About the Couple
Rinku Patel (25) is from Edison, NJ. An alumni of Rutgers University she is an Accountant and works for one of the "Big Four" in the auditing division.

Amish Patel (29) is from Houston, TX. A chemical engineer from the University of Houston, he works at a large industrial gas company.

How they Met
Says Rinku: "We met in the summer of 2001 at a National Hindu Students Council Camp in NJ, where we were both volunteer coordinators. I was a senior in college in New Jersey while Amish was visiting from Texas. We became good friends during the course of the camp, and besides having spiritual interests we both loved pop culture and Britney Spears!

After a few months of great phone conversations we began liking
each other and our long distance relationship started. Amish flew up to New Jersey on numerous occasions to visit me while I was at Rutgers and after sometime we told our parents about each other. After our families met we were much more comfortable in our relationship."

The Proposal
"We got engaged on September 12, 2003 when Amish secretly flew to New Jersey and with my friends help decorated a friend's apartment with candles and roses. When I walked in he was on his knees, ready to propose! He bought a gorgeous one Carat round diamond set in platinum. And I of course said 'Yes'. We had a pooja to mark the engagement on October 10, 2003 at the Humble Civic Center in Houston, TX with over 200 family and friends present. It was a large party as we didn't expect too many people could fly to NJ for the wedding."

Trousseau Shopping and Wedding Planning
Says Rinku: "I took on the arduous task of planning a big wedding in six months (and I was busy working and getting ready to move to Texas!). Since I didn't have time to go to India for the trousseau, my mother and sister helped me shop at the plentiful Indian stores in Edison, my hometown.

My mom wanted me to wear a traditional gujarati red/white panethar sari. Though initially I was hesitant I instantly changed my mind when I saw a red, gold, and white panetar with a bandhani veil at Khajana Boutique- I bought it right away! And from then on I decided on the Red and Gold theme for the wedding and reception! I also purchased a fabulous gold, sparkly beaded lehenga for the reception. Amish wore a white sherwani with red and gold embroidery for the wedding and a black-tux with a black tie for the reception."

Wedding Ingredients
"We booked the Westin Princeton Hotel for the wedding and reception, as it was large, classy, and offered great discounts for all our out-of-town guests. 

The décor was done by Kalash Decorators  and they did an amazing job: their décor elements included red, white, gold backdrops, a mandap with a large dome and aisle decorations with cute dancing Ganesh murtis connected by decorative lights and gold tulle.

For the centerpieces we had a romantic theme, with dark red roses and votives.

I purchased little white cased candles as party favors. The groom's family gave everyone boxed Gujarati sweets.

Centerpieces and Favors

Venue Decor

Amish and I really wanted to capture our memories with a good
photographer so we chose Iselin based Studio Karishma. They had done some friends' weddings and we loved their pictures!

The catering was done by Chand Palace restaurant. For the lunch we served a typical Gujarati vegetarian meal. The dinner was also vegetarian and the menu included Paneer Tikka Kabab, Khasta Kachori, Malai Kofta, Tava-Vegetables Paneer Moghlai, Vegetable Jalfrezi, Assorted Naan, Patiala Pulao, Dal and some sweets for dessert.

The cake was made by the famous Philadelphia based Masi Bakery. It was 4 tiered, chocolate chip flavored and decorated with white chocolates shavings! It was delicious!

The Bridesmaids at the wedding

The Groom arrives

The American style wedding party
We wanted to involve our friends in the festivities so we had an
American style wedding party. They walked down the aisle during the ceremony before us and were formally introduced to everyone at the reception. My four best girl friends and my sister were the bridesmaids and they prepared an amazing speech (poetry included!) that left us with tears of joy!

My cute neice Maya (3 years old) was the flower girl. Amish's good high school and college friends were his groomsmen and made hilarious speeches, as did his sister. Amish and I had our first dance to Etta James' "At Last" and everyone had a great time at the wedding, and danced the night-away to the music of DJ Shilpa, a fellow RU alumni. She played some Britney Spears too, and everyone watched as Amish tried to imitate her moves!

The best part was that all our friends joined us for an 'after-party' in our two-floor bridal suite! We stayed up all night and had a lot more laughs! The day after Amish and I departed for our honeymoon to Maui and Oahu.

Family Portrait at the Reception

Groom with the Bridesmaids

Cuting the Cake

Wedding Planning advice
We had a great time at the wedding and all the stress was worth it! My advice to brides would be: 'relax and enjoy the day because it flies by. Let other people handle any issues that come up, and that's what friends are for!'

Remember to make lots of lists. The lists on wedding planning sites like WeddingSutra are of great help!