{About Poonam and Jayson}
Jayson proposed to Poonam the day she returned from a trip to Shanghai. When she arrived at LAX and neither he nor her family were there to pick her up she was disappointed…until a limo, stocked with champagne and notes from Jayson, whisked her away to an unforgettable day. Their whole proposal is worth the read!
In addition to the proposal, Poonam shared some great advice for e-sessions and now we’ve got their full South Asian wedding to share! We caught up with Poonam for all the deets on how she made decisions, her favorite wedding week moments and more!
Inside:
- Details: venue, clothes, decor and more.
- ProTips throughout the article: tips from couples who have gone through the wedding planning process.
- Wedding professionals list: a list of all the companies involved in their wedding.
{Selecting the Venue}
- outdoor wedding
- different venue site for each event
- capacity to host 480 at the ceremony; 600 at the reception
We loved the Hilton! It’s a great space and an awesome venue. We liked the multi-levels that the hotel offered so every event felt special. My vidhi was on the 1st floor, wedding on 5th and reception on the 2nd, so even though we were at the Hilton the entire time, each event had a new feel to it. And the suites they gave Jayson and I were AMAZING – great places to hang out with our bridal party and we even took our pre-reception pics in the Presidential Suite.
Learn more and get a quote for the Hilton Anaheim on ShaadiShop.
{Poonam’s Clothes}
Mehndi outfit – I wanted something lime green and love the idea of a high low dress so you could see my feet while the artist was applying mehndi.
Vidhi outfit – traditional Pithi colors – hot pink and yellow
Sangeet lehenga – dark purple and coral
Wedding lehenga – I didn’t want a full red outfit but rather chose to go with ivory with gold embroidery and a red veil
Reception gown – I wanted a red gown to contrast with the greenery of the decor. It was a glam Indian look designed and created by Archana at Manshaa, in Cerritos.
Besides the reception gown, all of my clothes were custom-made by Annu from Annu’s Creation in India. Both designers went above and beyond! I worked on my clothes for almost 9 months, creating all of the different looks and everything came out exactly how I wanted!
ProTip: Think of the whole day – clothes that aren’t super heavy. Consider weather (my wedding was peak summer so we did sleeveless blouses for the bridesmaids), and colors they felt comfortable wearing.
Guys are easy – just have them match the girls. ☺
ProTip: Definitely think through what your décor will look like so the outfits don’t clash. Nice pop of color against something more neutral I think makes a bigger statement than big bold colors.
{Wedding Party Clothes}
{Officially A Bride}
After I was ready for the ceremony, when I saw myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe it was me, lol! That’s when it really hit me that I was getting married, my stomach turned for a mili-second but then I was ready to marry the love of my life. My makeup artist, Linh Nguyen of Dolled up by Lulu, has become family now. She helped me relax as she got me ready.
{First Look}
Instead of me walking towards Jayson, our photographer, Braja Mandala of Braja Mandala Photography, suggested that I wait at the end of the aisle (runway) and have him walk up to me. Even though there were so many people around witnessing that moment, I still felt that moment was ours. He looked amazing and I couldn’t wait to hug him!
Working with Braja and Gene from our e-session to the wedding week, they became extended family to us and captured some of the most amazing moments ever. They’re such great people with amazing energy to have around. Their work is unique and memorable in addition to it being a pleasure to work with them.
Avec Lumiere! Again, family! We had such a great time with Duc and his cinematography team! Our same day edit is out of this world and makes me cry every time I watch it. (See more of their work in the ShaadiShop Vendor Directory).
{Decor}
Vidhi – pinks and yellows
Sangeet – BRIGHT colors and Rajasthani umbrellas
Wedding – softer lavender with light oranges and pinks. Very light daytime with accents of boxwood walls, big paper flowers and hints of gold
Reception – we wanted boxwood. We had it at all the tables, the backdrop, even the table cards. We went a little boxwood bananas…and loved it! Color-wise we went with deeper and darker pinks and darker purples with lots of candles and gold.
Bridal & Event Lounge (BEL) did an amazing job! Not only are they coordinators but decorators too. It was a true benefit to work with one company. Lindsey not only understood my vision from the moment we started working together but she made it 100 times better. She never looked stressed even when I was freaking out! Learn more about BEL in the ShaadiShop Vendor Directory.
