Let’s get started with an adorable mehndi night!

Sara and Joel invited their very close friends and family to share in one of Sara’s favorite parts of a Desi wedding: the Mehndni! Sara wore an adorable peagreen salwar suit, and let her hands take over the show.

Mehndi Artist: Iowa Henna
Photographer: Shuva Rahim

How chweet is this couple? We’re so excited to show you how these two blended their different cultural backgrounds for the rest of their wedding events!

Piyali’s tips for future brides:
“Most brides will say “take a moment to look out at everything you’ve accomplished, how beautiful everything looks, and how happy all your guests are.” That’s true. Do that if you can. But the truth is, if you’re having a gigantic Desi wedding, it’s not always possible. Our wedding was (if you include all the ceremonies) over one week long and it involved more than 500 people at almost every event. To pull off something like that, it means you need to be organized beyond belief (Mom and I had spreadsheets coming out of our ears!) and even then, things are going to go horribly wrong, everybody will be stressed, everything you planned will take minimally half an hour more than expected, and the whole weekend will feel like you are rushing against the clock.”

“The biggest thing I would say is: this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Do take moments to enjoy your day even if this is the case. When I was changing in between the wedding and reception, everything was going wrong and we were running twenty minutes behind. It meant that I had to go straight into the entrance of the reception without being able to take portraits with Tariq in our reception clothes. We all took a deep breath and said: WHO CARES. This is our day, we are not going to let anything spoil it. And guess what? After the reception, after everyone left, we ended up taking some portraits. We were scared they wouldn’t come out nicely because by then we were hot and sweaty, but it turns out we had hired great hair and makeup people, not to mention great photographers, and so the portraits came out beautifully. The moral of the story, I think, is to do research on getting great vendors beforehand!”

Piyali’s other suggestion for future brides is to have a great afterparty with just friends after the reception is over:
“To be perfectly honest, the best time we had at our own wedding was when 50 of our closest friends showed up in the bridal suite at 11pm and stayed there until 7am the next morning, at which point we all walked to the diner across the street! Tariq and I had planned for this: we had bought alcohol, we had brought changes of clothes, we made sure some friends brought a sound system and made a playlist, we made sure we had plans for fun games to play, and my maid of honor had made little gift bags for everyone, and had ordered pizza beforehand in case we wanted it in the middle of the night–which we did!”

This vivacious bride left absolutely no stone unturned in planning her Big Fat Bengali Wedding. From ultra-traditional outfits to fish-themed wedding decor, Piyali made sure every part of her wedding represented how proud she is of her heritage.

Piyali’s aunt, applying Chandan (sandalwood paste) to her forehead. Traditionally, chandan is applied in artistic patterns on the bride (and groom’s) face.

The beautiful mandap.

Entrance: Piyali’s brother and friends carry her in on a Piri. A Bengali bride’s face remains covered by betel leaves until she meets her groom.

Tariq’s mother putting a ‘loha’ (iron) bangle on Piyali. A Loha bangle is a marriage symbol for a Bengali bride.

The groom gets sindoor, too!

All of the bridal party and groom’s were outfits were designed by exclusive Calcutta designers that Piyali’s family spent years and years scouting for, in case the perfect opportunity arised! The kurtas for all the men in the bridal party and the groom were designed by the artist who was commissioned to make all the very traditional, period Bengali-style kurtas for the Bollywood movie, Parineeta.

The bridesmaids saris, designed by Piyali’s aunt, were also very traditional Bengali saris. The “Shaada Shari-Laal Pardh” (white with red border) saris are printed in a fish motif reflecting the theme for the wedding (fish is a symbol of health, prosperity, fertility and happiness in Bengal).

Piyali, dressed in a traditional Benarasi sari, surrounded by her bridesmaids.

Piyali’s most memorable memory from her wedding day:
“The absolute most wonderful and memorable event at the wedding was our wedding ceremony itself. Hindu ceremonies can be very long and frankly, difficult to get through because they are so hard to understand. But we had made sure that every step of the ceremony was explained out loud in English before it happened. Of course, this also meant that because of all the changes we had made to the ceremony, we wondered how people would feel about it. But in the middle of the puja, when we looked out at our family and friends, we saw so many of them nodding along and crying tears of genuine joy. Nothing could have been more beautiful.”

Vendors
Wedding & Reception Venue: Tarrytown Doubletree
Photographer: Laaj Studios
Videographer: Society Hill Studios
Decorator: Mallavika of Contemporary Creations
Hair Artist: Shobha Watal of Long Island, New York
Makeup Artist: Samia Chaudhury of Queens, New York
DJ: DJ Milan of Illusion DJs

Stay tuned for part 2: The Reception!

Konkona’s style is generally very minimalistic so it’s no surprise that she chose a refined look for her nuptials. She wore her grandmother’s antique kundan jewelry and a light-gold bridal sari. Ranvir Shorey represented the Punjabi bridegroom perfectly arriving on a horse wearing a traditional ‘sehra’ (headdress).

Konkona Sen Sharma tied the knot with long-time boyfriend Ranvir Shorey on September 3rd, 2010. They had a very private ceremony at their Mumbai home, without many celebrity guests.

Pohela Boishakh

Every year, on the first day of the year, Bengalis all over Bangladesh and India celebrate Pohela Boishakh–the Bengali New Year.  This day is filled with food, songs, new saris, etc.  However, one tradition that I learned about during my recent trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh was that of ‘Hal Khata’.  Hal Khata, which literally translates to ‘New Notebook’ in Bangla, is a custom in which jewelry buyers pay up all their debts to jewelry stores on Pohela Boishakh.  In order to show their appreciation, jewelry stores invite their customers for a feast on Pohela Boishakh, which occurs mid-April of every year.

Hal Khata is not only a fun celebration, but also a chance for jewelry stores to introduce their new line of jewelry for the upcoming year and a good time for brides to scope out the goods! My first experience of this Hal Khata tradition was on April of this year and when I stepped into New Jawra House in Dhaka–I was amazed to see the food, festivities, and the displays of new jewelry.

Pohela Boishakh

The Bengali New Year, Pohela Boishakh, is an ideal date for brides to buy jewelry.  Jewelry stores display never before seen items–the majority of which are booked and sold on this day.  I encountered several brides-to-be purchasing their wedding jewelry far in advance of their wedding date to get the best designs and prices. So if you’re planning a shopping trip for your trousseau in Bangladesh or Bengal in India, going during ‘Hal Khata’ would be a smart decision!