Romita Maitra
Romita shows how to do indo-western for an indian wedding
Pradyut and I met when we were five and six years old. Our parents are good friends since they went to college together and so we ended up at each others’ birthday parties. Our first argument was over a mini-pizza snack at his birthday party, I was six years old and had gobbled far too many for his liking. Fortunately, we’ve progressed since then.
My family moved to Toronto later on, I went to McGill University and though we met occasionally during that time when he would visit from Carnegie Mellon where he was studying, we dated after we both started working in Toronto. We live and work in Dubai‚I work for Unilever (brand marketing) and he works in investment banking. His family is based in Dubai, so we quite enjoy it here.
Our Wedding
Our wedding was held on January 5th, 2009 at the Leela Palace Kempinski, Bangalore. It was a mix of different wedding traditions. My father is Bengali and my mother is Konkani while my husbands parents are Tamil Iyers. When planning the ceremonies, we realised we have many similar wedding rituals. I wore a kanjeevaram as it is the preferred saree of the Konkanis and Tamils – with it I wore the Bengali crown.
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Picture courtesy: Mahesh Shantaram http://thecontrarian.in/weddings/
I was given all the traditional Bengali bangles, while my sister-in-law tied the Tamil mangalsutra for me. Konkanis have a necklace similar to the mangalsutra called the daraai-mani which my mother’s family tied for me. Many of our friends from all over the world flew to Bangalore to share the occasion with us. We had a wonderful time.
The wedding events included a Mehndi and Sangeet at the Taj in Bangalore. I wore a golden yellow Neeta Lulla sari at the Mehndi, while our Sangeet outfits were designed by Hassan Shehryar Yasin, because we wanted something different from the typical bling that is popular nowadays. He created a lovely high-necked salwar kameez with intricate white on white embroidery as the base, layered with gold embellishments. It was flowing and long, and when I walked around, it swished. The feeling of a dress as it swishes is delightful, you feel as if you’re dancing on air.
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Picture courtesy: Mahesh Shantaram http://thecontrarian.in/weddings/
During the wedding ceremony I wore a crimson kanjeevaram sari with the classic mango pattern. I then changed into a shell pink Shahab Durazi sari with pearl embroidery. Being the first article of clothing I wore as a married woman, it remains one of my favourites. I liked it because it was understated yet gorgeous. I wore it with three necklaces; diamond, ruby set with diamonds and a long tear drop emerald necklace with matching emerald earrings. The emerald set was a wedding gift from my mother’s brother and his family and was designed by my aunt and great-aunt who passed away recently. The other diamond and ruby necklaces were given to me by my parents. To complement the saree’s pearl embroidery, I wore pearl bangles. Of course I also had the shakha & paula bangles that are characteristic of Bengali brides; one of my aunts had measured my wrists prior to the wedding and had them made in Calcutta. I consider myself extremely blessed for not only did my family give me everything I wore during the wedding, they also took the time to design, measure and personalize everything for me.
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The Reception
Our reception was at the Raffles in Dubai, and I wore a long fuschia Dolce & Gabbana gown with a diamond set that my husband’s family gave me. Our wedding was one of most joyful times in my life, and I remember it fondly. It was the ideal way to embark on our lives together.
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