When Everything Fell Into Place
Tell us about your love story
We had seen each other around our Hofstra college campus many years ago but never really spoke to one another. I graduated and he had moved away to complete his education out of state. The years that followed were interesting because we had a lot of mutual friends and some of his family members had also attended our college as well. There were various events that we were both invited to and that’s when we started looking at each other differently. We went on a few dates over the course of a few years but nothing really came of it until late 2010 when he reached out and invited me to his sister’s karaoke birthday dinner. It was a casual event so I felt comfortable since I knew some of his cousins that would be there. Little did I know…that evening would start a relationship that led to our engagement 7 years later. Our journey to his proposal was not easy. There were many bumps in the road around customs, religious differences and how we could keep our families happy and make this work for us. There were many sleepless nights and heartache, but in the end Feyad knew he loved me and realized that things would fall into place once he officially made the commitment. Our engagement was an extremely joyful and emotional moment for our families. Many tears of happiness were flowing for us as everyone saw how long we had been together and how much we loved and cared for one another. We were on cloud9 and so excited that we were going to start our wedding planning which we almost thought would never happen. After Feyad proposed he said he knew he always wanted to be with me all those years ago when he saw me walking to class on campus…but never thought in a million years we would end up as husband and wife. My grandma always says “just pray and everything will fall into place”…and it absolutely did.
What was your and your partner’s vision for your big day?
We wanted our week of celebrations to be genuine and memorable. We had been together for so long and wanted to have an experience that represented our excitement and happiness for getting to this stage in life together. We had all these detailed ideas we both wanted but overall we just hoped everyone would have lots of fun with good music, tasty food, lots of laughs and happy moments together. We wanted our wedding week to be nonstop fun no matter what; rain or shine we’d make sure everything’s fine.
How did you decide on your venue? Tell us about the vision you had for your wedding - theme, overall feel, food, décor etc.
It was difficult deciding on venues because we had to consider certain restrictions, locations, capacity as well as certain elements that were must-haves for us like fireworks, waterfront views etc. We wanted our events to really represent our styles. We both wanted a fresh, modern look with accents of our culture.
Our Sangeet celebration had a vibrant caribbean theme with bright colors of hot pinks, oranges, greens, yellows and golds. We had colorful fruits as a part of the décor and the food was a fun mix of west and east Indian cuisine..achari chicken, goat curry, pakora, etc but then we also had Caribbean elements like spicy beef patties, garlic pineapple chicken fried rice, spicy/sweet meatballs, jerk chicken etc as well as other live stations. We had a lot of interactive elements as well; a liquid nitrogen ice cream station, a live Caribbean band, performances throughout the night from family and friends as well as henna stations and our deejay crew playing a mix of Indian and west Indian mixes while everyone was on the dance floor. The vibe and theme was relaxed, colorful, musical, fun and full of entertainment.
Our Reception was themed around greens, reds, sharp purples and whites with a warm upscale, glittery, modern NYC summer vibe. We had a live red carpet photoshoot entrance and arrangements all around the venue that included purple hybrid delphiniums, white snapdragons, larkspurs, bear grass, orchids etc and green foliage everywhere. There were also candles flickering throughout the ballroom. We wanted everyone to enjoy the cocktail reception so we had it open for almost 2 hours with a huge spread of live stations which included things like lamb chops, coconut shrimp, samosas cocktail style etc and a sushi bar as well as Italian, mediterranean, chinese, kabob and chaat stations. Dinner was served so that everyone could enjoy the live saxophone player while they stayed in their seats followed by two elaborate vendor dessert spreads. A big part of our reception was the element of fire. We had it both in the venue during our first dance and also surprised everyone outside with a fully coordinated fireworks show. There was a lot of deejay song coordination, dancing and lots of little details throughout the evening that kept everyone going.
What was your bridal look vision? And how did it all turn out the day of?
The vision I had for my sangeet look was fun, bright, colorful and modern with clean lines. I had a very specific outline/detailed sketch of what I wanted and I could not believe how perfect it came out. It was even better than I had anticipated. The day of I received so many compliments from everyone saying how unique the look was and how stunning it all came together. It was literally exactly what I asked for and beyond.
The vision I had for my reception look was a beautiful distinguished luxe gown that was lightweight with Indian flare; embroidery/beadwork. I also wanted to make sure it had some subtle sparkle to match the warm and glittery theme of the evening. I wanted to feel like a princess and I definitely did. The day of, I put it on and immediately felt like it was the last puzzle piece I needed for our final night of celebrating our week of events. The dress captured all the elements I was looking for to compliment the theme of the evening.
Tell us about the experience of finding your dream dress at Khajana Boutique?
My experience working with Khajana Boutique in making my dream outfits was a dream in itself. I was so specific about what I wanted; I even came in with a hand drawn sketch book with pictures…They were so patient and actually took a lot of time working with me, talking on the phone, exchanging text messages over the weeks before they even started working on my outfits. They made so much effort to absorb and understand exactly what I was looking for…even down to the custom color combo of the bead style on each outfit. The looks were extremely detailed/complicated and had specific unique lines and cuts that required intricate workmanship. Luckily, they already have such a modern and unique mindset so that helped when explaining the different details and flow I wanted for each look. I also must praise them on how quickly they worked to get these outfits fitted just right so that it would sculpt my body perfectly. Khajana Boutique was extremely friendly, thoughtfully creative and more helpful and hands-on than any other place I had been to. They kept giving my updates on production, sent pictures updating me on how things were going and were always in communication. That piece of mind was extremely valuable in this process and not having to worry about this was very important to me. I could not have imagined working with anyone else. They made my vision a reality and were an absolute pleasure to work with. I would recommend them to anyone for any look; traditional, modern or anything inm between because they actually listen and know exactly how to enhance your ideas to make your vision even better than you would expect.
Deejay Team: @nyeventproductions @djspeede @djrahrahh
Videojournalist: @skycinemafilms
Photojournalist: @ronsoliman
Reception Hair: @senadakxo
Reception Makeup: @makeupbyjaysaunz
Sangeet Hair & Makeup: @beautybytamanna
Lighting: @ceelightingvideo
Sangeet Venue: @leonardspalazzo555
Reception Venue: @greentreecountryclub
Saxophone Player: @niknaymushin
Band: @therapiband
Food: @tandoorny
Nitrogen Dessert station: @321chillz
Henna: @hennaforallny
Day of Coordinator: @xquisiteventplanners
Decor: @pedestalsfloraldecorators
Decor: @houseofdipali
Professional Dance Team: @exodusartistry
Musicians: @shreesubashseepersaud @purnashmusic @adriansugrimmusic
