Charvi and Akshay, President, Mumbai – IHCL SeleQtions

Charvi and Akshay, after a chance meeting, dived into the uncertain world of long-distance relationships following a few dates. After emerging stronger, the duo tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony at President, Mumbai – IHCL SeleQtions. WeddingSutra Favorite – WhatKnot with their skillful talent managed to capture beautiful moments between the couple amidst stunning settings.

How They Met
Charvi shares, “Our story goes back in time to December 2016, when a chance meeting with Akshay in Mumbai, led to a marathon of three dates back to back. We hit it off instantly over our love for music, especially the rock band – Led Zeppelin. He moved back to Dallas, and we decided to give this long-distance relationship a shot. Throughout the one and a half years of dating, we met once for about a week. As luck would have it, Akshay decided on a move back to India. A year after the shift, we soon knew that we wanted to make it official by getting married.”

The Proposal
The bride-to-be adds, “There wasn’t any big proposal as such, but one day while we were at his place, where we had just ordered food and were binging on some of our favorite shows on Netflix. He suddenly turned around and mused – This is nice. Shouldn’t we marry so we get to do more of this? To which I instantly said ‘Yes’. We later had a formal engagement with our friends and family present.”

Wedding Venue
“A week before our wedding, our pre-fixed venue had some issues due to an unforeseen situation. We were quick to pick President, Mumbai – IHCL SeleQtions for our wedding and US Club to host our reception, and they very efficiently accommodated us”, shares the happy bride.

Wedding Planning
Charvi shares, “By the time we booked the new venue, it was only four days to the wedding. Thankfully our new decorator understood our vision and brought the much-needed life into the function. We hired WhatKnot after seeing their incredible work. They took brilliant pictures of us standing on the US Club walkway with a pink-hued sky complimenting the majestic Arabian Sea. Our invitation designer, WeddingSutra Favorite – Pink Whistle Man, depicted Indianized versions of various famous paintings for each event. For, e.g. Van Gogh’s Starry night was perfect for our reception.

For my wedding makeup, I entrusted WeddingSutra Favorite – Safa Malim, who did a fantastic job by giving me a subtle and flawless look, with just the perfect shade of pink pop on my lips.”

Wedding Functions

Mehndi
The wedding festivities started with an intimate Mehndi dinner. An interesting highlight, Charvi had incorporated musical notes and the logo of their favorite band in her henna design. The stage which was decorated with banana leaves, and yellow marigolds also had DIY elements such as lightboxes spelling out their wedding hashtag. The decor also incorporated their childhood and pre-wedding shoot pictures that were put up on standees across the venue. The to-be-weds got their love story illustrated into a twenty-page magazine that all the guests could leaf through. Another highlight was a caricature artist who did five-minute sketch portraits while Hansa Gajra’s mehndi artists made beautiful patterns for the guests. The beautiful bride wore a vintage lehenga in cream, rust, and olive green hues from Kalista while the groom donned a Manyavar outfit for this function.

Sangeet
They celebrated their Sangeet function at the US Club’s top deck where Akshay, his sister, Amrita, and the bride sang a couple of Beatles medleys and grunge favorites as Ishaan, the bass player of the band, Bhayanak Maut, strummed the guitar. However, the special highlight of the night was the couple’s dance on Iris by Goo Goo Dolls and Sucker by Jonas Brothers. She shares, “Akshay went from being reluctant, to completely enthused in the three rehearsals we had, as he guided me through the dance steps that I forgot in the excitement on the D-day.”

For this function, the bride looked dreamy in a stunning red Neeta Lulla gown while the dashing groom wore a black Tuxedo.

Wedding
Another notable feature at the function was a live painter who was capturing the wedding ceremony as it happened, into beautiful sketches. The bride’s mother-in-law gifted her a mangalsutra made out of a portion of her own, making it all the more special. The couple chose Neeta Lulla for her bespoke ensembles, where the bride dazzled in an onion pink lehenga with gold motifs, pearls, and sequins work, while the groom donned a soft pearl-blue sherwani

Reception
The reception took place under a starry night right next to the Arabian sea, with paper lanterns and fairy lights lending to the overall dreamy vibe. The stage was adorned with strings of rajanigandha that emanated a lingering sweet fragrance. Jackie Shroff, who often attended Akshay’s father Nandu Bhende’s concerts, made it a point to attend the reception and bless the newlyweds, coming straight from a shoot in Goa.

Advice For Couples
Charvi, from her experience, shares, “Firstly, no matter how much you plan and have things under control, something may come up at the last minute, and in a single shot, all your plans could go for a toss. It is best to keep your head on your shoulders, tuck in your emotions and work like a professional to get things on track quickly. Secondly, space out the time between makeup and going to the ceremony by at least 2 hours. I had barely 30 mins in between to get photos taken, and everything was a bit rushed.”

The Wedding Makers
Venues: The Acres Club (Mehndi); US Club (Sangeet, Reception); President, Mumbai – IHCL SeleQtions (Wedding)
Decor: Fleuron (Wedding)
Groom’s Outfits: Manyavar (Mehndi), Neeta Lulla (Wedding)
Bride’s Outfits: Kalista (Mehndi), Neeta Lulla (Sangeet, Wedding)
Jewelry: Raabta by Rahul, Azotiique, Om Sons
Choora Cover: Pirohi by NB
Makeup: Suman Bhagat (Mehndi), Safa Malim (Sangeet, Wedding)
Mehndi Artist: Hansa Gajra
Choreographer: Prateek Mota
Invitations: Pink Whistle Man
Magazine Design: TIMS magazine

Photography: WhatKnot

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