Neha and Sanjay

Neha and Sanjay’s engagement was “picture perfect.” After dating a few years, Sanjay planned a surprise proposal in New York City—one of Neha’s favorite places.

Sanjay told Neha to dress up and be ready early because they had brunch plans with friends. Instead he took her to a park by the Brooklyn Bridge, got down on one knee and proposed. And he had hired a photographer (who hid) and captured the entire proposal— and then took engagement photos.

During the nine months they were engaged, Sanjay and Neha, with the help of their families, made most of the plans themselves. They agree that is was definitely harder to do than they anticipated, and the little details took a lot of time. The bride-to-be had always wanted a big fat Indian wedding, and says they had the wedding of her dreams, thanks to their amazing parents.

Most of the family lives in or near Coral Springs, Florida, so picking the Marriott Hotel there made sense. The hotel had a lot of room for all the events part of a large Indian wedding, and guest stayed there as well.

The Sangeet before the wedding had a very colorful Punjabi theme for which Suhaag Garden provided all the décor. The stage had a jhoola (swing), and it’s very colorful backdrop with lanterns on both sides. The guest tables had a mix of teal and fuchsia covers plus gold chair covers—accented by gold lanterns with candles. A nice touch was a fuschia bench with pillows where the women sat and sang jagoo songs.

The morning ceremony was in the Marriott’s ballroom that was charming with blush pink and silver décor. Pink rose petals marked the beautiful aisle, leading up to the front where white elephants stood. The round mandap was blush pink topped by a floral hedge of white hydrangeas, blush pink roses and ivory spray roses. The welcome table displayed a statue of Ganesh and candles.

Every guest received a box showing the couple’s name and wedding date, and contained nuts and the 4-page folded wedding program uniquely designed by the bride.

For Sanjay’s Baarat, he arrived astride a horse, accompanied by a dhol player. The couple choose Pavan as their emcee and DJ. The groom’s entrance music for the ceremony was “tenu leke main javanga,” and for the bride, “din shogana da.” And, all the festivities were recorded and photographed using drones.

The reception round tables had plum-color covers, and two estate tables for family had silver covers and silver chiavari chairs. The stage was decorated in plum, white and silver with candelabras on each side. The family tables centerpieces contained Manzanita branches that were adorned with white orchids, crystal and glass globes. Guest tables alternated between having crystal and glass globes on Manzanita branches. The sign-in table had a crystal hedge in the back, with pictures of our pre-wedding photoshoot. For the cake table, in front of the cake we had our custom-made bobble head—a unique and favorite part.

At the reception in addition to the DJ, Master Johnny was their dhol player. Music was a mix of Hindi, Punjabi and English. The couple’s first dance was to “dhere dhere se meri zindagi (yo yo honey singh remix). The mother/son and father/daughter dance was to “If” by Babyface. For the couple’s entrance to the reception, they used “aaj ki party” by Mike Singh.

The couple’s advice for others was simple and sincere: Enjoy the day—and try to delegate all the little things to friends and family members—so you can truly enjoy your big day to the max.