Bride: Shoshi, 24

Groom: Rasha, 24

Matches aren’t made in heaven–they’re made through friends! Shoshi and Rasha first met in November 2004 at a mutual friend’s house. They became friends and started hanging out and staying up late nights talking on the phone, pretty frequently. On June 3rd, 2005, they finally went on a movie date. The next day, Rasha went down on one knee with a single red rose in his hand in the middle of a busy street and asked Shoshi to be his girlfriend.

Shoshi and Rasha have had a whirlwind romance and wedding celebration with events in Bangladesh and New York City! Check out their creative post-engagement photshoot (and the super adorable Louis Vuitton bag that Rasha got her for Valentine’s day!). Rasha’s brother, Romy Chowdhury, an amateur photographer, came up with the idea of a photoshoot in downtown Manhattan because trendy NYC areas such as Soho and Union Square deftly defines this cute and stylish couple. Beat this, Central Park!

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Bride-to-be: Farrah, 25

Groom-to-be: Ali, 27

They met on: July 3, 2006

Ali Proposed to Farah on: April 10, 2010

Wedding date (tentative): June 25, 2011

Farrah met Ali during her senior year of college. Although they had crossed paths multiple times during their overlap at UCLA, it was not until Ali met Farrah off-campus that sparks flew. The two struck up a conversation at her cousin’s wedding in 2006, where she asked him to dance! Ali was crashing that wedding since his older brother was the only one  invited, and the rest is history. He first noticed her when she sang “Amazed” by Lonestar, a country song she performed that evening. Read more

The Sari-Clad Bride team loves pretty things and we went ga-ga over all the gorgeous bridal ensembles we saw at Shyamal & Bhumika’s NYC showcase on Thursday, April 22nd. Shaadi Studio (a wedding planning studio for South Asian-Americans) teamed up with our friends over at CitySaheli for a “A Night of Glitz & Glam with Shyamal & Bhumika” last night where brides (and non-brides) in New York City had the chance to to preview Shyamal & Bhumika’s gorgeous 2010 bridal collection, sip on cocktails, munch on some yummy food (vegetable manchurian, anyone?),  get free makeovers from BridalGal and meet the designer up close and personal.

Colors, Colors, Colors!

BridalGal founder, Lilly Rivera giving a guest a pretty new makeover Read more

As much as The Sari-Clad bride loves to bring you fun and sometimes kitschy ideas for your wedding, sometimes we just have to get real with you guys. Silly rituals are a built-in feature in most weddings but we feel that the following traditions are definitely worth avoiding.

Discloser: At the same time, it is YOUR wedding, so if any of these traditions are near and dear you, all the more power to you!

Having a bridal shower AND bachelorette party. Pick one event and save your bridal party’s sanity and wallets.

Bridesmaid uniforms. We know the idea of all your bridesmaids wearing the same sari/lehenga/salwar kameez/gown is nice in theory—but it’s horrid for the girls themselves. Give them a color scheme or particular dress style instead—everyone will be much happier.

Matron/Maid of Honor. What if your best friend happens to be a guy? You can definitely have a ‘Best Man’ or skip the tradition all together and keep all of your besties on equal footing.

The bouquet toss. We’re convinced that these two were invented to make single people feel awful. Believe it or not, most of the single ladies at your wedding have no desire to get onto the dance floor while you shove your ‘Ha, I’m married and you’re not!’ memorabilia onto them.

Eating old cake. We think that the idea behind saving the top tier of your wedding cake for your one-year anniversary is sweet, but the thought of consuming it is icky. Have your baker make you a fresh version of the top layer of your wedding cake for your anniversary.

Skipping nooky before the wedding. Wedding-night sex will be special no matter what, because it will be the first time you’ll be together as husband and wife, so don’t starve yourselves beforehand! Unless your opting for an arranged marriage and have never been intimate together–in that case, good luck!

An immediate honeymoon. Don’t skimp on your travel plans because the wedding ate up your honeymoon budget. Take a few months or even a year to plan a full-scale honeymoon and go on a smaller getaway right after the wedding.

Niki:

Hello, I am writing you from Vancouver, Canada. I just recently got engaged to a man from France. We are planning a Hindu ceremony for this summer close to his hometown in the south of France. I am finding many obstacles in arranging a Hindu ceremony from so far away and in an area that does not have a large Indian population. The first hurdle that we have encountered is trying to find a Pundit (Hindu Priest) to perform the ceremony. So far, the only Pundit that we have found lives in Germany. Do you have any ideas? Thank you for your time and any assistance you can give!

