Tara and Satish met while working at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver, Colorado. Tara was a behavior analyst managing a specialized unit for children with autism, and Satish was completing his fellowship in child psychiatry. In September 2019, after working with each other for three months, Satish asked Tara out and they have been together ever since. They moved in together March 2020, days before the COVID pandemic brought about a lockdown. Working at the hospital, they continued to go into work but otherwise isolated in their new apartment together for months building lego models, adopting and spoiling a kitten named Chinimini, trying out new recipes, and watching every show imaginable on Netflix.

In October of 2020, they returned to Vail, where they had taken their first trip together and were engaged at the exact place that Satish first told Tara he loved her, with family and friends secretly flying in from across the country to add to the surprise.
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For the wedding, they wanted to honor both of their (very different) backgrounds, and they chose to have both a Hindu and Western ceremony, opting to get married in Sarasota, FL, near Satish’s hometown.

Wedding theme/style. Throw in a few adjectives! (Glam, summer, classic, boho, DIY, vintage, etc)

Hindu wedding – Vibrant florals, colorful and bright

Western wedding – Classic styles but modernized, more subtle tones so the theme felt completely new compared to the Hindu reception
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How was the concept or vision of the wedding created?
What was the inspiration? (Movie, book, art style, historical period, etc.)

To be frank, we walked in without any preconceived notion of how our wedding would look. We wanted each day of the wedding to have it’s own feel to it, but we didn’t necessarily want to follow a specific theme. As two busy professionals, and with neither of us being overly creative ourselves, what worked out perfectly for us was giving our vendors a ton of creative bandwidth. We wanted them to show us designs that they wanted to try, or that they had loved doing and actually excited them. Without much restriction, they developed incredible designs and layouts and while we had plenty of discussions about the details, they led the way. We trusted them to do the work they loved doing, and we would not change anything. Darin (Tailored Twig), our florist, was especially outstanding and really set the aesthetic tone for each night of our wedding. He was one of our first meetings and he really helped bring out a distinct theme for each night.

Info about the wedding look (fashion, makeup, and hair)

Rather than traditional red and gold, we stuck with the color palette but found other designs or colors that we felt more comfortable with Tara, with help from her MIL and SIL, found a silk pink saree with elaborate peach and gold accents, while Satish opted for a textured pattern of white and gold. For the reception, the primary colors from Tara’s outfits were used as accents on Satish’s clothing, which we felt made for a cohesive look. All of the Hindu ceremony looks for the bride, groom, bridesmaids/bridesmen, and groomsmen/groomswomen were made by Le Trend Boutique – Lake Mary, FL

Hair and makeup for the Bride, bridesmaids, and groomswomen was completed by Michele Renee – Tampa, FL. We spoke with family and opted for traditional styles overall.

What made the day unique (venue, reception, favors flowers/design, music, cake etc)

There were a number of things that made our wedding amazing memorable for us – when we first saw the decorated hall each evening, we were stunned and ecstatic at how everything played out. We had so many friends and family play roles in the ceremony, and we love having those memories. But for our guests, I think they will most remember that NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman made an impromptu appearance at our Hindu reception and gave a speech.

Any fun proposal stories, color or floral decisions, dress shopping experiences, special touch or traditions, anything you think our readers would like

We got engaged in October 2020 in Vail Colorado at the exact place that Satish first told Tara he loved her. Satish surprised Tara with a scavenger hunt through the town of Vail with each clue being delivered by a surprise guest that he had flown in for the occasion (Tara’s friend/cousin Beth, her best friend and brother Justin, her best friend Alex, and their cat Chini). Both of their families were present at the engagement.

Advice from the couple about the event

Planning a wedding is going to be time-consuming and stressful, but having a team of wedding planners and vendors who have worked together before is invaluable. We think allowing our vendors a lot of creative leeway worked out incredibly well for us, as we would never have seen some of the designs they came up with if we’d stuck to a strict theme. Have frequent check-ins with your wedding planner coming up to the date, and make sure your planner can get a hold of a few trusted family members to take care of anything that comes up on the day itself. On the day of the wedding, that allowed us to focus on the day while everything ran smoothly in the background.

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