Sangeet Decor
Ceremony Decor
Reception Decor
{Our Logo}
Our logo is a combo of our initials melded together, forming an infinity symbol. We displayed it everywhere.
{Desserts}
Food and dessert were a priority for us. We went with a large selection and variety. From fryer-fresh mini donuts to vodka pani puri! We also served kulfi in cute little Indian pots (‘matkas’). Jay Bharat catered all of the events except the reception which was catered by Mantra Cuisine and they both did an incredible job!
Mid-ceremony snack to beat the heat: Baskin Robbins ice cream. You can never go wrong with thandi thandi ice cream in the summer!
We saved the largest variety for last. At our reception our best dessert display had over 1000 delicious and gorgeous mini desserts from Tasty Temptations Creations – Keith hooked us up! He’s PHENOMENAL! Keith created mini desserts as well as our cake. So yummy so fresh so amazing. LOVE YOU KEITH!
{Epic Baraat}
{Welcome Party, Ten Asian, NB}
We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful kick off party hosted by Jayson’s parent’s best friends at Ten Asian Bistro in Newport Beach. This was one of my favorite events as we started the week with our closest family and friends. So much fun – no agenda, just dancing and enjoying.
{Pithi Ceremonies}
{Mehndi Ceremonies}
Neha from Neha Assar Artistry did my mehndi. What do you say about the greatest mehndi artist ever?!?
My mehndi had:
- leopard print
- our locker # from high school
- “Jay $” – Jayson’s signature
- golf gear
- Om sign
- Last but definitely not least, the most amazing Ganesh I’ve ever seen
She took her time and brought my wedding mehndi dreams to life. I wish it stayed on forever! Learn more about Neha Assar Artistry in the ShaadiShop Vendor Directory.
{Sangeet}
{Wedding Ceremony}
{Reception Highlights}
Jayson’s surprise dance at the reception was definitely a shocker. He and his two cousins had been sneaking away all summer to rehearse and the parents, not knowing what they were up to, were so annoyed as it was a busy time with planning etc. After the dance they all went and apologized for being so absent, needless to say all was forgiven.
We had 600 guests at our reception and DJ Sandeep Kumar kept the party going all night! The floor was shaking for 5 hours. People thought there was an earthquake. All the parents stayed on the dance floor as the music was just amazing. It was exactly what we wanted!
{Vidai}
It was such a surreal moment saying “goodbye”. The meaning behind a vidai is so special and something you can’t understand until you do it. Saying goodbye to my grandmother…that’s when I truly lost it.
{More ProTips and Ideas}
ProTip: If you want to be “showered with petals” at the end of your ceremony as you walk down the aisle, I suggest using marigold petals or smaller petals – turns out really cool looking in pictures vs. rose petals.
ProTip: Bring a copy of your wedding invitation with you so the photographer can take professional photos of it.
Idea: Ask your florist to box up the flowers from centerpieces and deliver to a local nursing home. My grandmother is in a nursing home so we took them to her nursing home after the events and made little bouquets in styrofoam cups for all the rooms – such a small thing but can make the day of the seniors that live there.
ProTop: Appoint someone on each side, outside of your parents and immediate family, to be a point of contact for the coordinator. My maid of honor was CLUTCH as were both of our Best Men. They handled things (most of the time without us even knowing) so we could stay in the moment. Invite them to vendor meetings so they know who they will be working with. Was a great help to have extra help during the craziness.
ProTip: We put our logo and hashtag on almost everything and encouraged everyone to use the Wedpics app. We have over 1000 pics on there from guests that we would never have gotten otherwise.
{Wedding Vendors}
Dessert
Keith Tucker, Tasty Temptations Creations
Catering
Jay Bharat & Mantra Cuisine
Cinematography
Avec Lumiere
Fashion
Annu, Annu’s Creations, India, Reception gown: custom designed by Archana, Manshaa
DJ + Lighting
Sandeep Kumar
Hair/Makeup
Linh Nguyen, Dolled up by Lulu
Mehndi
Neha Assar Artistry
Pandit
Pandit Sarlaben Rajyor
Photography
Braja Mandala Photography
Venue
Hilton Anaheim
Coordinator
Lindsey, Bridal & Event Lounge
3 thoughts on “Big Gujarati Wedding!”