Real Weddings: A Spectacular South Indian Style Wedding

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Bride Namita Murty describes her spectacular South Indian Iyer wedding, documented by Mehul of Mehul Chimthankar Photography in our real weddings feature.. N&V_Sangeet_0368

Bride & Groom: Namita Murthy and Vijay Iyer

Date of Engagement: 14th February – Valentine’s Day

Date of wedding: 15th Feb 2013

How we met: We were working together; being in HR by profession I had made his offer letter and completed his joining formalities at work.

My First impression of him: I found him cute and charming.

His first impression of me: He found me pretty and his first thoughts were: I have to try my luck with this girl!!

mandap

Wedding theme/colors: Ours was a typical Iyer wedding so the main color was golden with rich Silk saris. My makeup artist, Shilpa Pise, had advised me to go for  Pink or Yellow, so my main wedding sari was Pink, and for the rituals I required a typical Iyer wedding sari (which is  a 9-yard sari called  Madisar) which was  maroon in color.

Wedding PhotographerMehul Chimthankar

adorned with flowers

Dress and jewelry: We decided to go completely traditional with the wedding ceremony, clothes as well as the jewelry. The saris were purchased mostly from south Bangalore, Angadi Silks (Jayanagar 5th Block). They have a huge collection of Silk saris. I received some beautiful Saris from my in-laws as well; those were from Nalli Silks in Hyderabad. The reception Ghagra and my Mehendi sari were from Baroda (a shop named VEEVAA in Alkapuri), they have a exclusive range of wedding collection of designer wear saris for women, and they also have good shewanis for men. My Mehendi sari was paired with a halter neck blouse, and you can get a great collection from the same place in designer blouses.

daddy's girl

My ring and the Gold/Diamond Jewelry were mostly from TANISHQ but TBZ also has a great collection of wedding jewelry including bindis, bangles, and venis. I needed one as I required a traditional South Indian look. I bought it from Bhavani stores in Gandhibazar Bangalore. For Imitation jewelry Rathod Jeweleries on Laxmi road had real good stuff.

Wedding venue and why you chose it?-Chandani Lawns in Pune, on NDA road has a great hill top view of the city. We found this place to be very romantic. They have half the area covered where you can have the wedding and the remaining half opens out to the sky where you can have the reception: it was the perfect place!

up

Most memorable part of the wedding-The entire wedding was memorable, but let me pick a few things: The exchange of garlands was very memorable. I have 4 very tall brothers and when I say tall- I mean all 6 ft, and they picked me up and I was almost touching the sky! Vijay could hardly reach me to put the garland. We have a nice picture taken by Mehul..The Ghodi came a little late so the baarat came when we were half married ….

exchanging garlands

 

horse

Sangeet and Mehendi– South Indians usually don’t have a sangeet function but we had a choreographed dance session. Vijay and I are known for ‘weirdness’, so we had to choose a weird song. “Dreamum wakepum” from the movie “Aiyya!” was the song we decided to dance on, and there were a few other cheesy love songs. It was a lot of fun.The group dances were all done by our friends and relatives, and I was amazed by the fact that almost everyone that I asked agreed to dance.

Hair and Makeup-I had to choose a makeup artist who would be able to make me look like a typical South Indian bride, and at the same time I didn’t want to look like a Bhartnatyam dancer, I feel, Shilpa Pise (9890618862) did an excellent job with the hair and the flowers, and for the mehendi I needed a stylish look and even in that aspect she was wonderful!

getting ready

Shoes: Mochi has a good collection of shoes for traditional Indian weddings.

feature

Any advice for other brides-to-be:

  • You get married only once in your life so, trust me, you need to look the best you can, and have the best pictures which can be preserved for a lifetime. So make sure you do your own research on the makeup artist and the photographer. In my case, I knew Mehul but I did go through his portfolio before I spoke to him. Even with Shilpa, I had seen a few pictures of the brides she had worked on and decided to go ahead with her after doing so. She also gave me a trial makeup session. One must not try to save money on these things as they are very important.
  • Try to spend some time relaxing at home at least for 10-15 days before the wedding, to keep stress to a minimal. This is sure to give you a natural glow and will help clear your face.
  • Don’t keep anything for the last minute; make sure you are prepared in advance.
  • Pre bridal packages in the salon are not of much use. Get facial treatment a few days before the ceremonies to keep breakouts to a minimum.
  • Make sure you buy and pack all the things on your own, so that there is no confusion on the wedding day.
  • Remember it’s your day- so make the most of it!

weddingsonline wishes Namita and Vijay the very best in their married life!

(All images courtesy: Mehul Chimthankar)

If you want your wedding to be featured in our real weddings section, please get in touch with Dipa at [email protected].

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