Indian Wedding Celebration at this beautiful Albany Marriott, located at 189 Wolf Rd, Albany, NY 12205. This beautiful Marriott property is very well known for hosting big fat indian wedding for last so many years. Their excellent service provided by efficient staff makes this Hotel a preferred Indian Wedding Venue in Albany New York.
The Albany Marriott is one of the few venues in Albany, NY that could accommodate our number of guests and allow us to have free reign in regard to catering, etc. It was also very convenient for guests coming out of town and is 5 minutes away from Meghna’s childhood home. Meghna also had her sweet 16 there, so it held many fond memories! Check out the beautiful Indian Wedding Ceremony at Albany Marriott.
If you really wish to learn how to enjoy your own Big Fat Indian Wedding, then you must see this wedding celebration. Meet our Indian Bride - Meghna & Indian Groom - Pragnesh. They both know so well how to plan their own wedding so precisely. they kept themselves entertained making sure that every single person is having great time and making amazing wedding memories of this fun loving couple. You will certainly feel the Energetic, cheerful, loving and joyous wedding vibes while going through their wedding moments.
We met with Meghna & Pragnesh at our studio - Fine Art Production and from very first meeting, they were on top of their game plan. We did such an amazing - out of the box, pre-wedding music video. I am sure you will start knowing their love for bollywood. You must watch this video, here it is:
For our reception, we filmed an intro video with Amish and Chirali that acted as a dream sequence between the wedding and reception. In this video, we pretended we were dropped into 3 different old-school Bollywood songs – Hai Hukku Hai, Husn Hai Suhana, and My Name is Lakhan, and reenacted them with the original dance moves and our interpretation of the costumes!It was a surprise to everyone except our coordinator, DJ, and of course Fine Arts Productions, and was definitely a hit for everyone!
How did Meghna & Pragnesh met each other:
Here is an interesting story about how Goofy, youthful, and loving Chief Operations Officer, of M&U International LLC - Pragnesh met Serious yet silly, Physician – Pediatrician and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine/Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Specialist - Meghna.
"In December 2016, using the (free) app Coffee Meets Bagel our paths, well profiles, finally crossed. Pragnesh came across Meghna's profile and thought "6 feet tall?! No way." However, his curiosity peaked, so he sent a "bagel" to Meghna. When she saw Pragnesh's profile, she thought "6 feet 2 inches tall, likely Gujarati, this can't be legit." Once again, curiosity peaked, and the bagel was accepted. After that, messages were exchanged in the app, then phone numbers were exchanged and in January 2017, the first date was planned.
Now Meghna will tell you that Pragnesh drove down from NJ to Philly in a "blizzard" for our first date and was certain he would cancel. He remembers it as being a little bit windy and about 2-4 inches of snow coming down; having an all-wheel drive car, the snow wasn't going to stop him from making it to the restaurant. After both "safely" (meaning with only a few slips and slides while walking) made it to the restaurant, the date began. What was supposed to be a lunch date turned into a 5-hour long chat-fest, where Meghna and Pragnesh talked about everything and anything, from her love of boy bands, to his shock when she hadn't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies. He, like a true gentleman, offered to drive her back home to her apartment and the rest, you can say, is history."
Proposal Story:
Meghna and Pragnesh had planned a vacation to Cabo San Lucas in June 2018 as a little getaway amidst the chaos of the 2018 wedding season. Little did she know that accompanying us to that vacation was a little ring box. We each planned a surprise for each other on this vacation. Meghna planned different services for their spa day and Pragnesh planned a photoshoot with the hotel photographer (since Meghna always used to complain that we don't have nice pictures together). After going around the entire resort taking pictures, we ended up at a gazebo, where Pragnesh got down on one knee and asked Meghna to marry him in front of a rose petal and candle-filled display in the sand.
For the Garba we had all colors incorporated into décor and outfits to make it seem like a bright and festive mela. In fact, Meghna’s chaniya choli was made from pieces of fabric from each of her bridesmaids’ custom bandhani chaniya cholis!
Click here to view Complete Gallery of GARBA Celebration
For the wedding and reception, we chose to keep things simple, with gold, white, soft pinks and peaches and hints of red/maroon being the main colors for décor and florals.Our bridesmaids and groomsmen wore gray, navy blue, and maroon, since navy blue is one of Pragnesh’s favorite colors, maroon is one of Meghna’s favorite colors, and they both like the color gray.
The wedding took place in July, so it was very hot and humid for all the wedding events. Unfortunately, this took a toll on our picture plans, with it downpouring right after the wedding when we wanted to go outside and take pictures (but we took it as good luck for us!). However, we made the best of it and had an amazing baraat indoors and were able to take wonderful pictures within the Marriott itself by Amish Thakkar of Fine Art Production.
The vibe of the whole wedding day was just pure fun.This was definitely evident at our reception, since the dance floor stayed open the entire night!There were tears of course after the wedding ceremony was complete, but ultimately this was truly a joining of 2 families!
Check out Albany Marriott Indian Wedding Video Highlights of Meghna & Pragnesh:
What did the couple and their bridal party wear, Did it have any significance:
Meghna wanted to wear a traditional Gujarati Panetar Sari (ideally wanting to wear her mother’s wedding sari, which unfortunately was unable to be found), with Pragnesh wearing a traditional Sherwani that was customized to match her sari. Pragnesh’ s saafo (turban) and khes (scarf) were made with the same fabric as Meghna’s wedding sari blouse.
The bridesmaids and flower girls wore custom made gray gowns (fabric picked by the bride and her maid of honor) with maroon dupattas for an Indo-Western type look, while the groomsmen and ring bearers wore matching navy blue kurta pajamas with the same maroon dupattas as the bridesmaids.The maid of honor and best man had special borders put on their dupattas to set them apart.
