My husband tells me, I do my own version of the national anthem stance for every wedding and bride I come across. If I could salute the couple and get away with not looking silly, I’d probably do that too 😃. Let’s just say he likes to think he’s funny and maybe he’s a lil right too . Pfft 😁.
When I came across today’s bride, to say my jaw hit the floor is an understatement .Heard of them flawless skin and sharpest cheekbones ever? Today’s bride is all of that with a gorgeous personality as well. And not to forget, she’s also a forensic scientist at the NYPD. It’s funny how the minute I heard NYPD, all I could think of was the gazillion sitcoms and movies I had seen 😎.Now one of my most favorite things about being a blogger is getting to meet women from different walks of life . It is enormously important to celebrate women pursuing different vocations and passions because it truly is inspiring.
Meet our breathtaking bride and groom, Lina and Robin . For their engagement, Lina stepped out in a royal blue and gold sari from Sareez,U.S.A. If you look closely you’ll see that the saree has portions of deep blue velvet intertwined with golden lace and scalloped borders which is quite different and never seen before . I personally think scalloped borders will be ruling bridal wear trends for some time to come. So if you’re looking for unique alternatives to straight cut designed hems and borders or you just want it to look different and add some texture, scalloped edging is your best bet.
Now there’s nothing more that I love than a bride who chooses to look different and decides to put a little bit of herself into her wedding day ensemble. It is this wedding dress that made me reach out to this stunner. It’s something I’ve never seen before on a bride and I was so curious to know what inspired her to choose such a different little number. For her wedding, our belle went with an embroidered white and silver jacket lacha from Nazrana, USA. The blouse is embellished with crystal stones while the sleeves are of lace, hand stitched with floral embroidery and pearls.
The lacha skirt also has a breathtaking court train. Now for my newbies, a court train is a style of train which is usually 2 foots of fabric. This is great option for bride’s who definitely want the drama of a train, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of something more elaborate, like a cathedral train.
You’ll also see that Lina’s ensemble has influences of Pakistani wedding Lachas. Our stunner mentioned to me, growing up she had a lot of Pakistani friends and how she had always loved their wedding looks. So on her big day, she pulled out a page from her memory and chose to go with something that she always loved and reminded her of her childhood memories ❤️. I guess its fair to say, all her special memories were captured in this lacha. And speaking of captures, all of their stunning-ness was captured by the very talented Smoke Weddings,Kochi.
She also hand picked out this gorgeous white and silver beaded headpiece from Anna Campbell,Australia and chose to wear it in a halo style to create a whimsical medieval look. And my most favorite bit about the ensemble is yet to come. Remember the blue gown Cinderalla wore on her magical night with Prince Charming💑?. Lina inculcated a little bit of all those childhood stories too into her wedding 🔥. On a personal request, she specifically asked the designer to dye the crystals on the gown to pale blue to give that Cinderalla glow. Sadly, the glow isn’t visible in photos but in real life it was all there 😍.
Her stunning makeup and hair do was done by the very popular Van Kris . Our bride couldn’t stop raving about her and its easy to see why. She personally mentioned it to me that she’d chose Vandhana a 100 times over ❤️. I’m guessing all you brides to be know who to be calling on your big day.
Another personal favorite of mine is the wedding bouquet 🌹🌹. I love how the white roses are surrounded by a circle of red roses . A bride carrying flowers has its roots set in ancient times and each flower symbolizes something different. While white roses are a symbol of unity and virtue, the red stands for true love. I love that she chose to bring in both these meanings into her big day .
For the wedding, our groom was all suited up in a light gray suit and waistcoat along with a crisp white shirt and tie. A huge shout out to the red pocket square and boutonniere he’s sporting. I absolutely adore it when men step out in boutonnieres. Robin definitely scores on the groom-o-meter 🔥. Psst, also look at how dreamily he looks at our stunner 😍.
The décor for their wedding was done down to the notch just as Lina envisioned it by Celesta Events,Kottayam. With white and accents of red and silver being chosen as the theme, the stage was all decked out in flowy white drapings and white and red roses everywhere along with fairy lights and lanterns . Something that stood out to me was Lina mentioning how the décor team never once pushed their own ideas onto her and rather searched for alternatives when something suggested by her couldn’t be worked out. I hope all you décor teams out there and listening carefully 💡.
Now the manthrakodi is a special one by all means for all brides. For Lina , it holds a even more special place as it was hand picked and chosen specially for our beautiful by Robin’s mother. Our dapper groom’s mother wanted to do something special for her which she did by picking out this gorgeous deep royal kancheepuram silk sari with golden thread designs all over . A special surprise was in store with the mom-in law embroidering their names on the palu . It is always the little things we assume the least that hold the strongest places in our hearts ❤️.
Time for my favorite bit. Random couple fact 😍.Something that really struck a chord with me is how Lina spoke to me about falling in love in an arranged marriage. Though it may seem like an arranged marriage isn’t an ideal situation, there are plenty of things you can learn about love and relationships from it. Quoting the bride herself ‘ We started out very traditional and we may not have been in love when we decided to get married but in our courtship we grew from friends to best friends in love, giving us a stronger foundation to build our relationship on. There is something so powerful about not jumping headfirst into passion but rather choosing to move forward with a little bit of faith and holding onto the friendship we build together’.
Often I get to hear that arranged marriage as lacking in choice but there is an element of choice. A choice to willingly marry someone despite knowing that you can walk away and choose someone else. I’ve come to realize that sometimes we need to start thinking of love, as something we do resolutely and consciously rather than a phenomenon that we sit around and wait for to happen to us.
Let’s send this beautiful couple the warmest love and special good vibes for sharing in something so truly resounding about love, shall we 😍?
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Lots of ❤️,
Elza
Epo Kalyanam 