Meenakshi & Ankush

Inspiration:

There were a few things that inspired our wedding ceremony/wedding week. Both my husband, Ankush, and I are Hindu and although we were born and raised in Canada our families both have origins from India. I really wanted to ensure that the rich and beautiful culture of India was represented in all of our celebrations. Thanks to our amazing vendors and their ability to work with and understand our vision, it was. Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh is a place that is very dear to my heart. If I could of, I would have gotten married there. However, we had too many family and friends that we wanted to be a part of our ceremony so it wasn’t possible. Instead, I tried my best to bring a little bit of Vrindavan to the ceremony. This was achieved by using bright, beautiful florals for our decor and by having live instrumental music play by Sahil Khan. He played Latika’s Theme Song on the flute as I walked towards Ankush and the sound was mesmerizing! My lengha was Maharani style and was inspired by Radha Rani. My mehndi also had Radha and Krishna on opposing hands.

What was the most memorable moment of the event?

There are so many to choose from!!

Ankush: The Milni was definitely something I will vividly remember for the rest of my life. Seeing both sides of our families excited and ready to start the party was something else. I have never been received by such a large group of people with so much enthusiasm and love! Also the meeting of the men of the family was an epic lifting battle.

Meenakshi: There were definitely a lot of memorable moments but my favourite was at the wedding reception near the end of the night. We had a live band, Memory Lane, playing on stage. They started playing the YMCA song and encouraged Ankush and I to come on stage. We did it and led the YMCA dance on stage while all of our friends and family were watching us and dancing along on the dance floor. It was SO much fun! My dad was on the dance floor and was really into it and it brought me a lot of joy to see!

What tips and advice do you have for future brides and grooms?

Try to enjoy the process. It’s a pretty stressful thing planning a wedding. Often times you’re tasked with not only planning a wedding but also managing a lot of family relationships. We would say that it’s important to take some time for yourselves and remember what the wedding is about, the two of you.
Also, take some time on the day of/week of to soak it all in.
A great way to ensure you get to spend some time quality time with your friends at the reception is to book a party bus to arrive in together and leave together in. We did it and the after party on the bus home after the reception was lit!