The Big Day
After lots of hard work and lots of logged airline miles the day finally came. Runa arrived into Ft. Lauderdale airport with her parents, sister, and her grandmother who flew from India to be with her. Slowly more family and friends from all over the US and the world joined her. Ankur's family from India and New Jersey and family friends from Delaware, Ohio and South Florida were all present for the three days of ceremonies."

The Sangeet 
The Sangeet on February 7th, 2003 was held at the Gupta's residence in Pembroke Pines. The exterior of the house was illuminated with lights and the interiors decorated with colorful saris and flowers. Over 100 of Ankur and Runa's family and friends celebrated that night. The guests performed dances to Indian classical music and also to Hindi film songs. After much dancing and singing, the guests were invited to feast on a Gujarati dinner that was catered from a local Indian restaurant.

The Wedding 
The Wedding on February 8th, 2003 took place at the Shiva-Vishnu temple in Davie, Florida. Ankur arrived at the temple on a fully decorated white horse. The baraat danced all the way to the temple as Ankur held on tightly. After thirty minutes of dancing, Ankur and the baraat arrived at the entrance of the temple and Runa's family received Ankur and the baraat. After a traditional Hindu ceremony, the guests were served an Indian vegetarian lunch at the hall. The couple then left for the groom's house in a white stretch limousine.

The wedding: Runa is wearing a red & gold sari from Roop Milan, Mumbai. Ankur is wearing an ivory, gold & red sherwani.

The Reception 
The reception on February 9th, 2003 was held at the Radisson Hotel in Miami. The ballroom was beautifully decorated with embroidered ivory table and chair covers. The centerpieces had a brilliant assortment of white tulips and red roses. With an attendance of almost 250 guests the event was made even more memorable when the bride's sister put on a slide show featuring the bride and groom's growing years. Other entertainment features followed with various dances and songs put on by family and friends. Dinner served was Indian cuisine catered by a local South Florida restaurant.

Wedding Planning Advice
"Wedding Planning can be very frustrating and can get on your nerves. Find vendors who can give you their time completely and are open to listening to your ideas rather than only suggesting what they think you should do. Make sure you talk to brides who've gotten married in the US and ask them for their advice and inputs on various events. When somebody offers you help, take it! You'll need a lot of people around for the little things that seem to get forgotten. For example, someone to hand out flowers/bubbles, someone to man the guest book table, round up family members for group pictures, get the temple and reception hall ready and decorated, etc. Remember, most hotels or halls let you have the ballroom to decorate only a couple of hours before the event. Since the bride and groom will be getting ready, someone should be able to coordinate those things. Usually the siblings are the best to do this since they best know the bride/groom's tastes in decor. Use all the resources you can find. And don't stress!!!!! The little things that seem to be so important to you will usually go unnoticed by the guests. So just relax because the whole thing flies by very quickly."