Weddingbee bios

We are an interracial couple, I am half-black/half-white and he is Indian. I am origninally from Miami and he is from Fairfield County, CT. We met in college and started dating senior year when I asked my FI to my sorority formal. He totally swept me off my feet, and we have been together ever since!

Soon after I graduated we spent 2 years in an LDR because I took a job working in Student Affairs for a university in the Middle East. It was a great professional experience, but it meant a lot of 5am Skype conversations, and 11 hour plane flights. It was ok because we knew that we were worth the wait!

He is a 4th year Medical student in Vermont, and I work in HR for a super-awesome tech company in New York. It's still an LDR but not nearly as bad! After we get married we will be moving in with eachother, and potentially moving to a new state all together. It all depends on where the residency match process takes us!

We like to travel, dance, watch Jon Stewart, endlessly joke around, and try new adventures together. Most importantly, he is my very best friend. I think that about sums us up! 

We had known of eachother in passing for a while, and were in a few student organizations together in college.

It all came together when I asked P to my sorority formal. I didn't have a date so I put a list together of everything that I would want. Someone who is:

1. tall enough so that I could wear heels
2. really nice and friendly
3. likes to dance
4. respectful and gentlemanly
5. handsome

2 weeks later he picked me up from "380" where I lived on-campus. He brought flowers and wanted to know what color my dress was so that he could complement my outfit. He was the best date I could have ever asked for. We danced non-stop the whole night. it felt like it was only us on a dance floor filled with my sorority sisters. Then we went out and danced even more!

The next couple weeks we couldn't stop hanging out with eachother. We had lots of indian food, he was my final portrait photography model, we did our homework together, and attended all of the obligatory senior social events. After we graduated we talked on the phone for hours and hours and hours every night. Not soon there after I flew from Miami to meet his family and he flew down to meet mine. It all went pretty fast, but it was such a memorable part of our relationship. I guess when you know, you just know!

This is the first picture we ever took together. It also happens to be our first date!

P asked me for help moving into his apartment in Vermont. He said that one of his professors wanted to have early dinner and that I should dress up and help with the move after dinner. 

We got there an hour early and P asked what we should do to kill time. I suggested going to Lake Champlain. P knew I was going to suggest that. He said he had to give me the anniversary present that he made. He found a spot on the grass and started going through a scrapbook that he made with all of our memories from the past 3 years. The theme was all firsts. "first sunrise", "first date", "first basketball game"

All the while there is a woman taking pictures. I said "this woman is taking pictures of us!" P tells her "no, you think so? I think she is just taking pics of the little kids on the bikes behind us" She starts talking to the kids, I acquiesced, "oh ok, that makes sense!" he continues with the scrapbook.

On the last page, he stops. "Wait, im sorry, the grass is really wet, I am sorry to ruin the moment, but we should get up." I stand up and P gets down on one knee, he tells me to look at the last page. It's a picture of the ring that he had in his hand. I don't remember the details or what he said after that but I am sure that said I said YES!

Here are a couple of pro pics of the moment!

I am having a Hindu and Catholic ceremont which means multiple wedding dresses! Let's start with how I found the catholic wedding dress.

I live in New York, but I don't have any of my family here, so despite all the dress selections available in NYC I decided to fly back home to Miami to go dress shopping. My family and my maid of honor joined me as we went through at least 50 dresses at 12 different shops. It was a great time! I did miss having my little sister there, but I kept her updated with lots of decision making phone calls and sending pictures her way!

In Miami, the main wedding dress strip is called "Miracle Mile" in Coral Gables and I remembered when I was little just looking at all the pretty dresses in the windows.

In terms of color I was always about the ivory, but for shilouette I kept on going back and forth between a form fitting "fit and flare" style and the bigger a-line/princess type ballgown. I also went back and forth in terms of what I was willing to pay. think:: "There's no way I would pay that much for a dress":::"Wait, this dress is beautiful and you only get married once in your life, who cares how much it costs":::"But this dress is a quarter of what I saved!":: Yes it was an emotional time for me and my pocketbook.

The Bridal Shop, "Sasha's Bridal Boutique" where I ended up buying my dress was amazing. I also cannot wait to work with Sasha in the months coming up to my Catholic ceremony. The shop leaned more towards the Indie bride side, and the one that I picked was designed by Peppermint Pretty, an independent designer that even has her own etsy shop. I love that the dress is modern but also has a vintage feel. It also feels amazing on. I felt like a princess everytime I tried it on.

In terms of alterations it's a bit too low cut for my tastes so I will be sewing up the bodice a bit. It will be made to my size so that should be it. I can't wait for it to come in. Here it is!

I really don't wear jewelry at all, but I love my enagement ring. P had it designed by a jeweler in India. After secretly corresponding via email with the jeweler, he had his uncle fly the gem from Bombay to the US. It arrived just hours before the proposal! I'm still getting used to having a rock on my finger, but I absolutely love it. :)

It took a while to find a venue, my FIL's and myself did a lot of scouting to find the right place. They actually did most of the legwork. I think we called 45 places combined and visited about 15. Several "venue weekends" driving up and down CT and NY! Looking back it was actually pretty fun, but very time consuming. 

Even though the wedding was more than a year out, most places did not have a Saturday available. That's ok, but I was surprised. Are people booking these things 2 years in advance in the Northeast?!

What I hated about all of these venue places was the lack of diversity in so many of the photographs and marketing collateral. Everyone in all of the wedding photos seemed to be skinny, Christian, and white. I also got sick of sifting through all the photos of couples kissing on all of the venue websites. I don't care that they are in love, I want to know what the venue looks like! 

We were originally going to go with Sunday April 15th, but we ended up moving the date to Monday May 28th on Memorial Day weekend. We are having a full-on Indian wedding, and this date gives us plenty of time for all the other functions: the sangeet, mendhi and everything in-between.

We shortlisted 3 places, and finally selected the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, NY. It is an absolutely gorgeous venue, has an impeccable reputation for service, and the ceremony room has got to be the best in all of Westchester. It is also located near a park, which is perfect for the bharat: the parade that my wonderful groom will arrive with!

My FIL's planned an AMAZING engagment party at their home. It was great that so many of my family members were able to drive in from all around New England. I was really happy to have both of my families in the same place for the first time. 

There was a cremony were our family and friends blessed us with a tika and had us eat mithai, again, and again and again. The girls also symbolically put make up on me, and people presented gifts and well wishes to me an P. I felt like a princess.

Lots of gifts!

My aunt giving P his tika right before his mithai

Our take on my favorite Bollywood movie "Rab Ne Bani Di Jodi"