The best part of the day for me was walking up to the groom, before anything even began, and the smile on his face when he looked at me for the first time in days, as his bride. It was finally our day, after all the planning, postponements due to lockdown, the changes due to floods and all the challenges we faced along the way. We finally got to have our moment together after all the rushing around and stress and for those few minutes, we looked into each other's eyes and knew, nothing else mattered but being together.
We visited London in Spring, got to see beautiful gardens and parks on the way to Buckingham Palace, saw some celebrities at Madame Tussauds and took in all the sights and sounds of the city. We enjoyed the markets, shopping around town and exploring the historic buildings, museums and castles. It was quite an adventure.
My look was South Indian Bridal, inspired by tradition and yet with a modern twist. As such, I wore a cream and red fully worked bridal sari from Shringar, which the groom instantly loved once he saw it draped on me. The blouse was sewn to exacting standards by Sangeeta Creations, who also provided jewellery which was specially selected to match, playing off the red and gold tones of the sari itself. In terms of hair, I chose a modern bridal bun with flowers and went for a full glam bridal look, playing with gold shadows and red lips.
Our wedding was at 20onBarham, a wedding venue in Westville, Durban. A hidden gem of a place that I stumbled upon and couldn't believe was so close to home and fairly convenient for all guests to attend without traveling out too far. We were also lucky in that the venue was not too badly affected by the KZN floods which occurred just a week ahead of our wedding, threatening to derail plans again. We had to change from an outdoor wedding to indoor setup for this reason but we all had a great time nonetheless and brought the outdoors in anyway.
Before the wedding, the groom and I embarked on a healthy eating plan and would go for a jog every evening. A week before the big day, we also booked teeth whitening treatments and for myself, dermaplaning facial with Laser-It studio. Additionally, my mum, sister and myself had our nails done once my sister had arrived in Durban from Cape Town and thereafter, I had henna applied to my hands and feet by a lovely lady, Henna by Lucel. Unfortunately, due to KZN floods, spa days I had planned to have the week of the wedding were not possible though I did get that in after the wedding.
Xclusive Events by Anesh provided a wonderful setup for us, exactly as I had requested. My vision was realised on the day and this, despite all plans and venue being changed just a few days before due to inclement weather forecasts and the impact of the prior week.
Flower arrangements and our garlands by Naidoos Florist enhanced the decor, adding colour and vibrance.
We chose to keep things fairly minimalist, using long wooden tables provided by the venue and gold chairs. A floral wedding madap took centre stage against the glass wall to showcase the beautiful natural backdrop with fairy lights being the only thing draped across the glass, which was magical when all lit up in the evening.
My mum provided a lot of elements herself as well, like the antique bench we sat on for the duration of the ceremony on stage, the cake stands and a few other accent pieces around the venue. My sister, her hubby and my brothers assisted as well with setup of little details at the venue on the day. All these personal touches made it extra special for us and I couldn't express my gratitude for having such an amazing family that pulled together to ensure everything worked out well in the end.
The groom wore a cream sherwani with gold and red accents and a gold turban, all in keeping with tradition and inspired by the bridal sari. We purchased this from Nissas, along with his pre-wedding outfit.
Guru Asogan Moodley conducted all rituals and guided us through all aspects of the traditional telegu ceremony.
Orobella captured our special day and we can't wait to see the images!
We acted as our own planners for the wedding, with assistance and some guidance from our parents and the priest, regarding the traditional elements and rituals to be performed.
Both bride and groom were chauffeured to the venue by Avis Chauffeur services.
The food was delicious, prepared well and set up by the Indian Delights team. Starting witg the Bombay Crush on arrival, which went down well. We ordered a varied menu for our guests including an assortment of starters, 5 different main dishes along with some cakes and a traditional wedding soji with cream and almonds. To add to this, we also had our family assist with table snacks and a sweetmeat display, and my mum arranged for beautiful and delicate macarons as favors, over an above the chocolates we had for each guest.
One of the challenges we faced was stationery.
Initially, we planned to get married in 2020 and all invites had gone out and it was 3 weeks to wedding when lockdown was announced. So when back at it with planning for the second time, we decided to simply design and send out e-vites and shared with all guests as it was to be a much smaller event anyway, and this was more efficient and convenient at the time as well.
For souvenirs, we designed stickers and ordered them online, about 2 months ahead but it was delayed by a month, then came through but was incorrect. It was too late to make a new request as we couldn't risk another delay. Luckily my cousin offered to assist in this department and came through the week of the wedding.
We had a dj play songs we had specially requested for all proceedings through the day and for the pre-wedding events. Disco Venom was so lovely to work with over the 3 days of wedding celebrations.
