We’re super excited to share a gorgeous wedding all the way from Queens, NY. Anand and Samantha spared no expense on their magnificent celebration and no words can describe the grandeur and pomp that marked the day. We will leave you with their story and the superb photos documented so brilliantly by the talented team at NYNJ Photography.
We met…. At a temple in Queens NY in 2005. I had heard Anand playing the tabla and thought he was amazing. As a lovers of music, we both introduced ourselves and exchanged phone numbers. We remained friends for years and would occasionally catch up in the temple or during concerts. It wasn’t until 2007 when we began speaking to each other more often that led us to fall in love with each other. Despite being so young back in 2007, we both knew that we would be each other’s life partners.
Our proposal… took place in San Francisco, California by the Golden Gate Bridge. Anand and I planned a couple’s getaway with our friends to visit our friends living near San Francisco. I never expected an official proposal because our families had already met and planned our engagement following the traditional Indian custom. On a sightseeing trip to the Golden Gate Bridge, all the couples took turns taking pictures, but when Anand and I went to take a picture together, he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring… it’s a day I could relive all over again.
Our wedding theme/colors… We wanted a royal theme for our wedding so we chose gold as the central theme with other royal colors to accompany it. For our Indian wedding, orange was chosen as the shared color to connect the Groom’s side with the Bride’s side. The bride’s side wore neon green with orange while the groom side wore royal blue with orange.
For Sangeet/Mehendi…. We wore royal blue and pink. We had colorful décor, rangoli centerpieces on the tables, as well as a bangle display. Our guest wore colorful outfits to blend in. Because of our musical passion, our stage décor included two sitars and a special glass tabla which was lit by LED lights.
Her outfits… I wore 2 different outfits for the Indian wedding. The first one was a pink lehenga with heavy stone work and a trail. My second (main) outfit was a lehenga with orange and yellow embroidery with stone work. Both outfits were from Frontier Raas, New Delhi.
His Outfit… Anand’s Indian wedding outfit was designed by himself and custom made in New Delhi. His sherwani was yellow with stone work edges and orange in the pleating to match my outfit.He also wore a crown on his head as it’s a tradition of west Indian groom’s to wear crowns on their heads on the wedding day instead of the turbans we see worn today.
Our ceremony… our events started on the Wednesday with Sangeet&Mehendi, which was held at Fairfield Pavillion in Queens, NY. Since music was a big part of our life, we organized a grand concert featuring our close musician and dancer friends.The haldi ceremony was performed on the Thursday at both the bride’s and groom’s residence and the wedding took place on the Saturday at Garden Falls in Monroe Township, NY followed by the reception on Sunday at Elite Palace in Queens, NY.
We chose our photographer and videographer because… their quality of work was simply incredible and with affordable price. We had looked through their portfolio and their work was flawless. Personality had a lot to do with it as well – it’s important you have a great relationship with whoever is documenting your wedding because there is no redo.
We chose our venue because… Finding a venue to host our Indian wedding was difficult as our guest list easily climbed to over 1000 people and we were fixated on having a waterfront wedding. Finding a venue in NYC with these requirements was hard to do so we broadened our search to Jersey. It was Anand’s aunt that found Garden Falls in New Jersey. From the moment we arrived there, we fell in love with the venue. It was exactly what we pictured for our wedding day, an outdoor wedding, by the water. We chose Elite Palace for our reception because the name perfectly describes the venue. The high ceilings with gold work definitely fit the ‘royal’ look we were going for. A bonus was that the stage could come forward and rise in the air!! We were able to make our grand entrance!
Our favourite part of the wedding day… When I made my entrance to the mandap and saw Anand for the first time I started crying. And he also started crying at the first sight of me while I was walking towards him. We always joked that if he didn’t cry when he saw me on the wedding day I would turn around and walk back. But we never imagined the emotions we would have felt that day. It is something I will remember forever.
Our favourite part of the wedding day… When I made my entrance to the mandap and saw Anand for the first time I started crying. And he also started crying at the first sight of me while I was walking towards him. We always joked that if he didn’t cry when he saw me on the wedding day I would turn around and walk back. But we never imagined the emotions we would have felt that day. It is something I will remember forever.
Our advice for brides and grooms…
Wedding planning is just as exciting and nerve wrecking as can be. There’s so much to do but the key is to enjoy it all and not let anyone or anything bother you. Make sure to document the time spent with family and friends in preparation because these memories will last forever. Time is your biggest enemy. Checklists and spreadsheets make life easier when monitoring your budget and keeping track of things.
Additional Info
DJ: Team Magnum DJ’s : DJ Rah Rah (also MC’d) and DJ SpeedE
Decor: Sajawat located in Iselin NY
Caterer: West Indian Food: Kaieteur Express, Richmond Hill, Queens, NY
Indian Food: Chowpatty Restaurant, Iselin, NJ
Makeup artists: Indian Wedding :Natasha Reception: Kim K Sharma
Photography and Videography: NYNJ Photography
Watch Anand and Samantha’s wedding video below…
Dipa M
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Beautiful wedding.
It was a lovely Wedding. I enjoy watching every scene of it.Beautiful Pictures.A lovely couple and i wish them Krishin Bhagwan Blessing,To have peace and love their entire life.
This is sooooo oo awsome I enjoy the video