Packing months of planning into four days!

Last weekend, on the heels of coming back from Argentina, Saurab and I finally found the time to get on a plane to LA. It has been several months (upward of 3 or 4 months) since we've been there - - -  which means that we have been doing every ounce of planning work over the phone. I think Amy, our planner, was getting REALLY nervous that she hadn't yet met us face to face. 


As we landed the excitement was quickly building. We had so much to do, so many people to meet, so many decisions to make and get all our ducks in order in one fell swoop over 4 days. As you might have gathered by now, I work 24 hours a day practically, so this is the ONLY LA wedding trip we have planned. We had no choice but to get it ALL done. 


Let me just say that I have a total new appreciation for the people who are able to deal with LA traffic.....the itinerary of this trip gave a new meaning to the word tired. However, it was WELL worth it and we got it all done. 


So, what did we do.....
Friday: 
As soon as we got in we went to check out the Sangeet venue. We had only seen this place off the internet and booked based on my parents doting of how beautiful it was. Immediately entering the property, we realized hands down, that we made the perfect choice. The place is beautiful, and completely in sync with our artistic sides. We elected to choose the grand foyer to do the Sangeet, versus the originally planned ballroom. It was an absolutely no brainer - this place is going to make an out of this world sangeet. We even have a fireplace!!!


Saturday: 
Oh if someone could have just warned me to brace myself. This was a VERY long day....but oh so needed. Early in the morning our decorator, Fayaz, came to my parents house and we started designing. It was comical because I pretty much pushed Saurab aside for the whole day and made Fayaz my boyfriend. He with his color swatches and me with my art color pencils, we were submerged into complete and utter creativity. Lucky for our budget, we had Amy, our planner, not too far behind reeling us in when she would hear things that were off the wall crazy and would break the bank! Spending the day in design land with Fayaz was like a closet design girl's candyland. SO MUCH FUN!!! 


So the design work went from about 9am to 9pm....going to and from the various venues and just letting all the creative juices flow. Between Fayaz who was creating imaginary mandaps and decor themes, to Umair who was talking about electric panels, outlets and DJ equipment, to Amber (Umair's lighting expert) who kept using words like uplighting and gobos (I now learned some new words) to Amy who was just trying to find the best spot on this estate for us to get married and kept talking about guest flow.....it was one insanely fun day! One of the funnest, yet most exhausting days I have had in a LONG LONG time.  I wish I could go into details, but I don't even know where to start....and I don't want to ruin it for those the readers who will be attending the wedding. Let's just say, this wedding is turning into a production!


Sunday: 
Early Sunday, we started our cake tastings by driving to a place which was an hour away (I think everything in LA is at least an hour away!), mendhi trials and hair and make up trials. In between each of the trials my mom and I went into as many clothing stores as possible to scope out wedding wear. Needless to say we didn't get very far on the clothes front - but all I wanted to do was determine whether or not I needed to go to india (will write more on this in a separate post). 


While we were doing all of this running around, my dad and Saurab were stuck in gridlock traffic in Santa Monica / Malibu looking at various hotels for our guest accommodations. Let's just say that there is nothing like gridlock to force bonding! By the time everyone got home we were literally ready to fall. 


Monday: 
Early Monday morning we were supposed to meet the pandit (the guy who marries us) an hour away at the temple. We ended up having a great phone chat with him since we were WAY too exhausted and had another gut wrenchingly long day in front of us. I don't understand why most couples don't spend quality time with their pandit before the wedding. This was an invaluable experience for us to go through - we went through a traditional Gujarati and North Indian ceremony, talked about the differences, determined what we wanted to incorporate and talked about us and things we wanted to do that were solely important to us. Very valuable!


We then did more cake tastings, and the spent the next 6 hours with Fayaz and Amy again. This time we went straight to his office, where he had taken all of our conversations and mocked up a sample centerpiece and drew out our designs. All I have to say is that there were tears flowing rampantly. This guy is a genius. Not only did he design something that was flawlessly breathtaking, his vision completely mirrored my vision and through this centerpiece and table mock up he showed me how good he is at listening and taking random thoughts and creating something magical. I am so so so lucky. So, he became my boyfriend for the day again, and out came the swatches, coloring pencils and design pages....again. :-) 4 hours later, Amy was waiting for us with the minute by minute itinerary for all the events for us to review. OMG. By this time, I felt like my head was going to roll off my body, but luckily this is Saurab's sweet spot and he ate it up. Amy and Saurab's relationship is a bit like my relationship with Fayaz. They are the project managers and we are the ones who get lost in a creative cloud - - - and prefer to stay there! :-)  It was the best working session one could ever ask for, and to sit with Amy after months and months of phone conferences was priceless!


After we left their offices, we headed over for some food tasting, and then called it a night. 


Luckily I stayed back a couple more days so that I could meet Joe Photo (our photographer) and meet with our videographer, Bryan Geddes from Guava Street Production to seal the deal. I took them through the whole vision and the whole itinerary, and by the end of my trip the entire team was set! 


I came back to Chicago with not a concern in my mind - other than the budget :-) We have a FABULOUS team that is going to create the most amazing set of moments for us. Less than 5 months to go.....whoo hoo!


For all brides planning out of state weddings - don't miss the opportunity to have a full in weekend like this. Tell everyone to clear their calendars and make sure you get everything you need to get done in one fell swoop. And of course, ensure you have nothing less than the best partners to work with who will make the entire weekend seamless. 


Upcoming posts: The details and decisions of all the tastings and trials. 

It's been a while...

I know it's been a while since I have last posted anything...

What to say....there has been SO SO SO SO much going on in the last two weeks. Some highlights....

