Nandini Hingoranee lives and works in Dubai. Her husband Manoj Lakhiani is a businessman and they met when she was in the second year of college Coincidentally, they were also in the same school but didn't know each other then! Nandini and Manoj had a destination wedding on 27th April in the land of sun, sand and surf – Goa. They chose the Cidade de Goa Beach Resort in North Goa for all the wedding functions. The wedding functions were spread over 3 days-- between 25th and 27th April. Nandini shares her experience of being a beach-perfect bride.

What I wore for the different wedding functions

25th April

Our wedding functions commenced with a Barbecue Party by the beachside. For this function I wore a white pleated chiffon tube dress with a Swarovski crystal encrusted belt. Since the function was on the beach I wanted to feel very cool, comfortable and relaxed. I wore minimum jewellery-- a diamond hoop earrings in white gold and square diamond bracelets.

Barbecue Party

26th April

The mehendi function commenced at 11 am and went on till 4 pm. For this function I wanted to look different and opted for a mix of the ethnic and modern look. I wore a silk and brocade one-piece halter dress. The bustier was bottle green brocade with gold and silver thread work and antique zardozi embroidery. The bottom of the dress was a shaded maroon and rust orange. I teamed the outfit with antique gold jewellery inlaid with green minakari and kundan, a matching antique gold thick 'kadda' and gold & diamond bangles. ]

Mehendi

The Sangeet and Engagement ceremonies were on the same night. For this function I wore a turquoise blue corset with a lehenga by Neeta Lulla. The corset was made of stretch net with a lining of sequined fabric. The corset was encrusted with diamante crystals embroidered on handmade net flowers. The lehenga had a lot of texture made from chantilly lace in white, silver and gold. I carried a net stole with chantilly edged with diamante crystals. My jewellery was a diamond set with aquamarine stones and a princess cut diamond bracelet in white gold.

Sangeet and Engagement

27th April

We had an afternoon Hindu wedding ceremony. I wanted to go for a completely traditional look and wore a Gujarati style gharchola lehenga in deep red and gold with mango and lotus motifs in zardosi. I carried 2 dupattas – one was a heavy gold tissue dupatta that was draped around the lehenga, the other was a deep red net dupatta with delicate gold embroidery and gotta work for covering the head. With this I wore an uncut diamond set with traditional earrings, a maang tikka, the suhaag chudas and uncut diamond bangles.

Wedding

The reception

For the reception I wanted a very contemporary and stylish look and chose an Anjalee & Arjun Kapoor creation– a corset and tight fitting lehenga in mermaid style in shaded pink. The outfit had a lot of stones and crystal in different shades of pink and highlights in gold and silver.

Reception

My wedding shopping
I purchased all my wedding clothes from Mumbai. My jewellery was bought from Mahesh Notandas Jewellers in Mumbai and Liali Jewellery in Dubai. My uncut diamond set was from Jaipur.

Hair and Makeup
My make-up and hair for all the functions was done by the very famous Neomi Barnetto from Goa. She runs several salons in Goa and gave me a unique and different look for all the functions. I had a natural look for the day functions and used minimal foundation. For the reception I opted for a more glamorous look with crystals around my eyes. I wanted to focus on my eyes and Neomi enhanced them perfectly.

My advice for Brides-to-be

You should be very comfortable with what you'll be wearing on your wedding day – especially the shoes and clothes. Do try the clothes and shoes before hand. Remember you need ultra comfortable shoes as you will be standing and moving around most of the time. Wedding planning is taxing. Whether you have 1 year or 6 months or 3 months to plan your wedding it will be very stressful. So try to be very flexible with your ideas, choices and try to go with the best options available. Lastly, enjoy yourself to the maximum. This day will never come back! You will never get so much attention again in your life! And don't worry if something's gone awry, even the most elaborately planned weddings encounter some difficult or tense moments!!