It started with an unexpected move from Philadelphia back home to North Carolina prior to the pandemic. After a few months, I met Kisan and I knew it was meant to be. He was planning on moving back to his hometown near Chicago after he finished school, but after we met – he decided to stay!
One thing about us is that we absolutely love to travel and make it a priority as much as possible. Our first trip since the pandemic led us out to celebrate Kisan’s birthday in Maui, Hawaii. On his actual birthday, we got ready for a nice dinner out. On the way there, he stopped near a beautiful beach and took me out on the top of the rocks to check out the view. He went down on his knee and popped the question! It was his birthday, but I’m the one who ended up with the surprise!
Early in the planning, we knew we wanted to do a destination wedding. It seemed like the perfect way to soak in all our wedding moments while making it fun and memorable. We chose Mexico because we loved the idea of doing a beach resort and it wasn’t too far away for a majority of our guests. Most of our friends and family had never been to a destination wedding and so all around everyone was even more excited.
During our travel adventures in our initial wedding planning, we were able to make it down to Mexico several times and visited various resorts and venues. Once we stepped into the Hyatt in Cancun, we both looked at each other and just knew this was the perfect venue. The resort is stunning and surrounded by the most beautiful blue waters. We celebrated one of our last site visits before the wedding with a photo session in Tulum. Aside from our site visits, my favorite memory from the wedding planning process was going to India and shopping with my mom. From endless outfit options to all the food stops, it was truly a special time.
We started our wedding with Ganesh Pujas in our respective hometowns. In Mexico, we kicked off the official festivities with bridal mehndi followed by a welcome party. The events that followed were the Pithi/Grah Shanti, Garba/Sangeet, Wedding ceremony, and the Reception. We loved being able to really celebrate and honor our Gujarati and Hindu traditions, while still incorporating some western elements. There were so many amazing memories and moments from each event, and I love that I get to share some of the pictures with you all!
- Bride@shreens811
- Groom@kispatel
- Venue@hyattzivacancun
- Photo and Video@sweetcaribbeanphoto
- Planning and Design@jccastilloweddings
- Travel Agency@shaadidestinations
- Florals@roses.andco @pistilo_florals_rentals
- DJ@shaadient
- AV and Entertainment@millsjames_weddings, @drumsinparadise, @norio_violin
- Hair and Makeup@alexcorbanezi @danidelgadomakeupartist
- Mehndi@lemonsandmehndi
- Catering@patravalicancun
- Wedding Choreography@shreenadance
