Unconventional Tamil Wedding With A Bride Who Finished Her Shopping In 5 Days!
BY Sakshi | 15 Mar, 2024 | 1078 views | 4 min read
Couples today are choosing to do away with wedding traditions which no longer resonate with them. While this union was in accordance with a traditional Tamil wedding, the couple edited the 'outdated' rituals, starting their new journey with equality. What fascinated us was that the bride, who lives abroad, managed to finish off her wedding shopping in just 5 days on a trip to India- amazing, right? Take a look at this happy Chennai wedding, photographed beautifully on the lens of Rohan Mishra Photography
Meet Anitha and Bhargav
We met in Chicago via a dating app on the heels of the pandemic. I was living in San Francisco and was moving back to Chicago, while Bhargav was already living there. After one month of getting to know each other over video chat, we met in-person in Chicago and enjoyed a 5-hour date with many laughs and butterflies. We quickly met each others friends and received votes of strong support and excitement. Within a few months, we knew this was the relationship that would last a lifetime.
Mehendi
Sangeet + Cocktail
Wedding
From The Couple:
The wedding and surrounding events were a modern twist on a traditional South-Indian Hindu wedding. Because we live in the US, Anitha had to do all of her wedding clothes shopping in 5 days during a trip to India about 6 months before the big day. It was a whirlwind experience where we found coordinating clothes for Bhargav by using photos of Anitha's wedding outfits. Most outfits were purchased from Bangalore and our traditional South Indian muhurtham outfits were purchased from Kanchipuram. Anitha's wedding day jewelry was carefully handpicked over the years by her mother. The jewelry was traditional South Indian with a modern twist.
The wedding was conducted in accordance with Brahmin traditions, and while retained a lot of traditions, we were very particular of doing away with other rituals that portrayed misogyny and other outdated "norms". We were very keen on ensuring that our wedding ceremony was a reflection of our partnership, rather than any one person being the dominant one.
We also included other ceremonies that are not typically part of South-Indian weddings. We held a Mehndi ceremony on the Friday preceding the wedding, where we included traditional stalls and activities (e.g., fortune telling) to showcase some of India's rich and diverse culture for our international guests. And on the same evening, we held a Sangeet + Cocktail Night, where the theme reflected street food and drinks from all over India.
Vendor Reviews
Venue: The Leela Palace Chennai
This was the ideal place for us, our families and international guests as they provided a level of comfort and convenience that allowed us to enjoy the entire stay.
Photography: Rohan Mishra Photography
Thank you Rohan, Puja and team for giving us a permanent keepsake of our magical events. You captured all the important moments and we love to watch our videos on repeat. A special mention for your flexibility during the events and editing process. Your team was extremely patient with us and our families while we were overwhelmed with the number of things to do at the last minute, being behind schedule and the wet weather in Chennai in December. We could not be more thrilled with Rohan Mishra Photography and their entire team and would happily recommend them to anyone.
Makeup Artist: Prakatwork Studio
Prakriti, her mom and their team from Prakatwork Studio were the most efficient and skilled artists we have ever worked with! Anitha, her mom and friends all looked their absolute best through all of the events.The team showed up on time and fully prepared to address any requests. Even through all the movement and chaos of an Indian wedding, everyone's hair, makeup and draping stayed beautifully in place. We would happily work with Prakriti's team for any event!
Wedding Planning: Wedding Aaha!
Krithika and Dev from Wedding Aaha! were well connected with vendors in Chennai and recommended several that we used for our wedding events. All the events were great fun and our guests continue to talk about how vibrant and entertaining the whole weekend was to celebrate our wedding. This is a testament to their effort and planning!
Mehendi Artist: Aravind
Aravind is a steller mehendi artist who is very precise with his work. He patiently applied mehendi for Anitha for over 4 hours. The stain was dark and very elegant.
Vendors: Venue: The Leela Palace Chennai | Photography: Rohan Mishra Photography | Makeup Artist: Prak At Work | Wedding Planning: Wedding Aaha | Mehendi Artist: Aravind | Bridal Outfits: Prakash Silks, Kanchipuram & Samyakk, Bengaluru | Groomwear: Prakash Silks, Kanchipuram & Manyavar, Chennai.
