Our wedding took place on 1st July 2018. I remember it as though it was yesterday. We chose to get married on the terrace on top of the Oceana restaurant. It was newly built & has the most epic view of the ocean. It also gave us that private feel we wanted for the day. In this post, I'll talk you through the ins & outs of the day.
The look.
I knew I wanted to look back on photos & videos of the wedding & still feel like myself, 10, 20, even 30 years down the line. That's why I knew I wanted to just do my usual makeup on the day. I actually have a video on how I did my wedding base routine during the events & also my wedding day makeup video over on my YouTube channel with is a run-through of the entire routine & look I opted for. My hair was done by my gorgeous friend, Nicky, who created the most timeless updo.
My jewellery was from Red Dot Jewels & my shoes were from Manolo Blahnik - nude & sparkly. My dream wedding shoes, I couldn't have designed them better myself. I keep saying to Vex that I'm going to frame them because I never want to ruin them & wear them again. It's on my never-ending to-do list, haha!
Getting ready.
I didn't want any fuss on the day of the wedding. I knew I wanted to do my own makeup for all the events because I know my face & can glam up in less than 1 hour. My wedding makeup actually only took me around 30 minutes to do. I knew I wouldn't be able to sit for 3 hours in glam, so doing it myself was one of the best decisions I ever made! I didn't fully plan any of the looks & instead just went with the flow on the day. My best friend & I got ready together in my suite (Vex was given another suite for the night so he got ready on the other side of the resort) & it was the best, chilled out getting ready session I could have ever asked for. She helped me with my jewellery & final touches & before I knew it, it was time to head to the mandap.
Shop my look.
The theme.
Indian weddings are so colourful. We didn't want our decor to overpower the beautiful clothes everyone was wearing. So we went for a very white & minimal theme. White & cream florals with a hint of pink to break things up were perfection, with the beautiful background of the ocean behind it. To add to the minimal look, we decided to go for an acrylic mandap, something different that we hadn't seen before & matched acrylic chairs. Ah, just thinking about it makes me so happy!
Although it rained the night before (rain being a sign of good luck) it happened to be gorgeous weather on the day. I was told if we got a phone call at 6am in the morning, the entire set up would have had to be moved indoors to the ballroom. But thankfully all the skies had cleared up. Before getting to the seating area of the wedding, we had set up fresh coconut water, ice slushies, cold refreshments & fruits for all our loved ones. Not only that but we also packed cooling mists for every single person so they could keep cool in the Mexican heat.
Scenting was really important to use throughout our events. Scent always takes me back to memories our wedding was going to always be an amazing memory to remember. Every event had a different 'smell' to it which was scented by Jo Malone. The two that meant the most to us was, of course, our Wedding & our Reception. For the wedding day, we used Jo Malone's Wood Sage & Sea Salt for not only scenting the event but also layered the body wash, moisturiser & cologne on ourselves. Even to this day, I wear it every wedding anniversary as well as date nights.
If anyone knows me they know I can get FOMO & when the groom's side arrived to the wedding, I missed it all. Traditionally the bride comes in when the priest calls her into the mandap. But luckily I got to watch it back in the wedding video. Here my side of the family met the groom's side & my mum welcomed him into the mandap. A small ceremony was done just before we walked down the aisle up to the altar ready to almost meet me! My husband wore a custom Ekta Solanki sherwani which is beyond stunning! We made sure our colours complimented each other without it looking too matchy-matchy. We went to our meetings with Ekta together, but she planned it effortlessly so that we didn't see each other's outfits until the antarpat went down during the wedding ceremony itself. Ekta even created a beautiful cover for the coconut Vex held that complement our clothes.
It was sad to think that my Dad wasn't physically there at the wedding, but I know his energies were with us throughout. My mum was so strong during all the events and showed other widows & single mums how things can totally be done in a modern age (with the push of me). There were many times she came out with "what will people think?", "imagine what others will say about me doing that" - but after many conversations with her, she took the lead & it made me so proud & happy!
A small ceremony is done before I arrive which my mum performed with the help of our lovely priest. Everything was explained so beautifully in English. We were so lucky we were able to do a small 20-minute wedding rehearsal the day before with all the people involved in the physical aspect of the ceremony. I would highly recommend doing this, just so you have a rough idea on how things will pan out & of course what to expect.
The pastel wedding lengha of dreams.
