{Karishma + Suraj}

Suraj proposed at Disneyland and they planned their wedding within 10 months. Relying mainly on their friends’ recommendations and experiences, they put together a fun celebration of their love.

{Suraj Hua Madham}

Narrowing down a song to walk down the aisle to can be difficult. Suraj wanted Karishma to enter to “Suraj Hua Madham” from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, but Karishma wasn’t sure. She decided on another song…but the night before, she asked the DJ to switch to Suraj Hua Madham for her entrance. The next day, when the antarpat came down, Karishma found her soon-to-be husband overwhelmed with emotion. SO SWEET!!!

We caught up with Karishma for more details on the wedding.

Inside:

Details: venue, clothes, decor and more.
Wedding professionals list: a list of all the companies involved in their wedding

{Selecting the Venue}

My parents handled most of the venue visits and selection. We wanted to be in Orange County, wanted a hotel, and, of course, the venue had to allow an indoor Hindu ceremony. My parents looked at several venues and the Wyndham was not only attractive but their staff was very flexible, accommodating and so well versed in South Asian weddings.

Their staff knows how to work on a South Asian wedding which was very comforting and gave us peace of mind. Kayla and her team were professional and responsive throughout. We’re so happy we got married there!

{Planning Style}

I like to have a list of my to do’s and charge ahead to completion. So the last two months before our wedding, everything was done. We were very relaxed and if anything did pop up, it was easy to take care of because we weren’t stressed with a lot of other wedding tasks.

We also didn’t shop around much for vendors. We relied on our friends’ recommendations which saved us a lot of time.

{Clothes}

I wore a red and white lehenga at the ceremony from Frontier Heritage in Artesia. My reception lehenga was blue to match the silver, white and blue decor, also from Frontier and my sangeet outfit was from Poshaak. I wanted that outfit in particular, to be something I could wear again. It was a serendipitous day. I haven’t bought much from Poshaak before but that day I fell in love with the sangeet outfit. The aunty that works there is super nice and helpful and she showed me pieces she just got from India. I bought the outfit thinking that even if I didn’t wear it to one of my wedding events I’d wear it to something else.

Afterwards my mom and I went to Frontier and I must’ve tried on 15 outfits and was really starting to be over it but the woman who worked there asked me to try on one more lehenga, so I did…and I ended up loving it. All of Suraj’s clothes were from Frontier as well.

My mom wet to India and bought the clothes for the wedding party.

{The Ring}

Suraj got the ring from Horizon Diamonds and he totally surprised me. He never aked me what I wanted. Instead he talked to my friends. So when Suraj asked me to marry him, I was completely surprised…and I LOVE my ring!

{Mehndi + Hair+Makeup}

I got my hair and makeup done by Angie Vaca. At that point she’d done my makeup for a friend’s wedding, my engagement party and my engagement shoot as well as for several of my friends, so I knew her work very well. I loved the looks she did for me. She really knows how to make a bride feel special on her wedding day.

Mehndi – Rajasthani style up to my elbows and knees
Ceremony Hair – Updo to pin my dupatta which was covering my head
Reception Hair – down and curled.
Makeup – I wanted a natural look that accentuated my features. Angie did a great job matching my shadows with my lehengas.
Bindis – I wore bindis across my forehead and brought a fnger ew designs with me as I wasn’t sure what I wanted.

{Wedding Party}

{Decor}

The reception colors were blue, white and silver. All of the decor was done by Manjit’s Flower Cottage. Manjit no longer works in Southern California and we were lucky to have him at our wedding. He was really creative and open to hearing our ideas and giving us creative ways to accomplish what we wanted.

I wanted this waterfall background that I saw on Pinterest and we couldn’t have a waterfall at the reception but we were able to accomplish a water-look with lighting. For the centerpieces I’ve always really liked those branch centerpieces. They’re pretty big though, so we got several of those for the back tables and for the rest of the tables we had orchids in vases.

We got a white dance floor. To be honest at first I didn’t think a white dance floor was necessary, but now looking back at our photos, I’m glad we did. The dance floor really brought the whole room together.

{Dances}

Suraj and I started out first dance as a slow dance and then followed into a full on Bollywood performance. And our friends, Suraj, and I did a dance to the song, “Subha Hone Na De” which ended with a reveal of the guys’ super hero t-shirts!

{The Bride Getting Ready}

The brides friends/family getting her dressed for the ceremony.

{Reception Grand Entrance}

{Traditions}

{Photoshoots}

{Wedding Vendors}

We were so happy with our team that made our wedding smooth and fun for everyone.

Amazing Cakes
Cake

Jay Bharat & Manohar’s Delhi Palace
Catering

Frontier Heritage
Clothing

Manjit’s Flower Cottage
Decor

Amit from 3D Sounds
DJ + Lighting

Angie Vaca
Hair/Makeup

Enchanted Carriages
Baraat

Pandit: Shukavak Dasa

Aaron Eye Photography
Photo + Cinema

Delta Marriott Anaheim Garden Grove (formerly Wyndham Anaheim Garden Grove)
Venue

Wedding Planner: Ajita Chopra

{Vendor Testimonials}

Amazing Cakes was fantastic to work with. Compared to other bakeries, I looked into, they went out of their way to bring our cake vision to life.

We knew going into the wedding that we wanted Jay Bharat to cater lunch and Manohar’s Delhi Palace for dinner. They’re industry veterans and know how to create great food that people will love.

Enchanted Carriages provided a horse for Suraj’s baraat and a horse with carriage for our vidai.

Amit from 3D Sounds was fantastic. He was really attentive and straight forward explaining to us what we needed in terms of lighting and sound and what we didn’t need. He’s done a lot of weddings at that venue so he knows the space well and how much lighting and sound equipment are necessary. He worked within our budget too which we really appreciated.

Aaron Eye Photography did photo and cinema for us and we couldn’t have been happier with how our photos and highlight video turned out. A year later, I still watch the video ALL the time!

The Wyndham Anaheim Garden Grove (rebranded and under new ownership: the Delta Marriott Anaheim Garden Grove) was fantastic. We highly recommend that venue for South Asian weddings.

We hired Ajita and her team after we hired all of our vendors. Her team was there to coordinate everyone and everything three months before the wedding through the wedding day. It was really worthwhile to have them. I remember on one of our venue visits they asked great questions that I never would have thought of asking.