M&M Get Hitched! The Adorable Story of Mandy and Mayank's Wedding!

{Amanda + Mayank}

Inside:
The cute story of how they met
The even cuter story of how Mayank proposed
All about their wedding as shared by Amanda!

My family is Telegu and Mayank’s is Bihari. We honored both of our cultures in our ceremony. But before I get too far ahead with the wedding details let me tell you about how we met!

{How We Met}

Mayank’s sister-in-law, Niyati secretly set us up! Niyati and I had been friends since high school and one night she organized dinner and a movie with friends. When I got to Dave & Buster’s I saw a cute guy sitting next to her. And…he saw me too. Later at the movie theater, he asked a friend to switch seats so he could sit next to me. We made awkward chit chat throughout the movie (The Hangover 2) and by the time everyone headed back to Niyati’s we couldn’t stop talking. So much so we chatted for 5 hours, long after everyone had either left or fell asleep! A few weeks later, he asked me out and the rest is history.

{How He Proposed}

Mayank and I were long distance before we got married. He was in the SF Bay area and I, in LA. One Friday night Mayank made me a surprise visit. By the time he arrived from the long 6 hour drive I was fast asleep. The next morning when I woke up he was kneeling at the side of my bed – ring box in hand – and he asked me to marry him! I thought I was still sleeping and it was all a dream! He assured me it wasn’t and of course I said yes! The sweetest part was that the surprises continued. He planned a lunch with both our families. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. Getting engaged to the man of my dreams and surrounded by our families!

{Venue Selection}

Mehndi+Sangeet
There were 4 event venues in our wedding celebrations. Our haldi ceremonies were held in each of our homes. Our mehndi was hosted by my family at Sweet Shade Community Park in Irvine with 125 guests. We invited several mehndi artists to adorn our guests. And our family friends transformed the space with flowers and drapes. Our guests enjoyed fresh dosas and mango lassis throughout the evening.

The sangeet was hosted by my in-laws at Tandoori Garden Restaurant in Anaheim, with also about 100 guests. It’s a fantastic venue with great food and a stage (a must for all the performances!) And the lovely patio area was perfect for family and friends to mingle outside and take pictures.

Both events were full of laughter, performances, and fun; and were the perfect precursor to the big day!

Wedding + Reception
For the wedding day, Mayank and I looked at several venues – from country clubs to hotels and old historic sites. Luckily we had a similar vision of what we wanted. We fell in love in LA and have so many wonderful memories there so we knew we wanted to get married there. When we visited the Marina del Rey Marriott we instantly liked with the rooftop view of the city and energetic atmosphere of the hotel. It fit our vision of classic with a modern twist, perfectly, and we knew our guests would enjoy the venue as much as we did!

Marina-Del-Rey-Marriott-Indian-Wedding-Venue — The front of the Marriott Marina del Rey – an upscale hotel, minutes from Venice Beach.

Wedd(1739) — Enjoy 360-degree views of LA

We couldn’t have asked for more professionalism throughout – from visiting the venue, to negotiating contracts. They were meticulous in taking care of all of our needs. And they are very experienced in South Asian weddings. They knew the ins and outs. Then even reserved a separate space for me to do the Gauri pooja.

{Surprises Throughout the Day}

On our wedding day, Mayank was (SO sweetly) focused on my happiness and ensuring I wasn’t stressed. He planned little surprises for me throughout the day. On the hour every hour, he had a handwritten note delivered to me with the sweetest messages. He also had an iPod with my favorite music sent to my room so I could have my favorite songs playing while I was getting ready. When I walked down the aisle with my bridesmaids, he had the theme song to my favorite show, The Office playing! And he bought me diamond earrings as a wedding gift. All those little things made me laugh and smile throughout the day – and I’ll cherishthose little moments for the rest of my life. I thought I was being thoughtful with the surprises I had planned for him during the wedding (i.e. I gave him an Apple Watch with a note telling him not to be late to meet me at the mandap!), but he definitely one upped me ☺. I already knew Mayank was the one for me and his thoughtfulness reinforced my love for him!

{Baraat + Ceremony}

As I mentioned earlier, we incorporated our respective traditions into our ceremony. I changed mid-ceremony per Telegu tradition which is a symbol of a bride’s transition from her parent’s home to her husband’s home.

