 About the Couple
Brendan, son of Joseph and Barbara O'Brien, was born and raised in Brewster on Cape
Cod, Massachussetts. Mita, daughter of Drs. Kanwal and Geeta Gupta was born and raised in
Islip on Long Island, New York.
How
they Met
"We met after college while both living and working in Boston, through a
mutual friend who introduced us. While we were living in Tarrytown, New York,on September
7, 2002, Brendan brought me to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston for the weekend.
During the game, his proposal came up on the scoreboard, and we were engaged! It was a
wonderful day I will never forget, and the beginning of our future together."
The
Wedding
"We tried to merge our two traditions,
Irish Catholic and Hindu, into a wedding day we would never forget! The festivities began
with a Mehndi party at my mother's house on Thursday evening. On Friday we had the
traditional catholic rehearsal at the church followed by dinner at the Beachtree Cafe in
East Islip.
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The couple made their
own wedding programs for both the Catholic and Hindu |
The favors were small
jewelery boxes from India filled with rose shaped chocolates |
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| Wedding Details
The cake was from the Alpine Bakery- it was a traditional
four-tier yellow
cake with butter cream topping and chocolate mousse filling, decorated with dark purple
and lavender with white flowers.
The food
was catered from Tandoor restaurant in Rego Park, Queens. They did a spectacular job from
the cocktail hour, to the dinner buffet, to a dazzling dessert display complete with
sparklers!
"We danced
our first dance to Van Morrison's "Someone Like You".
Flowers
were done by the Oakdale Flower shop.
Our centerpieces
were three long ivory candles with a base of pink and purple roses.
The favors
were chocolates shaped like roses, in small jewellery
boxes from India, enclosed in a gold or silver pouch. We also had favors of local Long
Island wine for our hotel guests. |
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"Brendan and I were
married on April 12, 2003- First in a Catholic ceremony at St. Mary's Church in East
Islip, NY, and then in a Hindu ceremony at the Wyndham Wind Watch Hotel in Hauppauge, NY,
followed by a Reception."
"The next morning we had a
casual breakfast buffet at the hotel, to say one last goodbye to our guests. We chose the
Wyndham for the elegant atmosphere, their experience with Hindu ceremonies, and because it
was a great hotel which would be convenient for our guests who were traveling to the
wedding."
What
they Wore
"Since we had a short engagement (8 months), we did all of our shopping
in Jackson Heights, Queens. For the Catholic ceremony, I wore an ivory
wedding gown from Paradise Bridals and Tuxedos in Patchogue, NY. The
bridesmaids wore different styles of dresses in black. Brendan and his groomsmen wore
traditional black tuxedos."
"For the Hindu ceremony, I
wore a red lehnga with gold embroidery. Brendan wore a simple white sherwani. The
bridesmaids wore various color lengas, the groomsmen kept on their tuxedos. For the
reception I wore a dark purple lehnga with gold sequins."
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The
Bride's bouquet was made up of white, peach, and lavender roses along with white
stephanotis |
4-tier yellow cake with
butter cream topping and chocolate mousse filling |
"After the
catholic ceremony the wedding party stopped for some extra pictures at the arboretum
nearby. The entertainment for the reception was a DJ, who played a mix of Indian and
American music. Our photographers, Photography by Verdi, were amazing and helped to make
our day go smoothly. They captured every moment and I am so happy we decided to have them
photograph our big day!"
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The
couple took some pictures outside the Wyndham Wind Watch |
Mita on the porch of her
home before the Catholic ceremony |
Wedding Planning Advice
"Our advice to couples planning a wedding is to try to get things squared away
early if possible. It can be a little stressful and busy, but I had the time of my life
planning and enjoying our wedding. Wedding planning allowed me to spend a lot of fun days
with my mother, driving around shopping, having lunch, and doing errands. I also had a
great deal of help from my friends! My maid of honor - Sheela Dwivedi, and one of my
bridesmaids, Corey Karlin, worked with me day and night the weeks before the wedding. Our
friends and family helped to make our day so special."
"I made use
of a lot of online resources like weddingchannel.com, weddingsutra.com, the knot.com for
ideas, as well as word of mouth for recommendations. In some ways it was more fun to get
ideas from friends and try to be original. I think the most important advice is to not
take it all too seriously and enjoy it!" |
