Wedding's not on the Ground Floor?!

I have attended 2 weddings this season where the function was held at the top floor and the 1st floor. While having a terrace wedding or a closed banquet wedding has a charm of its own I felt that both of them lacked one thing :

The Grand Entry of the Baraat.

The whole visual looks great when the Baraat comes to the venue and they are dancing on the gate, the Bride's family is waiting impatiently for them to come in already! And then someone from the grooms side pulls someone from the Bride's side to dance and within minutes everyone is dancing! That feeling of pure joy and happiness is one of the great moments of a wedding.

Are Full Finger Rings the NEW Engagement Rings??

I saw this ad for diamond Finger rings and I was so certain if this had come out 2 years back then it would have certainly adorned my hand on my engagement, of course this is not something you can wear every day but can you imagine how awesome this would look on your engagement???

Kalpanaa from Kalpanaawrites.com GIVES US THE ADVICE THAT YOU NEED TO HEAR!

Are weddings all about glitter, glamour and glow? Sometimes that’s all they seem to embody, with people carried away by fun, superficial but temporary matters - clothes, hairdos, venues and menus.

The truth is that a wedding isn't just a big party with a prince and princess playing ‘let’s dress up and have some fun’.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

  ~ JRR Tolkien

Kalpanaa

A wedding is such a huge celebration because its about a couple starting a life together – an exciting life full of shared decisions, shared meals, a shared bed a home together.

How do you harness that glitter, glamour and glow and make it last through a long married life?  How do you ensure you don’t figure in the divorce statistics or worse still live in the confines of an unhappy marriage to the end of your days?

There are a few surprising things to work on to maintain the overall health of your marriage, and yourself. Some surprising and some so incredibly simple you may be tempted to gloss over them.

Be who you are to maintain the glow

When you met your partner you, hopefully, didn’t try to hide your authentic self in an attempt to make a good impression. You may have dressed it up a little with a clean shirt or some foundation but you didn’t wear a mask and pretend to be something you aren’t. It’s your true selves that attracted you to each other, that struck a chord and drew you together. Holding on to that person who you were before you married is important. This is particularly important in Indian culture where couples are exhorted to ‘adjust’. Specially women. Don’t mistake ‘adjust’ for ‘give up who you are because it’s inconvenient for others. ’

Dhoti Saree : What are your views?

I have a mixed view on Dhoti Saree, I love them and Hate them at the same time.

 Well mainly I hate them because I think a heavier frame girl, like me, won't really look all that good in them, after all it does highlight the thighs and your figure, and I would rather stick to a drape that hides more than it shows!

What are your views on them?

I really like Sonam Kapoor's Saree look, this would defiantly work for your best friends wedding.

I think the Dhoti Saree would also look really chic for Mehendi or cocktail, 

giving you a Modern-traditional Look.

By the way I found this awesome YouTuber (Makeup Guru) named Kaushal, and her makeup videos are to die for! Nobody is sponsoring me to do this, and that girl doesn't know either but I absolutely love her style! Check her out here :  https://www.youtube.com/BeautyFulfilled

Speaking of Youtube, the first Crazy Indian Wedding vlog is going to be out this Wednesday! Make sure you are subscribed here : https://www.youtube.com/crazyindianwedding

The Photographer you NEED at your wedding! Meet Morvi!

What got you interested in Photography?

If I remember correctly, it all happened rather early. Dad got a Kodak point and shoot camera home back in the 1980s. And I guess that was just the beginning. The progression to make Photography an important part of my life happened naturally. I would sit in the library and stare at images for hours. They don’t have to be relevant. Just about any imagery is enough to activate my brain cells. I don’t think in works I think visuals.

What is your favorite moment in a wedding?

Seeing the look on the groom’s face when a bride first walks in her untouched grandeur for the first time is priceless.


Which is one picture that every girl must have on her wedding day?

For every father, his daughter is his princess and for a bride her father is the first man she ever fell in love with the man whom she would secretly compare every other man with. No wedding is complete without pictures highlighting this beautiful bond.

If a girl doesn't really have a budget for a candid photographer or the parents insist on a traditional 'studio' guy, what suggestion would you give.

Knots and Hearts : The Wedding Planners YOU Need!

When I hear of Wedding Planners I always end up thinking of this creative group of people who sit together and decide a theme for your wedding and just take over everything, and they are basically just business people who take everything in a work-mode way, but then I read about Shyam and Kalash and I just really liked the fact that they just don't want to 'plan' a wedding they want you to experience it, and the best thing is that they understand that a wedding although centered towards the Bride and Groom is still a Family affair!

Two finance postgraduates, Shyam and Kalash met and love happened. What followed was a start of a beautiful love story which is still being written everyday.

