Sanya and Sachet, JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity
This couple planned their own wedding with functions spread across four venues.
Before Sanya and Sachet’s love story unfolded, they spent years as friends while studying at Penn State. The duo’s wedding celebrations included four elaborate functions at four different venues that were captured by the WeddingSutra Favourite – CoolBluez Photography who cast a spell with their impeccable photography.
How They Met
Sanya shared, “Sachet and I met on the second day of college in Penn State outside the elevator of our temporary dormitory. He was setting up a date with a Spanish girl when I interrupted them unknowingly and introduced myself. We got talking, and the Spanish girl left in a short while. We bumped into each other again in the evening, and eventually became good friends. We started dating a year later. Post college, we got into a long-distance relationship and did not get to meet for three long years.”
Wedding Venues
“We picked our venues after extensive research and checking out almost every venue in Delhi.” Recalled Sachet. “We knew what we wanted from each venue for every event, which made it easier for us to shortlist our final venues. We wanted very different setups for all our functions.”
He continued, “We also wanted our guests to get the feel of a ‘heritage’ hotel for which the ITC Maurya was perfect, then an outdoor farmhouse set-up for which we chose Opulent Hotel by FNP Gardens and finally, a modern luxury hotel which is where JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity fit the bill. Given the erratic and unpredictable Delhi weather, we knew we wanted all our locations to be covered or semi-covered. We had the hardest time picking the right farmhouse as most of the farmhouses were either open-air or had very less covered space. Opulent was just perfect for us. Although, since it was a day function that carried on till the night, we had to shell out more than we had expected to book the place for the entire day.”
Wedding Planning
Sanya added, “Sachet and I planned our entire wedding on our own, of course, with a little help from our parents. WeddingSutra was such a major part of my wedding journey. From being my biggest source of inspiration and research to shooting with my bridesmaids and me and sharing photos of my Tea Party bridesmaid shoot; it has been a crazy journey. We are extremely thorough, and hence we had a clear understanding and vision of how exactly we wanted it to be executed. After meeting several wedding planners, we felt no one would be able to do things with the exact kind of precision in the way we wanted them to be implemented. Hence, we planned everything on our own. Sachet’s Mom and my father handled all the execution. Karsun was hired to take care of the hospitality from the groom’s side, and they did a brilliant job. Sachet and the Karsun team designed the e-vite from his side, while my e-vite was designed jointly by Sachet and me. An incredible team from Mumbai designed the physical wedding invite from my side. I always knew I wanted a soft pink wedding card with gold details with Ganpati chants. We also got jewellery designed for all the events by my jewellery store called S2B9 that took a 1.5 year-long process. We crafted jewellery for my mother-in-law, mother, sister, cousins, aunts and grandmother-in-law. I designed an Octopus shaped haath phool which is detachable and can be worn as a tennis bracelet also. It’s so versatile that it can be worn with both western and Indian outfits.”
Wedding Functions
Engagement
Sachet picked the decor for the engagement and went for a rustic theme with green and white French elements. From the cavalry chairs, to the wooden dance floor and the arches over the dining tables to the stage with the French windows over the LED panels, and finally to the French window photo booth, everything followed a set theme. All eyes were on the bride and groom who stylish ensembles. Sanya turned heads as she carried off a Manish Malhotra off-shoulder cropped top with flared sleeves and skirt set with heavy sequins work. Sachet, on the other hand, looked dashing in a brown tuxedo by Sarah & Sandeep. .
Mehendi
Sanya didn’t want a typical mehendi set-up with marigold flowers or Punjabi charpai. She wanted a very modern and chic mehendi. Because of her love for butterflies, she picked the theme of butterflies and rainbows. From the stage, to the centrepieces on the tables and the passage to the bar towards the photo booth, everything was designed by the bride with the Ferns n Petals team. There were even tiny butterflies on every flower pot or shrub that was growing in the venue. Going with the theme, Sanya wore a Manish Malhotra ensemble in a mauve hue and teamed it with an all diamond rose gold cocktail ring in the shape of a butterfly that she designed herself. The groom’s rich blue Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla kurta with delicate mirror-work stood out in the bright daylight, adding the right amount of sparkle to the function.
Haldi
The groom picked the Haldi decor, and he followed the traditional yellow marigold set up but with modern twists like yellow drapes and yellow tassels. The couple played it simple with their outfit where the groom wore a plain white kurta-pyjama and the bride shone in a yellow sharara with floral jewellery.
Wedding
The bride wanted a very modern wedding with an all-white set up with hints of pink in it. The wedding had a very English vibe to it, with sophisticated and elegant decor for which the couple worked closely with the Ferns n Petals team for more than six months. Every detail was based on their sketches and the bride’s imagination. From the transparent chairs to the beautifully designed stage, and from the floral wreaths on the tables to the candle centrepieces, everything was designed and executed beautifully. The bride picked a traditional red Sabyasachi lehenga, and the groom added a magical contrast by opting for a pastel green Sabyasachi sherwani. Sanya also wore beautiful pieces of jewellery which had a lot of sentimental value as she entered into this new phase with a lot of blessings. She paired her bridal outfit with her paternal grandfather’s 65-year-old engagement ring, her mother-in-law’s wedding payals as a hair accessory and her mother’s wedding payal on her feet. She kept her makeup minimal by ditching foundation and added a little glam on her eyes and a pop of pink on her lips
Advice For Couples
“Firstly, discuss with each other what matters to you the most and how involved you’d like to be with the planning. List out everything you want and the way you want them to be executed. Don’t take on more than you can chew. Be as less involved as possible and delegate as much as you can. Understand each other’s strengths and assign roles accordingly. Secondly, have a timeline in mind as to when you’d like to wrap things up, and then stick to it. Since we had booked one venue from day to night, we had to shell out more money than we had expected.”
The Wedding Makers
Venues: ITC Maurya, New Delhi (Engagement), Opulent Hotel by FNP Gardens (Mehendi), Aloft by Marriott (Sachet’s Haldi), JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity (Wedding)
Decor: Ferns n Petals
Groom’s Outfits: SS Homme (Engagement), Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla (Mehendi, Haldi), Sabyasachi (Wedding)
Bride’s Outfits: Manish Malhotra (Engagement, Mehendi), Meenu Bajaj (Haldi), Sabyasachi (Wedding)
Makeup Artist: Anu Kaushik
Jewellery: S2B9
Photography: CoolBluez Photography
