We live in Bradford, UK. After a two year courtship Mitesh proposed to me at a local shopping centre- The Trafford Centre on a big screen whilst we were finishing an after-shopping meal... since it was a public proposal I was really embarrassed. We had a grand engagement party in July 2009.

Convincing Parents
I had always wanted a small personal wedding, with just close family since I’m a little shy and I get uncomfortable with attention. Mitesh and his family are quite the opposite. After discussing our ideas with our families, what was clear is that Mitesh and I wanted a destination wedding; but our parents were apprehensive about how we would manage the logistics aspect. So they were not too keen on the idea. But later Mitesh's father supported our plans and convinced our mothers too. And so I began my search for that one person who could make my dreams come true.

Wedding Planners—Big Disappointment
While everyone talks about how Wedding Planners in India make things easy for brides and grooms—my experience with them was hugely disappointing. I contacted many wedding planners through Google. A few didn’t even have the courtesy to send a reply, and some didn’t even send a good response—they were just vague or didn’t sound enthusiastic—and I wondered how anyone could trust them with managing the arrangements for the most important day of their life. While initially I was not clear about the theme or place, later I was clear I wanted a Beach Wedding only, so I continued my search for a Wedding Planner who could help with this.

Weddings and Dreams
When I contacted Goa-based Weddings and Dreams, its promoter Lester Melo responded straight away. He didn’t ask much on email but took the effort to call me at a time convenient to me... Within an hour of speaking to Lester I was convinced I could have a beautiful Beach wedding in Goa. And I knew Lester could organize everything well. I explained to Lester that I was from a traditional Gujarati family and I needed everything to be organized for the traditional festivities too. He reassured me thanks to his earlier experience of organizing weddings for traditional Gujarati families. So I left everything to him.

Goa
We arrived in Goa four days before the wedding. On 9th April we had our Mehendi at the Charlston Hotel. There was singing, dancing and even the traditional Gujarati dandiya-raas. The food was amazing and everyone enjoyed the colorful evening.

On 10th April we had our wedding pheras at the Taj Holiday Village, Goa. We decided to go for a sunset wedding on the moon-deck to capture the romantic side of Goa. Mitesh arrived at the venue on an elephant followed by a baraat and dhol players. I arrived on a beautiful, traditional Dholi. The traditional Gujarati ceremony then began. Whilst the ceremony took place the guests were entertained by sitar players and refreshing fruit platters. Post the wedding we had a small party and the night ended with fireworks.

I have lived in Bolton all my life. Me and my two brothers were brought up by my single mother who worked really hard to give us a good life and education. Mitesh also grew up in Bradford. I work as a teacher and Mitesh is a Service Delivery for BT in Leeds.