About the Couple
Neil and Minal met through their friends, Rish and Sraddha Mehta at a housewarming party at Neil’s apartment in San Francisco. Minal was staying in the Bay Area on an academic internship and Neil was living and working there. Neil and Minal dated long distance for one year while Minal completed graduate studies in San Diego. In May 2002, she moved to San Francisco to begin her work career.

The Engagement
Neil proposed to Minal on March 8, 2003 in Manhattan. They had gone there for a weekend away and after several fun-filled days of seeing friends, pampering themselves with spa treatments and exploring the city, Neil proposed to Minal at a dinner at the very elegant restaurant, “Daniel” in the upper East Side. They had two formal engagement parties, with the engagement ceremony taking place in San Jose, CA, followed by a lavish reception party at the 4-Points Sheraton Resort in Sunnyvale and a large party at Minal's parents' home in Los Angeles, CA.

Wedding Details
The wedding events started the weekend before the wedding with a garba party and dinner party held in the Bay Area by Neil’s parents. Neil’s cousins performed dances from films for entertainment. There was also a fun-filled scavenger hunt game for the bride and groom and the guests.

The following weekend was action-packed with events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Mandap Muhurat, Graha Shanti, and Mehndi party took place on Friday at Minal’s parents home. There was also a short dance performance program with Minal’s little nieces, Reah and Manali, (4 and 5 years old) performing, Minal’s good friend Gita Patel and Minal's brother Jatin performed, and Minal’s best friend, Rina Mehta, performed a very special Kathak performance. Minal’s sister-in-law created ‘kalash’ themed centerpieces with lighted candles as a unique, ethnic touch. Over 150 people attended this very special night. Minal used Karishma Beauty Salon for all her mehendhi needs for the wedding.

Minal’s parents held a Garba Party on Saturday at the Calabasas Community Center, with Indo-Chinese food catered from Diamond Palace (at Diamond Bar, CA). The theme of the wedding weekend was ‘pink and lime green’ and the décor for the garba combined assorted orchids, pink and green balloons and cloth drapes.

Sunday was the wedding and reception. The wedding was held at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, CA at 2:30pm, with the bride arriving at 3pm. Neil arrived by a white horse in a procession around the lagoon at the Hyatt. The mandap was a white and gold sankheda mandap with six pillars. There were long thorans in between each of the pillars, giving the mandap a full, flowery look. Minal arrived in a beautiful, lighted, flowery dholi, looking like “Cinderella!” (as her dear niece put it). Dr Dilip Bhatt conducted the ceremony in Sanskrit with English translation.

The Wedding Procession

Minal arrives for the wedding

The Pheras

The reception was in the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom. The reception began at 7pm, with hors d'ouevres commencing at 5:30pm. The centerpieces for the reception were pink roses in ball shape in round, glass bowls. There were also small votives on the tables. All the decoration was arranged by Unique Flowers by Indira of Fullerton, CA.

Instead of table numbers, the bride and her parents decided to use table names, all of which were Hindi words relating to love and marriage. This gave the ambience a personal, yet very Indian effect. The food for the reception was a vegetarian Gujarati and Jain spread and was catered by JayBharat of Cerritos, CA. Neil and Minal’s families made some very nice meaningful speeches and Neil's good friend Bhavin Shah, created a most interesting video documentary on the couple and the union of two families.

The Reception Decor

Unique table names

The Wedding Cake	First Dance

What Minal Wore
Minal's clothes came from a variety of boutiques in India. She wore two garba chania cholis: one was lavendar and gold from a boutique in Calcutta, and the other was a gold and lime green net creation, from Tashkant Boutique in Mumbai. Her wedding panetar, a white and red silk sari (also from Tashkant) was a heavily embroidered creation with gold thread and beadwork. Minal's ghar choru sari was from Rajkot and had Swarovski crystals embedded in it. Her reception outfit was a white organza and silk gaghra-choli with white and gold beadwork and gold designs on it. She bought this outfit from Sheetal Boutique in Mumbai. Her jewelry also came from Sheetal Boutique.

Wedding Outfits	Reception Outfits
Jewellery from Sheetal	Safa from Benzer

What Neil Wore
Neil's clothes for both garba raas parties were hand-tailored and custom made by his cousin in Mumbai. For the garbas, Neil wore two sherwanis: a blue and white embroidered one and a lime green one with heavy gold threadwork running through it. For the wedding ceremony, he wore a hand embroidered Sherwani in maroon, gold and beige silk, with matching safa and shoes from Benzer. For the reception, he was dressed in a jet black tux with a traditional gold tie. All of the men at the head table rented matching tuxes from Gary's Tux Shop.

Wedding Planning Advice from Neil and Minal
“Proper planning is the cornerstone of success for any wedding. So start planning as early as possible. Think of your guests and what they would enjoy (i.e. making sure that the event runs smoothly and on-time), after all the wedding celebration is also for your guests and they should have a great time partying with you!"

“The best advice we can give is to prepare a master-list of activities that need to be accomplished in preparation for the big day. Preferably, this list should be in an electronic spreadsheet so that it can easily be maintained and shared with others. The spreadsheet should list the activity, the person responsible to complete the activity, and the estimated completion date. Ideally, there should also be a timeline for the big day, with copies distributed to everyone in the wedding party, so that everyone is on board with what is happening and when. Both families should designate 'managers', or people to help them manage the day so that things run smoothly. These lists should be updated and re-prioritized on a weekly basis, and completed items should be marked appropriately.”

“For those couples who are fortunate to have their families managing the entire process of preparation; tell your parents the top three things (or your three wishes) you'd like for your wedding, and leave the rest to them! It's important not to "sweat the small stuff" and have confidence in others' ability to get the job done well.”

“Lastly, remember to have fun! While there will be plenty of challenges, differences of opinions and tremendous stress, remember that this the is only day that is all about you and your love for each other.”

Our recommendations for great Indian wedding resources in the US: 
Some of our favorite resources include WeddingSutra.com, Shaadi-Style Magazine, Indian bridal expos, and last but not least, taking notes from recently-wed family members and friends. Good honeymoon resources include American Express Travel and Four Seasons Hotels.