How did you meet your Groom, and when did you know he was “the one”?Tini and I met in San Francisco in January 2020 with one swipe to the right on Hinge. The next thing I knew, I was on a first date with a boy who had a more complicated name than me. His real name is Dipankar, but all his close loved ones call him Tini. We had our first date at Jamber, a wine bar, where we instantly had a connection and great conversation. We went out on a few more dates around the bay, but when March rolled around and the pandemic ensued, we parted ways temporarily.
I moved back to Texas for my family, and Tini moved back to Montreal for his family. Bouncing around from cities and countries, we managed to find our way back to each other in good ol’ Houston, Texas, in January 2021. At that point, I immersed Tini into my life, introducing him to all my friends and family. His opening line when meeting anyone is “Do you want a tequila shot?” so he got along with all my friends and family instantly.
Tini is one of the most charismatic, honest, and happiest humans I’ve ever met. He has been my biggest cheerleader since our very first date in Jan 2020. He empowers me to be my full, authentic self, use my voice, and live in the moment. I also knew that whoever made me laugh to the point of my cheeks hurting was the person meant for me. I’m so lucky to have my best friend as my life partner and thankful that one swipe made my life.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!Tini and I got engaged on March 19th, 2022! Tini told me he had made plans with Nikhil and Sowmya, my brother and sister-in-law, for brunch that Saturday morning. I worked out that morning and began getting ready for brunch. That same morning, I decided to test out some new foundations, which was putting us behind Tini’s specially crafted schedule. Unaware of the urgency or importance of the day, I took my time to get dressed. Finally making it out the door, Tini wanted to swing by Herman Park to walk around a bit before brunch and enjoy the gorgeous weather.
While we were walking around the park, Tini started reminiscing on our life journey together. Suddenly, he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him. Overcome with happiness, I screamed YES, and the photographer popped out, taking our in-the-moment excitement. However, right before Tini could put the engagement ring on my finger, a park ranger pops out of nowhere and tells us Centennial Gardens has strict picture-taking rules. We needed to leave this part of the park immediately.
In typical Tini fashion, he told me not to let the park ranger ruin this once-in-a-lifetime moment, run with the punches, and enjoy this time together. We found a different part of the park where Tini was able to finally put the engagement ring on my finger, and we shared those first precious moments of being engaged with each other (and our photographer). After our mini photoshoot, Tini scoops me away, and we head to my parent’s house for a surprise engagement bash. Tini has hired a professional chef to make my whole family a special meal with all of my favorite treats (Tex-Mex food, tres leches, donuts, Cinnabon rolls, Reese’s chocolate). We spend the rest of the day celebrating together with tequila shots, great food, and amazing company. Truly a memorable day.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Do you have a favorite color in mind?Shopping for my wedding outfits was a little stressful in the beginning. I’m not the most well-versed with all the Indian designers and the latest styles. My sister-in-law, Sowmya, really introduced me to Indian designers, style ranges, and all the key sites to get ideas. I am, at the core, someone who is always drawn to bold, colorful, and timeless/chic styles, so I knew my outfits should represent those styles.
Sangeet was the perfect event for me to go bold, colorful, and playful – and I found the perfect outfit for just that! Tini’s cousin, Natasha Walia, co-owns LiveTheCollective, which is a Toronto-based boutique that sells Indian designer wear all over North America. Natasha and I chatted at length about the most ideal sangeet outfit. When I was scanning her site, I found the most gorgeous Vvani by Vani Vats’s purple lehenga. I didn’t typically see brides wearing such a vibrant purple for Sangeets and knew it was the lehenga for me. Wearing the Vvani lehenga for my Sangeet was everything I imagined and more – it truly embodied the whole vibe I was aiming for the Sangeet.
For the ceremony, I’ve always envisioned the traditional South Indian look. A beautiful Kanchipuram silk sari with a cream base, bold red border, and beautiful light gold embroidery throughout. I knew Hyderabad was the only place to find the perfect sari. After visiting so many stores, I found the perfect one at Kanchipuram Narayani Silks in Jubilee Hills. It was love at first Sari sight, and every time I look back at my wedding pictures, it brings the biggest smile to my face.