When I walked up to the wedding ceremony & down the aisle, all I could think about was my husband! What he was thinking, feeling & just to see his face. I was worth the wait, that's for sure! For the wedding, I wore another custom made Ekta Solanki bridal lengha - my pastel lengha of dreams! We started planning all my outfits back in 2016, the summer we got engaged. I knew I didn't want to wear red as it's not a colour I've ever been drawn to. Because we knew we were getting married abroad & that on or near a beach, I wanted something different, light & pastel. We went back & forth until we got a beautiful off white baby pink, lilac, corals & hints of lime green. I knew I wanted 'gota patti' embroidery, as it's something I've always been drawn to. Ekta & her team spend 100s of hours on creating such a beautiful outfit. Now that it's been 2 years, I'm ready to upcycle it so I can wear it again & again.
Our beautiful 'antarpat' (the cloth separating each other, in front of Vex), was hand-painted and made by Ekta Solanki.
It was such a beautiful touch to the ceremony.
I walked down the aisle to Armaan Malik's Tere Bin Nahi Lagda, under my fiesta outfit's dupatta with my brother, mamas (uncles) & brother-in-law my side. I also held my husband's flower garland ready - this was made by Maari Floral that we brought with us all the way from home. We didn't want fresh flowers for this as they would wilt in the heat. It was the best feeling ever to see Vex waiting for me at the alter - I couldn't wait to give him a big fat hug! I remember it as though it was just yesterday we got married.
After exchanging garlands, by mum performed the 'Kanyadaan' alone. I say the word 'alone' because this is traditionally done by a couple, the bride's mum & dad. But because my dad passed away back in 2008, my mum was adamant for my brother & sister-in-law to take over this part of the ceremony. I was told many years ago at another wedding the importance & value of this 'Kanyadaan' ceremony & wanted to make sure my mum did this. After all, she had every right to do so. I'm so thankful, grateful & glad that we were able to switch up traditions to suit our thoughts & visions.
We didn't want our guests to sit outside in the heat for too long. We've both been to weddings in the past where ceremonies have gone on for almost 2 hours. We had lots of Skype meetings & video calls without lovely priest & made sure the ceremony wouldn't be too long for guests to sit in the heat & he was so accomodating. He gave us full faith in him - he told us he will perform a beautifully spiritual ceremony, with all the important parts without making it too long. We were symbolically married within 45 minutes.
The 7 steps.
2 steps + mangal sutra
Once the ceremony was over, it was time to do our wedding photographs which were called out by my best friend who knew pretty much everyone there - this was so important to us. This was things also happened in a timely manor. It was during this time my mum shed some tears, as I am her only daughter & last child to get married. I was sad to see her like that but luckily I knew I wouldn't be too far from her & can still help look after her even after being married 🙂
My mum's lengha was also made by Ekta Solanki. All her outfits for all our events were made in complimenting colours to mine 🙂 This was such a beautiful touch and I loved that I could carry on being her 'mini-me' throughout the wedding. For the wedding, she had a 'jaan' (groom's party) hand-painted onto the dupatta! It was such a nice traditional touch to her outfit.
The whole wedding event, in general, goes by so quickly & I wish I could have held onto the day for longer (but for now I always look back at photos & videos). I think we all forget that this is all formality to a certain extent and a wedding is so different from a marriage. Vex & I were super lucky to be able to have a wedding like this but the most important thing for us was to finally be married, live together & carry on our journeys of life together as partners.
The wedding dinner.
After all the wedding photos were taken our guests were taken to a private area for refreshments & snacks before heading over to the infinity pool area that was the setting for our wedding dinner. Again we kept the theme very simple with low floral arrangements, Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt candles & Jo Malone favours for every guest & fun activity packs for all the children.
This vision was totally down to Vex. He really wanted a sunset dinner with a beautiful view & that's exactly what we got. We planned this day so that everyone was able to see the sunset and enjoy a relaxed dinner. When it comes to Indian food, Taste of India supplied all the Indian food throughout our events. Even till this day so many people remember the gulab jamun - they tasted like cake!
When we walked into the event, we cut our wedding cake before sitting down (something that's usually done at a wedding reception, we wanted to switch up & do here). Which by the way, tasted incredible! For the rest of the dinner, we enjoyed the food without family & friends while listening to beautiful background music by DJ Envy once again. We didn't want to make this into a big party, but more of a chilled out vibe & that's exactly what we got - it was just perfect.
We couldn't have asked for a better wedding day. Beautiful energy, view, vibes, food & so much more. It's a day I wish I could do over & over again! I hope you enjoyed this super long post & photos. One thing I would totally say to anyone getting married who's reading this is to remember to have fun because it really does fly past.