Aarushi and Erik, ITC Grand Bharat, Gurugram

Aarushi and Erik’s wedding was designed to give their foreign guests a taste of authentic India. They hosted the festivities at the majestic ITC Grand Bharat in Gurugram, and each venue lent itself wonderfully to the mood of the functions. The bride gives us glimpses into her big day captured by WeddingSutra Favorite – Shutterink here.

How They Met
“Erik and I met in Stockholm in 2016. We are both lawyers and were both enrolled for the same Masters course at Stockholm University. We started dating within a month and have been together since October 2016.”

The Proposal
“Erik and I lived together for about a year before he proposed. Of course, before any of this could happen, he had to meet my parents. The first time they met, he made Indian food for them, so I guess he scored some brownie points there! He proposed on 31 March, 2018. He hid the ring as a present in an Easter Egg. We had a small ceremony at the Stockholm City Hall in August 2018 followed by an Indian wedding in September.”

Wedding Venue
“The venue for our wedding was ITC Grand Bharat in Gurugram, and it truly is grand!! The property and rooms are gorgeous, and the hospitality was incredible. We had about 40 people from Scandinavia who were awestruck and thrilled. All of the guests stayed at the hotel. The food was amazing as well.”

Wedding Planning
“Kanika Sethi Weddings & Events planned our big day and were a really fun team! The e-invites and the video invitation were also done by Kanika and her team since we wanted to cut down the use of paper. Nitin Dangwal and his team at Shutterink were our wedding photographers, and they were all very patient. The pictures and videos captured are incredible. I found Sohni Juneja on Instagram and she gave me exactly the looks that I wanted! Aastha Arora is a lovely choreographer. She understood our need and talents (or lack thereof haha) and was able to make us feel comfortable dancing. It was a lot of fun to practice and learn with her. My mehndi was applied by Mayuri. She and her team are based in Surat, and their work is detailed and clean. What a DJ Sumit Sethi is! He played at our cocktail party and the after party. I don’t think my parents, or even I, have ever danced this much!”

Wedding Functions

Mehndi
“We wanted our mehndi to be unconventional and youthful with an unmissable Indian touch, so we went with decorations that clubbed origami elements with peacock feathers. A Laughing Buddha and the Hamsa Hand were also a part of the colorful decorations.”

Cocktail Party
“After a vibrant function in the morning, we decided to create a more sophisticated atmosphere for our cocktail party in the evening. The colors for the night were black, white, silver and hints of gold which we used along with beautiful, fresh orchids and candles. This was a lively affair, and Erik and I performed on a dance number too!”

Telbaan
“Next morning we had an intimate telbaan ceremony where all of us happened to have a lot of fun. For the ritual, I wore a yellow kurta with a beautiful bandhani dupatta.”

Pool Party
“After a night of partying, we just wanted everyone to relax. A refreshing combination of yellow and green brought the poolside at ITC Grand Bharat to life, and we had a few activities such as darts and foosball planned for our guests. A live band was invited to perform a mix of Hindi and English music and they set a very chilled out mood, thus making the event a huge hit!

Wedding
“The theme of our wedding revolved around lotuses and our mandap decor was inspired by this flower too. We had a fair number of guests who were not Indians and we wanted them to feel a part of the ceremony. So we got little booklets with the meaning and significance of different rituals printed for them. We asked our priest to keep the ceremony to the point as possible, and he wrapped everything up in 30 minutes!”

After Party
“Once the wedding was over, we just wanted our guests to let their hair down and dance the night away. The vibe here was very casual since the idea was to make everyone as comfortable as possible. I wore a black and white kurta to this event.”

Advice For Couples
“Try not to stress a lot about the little things. Remember, it is your day which you are celebrating with the people you love, and that is what matters the most! Also, hydrate as much as you can during the wedding functions.”

The Wedding Makers
Venue: ITC Grand Bharat, Gurugram
Wedding Planner: Kanika Sethi Weddings
Bride’s Outfits: Elisha and Vishal Wadhwani
Groom’s Outfits: Elisha and Vishal Wadhwani
Makeup: Sohni Juneja
Mehendi: Mayuri
Entertainment: Flutronic
DJ: Sumit Sethi
Choreography: Aastha Arora

Photography and Videography: Shutterink

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