The reception lehenga was more challenging for me. I knew I wanted a timeless and chic reception look, but I wasn’t sure about the color or the style. That’s when I discovered Panache by Sharmeen in Houston, Texas. Sharmeen has a multi-Indian designer boutique with the most collaborative and seamless bridal process for wedding outfits. In fact, I ended up using Sharmeen for my outfits for my brother’s wedding as well! Sharmeen truly has exquisite customer service and attention to detail. I’ve never seen anyone care more about her bride’s outfit details than her. I started the process with Sharmeen 1 year out from our wedding date, and that gave us time to experiment with different designers, styles, and colors. With the help of Pinterest, Instagram, and Sharmeen, I finally landed on a designer – Seema Gujural. She had a line of so many timeless and chic looks I knew that was the direction for me. Then I saw this gorgeous blue color on someone else’s Instagram and knew blue was the reception vibe. Sharmeen helped me find the perfect shade of blue, identify the lehenga patterns, and design the style of the blouse. I’m still in love with my reception outfit and honestly looking for the next opportunity to wear it – I never wanted to take it off.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?When it finally came time to design and visualize each event’s look and vibe – that was the most fun! Tini and I got to tap into our creative side and partner with Nirali in brainstorming all the fun quirks we wanted to have that represented our relationship. We got to work with such a wide array of vendors, and they were so great in helping us pull and swap elements from their warehouse to curate the perfect look.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?Tini and I are notorious for rallying our friends and family to play drinking games, and we knew we wanted to incorporate drinking games into our sangeet experience. Our venue, Pecan Spring Ranch, had the perfect outdoor space where we were able to create a wonderful outdoor experience with food stations, lawn games, and a dedicated section under the pergola for drinking games. Our drinking game stations were beer pong, slap cup, and flip cup. Everyone got to relive their undergrad glory days when we had pristine livers and no sense of where the night would take us. What was most special about this moment was looking around to find loved ones from all phases of our lives hanging out together. People we never thought we would meet were suddenly teaming up and sharing laughs together around the drinking game tables. That was a beautifully rare moment for the guests and for Tini and me.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?There are two particular moments that stick out to me.
First, when Tini and I were doing the Talambralu ceremony step, Tini somehow missed the memo that you’re supposed to lightly pour the yellow rice on top of my head and instead thought he could throw the rice directly in my face. This triggered an instant rice-throwing playful fight between Tini and me. Unfortunately, our parents came into the crossfire, but it was such an unexpected, fun, joyous moment between Tini and me. There are some really solid photos that capture this exact moment.
Second, Tequila has been a fun bonding element between Tini, me, and our loved ones. Thus, right after the ceremony, after we stepped off the mandap, Tini and I shared a surprise tequila shot with all of our guests. We wanted a unique way to commemorate Tini and me getting married and involve all of our guests in that special moment. The guests loved the unique experience!
For events other than your ceremony, please tell us as much as you would like about the decor, style, dances, and all the special details.There’s one special shout-out I need to make, and that’s for our photographer and videographer. Our photographer, Jamie Kovach from TwoFish, exceeded our expectations. She and the team were so incredibly thoughtful about capturing those special moments that happen between shots. She brought to life the magic between Tini and me. We loved her photography style, and she was so fun to be around. She’s an expert at effortlessly corralling a huge Indian crowd and getting the job done. Bonus points are her turnaround time for wedding pics is super quick. I can’t rave enough about Jamie and her team.
Nick and Bryan from Bird and the Bear were our videographers and pulled together some epic moments we never even knew happened at the wedding! Their videographer brilliance gave Tini and me the chance to relive the whole wedding weekend moment by moment.
Another memorable moment was the Sangeet dance program. My brother, Nikhil, and Tini’s brother, Manu, were the designated MCs for the evening and crushed it. Because of our love for drinking games, they came up with the most clever theme for the Sangeet program – Kings Cup – Niyanthi and Tini Edition. Each card represented a fun activity or challenge for us and the guests. It was a great way to engage the audience and keep things fresh. In between their bits, we had loved ones give speeches and dances. I couldn’t help but dance along to all the amazing dances from our friends and family.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?My number one advice – when your wedding week rolls around, forget about all the logistics and the details. Live in the moment, and spend every second with all of your loved ones, laughing and sharing memories. That week is the first and last time you and your partner will have ALL of your loved ones under one roof, celebrating y’all’s love. Embrace the weekend and have a shit ton of fun.
Anything else you want to tell us? We’d love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)Another special moment for Tini and me was having one of our best friends make most of our custom desserts for the Sangeet and Reception. Ishita Chakravarty, from DeelishCupcakes, has the most incredible assortment of custom and fusion desserts. Her talent and creative genius have no boundaries. The flavors we got were Laddoo, lemon blueberry, falooda injectable, brownie batter cookie dough, and paan petit four. The desserts were always the first things to finish at every single event, and all of our guests were raving about the flavors.
For the reception, we used Pixter Photo Booth as a fun way to keep the memories alive. Lots of our family and friends were bouncing back and forth between the dance floor and the photo booth. There’s a lot of goofy pictures we captured!
We also used Nisha Henna Arts for our Sari and lehenga draping. I actually met Nisha back at my brother’s wedding, and she’s such a sweetheart. She knows how to roll with the chaos of getting ready for events and did a great job with draping me and my family.
Sending you all love and romantic wishes until our next alluring tale. We have more stories for you!
styleTraditionalRomanticContemporaryseasonSpringcolor
Sangeet Venue: Pecan Springs Ranch
Groom Ceremony Sherwani: Jade Blue