With this knot that tied both their hearts together came the desire to share this happiness with every couple who wanted to make their wedding journey special. Hence was born Knots and hearts! Knots and Hearts, is geared up to make each day of your wedding a different experience. 

They believe that, wedding is special and has to be memorable not just for you but for your whole family. 

(and I totally agree on this!)

The end- to - end solutions for your entire wedding include venue, decor, entertainment, wedding trousseau, guest management to your honeymoon destination.

 A team of experts from various fields including wedding stylists, makeup artists, fashion designers, jewelers, choreographers, wedding photographers and video experts to name a few...that fit into every budget, work with them to realize the bride/groom vision. (Sounds good, doesn't it?!)

Now I know Budget can be tricky and I always thought that Wedding planners work only with high budget weddings (after all, having no money constrain has its positives! ) So I went ahead and asked them what their thoughts are on this :

As we have always said that weddings have the emotional ingredient in them, thus planning each wedding involves a lot of detailing. Whether it is a 10 lakh wedding or a crore wedding, we ensure that the creativity and exclusivity is always at the high.

Coming to the budget on weddings, 

Facebook Question : What color Wedding Lehenga are you going to wear/did you wear?

I went onto Facebook last week and asked you guys 

What color Wedding Lehenga are you going to wear/did you wear??
(or what you think looks best on a bride?)

Here are some of the replies :

We clearly have 2 strong Teams and one in between! :

1. Team Red

2. Team Pink and

3. Team Gold

#TeamRed

#TeamPink

Let's Talk! Wedding Madness, Bride-to-be HelpLine, and Random Stuff

Are you about to get married??
Are you a nervous wreak?
Are you excited?
or
You just don't know yet?

Well I didn't really realize what the whole 'marriage' stuff was or what that huge celebration that left a big dent in my dad's wallet really meant till much much later! I think even after almost 2 years there are days when I can't believe what just happened!

Well girly if the D-day is about to arrive I am sure you are experiencing so many emotions that you can't really embrace them all, and  if you are anything like me, you have pretty much gone numb because if you start paying attention to all those thoughts and emotions you would be crying, laughing and getting angry all at the same time; something like a million PMS at one moment kind off stuff.

Indian wear Inspiration : Sonam Kapoor

Love her or Hate her, you have to admit she has style!

Here are some pictures of her which you can use as style inspiration for your own trousseau ! 

Do Notice the Makeup and Hair in each picture!!

^ You do know I make similar type of Saree's right!? Just saying.... #ShamelessPlugIn

MUST VISIT : Runway Bridal!

To those of you who go to exhibitions quite often you would have surly heard of Runway Rising organised by Ramola Bachchan, well this time she is out with RUNWAY BRIDAL!  An exhibition focused on all things bridal!

Make sure you visit!

When?
2–3 September, 2014

Where?

The Ashok Hotel, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi

What time?

11am to 8pm 

Entrepreneur Ramola Bachchan introduces a bridal extravaganza with the launch edition of ‘Runway Bridal’ where 70+ leading designers & jewellers will showcase this season’s best of bridalwear, couture, jewellery, accessories & more.

Says Ramola Bachchan, “The first season of Runway Bridal has been met with an overwhelming response from many of the top bridal couturiers! I am delighted that they are participating with us and look forward to taking the show out of Delhi next year.”

Leading couturiers include Rohit Bal, JJ Valaya, Suneet Varma, Raghavendra Rathore, Ashish Soni, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Varun Bahl, Neeta Lulla, Satya Paul, Patine by Shon Randhawa, Nikasha Tawadey and Dabiri. Jewellers include Nirav Modi, Farah Khan Ali, Maheep Kapoor, Varun D’Jani, Zoya and Diagold. Other participants include hair styling & bridal salon by B:Blunt, silverwear by Argentor, wedding invitations by Puneet, luxury scarves by Janavi, catering by Olive and Cavalli Chocolates by Infinite Luxury.

They have a huge list of participants!

Wedding Files 2 : 5 months to go!

Merey Bhai ki shadi hai! OOH Merey Bhaiya ki shaadi hai :D

(OMG, I just realized that I started my wedding files with 5 months minus 1day to go and I am starting my brothers with 5 months minus 2 days to go , lol)

Well you have seen me OBSESSING over all things bridal in my Wedding Files , you saw me become a bride from a bridezilla, you saw things from the bridal-family's eyes, And now its about time I start obsessing over things related to the groom side of the family.

My brother's getting married :D ye! and I am super thrilled because :

a) well its my brother, helloo...obviously!

b) I get to wear sundar sundar clothes again!

So whats happened so far,

Well the roka is done, which is not a huge function in our family (North Indian Brahmins, well Kaushik brahmin if you want details :P ) Its where the bride's family gives a nariyal to the groom.