Were there any special family traditions or moments with family involved in this wedding day:
Meghna had her late grandfather’s (Dada’s) handkerchief packed with her wedding sari and wore a key holder that belonged to her late grandmother (Nani) during the wedding.
We also stuck to the tradition of having all 4 of Meghna’s mamas walk her down the aisle, accompanied by her masa. Meghna was lucky to have 2 of her mamas and her masa come from India just for the wedding.
Pragnesh’s groomsmen included all of his cousin brothers, with his best man being his younger brother Keval.
During the phere, we included all of Meghna’s cousin brothers which made the mandap very rambunctious!
What was a unique touch or decor item that stood out in your memory:
We chose a non-traditional indian wedding mandap with gold open shelves in the back and a canopy of wisterias hanging above us, so that it gave the room a light and airy feel and did not block any views of our guests of the mandap. For the reception, we chose a moss wall with gold lantern-like shelves in front and a white and gold sofa to sit on, once again to keep things simple yet elegant.
Pragnesh was adamant that his shoes would not get stolen by the bride’s side, ceremony known as Juta-Chupai, so he had 9 total pairs of the same mojri made to closely match his wedding sherwani to ensure his shoes’ safety!
For our indian wedding reception, we decided to have custom cocktails that were characteristic of each of us. With the help of our wedding coordinator, we had customized signage created for these drinks, as well as for other aspects of the reception.
Finally, we chose to have a kids room during the wedding and reception to keep them entertained and supervised during the events.We hired a balloon artist and face painter for the wedding, and a magician and characters (Minions and Toy Story) for the reception.The characters ended up infiltrating the main reception, and joined in on our dance party, which made for an amazing memory for everyone!
What was a special moment of this day that stood out in your memory:
One of the most special moments for Meghna was when she was sitting on the mandap and saw her family members all wearing stick on mustaches. It was a true depiction of her fun and crazy family, and definitely made her laugh and forget her nervousness!
Another special moment for both Meghna and Pragnesh was just seeing all of their family members and closest friends under one roof together.What was even more special was the intermingling of both sides during the garba, wedding, and reception, without any finagling by the bride and groom. By the time the reception came around, it was almost as if everyone was one big happy family together!
Check out our beautiful Indian Bride getting ready portraits, Indian Bride Solo Portraits, Indian Groom Portraits, Bride & Groom Couple Portrait photography, indian bridal party pictures, Baraat Pictures, Indian Wedding rituals photography, candid wedding photographs of Meghna & Pragnesh's will certainly amaze you.
How did you find Chirali & Amish – Fine Art Production as a vendor, how did you meet? Why did you choose to work with Fine Art Production? What is your experience working with Chirali & Amish – Fine Art Production?
Meghna first met Chirali and Amish at another wedding in Albany NY in 2007 and was very impressed by their work and professionalism then.In 2018 we attended a Dulhan Expo in Woodbridge, NJ to look for wedding vendors where we met Amish and Chirali at their booth and remembered them from the wedding 11 years prior.
After meeting with them in person, seeing their work, and having them both understand our vision for our introduction video, the decision was made!
Indian Wedding Planning Tips to upcoming Brides – Grooms:
Try to delegate tasks as much as possible.
Have a day-of coordinator to help manage all the little details and coordinate your vendors so you or your family members do not have to.
Use a spreadsheet and/or wedding planning book to stay organized with vendor names, contact info, and payment information
Do a hair and makeup trial at least 2-3 months prior to the wedding (trying out hairstyles for all your events), try to bring your blouse or jewelry (especially if doing a dupatta and/or tikka) so that you can see what it will look like, and take pictures of all your styles to keep for reference for the actual wedding events
Do your best to enjoy the process, because it will get stressful!That will ensure that you enjoy your actual wedding events and remember all the special moments!
Indian Wedding Vendor List:
Indian Wedding Photographer: Chirali Thakkar 7329392104 www.fineartproduction.com
Indian Wedding Videographer: Amish Thakkar 7322080704 https://www.fineartproduction.com/indian-wedding-cinematography
Indian Wedding Decorator: Abhishek Decorators 732-283-2565 https://abhishekusa.com/
Indian Wedding DJ: D&S Event Solutions https://www.dseventsolutions.com/
Caterer: Rasoi 732 429-8150 http://www.cateringbyrasoi.com/
Indian Wedding Planner: Events by Ridhi P https://www.eventsbyridhip.com/
Make Up: J&C Beauty Bar and Salon (518) 608-1419 https://jcbeautybarsalon.com/
Hair: J&C Beauty Bar and Salon (518) 608-1419 https://jcbeautybarsalon.com/
Cake: Villa Italia Bakery (518) 355-1144 https://www.villaitaliabakery.com/Home
Bride’s Outfit: Wedding: Panihari (Santacruz (W), Mumbai, India), Reception: Kalki (Santacruz (W), Mumbai, India)
Groom’s Outfit: Kora (Santacruz (W), Mumbai, India) http://www.nileshmitesh.com/Home.html
Bridal Party Outfit: custom made
Horse / Exotic Car: not used, Groom hired actors to dress in character costumes (lion, tiger, Chewbacca) to dance during the baraat
Shoes: Groom’s: custom made by Kora (matching with sherwani)
Bride’s Jewelry: family set (earrings and necklace), tikka and jhanjhar from Silver Palace (Santacruz (W), Mumbai, India), Nose-ring made from diamond belonging to Meghna’s Nani
Honeymoon Place: Mini-honeymoon right after wedding: Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya, Mexico
Honeymoon (12/2019-1/2020): Thailand (Chiang Mai, Bangkok), Singapore, Bali
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