meetings over cocktails, what I loved more than anything else was being a firsthand witness to the union of two exceptionally charismatic people who were so utterly in love. The way they would laugh and whisper to each other throughout their wedding weekend…. their thoughts, their vibes, and their movements were just so in sync. I remember thinking to myself that this is that wonderful kind of alchemy that occurs only when you get married to your very best friend. So many good things are in store for them 🙂
FROM THE BRIDE:
Prachi please share your romantic love story with all of us at MWP. How did you know Gaurav was your soulmate?!
I met Gaurav during the second semester of our university in Pune. Our love story is a bit filmy…one fine day walking on the road with my friend I noticed two guys walking in the opposite direction and like every girl would do I glanced at them, maybe I glanced at Gaurav a bit longer… and then looked away. After a second that I looked away I heard a loud voice saying “HE IS THE ONE”!!! I looked around to see who said that and to my surprise there was no one there… Since that day I took it as a sign and started making efforts to get to know him. I guess that voice belonged to my guiding angel or god or just was a deed of faith, I don’t know, but whatever it was I believed in it… and since that day forth I only worked to get the guy god has chosen into my life…
I still remember all my friends used to tell me I was crazyyyy about him. There would not be a single moment in my day which was not about him. I was very sure about him and with time we build our relationship and finally made it to our wedding day.
That is the sweetest thing! Tell us about your much awaited wedding…
We had five functions including the main wedding. A combined Cocktail and Sangeet function; Mehendi ; Haldi and finally the Wedding. I belong to a Rajput family and therefore we wanted to go for a Royal Rajput wedding theme.
We picked a venue which could create that royal atmosphere for us. I sat down with my decorator many times to discuss the décor, how the lighting had to be, how the sitting had to be etc. I wanted a royal theme with a modern touch and so we decided to put up a huge canopy and rest the décor was planned and setup with rich colours and dim lighting so the natural look of the venue was not lost.
The wedding was gorgeous indeed! How did you decide on your dream wedding lehenga ? Did you research the net? Did you work with a designer?
Actually no, I didn’t have a dream lengha in mind; I was just specific that I did not want my lengha to be red in colour. Anarkali was the first store I went to and Shivani, the owner was fabulous in helping me out with my lengha and giving me the most unique outfit I could have ever dreamt of. I wanted two duppatas with my lengha which she designed for me herself. The one I wore on my wedding day was amongst my five shortlisted lengha and I picked it up in just a day!
Reminiscing, was there a moment that you remember from your wedding that stands out as the most wonderful and cherished moment of the day?
When my brothers walked me through the venue and I looked around and saw all my family members looking at me with loved filled eyes… the look and feel each and every one had on their face, I can’t forget and I will cherish those memories for life!
Did you and your husband have a special song that you danced to as your first dance? Why did you choose that particular song?
Well the first every song me and Gaurav danced to as a couple was “Favicol se” for my sister’s sangeet and since that day we are known as the “superglue couple” in our house. So our first dance was actually on this song!
About your vendors…do you have any recommendations?
One of my friend, Siddhant who stays in Udaipur suggested PDS for my wedding photography. I went through their work and really liked his shots and also he was within the budget I had decided for photography. We hired PDS Photographers from Udaipur. He did a great job. He captured each and every personal moment nicely.
I was very particular about my look. I met several beauticians before deciding on Rekha , the owner of Shubham parlour in Kota. I wanted the best and I indeed got the best. She was awesome. Just by looking at my outfit and my personality she picked up my makeup style and did a marvellous job. For hair, I had already decided my look and just told them to do as I want and they did a great job.
But my true heroes were my brother in law Saurabh who ran all around with me settling each detail, my mother for convincing my father for the expenses (wink! wink!) and my best friend Zain for just listening to me and reducing my stress and helping me plan better. I still remember he suggested some changes for the wedding venue décor which really made it look nice.
Is there anything you would have done differently? What is your advice to future brides?
Wedding takes time to plan, so plan each and every detail, enjoy each and every day and have your best friend and trusted family members on your wedding planning team as you can’t do every job on your own.I didn’t have time to have a private party with only my friends, so I wished I could have just done a small intimate hangout party for just my close and best friends.
A big warm thank you to Prachi and Gaurav for sharing their wedding on my insistence and also to PDS Clicks for capturing these sweet-as-can-be photos of their lovely day ♥
Happy Sunday guys! Enjoy!!
VENDORS:
VENUE: UMED BHAWAN PALACE, KOTA
PHOTOGRAPHY: PDS CLICKS, UDAIPUR
MEHENDI: RANJEET MEHENDI
MAKE UP AND HAIR: SHUBHAM BEAUTY PARLOUR
DECORATORS: BAJRANG TENT HOUSE