Now in our side when I got married we gave a green nariyal i.e. kachha nariyal to my husband (well then fiance now hubby), however in my bhabhi's family they give dry nariyal which is what my brother was given.

We in return gave my future bhabhi a gold necklace, however when I got married my in-laws gave me 2 Saree's,  I think these comparisons would be great for us to understand how different families have slightly different traditions.

Well it was just our close family that met that day for dinner and this little ritual and now we are waiting for October for engagement and December for the wedding.

Here is a list of things done and not done :

Readers Request : Basic Makeup Tips!

Hey girls,

So a couple of you have asked me to do a post or video on makeup tips and tricks, and well I am not really a makeup guru :/ All I know about makeup is what I do to my own self .

 Here is a video of my basic daily makeup routine, you can see all the tricks I use and all the mistakes I make :P

Let me know your thoughts :)

Blog's Birthday and a Giveaway!

EDITED; July 14, 2014 : I lost all the comments :'( 
Blog went through some changes...noooooo.....:( :( :( :(

GIVEAWAY WILL RETURN SOON.



First Post : June 25th, 2012
http://www.crazyindianwedding.com/2012/06/5-months.html

Blog Turns One!
http://www.crazyindianwedding.com/2013/06/happy-birthday-blog.html

Well, I guess the one year post sums up everything I still feel, and I am extremely happy and in gratitude that I started this blog, not because it fills my pocket ( I still need to figure out a way to commercialize the blog without hurting the content) but because it has taught me a lot, and best of all it keeps in touch with you guys!

Crazy Indian REAL Bride : Shaista

As Told by the Bride, Shaista

Two people that couldn't be more poles apart in terms of personalities. Ali a very organized, excel-sheet driven individual; whereas I, Shaista on the other hand couldn't be bothered about keeping a tab on things, write things on napkins and live spontaneously! 

So How did you guys meet?

It was quite funny how Ali and I met. I had graduated from Indiana university not too long ago and moved out to Los Angeles for work. I came home and switched on my computer to see a notification of someone named 'Ali' checking out my profile on the then famous 'orkut' (Oh I remember that feature, facebook should have it too, ..err...no maybe not, stalking won't be fun anymore if that happens)

I went on to check his profile and saw he was in Indiana University too..! I was confused- all the desis knew each other, how come I never came across him before? and he was Bohri as well! so I was curious.. I messaged asking if I knew him since we were in the same college and he replied innocently saying he was new to town and just wanted to get a better idea of our college town. 

Happy Mothers Day!! and Photo Call!!

coz mom's are the best na!

Send us a picture of your wedding 

and that of your mom's 

let us do a fun post!!

Lets take a little break!

I know wedding madness is on your mind, but sit back relax and take a break...

I thought lets mix it up a bit, and give you something else to think about....

Wedding Idea!!

Well Facebook has lost its touch hasn't it? or is it just me?? Anyways hash-tags are pretty much used every where and I find this a great idea to make sure you get to see your wedding captured from each persons point of view.

The Real Girl Guide to Summer Dressing

Well as much as we would love to wear something like this, and pretty much rock the look, it would mean a LOT of stares at home, in the metro, at the office and weirdo's on the road thinking your a weirdo...soooo nope thats not what a normal girl can wear in her everyday life.

So since designer wear and Anarkali's are pretty much reserved for wedding wear and fancy family meetups, lets just get inspired by normal everyday wear and tell our tailors to stitch these and keep us cool:

Inspiration : Pre-Wedding Shoots and Balloons

I am LOVING balloons and wedding mix, totally obsessed with it!

I cant wait to do our (sooo loong postponed) post-wedding shoot with balloons!

But I am guessing by the time we do end up doing the shoot I might have lost interest in them...hmm..

Anyways I dont think balloons would ever 'go out of fashion' or whatever, you can even do a little DIY pre-wedding shoot with them, any picture with a balloon in it is bound to come out good!

The whole family like this, maybe..

M.A.C Presents an Exclusive and Luxurious Wedding Trousseau Service For India

MAC launched Wedding Trousseau Service in Delhi, don't miss out my views at the end.

Press Release

With the wedding season right around the corner, M.A.C Cosmetics presents an exclusive and luxurious Wedding Trousseau Service in India, for all the beautiful brides-to-be ahead of their special day!

“Educating customers is an integral part of M.A.C’s artistry expertise globally. We strive to make every woman feel beautiful for now and forever” explains Sonic Sarwate, Senior Artist, M·A·C India.“Indian women continue to inspire beauty all over the world and I’m personally proud that we have now created something that celebrates and enhances their individual style and beauty for such a memorable occasion in their lifetime.”

With an individual step-by-step makeup lesson of 120 minutes, M.A.C artists will give brides all the tips and tricks to achieve a variety of desired looks; from natural for day, to a dazzling evening look and beyond. All captured in customized M.A.C face charts to take home.