Southern Weddings

Tina + Sundeep had a wedding fit for a king and queen! The rich colors and elegant florals from {Elegant Affairs} perfectly illustrated their theme of Indian royalty. The big day was hosted by {InterContinental Hotels & Resorts} in Dallas and {Maharaja} catered authentic Indian food. A million thanks to one of our favorite photographers, {Poser}, for sharing this wedding with us today!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met our sophomore year of college at UT Austin at a back to school party. We didn’t really know each other, and Sundeep came up to me and asked me to have dinner with him sometime and got my number.
Describe the proposal: We were ice skating at Rockefeller Center in November of 2007. As the session came to a close and the crowd began to exit the rink for resurfacing, Sundeep convinced me that we should do one more quick round on the ice before leaving. As we came around the loop and the ice was nearly empty, Sundeep used his superb acting skills and took a nasty fall to the ice. As I looked down at Sundeep, joking that I was a much better ice skater than him, Sundeep acted like he was hurt and couldn’t get up onhis own. AsI grasped Sundeep’s hand to help him up, I pulled him up on one knee before he paused. With his other hand, Sundeep had slyly pulled out the ring from his coat pocket. While I stood in surprise and “our song” played through the cold winter air, Sundeep proposed to me.The crowd of ice skaters and tourists (and a few of our closest friends hidden among them) went wild after I finally got over the shock and muttered a “yes” as we did a victory lap.
What attracted me to my husband was: His dashing good looks (obviously) and his goofy sense of humor. He has this power to make me laugh even when I’m down.
What attracted me to my wife was: She’s hot! She is the funniest person I have ever met in my entire life and makes me laugh every single day. She loves playing video games. She loves playing sports. And she’s the only other person that hates apples like I do.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: Our first date at Thai Passion in Austin will always be the most memorable. It was our first time ever hanging out, and we knew nothing about each other. We ended up hitting it off and even shared our dishes with each other.
The weather on our wedding day was: Blue skies, sunny and 75 degrees
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Royal Indian colors mixed with modern elegance.
Favorite design element of your big day: Our Mandap, the canopy under which our wedding ceremony took place. It was very open and grand, with colors that matched my wedding dress.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I purchased it at a boutique during a trip to India. It weighed about 30 pounds and felt like 100 when I was walking down the aisle! The traditional Indian wedding dress color is red but I wanted to be a little different so I wore a gold outfit with red accents.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: There are too many to have a favorite, but we loved it when my adorable nephew, who was our ring bearer, rode his decorated tricycle down the aisle.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Sundeep and I live in New York City so it was definitely a challenge trying to plan a wedding from across the country. Every trip we took home was filled with vendor meetings and venue walk thrus. Also, since I am event planner in New York, I refused to hire a wedding planner which became a bit overwhelming at times.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? There were so many! Our favorite was when my sisters and closest girlfriends stole Sundeep’s shoes during the wedding ceremony (he removed them before the ceremony started). Usually, the groom will negotiate with the sisters immediately after the ceremony to get his shoes back. But my sisters/girlfriends decided to wait until 1am during the send-off outside before making their ‘demands’. As we got in the car, my sisters/girlfriends all jumped in front of the car and began singing a song demanding payment in return for Sundeep’s shoes. They wouldn’t even let the car leave, so Sundeep had to get out of the car and negotiate with them while everyone stood around laughing at the situation. Needless to say, Sundeep paid a hefty price to get his shoes back (The whole game is a way for the groom’s new sister-in-laws to poke fun at him, and it serves as an ice breaker between the two sides).
Funniest moment? When the priest broke out into song during the ceremony… And he decided to get the entire crowd singing the song, which sounded like a nursery rhyme. We’d never heard that song before and never heard of something like that ever happening. Sundeep and I just stared at each other biting our lips trying not to laugh.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Remember that the day is about you and your husband. Start early, and try to stay organized. And in the end, try to remember every moment, because it flies by so quickly.
What’s next for you as a couple? Trying to settle into our apartment in Manhattan. And finally trying to enjoy living in the city again. We spent so much time wedding planning we forgot we lived in Manhattan. And maybe adding a new family member – a dog of course!