We love destination weddings and beach weddings at sunset in a place like Goa are particularly irresistible. All love stories are special and this one even more so. Archana and Prateek met 6 years ago and just knew that they were meant to be together. This is the quintessential love story every girl dreams of-so read on and get inspired! All photographs by our very own Photoalchemy team. (The entire event was also completely enabled by the photographer (Priyanka Daga) who happens to be the sister of the groom).
Bride and groom
Archana Suresh & Prateek Daga
We met
In a pub called
Loveshack, six years ago, at a common friend’s birthday party
Our wedding theme/colours
It was a beach wedding that took place in South Goa. Since it was an inter-cultural wedding, we incorporated elements of both the Tamil and Marwari culture. 
My dresses
I purchased my North Indian wedding outfits from boutiques across Kolkata and my traditional Kanjeevaram saree for the Kashiyathra and Muhurtham from stores in Chennai.
My hair and make up
His suit
Prateek and his sister (Priyanka Daga) designed his sherwanis and suits .
What our bridal party wore
Since I am a Tamil brahmin, my family extensively stuck to traditional kanjeevaram sarees but kept it fresh and colourful keeping the beach theme in mind.
Our ceremony
We had a traditional Kashiyathra and Oonjal according to the Tamil tradition, where I had to wear a 9 yards saree and Prateek had to wear a gold embroidered veshti. In the evening we got married the traditional Marwari way with the pheras. For this ritual, I chose a fusion outfit because I wanted to add a bit of my culture into it as well. So I went for a tradition pink saree but also wore a red dupatta over my head. Prateek wore a traditional aqua sherwani.
We chose our photographer because
We chose our venue because
Our ceremony took place at
Planet Hollywood, Goa because the property is gorgeous, was in close proximity to the airport and it just fitted the idea we had in mind. Prateek and I had always wanted a beach wedding and ensured that our mandap was right in front of the beach for the gorgeous effect when the ceremony took place at sunset.
Our menu
We had an extensive array of different cuisines across the world. Since we had people coming in from all parts of the country, the hotel management was kind enough to ensure that everyone’s dietary preferences were tended to.
Our honeymoon
We always wanted to do New Zealand! We didn’t want the cliched European honeymoon or a beach destination. Prateek is huge on adrenaline sports (sky diving, bungee jumping etc.). I’m a culture/food buff, so we decided that New Zealand would be the apt destination. We went on a 21 day honeymoon covering both North and South Islands. New Zealand has the best food and we had the best Indian/Thai/European food there. We drove through the entire country as we had always wanted to do a road trip.
My favourite part of the wedding day 
My favorite part of the wedding day was chilling with my family before the baraat reached the wedding venue. We were all relaxed, ate pav bhaji and everyone was giving me their take on what marriage is all about. That’s something that was very memorable to me.
My piece of advice for other brides
Just relax, because you cannot get to relive this day. Don’t fret too much about how you look and just be in the moment. And do be nice to all your guests, because they’ve all taken time out of their busy schedules to be there with you that day.
