I had spent most of my weekends browsing through profiles of prospective grooms online for the last one year. With the year-end as deadline, I was beginning to wonder why I had not met someone all these years! Finally I found Vinay’s profile and instinctively wanted to read more. He was an investment banker based in New York (I thought, I can pursue my film course in New York if things do work out!) and wanted an independent, working woman (which I was!). A few chatroom sessions and parental consent later, we got busy planning our big day.
We had six months after a formal engagement ceremony and wedding planning was a headache at best. Vinay returned to New York and I had to deal with venue, caterers, priests and décor. I had a number of cousins and friends to help but I was left with very little time to focus on the “fun” parts of the wedding such as designing my invite, planning for a bachlorette party etc. Not to forget the number of fights over the telephone between Vinay and I while choosing venues and décor.
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With so much to do and so little time, hiring a wedding planner was a logical thing to do. And how it helped! After the planner stepped in, it was relatively painless and I enjoyed every aspect of suggesting ideas and helping to plan my wedding while I concentrated on the “fun” parts.
It was fun to shop for my wedding trousseau without nagging thoughts of calls to vendors and short listing invites. I bought a bright red saree for my wedding and a turquoise lehenga for my reception. I can recollect the surreal feeling while I waited for my make up lady to arrive and begin dressing me up for my wedding. I could not believe that the day had finally arrived. Vinay arrived two days ahead of the wedding, with a big bunch of roses in hand to thank me for all the effort I had put in to make our special day so memorable.
We had chosen the Mariott for our wedding and reception; it was decorated very well with lots of flowers and warm lights. As the priest began to recite the hymns, Vinay and I looked at each other and smiled. Although everyone told me that the day would whiz by, I would pick that moment when we smiled at each other to remember forever. The reception was a grand affair too. While the DJ played some great background music, all our guests sat down to enjoy a lovely three course Indian meal. Today we are happily married with a lifetime of wonderful memories and I am pursuing my film making course in New York!
