The miracles of Modern Technology......
"Our story began thanks to modern technology. One mouse click and an e-mail following that changed our lives forever. We were instant friends, sharing everything with each other and talking for hours at a stretch. After years of being friends it made perfect sense to us that best friends made better life partners. We had the chemistry, the geography was a little different but it would work since we would eventually end up in the same place."

It's been a roller coaster ride and we have enjoyed every minute of it!

Varsha was born and raised in Dubai, UAE and moved to the US in 2000 for her college education. Arnab was born and raised in India and after finishing his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) he came to the US in 2000 to work on his PhD at MIT. Varsha & Arnab Live in Washington DC but planned the wedding in Tampa, FL, Varsha's hometown.

Wedding Functions

Varsha's Mehendi (July 29th 2005)
"My closest family and friends were present for this ceremony which took place during the day at my parent's house in Clearwater, FL. This was followed by dinner where Arnab's family was present as well."

Mehendi/Sangeet at the Laquinta Inn Conference Center, Clearwater, FL (July 30th 2005)
About 150 guests enjoyed this grand event. The décor was simple yet delightful and very Indian. Before the Mehendi/Sangeet the Devnani's had a puja at their house which included the Ganesh puja that marks the start of the wedding celebrations. The mehendi artist for this event was Sangeeta Patel who also had done Varsha's Mehendi the previous day. The guests got to get prints and tattoos painted on their hands and feet and be part of the celebrations. This was followed by a night of dinner and dancing.

On the Jhula at the Mehendi/Sangeet

Wedding Ceremony at the Hindu temple of Florida, Tampa Florida (July 31st Morning)
"The first part of the wedding was done according to Bengali traditions and the second part was done according to Sindhi traditions. The funny thing about the ceremony was that our pundit kept reminding us that we paid good money for photographs and videos and we should smile a lot and that we should be looking at the camera as well. It was an ice breaker since it relaxed Arnab and me since we were both extremely nervous and shy."

Mandap by Nalin Patel	Varsha & Arnab after the ceremony
With their cousins after the wedding

Reception at Lotus Gallery, The India conference Center, Tampa, Florida (July 31st)
The décor for the evening reception was simple and sophisticated. "We chose ivory linens so the focus was on the flowers and outfits of all the guests. We did not want to overdo the colors and make the entire venue look overdressed. We matched the ivory linens with round table runners that we purchased on our recent trip to Dubai and added something personal to the décor. We also bought colors into the venue by adding summer flowers such as roses and baby ibrant summer colors such as orange and burgundy's ad bright pinks. The music was amazing as well. DJ Firoz did an awesome job to cater to everyone's musical tastes.

The simplistic décor at the reception
Cutting the Chocolate mousse & Rasberry filling cake

Wedding Outfits
For the Mehendi/ Sangeet Varsha wore a Turquoise ghagra choli from Sheetals, Dubai and Arnab wore a Sherwani from Asapalov Ahmedabad. For the morning wedding Varsha wore deep rose Ghagra choli from Handloom house, Dubai while Arnab wore a Dhoti Kurta. For the reception Varsha wore a Ghagra Choli from Seasons and Arnab a Sherwani from Benzer. Varsha's Jewelry was from Sia Jewelers, Santacruz. Her Makeup was done by Laura from MAC and Suzanne of Privee Sanctuary Clearwater did her hair.

Wedding Outfits

Wedding Planning Advice
"Start planning and book venues in advance. Sign contracts to make sure the vendors keep to their word-- that keeps the tension to the minimum while the ceremonies are on. Make a trip to India if you get the opportunity to do so. I am thankful that I had 2 great places to shop and everything worked out well since I could pick things I liked and were in fashion then.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate.
Families tend to be there for each other in these times and they are more than willing to lend a helping hand. I have to thank my parents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and friends and above all my sister Hitasha-- it's thanks to Hit's sleepless nights and excel spreadsheets that we had everything organized so well."

An up to date webpage is also a great lifesaver. So guests can visit the website at their convenience and have all the wedding information at their fingertips. You can visit our website www.arnabandvarsha.com

Most Memorable Moment
To see all our friends and family there happy and sharing the most wonderful day of lives with us was an amazing feeling.