• All sangeet venues had to be scrapped and we had to start the search from scratch due to incorrect capacity quotes or incorrect availability responses. VERY frustrating. But, I think we may have a place nearly selected, so stay tuned. If it wasn't for all the help from my parents going from venue to venue, this one topic would have put me over the edge.
• I have now looked at over 50 photographers. Both original photographers, Andrina and Megan, are still in the running but are not getting us everything we need and want. I have a very narrow list of three photographers I would like to decide between this weekend. In my head, and in my heart, I think I have the decision made....I just have to go through all of the samples one last time (hopefully tomorrow) and make a final decision.
• We've looked at the budget inside out about 50 times...re-adjusted, re-thought, re-everything you can imagine....and the aweful truth that we can't deny is that indian weddings are just darn expensive. Let's just say, though, that the spreadsheet is now SEVEN excel tabs long! Can we say obsessive?
• I met with a decorator and started thinking about themes, flow, colors and storyboarding out the entire day. This is going to be the funnest part!
• The DJ is almost locked in. Saurab has been working this part, and I have tried my best to stay out of his way.
• I got my hair cut the other day and my stylist, Dana said she would fly out to LA to do my hair.....definitely something to consider since she's been doing my hair for five years!
• Our engagement pics are next weekend....need to start preparing for that....and our actual engagement is the week after that....oh boy!

Not to mention....I have been spending most of my time in Raleigh these days....week after week. So, that's a quick update of where things are......things are QUITE hectic.

Sangeet Venues

Given our criteria for the Sangeet, my parents and I have been working long and hard (hours and hours) to find a venue that will fit the program, that is near the rest of the events, fit our guest list, and fit our budget. Most importantly we needed a venue large enough to have space for a garba, and seating for dinner. Try finding a venue to meet these criteria in LA - not easy.

We have looked at all options - interesting and non, cliche and unique, small and large...including The Santa Monica Airport Hanger #8, The Bungalow Club, The Pacific Electric Event & Filming Location, The Beverly Hilton, The Kyoto Grand, the Vibiana, and the Rio Hondo Country Club in Downey of all places -yuk. Searching high and low....we are down to two options...

Option 1: The Cerritos Library . Hmmm....a library? Huh? Yea, a library. It's gorgeous! My parents found this place and I said the same thing - huh? - but it works. Don't judge till you click on the link and see the pictures. Amy, our wedding planner, went with them to check it out and it's a definite contender. It would be unique, and it would be fun. It's totally modern and a lot of what we need would be covered. There are only two downsides...

• It can hold MAX 200 people inside and outside. So, if we do the Garba inside the auditorium, and have the seating for the food outside, it can work. But we would have to cut down the current 300 person wedding guest list to 200 for this one event. Tough, but can be done.
  
• It's about a 45 minute drive from Santa Monica, which will be the HQ for the whole weekend. We risk our out of town guests getting lost and having to drive a bit.
  
• This dance inside, eat outside thing is a little different, but can be a good different.

Option 2: The Santa Monica Woman's Club. Hmmm...Womans Club? What's that? Yep, I said the same thing. But there are so many benefits to this place. It's beautifully historic, it's in Santa Monica (the HQ for the weekend), it has a 400 person capacity so we wouldn't need to cut our guest list. Again, here there are only two downsides...

• It's double the cost. Which is okay, because both are less expensive than a hotel. But, this is a factor.
  
• It's old. The library is brand new and modern. This is old and it's historic - so not modern.

We definitely don't want to go all out for the Sangeet - we want it to be fun but not a mini scale of the wedding. So, we have our two choices and we'll have to make a decision quick since things are booking up FAST!

Decorated well, I think both these places can work. Question is...which one?

Wish us luck...

The Sangeet

Next on the list of time sensitive lock-downs was the venue for the Sangeet.

Saurab and I have always known that we wanted to do a Sangeet, however, neither of us knew the traditional definition of the sangeet. So, I looked it up....here is what iloveindia.com has to say...
The sangeet ceremony is also known as ‘gaun’. This custom heightens the excitement of wedding festivities. In the earlier days the custom of gaun used to last for ten days but with the passage of time, it has reduced to a one night function. At the bride's home women relatives and friends play the dholki and sing suhaag, which is a traditional folk song. Songs include 'jokes' about the in-laws, and would be husband how to have a successful marriage like and songs about the bride leaving her parents home. Similarly the women at the groom's home sing songs called ghoriya.

Traditionally, the sangeet parties we done seperately, in the boys and girls homes. But now, it is a joint affair before the marriage ceremony, and is a platform developing familiarity of the bride and groom with each others family.

Though sangeet function is an important pre-wedding function of all north Indian weddings, it is most popular trend among Gujaratis and Punjabis. Among the Gujaratis Garba dance is a favored alternative.

SO, there we have it. We have to do a Sangeet, and it will have to be somewhat traditional! For us, it will be the night before the wedding - Friday, July 23rd (venue yet to be decided). We will have a few of the traditional things:
1. A full garba to honor my Gujarati side
2. Mendhi so that people who want to get henna done on thier hands can do so
3. Song and dance
4. A full guest list so that both sides of the wedding invitees can meet each other

However, we are also going to make it our own by...
1. Turning the song and dance segment into an "evening of the arts" where people can showcase their unique talents, be it song, dance, film, or anything else.
2. We'll have a dinner ,but it will be a casual fun fair event. So, we have decided to set up Bombay style "chat" stations....pani puri, bhel, dhosa, chat puri, and all sorts of yummy goodness.

It's going to be LOADS of fun and tee things up nicely for the next day. Now, we just need to find a venue that will hold 250 to 300 people!