{Decor}

Our colors were ivory, antique gold and blush rose which went together beautifully throughout our decor. We found fun ways to incorporate our color scheme throughout the wedding such as the custom M&Ms (see Tips section) and napkins with fun facts about our relationship. The planning process was lengthy. We must’ve spent 10 hours with our planner and an additional 20-30 hours ourselves to make our vision a reality. Our vision came to life on the wedding day. Dinner and desserts felt like part of the decor too. The displays and presentation were impeccable!

{Clothes + Jewelry + Mehndi}

Colors: Ivory, antique gold, blush rose

Theme: Classic with a modern twist

Inspiration: Pinterest & wedding planner’s recommendations

Mehndi: Arabic style

I purchased my beautiful bridesmaids, their saris a couple months before the wedding. They were sea foam green and hot pink saris with matching petticoats from Hyderabad. We planned all the details – the jewelry, shoes, hairstyles and their roles throughout the big day! (i.e walking down the aisle, dancing at the baraat, stealing my husband’s shoes).

{Tips}

When planning your wedding, the little things matter and can improve your guest’s overall experience. We did this by adding personal touches like custom Mandy and Mayank M&Ms, personalized napkins and cocktail drinks, and put aside board games for the kids. It’s worth including these additions as our guests really enjoyed them!

ProTip: Brides, don’t shy away from flats for your sangeet/reception – any event where you expect to be dancing the night away. I came out of my reception completely painless and had the time of my life!

{Wedding Video}

{Vendors}

Caterers:
Mantra Cuisine – Cuisine
Ocho Rios Catering – Dessert

Planning + Decor:
Blue Lotus Insights

DJ:
Fusion Sounds

Hair and Makeup:
Beauty by Lishma

Mehndi:
Priti’s Henna Art & Tattoos

Fashion:
Neeru’s

Sari Draping:
Nalli’s

Photography:
Greycard Photography

Cinematography:
Video by Anoop

Officiant:
Srikantha Shastri

Engagement Rings:
Blue Nile

{Vendor Testimonials}

It was a pleasure having our wedding at the Marina del Rey Marriott. They went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed, including spacious complimentary rooms for both my husband and I, so we could get ready comfortably. The staff was hospitable and even assigned us a personal wedding planner who worked with our planner to make sure we were on schedule. We would definitely recommend the venue!

Keith from Ocho Rios Catering was a pleasure to work with. We ended up hiring him to make a three-tiered cake for us as well as host a mini dessert bar for our guests!

Sumit from Mantra Cuisine, worked with us to create an East meets West menu. To this day, we get so many compliments about how delicious the food was! We even have friends hosting parties that are stealing some of our menu items!

Neha and her team from Blue Lotus Insights were amazing! She immediately understood our vision and put us in touch with the right vendors. We had regularly schedule phone calls and a spreadsheet she created for us kept us organized and on budget. Above all else, she and her team are the reason the wedding was so well organized and we stayed on schedule! We would highly recommend her!

Neha was also our decorator. We absolutely fell in love with our mandap, reception stage and centerpieces the minute we saw everything. Blue Lotus Insights was amazing and flawlessly executed our vision into works of art!

Priti Jain did my mehndi. It took over 6 hours, but Priti was a true professional and didn’t get tired once! She and Binal Naik also did a great job putting henna on our guests!

Sandeep from Fusion Sounds was a pleasure to work with. He worked all night to make sure our guests were having a good time. He even came to our rehearsal and talked to our parents to make sure he got the right music for the ceremony.

Nalli’s showed us many different options according to our preferences. After many drapings, I knew I had found the perfect sari!

Neeru’s is such a fun place to shop. I fell in love with my outfit choices the minute I saw them! It was a no-brainer to get my outfits from them.

I think from now on, I want to hire Greycard Photography anytime I need a photographer! Lawrence went above and beyond to make sure he captured every moment at our engagement photo shoot, wedding and reception! I would definitely recommend Greycard’s services!

Anoop and his team stayed the entire wedding day to capture everything from me getting my makeup done to our guests going wild on the dance floor. He created a highlights video and full-length videos for us. Everyone who saw the footage had nothing but compliments for Anoop about how his team was able to capture the happiness of our special day!

Srikantha Shastri executed both the Telugu and Bihari traditions flawlessly. He kept the wedding on schedule, helped the guests following along with the ceremonies and took the time to explain the significance. Above all else, he was humorous and kept the wedding light and fun for everyone!

Blue Nile is a wonderful service. My husband and I designed my engagement ring online. We love our rings and would highly recommend their customer friendly service!