Pravina and Amrit, Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa, Thailand
Amrit and Pravina wanted to host their nuptials in a place where their families could easily mingle. Peep into their well-planned destination wedding at Thailand's Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa
Hosted in the lush environs of tropical Thailand, Pravina (now Minaya Mirpuri) and Amrit’s wedding celebrations were inspired by their Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, Bollywood and 1920s New York glamour. Here, the practical bride shares some of their special memories.
How We Met
“I come from St. Maarten, which is an island country in the Caribbean, while Amrit is from Accra, Ghana. Both of us happened to enroll ourselves in the same university in London, UK, and that is where we first met. What’s funny is that we didn’t know each other until the last semester of our courses. So despite having lived in the same city during the same time period, our relationship has largely been a long-distance one because we moved back to our home countries after we graduated.”
Wedding Planning
“Amrit and I got engaged in December 2015, and wed in July 2017. The extended gap between the two events gave us ample time to plan out all the details of the wedding. Given the fact that both of us were based out of two different countries and were planning to host a wedding in a third country that neither of us had lived in, this prolonged planning period was more than welcome.”
“Since the wedding was in Thailand we were clear that we wanted a Thailand-based wedding planner. After a lot of consideration, we decided that Magnificence Events was the best choice for us, and they did not disappoint. Our wedding was shot by Colomono who are based out of Malaysia, and my makeup was taken care of by Makeovers by Sejal. We were extremely happy with the work that both the teams did.”
“Since St.Maarten is a very small island, there is not much to shop as far as clothing is concerned. Therefore, to select the outfits for my wedding functions I flew down to Mumbai. The rest of my trousseau was bought online from various websites based in the UK and US. Prior to my visit to India, I became a heavy Instagram user! In fact, a lot of my outfit inspirations came from there. We made two visits to India during the wedding planning phase. Thankfully for me, I am a quite decisive shopper so all of my wedding outfits were done within two days. I knew what I wanted to wear and the color combinations I had in mind, so as soon as I saw each of my outfits I knew that this was it. I didn’t want to spend around $14,000 on high-end designer outfits that I wouldn’t wear more than once in my entire life. Instead, I invested in jewellery that would last me a lifetime. My wedding set was from Jet Gems while all my other jewellery was from Malkish Jewelers. As far as Thailand was concerned, we made only one visit before the wedding where I had my makeup trial, alcohol tasting, food tasting, and production meetings.”
Wedding Venue
“Some of the key factors that I had in mind while choosing a property for the wedding were the size of the venue, its proximity to the city and most importantly the view. Having grown up on a Caribbean island, I have an affinity towards beaches. Therefore, I wanted a resort that was on a beachfront so that even our guests could wake up every morning to an idyllic sight. The venue had to be intimate as most of it would be occupied by our families and mingling with the other side would become easy for everyone. Having it at a slightly secluded spot would ensure that everyone spent time with everyone else instead of heading out into the city. Keeping all these points in mind, Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa proved to be our ideal wedding location.”
Wedding Function
Engagement
“Since this was the first ceremony of our wedding celebrations, the theme for our engagement dinner was ‘Welcome to Thailand’. Staying true to the inspiration for this function, both of us entered the venue with native fire dancers on either side. Even the cocktails at the event were synchronized with the theme. While red, gold and black were the colors that adorned the poolside, the portico where the ritual took place and the pathway to it that ran over the pool was definitely the highlight of the decor.
My engagement look was a midnight blue lehenga saree with rose gold and silver work. I fell in love with this outfit because of the draping of the skirt which had a fishtail bottom and it was ideal for the event and location. Following the engagement dinner, we hosted the #AMPM Official Afterparty which had an Afro-Caribbean theme as a nod to the countries from where Amrit and I hail from. We flew down the best DJ in the Caribbean to play for this event. All of the bartenders wore rasta caps, and the decor for the venue had a funky vibe to it.”
Mehndi & Sangeet
“The evergreen Bollywood hit ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ was the theme for this function. We wanted the colors to be reminiscent of the iconic ‘sarson ke khet’ (mustard fields) in the film! Therefore, yellow, green and pink were used for the decor. The bar was shaped like a truck and I entered on a cycle rickshaw decorated with flowers. For the finale, we did a ‘Boys vs Girls Dance Off’ on the ‘Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna’ song for which Amrit and I chose eight of our best friends. This performance was a hit amongst the guests and we too had a great deal of fun on the stage! For this function, I wore a purple lehenga that featured pink floral embroidery with an off-shoulder velvet top and finished the look with a pink ‘oodhni’ (dupatta or stole).
Wedding
“The wedding was called ‘AP Thai the Knot’ and the colors we chose for this special function were purple, white and gold. The ceremony took place atop a hill and the vibe was rather magical. I chose a pink lehenga since I did not want a standard red lehenga like most brides wear, and preferred something which was a little different from the usual.”
Reception
“The reception was inspired by famous book and movie ‘The Great Gatsby’. The hotel’s ballroom featured colossal drapes in gold and black. In contrast, my outfit was a custom-made white and gold ball gown. I wanted a white dress so that I could incorporate a little bit of the Christian wedding style into my reception entrance. I entered to the tunes of ‘Here comes the bride’ on my father’s arm as Amrit waited to receive me on the dance floor. Then, my dad shook hands with him and officially handed me over to my husband.”
Wedding Makers
Location: Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa, Thailand
Wedding Planner: Magnificence Events (Thailand)
Decor: Design by Nipon
Bride’s Outfits: Friendship Sarees, Mumbai (Engagement, Mehndi & Sangeet, Wedding)
Bride’s Jewellery: Jet Gems, Mumbai (Wedding) Malkish Jewelers, Mumbai (Engagement, Sangeet, Reception)
Makeup: Makeovers by Sejal
Invitations: IKON Cards (Mumbai)
Choreographer: BollyWed Dance
Photographer: Colomono (Malaysia)
