Namrata and Kiran, Taj Deccan, Hyderabad

This innovative Telugu wedding in Hyderabad saw groom Kiran and bride Namrata get involved in all aspects of the planning – from embedding their love story in thread on her wedding blouse to customizing Daft Punk helmets for a rocking cocktail bash. Step into the celebrations through pictures by WeddingSutra Favorite – Journeys by Ram, and Namrata’s account below.

How We Met
“Kiran’s larger-than-life presence was something I had heard of since 2010, courtesy of my brother, who was Kiran’s roommate during their graduate studies. It was in December 2013, during my stopover at San Jose on the way to Buffalo, that we met and felt an instant connection. Our coast-to-coast love story began, and in December 2017 he proposed on a New Year’s Eve cruise. Both the Decembers are embroidered on the front and back of my wedding blouse.”

Wedding Venue
“Our first event was a cocktail party hosted at Fat Pigeon Bar Hop, then a Holi sundowner at Pier 33. The wedding took place at Taj Deccan in Hyderabad. It was an outdoor, night wedding and the hotel was splendid. It felt like a small destination wedding within the city! The venue outsourced food and chaat to Rajesh Sanghi, who is one of the best vendors we had the pleasure of working with. People were raving about the food for days after!”

Wedding Planning
“Our wedding was predominantly self-planned with a lot of DIY elements. Kiran’s sister made 3D designs of whatever we envisioned! We made planning sessions memorable for ourselves and kept our nuptials very guest-centric. We used Appy Couple for coordination and basic invites/ notifications. Kiran and I think we make for a nice graphic design team, so we designed some digital invites ourselves!”

“My makeup was done by Faye Harris who is one of my closest friends from California. The comfort of familiarity gave me so much confidence. I wanted something that enhanced my face instead of perfecting it – she also had the creative freedom with a few inputs from me, which made my bridal makeup session an amazing experience.” “I want to give a huge shoutout to our DJ – Gaurav Lalchandani. He played at my brother’s sangeet in 2016, and I know that a bunch of people looked forward to his segment at our wedding! He catches the pulse of his crowd, knew how to cater to a mix of Indian and international guests, and most importantly enjoys playing! We organized two dance floors at our Holi sundowner – one with the parents, and one late into the night, exclusively for Gaurav.” “Journeys by Ram was our photo and video team. I wanted to add a standalone blurb about Journeys by Ram. While many are familiar with their quality of work, it is their presence, spontaneity, and authenticity that are laudable. They were both energizing and calm, and often choreographing the most creative setups for shots. It was seamless to follow their directions and trust their judgment. Kiran and I both hit it off with Ram from the beginning. To see that translate into equally effective vendor-client chemistry was something else.”

Wedding Functions

Cocktail Party
“Kiran 3D printed, programmed, and engineered our favorite duo – Daft Punk’s iconic helmets for both of us. These were complete with LED matrix animations, sound, and Bluetooth reactive sensors, alongside Mario and Pacman animations. We wore the helmets and did a small dance tribute to ‘Technologic,’ ‘Get Lucky’, and ‘One More Time.’ For this event, I opted for a Ridhi Mehra jumpsuit, while Kiran went with a Zara blazer, Calvin Klein dress shirt, and pants. My clutch was from Accessories by Anandita, and jewellery was picked from Aquamarine as well as an exhibition.”

Mehndi
“We had an intimate mehndi function for which I wore a chikan sari from Lucknow that best friend’s mom gifted me. I got it dyed to a darker shade of lilac because I wanted to steer clear of the regular yellows and oranges. I also wore traditional South Indian jewellery gifted by my mother-in-law.”

Holi Party
“This was hosted at Pier 33, a waterfront venue with terrific sunset views and panoramic views of the city too. Our 250 guests all came dressed in white around sunset time. We opened with a music segment that continued into dance performances. Our parents brought in the Holi party which continued into the DJ Gaurav-powered dance floor. Way back in 2014, Kiran mentioned that he would want actual Holi at his prospective wedding. I moved too much growing up and never actually played Holi with all my friends in one place until this day! A crop top-cowl skirt-cape set from Kylee by Ruchi Jain was my outfit of the evening, and I paired it with jewellery from Suhani Pittie. It was very comfortable to dance and run around playing Holi in! Kiran’s outfit was bought from Panchwati Silks in Hyderabad.”

Pre-Wedding Reception
“We had our reception before the wedding since the time for our ceremony was 10:32 pm. Threeory, a live band from Hyderabad, with a super talented violinist played some beautiful melodies during the reception. I wore a heavily-embroidered brown velvet sari with a sage green blouse. My jewellery set was a gift. Kiran chose to dress up in a Bonobos tuxedo for this function.” 

Wedding
“We both like things very simple and elegant and opted for an acrylic mandap with a recurring motif. I recorded the song ‘Maahi Ve’ from Highway that has a backstory for us, and we played it when Kiran walked to the mandapam. My wedding sarees were from JS Babu Silks. The short story behind the blouse is that we wrote and embroidered our story on it ourselves! I wore a mix of custom gold jewellery, a Suhani Pittie waistband, a ‘haath phool’ (hand ornament) and an Amrapali rings. Chitwan Naredi, the Hyderabad-based designer, made some stellar custom traditional clothing for Kiran, and we strongly recommend him!”

Advice For Couples
“Personalize your wedding as much as you can, but once you’ve put in all the efforts, just sit back and enjoy. Things are very chaotic during wedding days, and not everything might materialize. Just let it go. Try to coordinate a few surprises (and let your photo/ video team know) for your partner and your guests – either a dance/ music performance, or something personal to you two. On your day, keep smiling and remember to look at your most important people. You will find yourself reciprocating that joy and happiness!”

The Wedding Makers
Venues: Fat Pigeon Bar Hop(Cocktail party), Pier 33 (Holi Sundowner), Taj Deccan (Wedding and Reception), Hyderabad
Bride’s Outfits: Ridhi Mehra (Cocktail party), Kylee by Ruchi Jain (Holi Sundowner), JS Babu Silks (Wedding)
Groom’s Outfits: Zara and Calvin Klein (Cocktail party), Panchwati Silks (Holi Sundowner), Bonobos tuxedo (Reception), Chitwan Naredi (Wedding)
Jewellery: Aquamarine, Suhani Pittie
Makeup Artist: Faye Harris
Invites and Notifications: Appy Couple
DJ: Gaurav Lalchandani

Photography: Journeys by Ram

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