Dear Niki,

First of all, Congratulations!! The Sari-Clad Bride is always excited to hear about new couples tying the knot! Thank you for contacting us and we would definitely like to help you jump over those hurdles of planning a wedding from so far away. We do have some ideas that may help you. First of all, we would like to inform you about the Hindu temple in Paris listed below:

This is one of the larger temples in Paris. Please contact the temple for their Pundit availability. I am sure it will be cheaper for them to travel within France rather than bringing someone from outside the country.

Since the distance and expenses are usually the big issues with planning a destination wedding, the Sari-Clad Bride also suggests you contact local wedding planners in France to help you with finding a pundit as well as other necessities locally. Remember, a planner provides all types of service and you can pick and choose what you need – you don’t have to spend a lot of money on having a planner plan your whole wedding but he/she can help you with planning certain aspects of the wedding. Some planners we recommend are:

Additionally, if you need to fly someone in and flights are cheaper from England to France than from Germany, below is the information of a great priest from UK who does travel for weddings depending on availibility:

Keep checking us out as we will soon bring you vendor spotlights on some of these contacts that may help you make a wiser choice!

Hey readers! First of all, thank you all so much for keeping up with our blog! We love and appreciate you all! We encourage you to ask us anything related to weddings. While it may take us a while to get back to you because of current workload or just to find the right answers, we promise to try our best to get back to you as soon as we can! We deeply apologize if it causes any inconvenience to you So please bear with us! We do appreciate your patience

Recently one of you asked the following:

Where can I find Gujarati singing groups for a wedding on the East Coast (US)? Please help. Thanks. Looking for a group of live singers and musicians for a Gujarati Hindu wedding — a group that performs traditional Gujarati geet (songs) and Gujarati garba and Hindi film songs. Please post groups, website links, and contact information if possible. Thanks.

Let me start off by saying how happy we are that you asked us to inquire into this. Too many people are used to DJs at weddings. While a DJ/MC is necessary for the after party of the wedding to be official, we seldom appreciate the fun and joy a live wedding band or singer can bring to the wedding. Not to mention it makes the experience even more unique. So below please find two very well-known and very professional wedding singers/bands based on US East Coast who not only specialize in traditional Gujrati geet and garba, but Hindi film and pop music as well:

Natwar Thakkar

999 Enterprises Inc.

58 Hillcrest Avenue

Iselin NJ 08830

732-404-1098 / 732-283-0256

info@999enterprises.com / natwarthakkar@hotmail.com / kaushal_n_t@yahoo.com

Ritesh Rathod / Rupali Acharya

Medley Entertainment Inc

291 Pinelli Drive

Piscataway, NJ 08854

347-385-8587 / 732-356-1204 / 347-724-5202 / 718-205-2016

1-866-9MEDLEY

party@medleyentertainmentinc.com

We would like to thank our awesome friend the world-renowned DJ Magic Mike from Magic Sound for providing us with all the information! Thanks Mike!

Why You Should Spend Big Money On A Good Wedding Photographer

There are many parts that go into creating the perfect wedding such as the venue location, the dress, the catering services and decorations that cost a lot of money, but one part that should not be forgotten is spending big money on an impeccable wedding photographer. While it is partly true that anyone can pick up a digital camera and shoot away because of how accessible photography has become in this day and age, it is still not the same as hiring an actual photographer who has the experience, passion and eye to create the lasting moments that a client deserves. Below are five points we at AA Creation Photography believe why it is important to spend the big money on hiring a good wedding photographer versus hiring a relatively cheap photographer or a family member that owns a digital camera.

1. The low rate photographer versus the high rate photographer- A good photographer will have the eye or vision for creating images that a person just owning a digital camera or  a low rate photographer will not have. The low rate photographer will likely only own one camera and lens while standing in the same position for the entire wedding ceremony and reception and essentially doing the bare minimum. The high rate photographer although pricey will give you lasting memories through the photographs created. A high rate photographer compared to the low rate photographer will have several cameras and lenses such as a fisheye or wide-angle lens to give a whole new perspective. The high rate photographer will also offer new angles from high and low and ultimately be well worth the money spent.

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