{About Hinal and Zach}

Hinal and Zach had back-to-back wedding weekends celebrating each of their cultures and traditions. The Hindu ceremony was first, followed by a Western ceremony, with Jewish aspects, the following weekend. How lucky is Hinal to get to walk down the aisle twice?!?

With two ceremonies to prep for, they decided not to have a mehndi and sangeet and focused on the ceremonies. The Hindu ceremony was at a South Asian banquet hall, Rasoi III, and the Western ceremony was at the Newark Museum of Art.

At ShaadiShop we talk to a lot of brides who want to get married at museums. Very very few can accommodate the needs of a South Asian wedding, but they’re brilliant for Western weddings. (Again lucky girl Hinal!). We caught up with her to get all the lovely details about her weddings.

{Selecting the Venues}

For the Western ceremony, we wanted a venue where we could do the ceremony and reception at the same location. We both loved the museum, as it is a unique venue in itself in addition to amongst our network, no one had gotten married there.

{Clothes}

{Wedding Prep: You can’t make this up}

I guess it’s funny now, but a week before our Hindu wedding I had to find a new gown. The one I had custom made from India arrived with the tulle completely wrinkled. They tried for months to fix it but couldn’t and in I had to chose a different gown. My new one turned turned out beautifully (even though it wasn’t the greatest fit) but that was definitely stressful! I just kept reminding myself that in the end no matter what happens that day it’s gonna be great!

{Hair+Makeup}

Hindu Ceremony Hair – down and straight, with a maang tikka
Reception Hair – down and curled
Makeup at both ceremonies – I wanted a natural look that accentuated my features.

{DIY Decor}

For the Hindu ceremony we had a peacock theme. For the Western ceremony our colors were vintage teal to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. The best part was we DIY’d everything! My sister planned and created the whole Hindu ceremony peacock decor – DIY centerpieces and table decor. And we rented the mandap. For the Western wedding, I created centerpieces from mason jars with lights, candles and hydrangeas. The amount of effort my sister put into our wedding was so touching and it was pretty amazing for all of us to look around the room on both wedding days and see how beautiful everything looked.

{Most Emotional/Exciting Moment}

Getting ready with my sisters, mom, and bridesmaids at both weddings. When I was finished getting ready and saw myself in the mirror, officially as a bride, it felt unreal and simultaneously exciting. I was so ready to marry Zach.

{Walking Down The Aisle}

The aisle felt a mile long and I was so excited and nervous. I’ve never had 200 sets of eyes on me before and all the emotions came flooding in. The Indian ceremony was the weekend before and I was a little in shock all day so the reality hit me the following week.

{Hindu Ceremony}

{Western Ceremony}

{Wedding Vendors}

Rasoi III (Hindu ceremony + lunch), Ultimate Caterers (Western ceremony reception)

Damini’s in Edison NJ for the indian gown and my husbands outfit as well as his parents and brother. They were great to work with and have amazing selections. For the american ceremony, I got my gown at Dolores Bridal and they are FANTASTIC!!!!! literally the best service ever and tailored my gown beautifully!

Xtensive Sounds, DJ Rahul – he was fantastic and kept the party going all night!

Priya Navani, She was FANTASTIC! We wanted traditional aspects without the traditional 3 hour ceremony and she was amazing. Most people don’t sit through an indian wedding and she had the entire room listening for 40 minutes!

Dani and Jimmy from Young Love Media– they are a husband/wife team that just captured every moment beautifully! I love love love the photos. They are such a pleasure to work with and just captured the most amazing candid moments.

NST Pictures – Aaron – we didn’t get a full video but did get a “trailer film” which condenses 6 hours of footage into a little 4-5 min trailer. It came out beautiful