Voice of America gives a little preview of what many of us will be doing through the spring and summer months: going to the elaborate Indian weddings of people younger than us.
The bride is always beautiful.
And Sumit Arya’s job is to make sure she looks perfect. Originally from India – he’s a wedding planner.
“I’ve been raised half over here and half in India, so I do combine a lot of the ideas when it comes to wedding planning,” says Mr. Aray.
Sumit and his wife Shika make a bride’s dreams come true. Their Expos are one-stop shopping trips, where a traditionally-minded bride can find everything from jewels and exquisite silk, to a Hindu clergyman to officiate.
Vimesh Thakkar, a Hindu pundit says, “I go all around the U.S.A. As a matter of fact, next month I am going to Puerto Rico. Nowadays, people want the ceremonies in resorts. So I go to Mexico and other places to do [weddings].”
Must be nice. Maybe I shall become a clergyman. What?
The transcript of the videoclip can be found here.
I loved a recent wedding I went to — they got a non-Indian wedding planner whose specialty is Indian weddings. Apparently, she doesn’t panic about offending people (who will forgive her if the flowers are a bit too high or the bride’s not facing in exactly the most auspicious direction, because she’s just a dumb foreigner who can’t be expected to know better), and she keeps everyone on time! Now, there’s a job for me….
We had a great combination of Indian and non-Indian vendors for our wedding. The non-Indian were great because they did not have a lot of preconcieved ideas about how we wanted out wedding to be (one wedding planner I spoke with already had our wedding planned within 2 minutes of conversation). The Indians were great for those things that are just too hard to explain, especially by an ABD like me. The article lists a bride in Iowa, but all the expos seem to be in New Jersey. What’s the point for brides from other parts of the country?
The article lists a bride in Iowa, but all the expos seem to be in New Jersey. What’s the point for brides from other parts of the country?
believe it or not anita, many brides-to-be fly to those expos, from wherever they are. 🙂
i guess when you compare it to going to India to buy your trousseau (something that so many women do that i find myself slightly amazed)…going to jersey is a LOT more possible. 😉
I guess I was thinking more about hiring florists and caterers… You can’t really do that in New Jersey for a wedding in Iowa. I guess I’m just lucky that I’m in So Cal now.
Having both Indian & non-Indian wedding planners gives you an exquisite combination. A great way of planning your wedding.