Rakshitha and Puskar, NK Villa – Casa De Sherose, Goa
When the priest did not turn up for the pheras, the groom's grandfather did the honors at Rakshitha and Pushkar's Goa wedding.
Rakshitha, an investment banker in Bangalore, and Pushkar, a tech-professional working for Deutsche Bank in Germany, began their journey of love in college on the defunct social networking website Orkut. They recently tied the knot at an intimate wedding in Goa. Here, bride Rakshitha shares some highlights of the celebrations.
How We Met
“We connected in March 2008 when I opened my first social networking account on Orkut back in college. I was clueless about how it worked at the start, and Pushkar was the first person to message me. We chatted online for several days and then went on our first coffee date. Soon, we were talking day and night and went everywhere together. We were designated a couple by all our friends, and we never objected to it!”
The Proposal
“Pushkar and I continued our relationship on a long-distance basis once college ended and I left Bangalore. I moved back after five years. On the 10th year of our so called “love anniversary,” he asked me to marry him and I wasn’t surprised since I saw it coming and a ‘Yes’ had left my lips even before he finished speaking.”
Wedding Venue
“We only wanted to celebrate the true meaning of marriage and our togetherness with the blessings of our family and friends in an intimate ceremony. After exploring some options, we chose a 250+ year old vintage south Goan luxury villa that was surrounded by lush fields and farms. We both love things that are preserved for ages with love and care, and it perfectly symbolized our decade-long love story. The property had two huge villas with eight rooms each where our families stayed, and our guests were booked into nearby hotels.”
Wedding Planning
“A few days after our wedding date got fixed, my father passed away. Pushkar stepped in and shouldered the responsibility of the wedding planning. He knew that my father would have given me a fairytale wedding. I always wanted to get married in Goa since we had our first vacation there, and he really did succeed in giving me my dream wedding! We got a lot of inspiration from great stories on real weddings published by WeddingSutra, as well as wedding planners and vendors’ websites.”
Wedding Functions
Haldi
The two-day celebrations kicked off with the haldi function. The decor was a joyful splash of yellow, green, and orange, and all the guests dressed in hues of yellow and white for the occasion. The bride donned a yellow saree with a self-designed multicolored blouse, and the groom wore a yellow cotton kurta for the auspicious ceremony as everyone smeared them with turmeric paste.
Sangeet
The bride lit up the sangeet evening in a sparkling bespoke blue lehenga from Riantas’s in Delhi as she twirled with the love of her life. Pushkar looked suave in a black tuxedo from Emporio Armani. For the evening of dance and music, the decor was centered around a play of lights that lent a magical feel to the celebrations.
Muhurtham
The second and last day of the celebrations began with the South Indian wedding or ‘Muhurtham’ function. The decor was kept minimalistic in tones of red, green and gold with marigold blooms lending an air of traditional beauty. The guests were asked to wear vibrant silks for women and lungis for men. The blushing bride donned a fine Kanjeevaram in green and pink teamed with gold jewellery from Abaran Timeless Jewellery.
Baraat & Pheras
The final function was the baraat ceremony and pheras as per North Indian traditions for which the groom donned a Manyavar ensemble, and the bride wore an embellished red lehenga by Astha Narang. “Our priest didn’t turn up, sending everyone into a spiral of tension. Finally, Pushkar’s 98-year-old grandfather stepped who performed the mantras spectacularly with some YouTube backup for support. This last-minute hiccup ended up making this function the most memorable one for us. Our very own “dadaji” reciting the chants to wed and bless us made it more special than we could have imagined.” shared the joyful bride.
Advice for Couples
“No one can ever plan a wedding better than the bride and groom themselves. It is important for them to decide how, what, when and where to get married, and come to a mutual understanding of the true meaning of marriage, responsibility, compatibility and support.”
The Wedding Makers
Venue: NK Villa – Casa De Sherose, Goa
Wedding Planner: Tanushree Patil
Groom’s Outfits: Emporio Armani (Sangeet), Angadi Galleria (Muhurtham), Manyavar (Baraat)
Bride’s Outfits: Rianta’s (Sangeet), Angadi Galleria (Muhurtham), Astha Narang (Baraat)
Jewellery: Amrapali, Abaran Timeless Jewellery
Makeup artist: Zeba
Photography and Videography: Shalini Siva Prasad
