About the Couple
Ekta Kochar and Achal Dua met in Canada in 2000 and after 6 years of courtship tied the knot in 2007. Ekta is a Project Manager with a Telecommunications Company in Rockville and Achal, a successful personal trainer and owns a fitness company Potomac, MD.

The Wedding Day Look
For my engagement ceremony I chose light colors so it blended well with the dark colors of the décor. For my wedding ceremony, the theme was red and gold. So my family and I were all dressed in different shades of red and complimenting it was the backdrop color in gold. Achal had organised the reception and everything was a big, pleasant surprise for me-- the color themes, decorations and table settings.

The stylist for my wedding ceremony and reception was Sanober who did a phenomenal job in getting me ready in a jiffy for all the events. She was my mehndi artist as well and her designs were amazing.

The Wedding Ceremonies
Achal and I got married on 07.07.07. It was a date that went down in history of having over 50,000 weddings in the US alone. Our events kicked off beautifully with separate pre-wedding parties at Achal’s and my place. It was an awesome feeling to be able to have all our families from all over come and be a part of our festivities.

The Mehndi and Engagement party was held on July 6th, 2007 at the Baltimore Marriott at Camden Yards. The hall was beautifully decorated in vibrant colors. Achal looked stunning in his grey and blue kurta and blue stole while I wore a peach colored sharara embellished with silver beads and crystals. The highlight of the evening was the funny speeches made by my uncle and brother and a surprise slide show presentation which featured our childhood days. It was so sweet and thoughtful and brought tears to my eyes. For party favors, we wanted to do something different and had bags of m & m’s (with our names and our wedding date printed on them) placed as part of everyone’s place setting.

The Chooda ceremony was performed in the morning of the wedding in the presence of all my family members and friends.

Our Wedding ceremony took place at the same hotel on the beautiful sunny afternoon of 07-07-07. I wore a bright red leghnga which was filled with green, gold and white crystals, while Achal wore a cream colored sherwani with light red and gold threadwork and beads on it. Rose petals were placed all over the red carpet that led up to the devdas-style mandap which was gorgeously lit. The décor was set up by Partyland Flowers and Marriott staff. The jaimalas were made of red roses to perfectly match our outfits and décor. The ceremony commenced with the milni, followed by the “joote chopayee”.

The Mandap

Ekta and Achal

The Reception was held at the Washington Marriott in DC the same evening. The theme of the evening was pink and silver. Each table was covered in semi transparent table cloth in shimmering pink that was adorned with a bowl of floating candles and rose-petals at the centre. Achal looked striking in his Armani suit, while I wore a beautiful lehnga in pink and blue that was filled in silver crystals and beads that shimmered all through the night.

The evening was fun filled and enchanting and the DJ played some very memorable songs; beautiful speeches by our family members, a beautifully choreographed dance performance by our friends and an amazing bhangra performance by UVA. Our guestbook was also unique. Instead of having a book, we got a professional picture of us mounted on a writing board. We have hung that picture and board with the messages on our home and it brings a smile to our face every time we read the messages that people wrote for us. Our wedding cake was very traditional with pink roses and multi-flavours-- Vanilla, Butter Rum, and Cinnamon Spice. We had a chocolate fountain at our wedding reception along with a platter array of fresh fruits. That was a BIG HIT and everyone enjoyed it a lot!

The Reception

A dance filled evening

Our most cherished/ fun moments
The moments we always remember is the slide show put up by my siblings; the funny and touching speeches of our families; the bhangra performance by UVA and the dances by our friends. The best part of our wedding was that our family and friends came from all over the world to be a part of our celebrations.

Where I shopped
I had not been to India for more than 14 years. So for my wedding shopping I decided to visit Delhi and shopped to my heart’s content in Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh where I was able to find all my wedding dresses and accessories.

My advice for brides-to-be
Enjoy every moment of the planning and savor each and every aspect of your BIG day!

Our recommendations for great Indian wedding resources in the US: 
Venue: Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards (410) 385-3000 & Washington Marriott (202) 872-1500
Stylist: Sanober (410) 531-9654 & Jessica from Salon Marielle (410)750-2800
Caterer: India Palace (Rockville, MD) (301)545-0013
Photographer: Jeff Han Photo (240)460-1519    www.jeffhanphoto.com and Sohail Sheikh (202)293-5484
Weddingsutra.com: for creative and unique wedding ideas.
DJ: Live Sound Entertainment. (443)250-4954