A Lockdown Wedding Planned In Less Than A Day

Sreelakshmi & Arjun's wedding celebrations are proof of what's meant to happen, will happen! While they had been planning the wedding for months, due to the second wave, all their plans came to a hault. They preponed all their wedding plans and within a day finalised everything. Sreelaksmi's dad & grandad arranged for the venue, food and even decor in less than 24 hours while vendors like her Makeup Artist, The Makeupbox by Fidha Jafer and Photographers, Magic Motion Media★ 4.6 , rearranged their schedules to be a part of Sreelakshmi & Arjun's wedding. 

The result is in front of you! A beautifully intimate wedding, shot flawlessly by the ace team of Magic Motion Media with Sreelakshmi who looked ethereal as a bride. Scroll down and have a look at this celebration. 

Meet Sreelakshmi & Arjun

Ours was an arranged marriage. When I first spoke to Arjun, it went very smooth and we talked for more than an hour. I don’t know how to explain but it did not seem forced at all. We were having a normal conversation getting to know each other, what we were into etc! We just talked you know. There weren’t any awkward silences or anything or the sort. So we decided to keep in touch and see where this was going. October 18th we met the first time face to face and it was good! Again we talked for ages till my mom called us down for food. After they left I told my mom I liked him. He texted me I think after 4 hours saying we should take this forward. I think in the evening his dad called up mine and said they’re keen on getting us married. My parents discussed with our extended family and decided the same. So his parents wanted to do the engagement before he flew back so we decided the date October 29. The romantic that he is, Arjun said while selecting the wedding rings that we should engrave date we first met face to face along with the significant other’s name. So we have “18.10.20” engraved on our wedding rings! And six months later we got married! 

The Wedding 

From The Bride: 

Initially we were planning a big wedding with 100-200 guests on May 9th because that was the said number then. But then the second wave hit faster than we expected, the CM of Kerala announced on 6th May that it is be a state wise lockdown from 8th May. So we had to prepone our wedding to 7th May when our Mehendi was supposed to happen. So we had the most modest small wedding with just 15-20 guests each from both sides. We didn’t know if the wedding would even take place because up until the night of the day before, every thing seemed to fall apart including the rains at night. But then things started to fall in place one by one and on the day of the wedding it was a beautiful day and when we got to get married in front of the Lord himself at Guruvayur, it felt like we were meant to get married that day. It was one of the most memorable days of our lives.

We did not hire a wedding planner as such because I wanted to personally look into and be involved in every single detail and aspect of the wedding and I had a vision as to how I wanted it starting from the venue to the invitation cards to the stage and decor to the outfits and the theme. I thought I could do it all. Boy wasn’t I wrong.! Hence the reason why when the lockdown was announced we all had a heart attack!? We didn’t know what to do. I had to call up all the vendors and ask them if they could do with the preponement and whoever couldn’t I had to cancel all of them. Meanwhile my dad and grandpa made a gazillion calls to arrange for alternatives however small the wedding might reduce to.

Vendor Reviews: 

Venue: Gopika Regency (Guruvayur)
Our family would forever be grateful to the staff and people of Gopika Regency. Due to the preponement of the wedding our original venue did not have an opening for us. My dad and grandpa made some calls and came to know about this place that was quite close to the temple also. They were willing to arrange for the accommodation and food for the entire wedding troop (bride and groom) and even for the makeup artist. They were willing to give their banquet hall for the day and they even offered to put up a stage and a modest decoration and arrange for jasmine flowers for my hairdo. They also offered to arrange for the customary wedding sadya. If it weren’t for them I don’t know what we would have done. For this we are forever grateful to them.

Makeup Artist: The Makeupbox by Fidha Jafer
As dramatic as this sounds, two phone calls made my mom and I take a sigh of relief. The first one was the phone call with Fidha. The minute we decided we were preponing the wedding I called up Fidha and told her the situation.The major factor that was in front of us here was the fact that she had a 10 month old baby and what to do with him. So once the date was confirmed she said that she will make arrangements and leave right away and meet us at the venue. It was a 2.5 hour drive for her and she had to reach before the curfew. There was no second guessing. She said that she will be there. It was the one thing that we were sure of at that point because the alternative was for me to do my own makeup and I didn’t even want to think about it! Just like she promised she reached there along with us. She asked me all the details and asked me when I had to be ready. The next day we started at it early morning. I had three outfit changes and she filled me up beautifully. I had told her that I did not wear makeup unless it was for some wedding function and I always preferred the lightest makeup. I told her that I wouldn’t prefer cakey makeup. She paid heed to all my recommendations and she did such an amazing job. A different hairdo for each sari. And the ornaments arranged so beautifully. I think I can be bold enough to say she made me look gorgeous! Fidha is a magician with her hands. 

Photographers: Magic Motion Media
The second phone call was to the photographers. The Magic Motion team was quite involved from the beginning itself. I think two weeks before the Mehendi, they called me up and asked us you know about ourselves and what we wanted for our wedding and how we wanted to portray it. They sent me a form where I had to fill how I wanted the whole vibe to be for the photographs and videos. We even had a Zoom meeting with myself and Arjun and the representative of the team, taking notes about be various events on both sides. Arjun and I had separate pre wedding functions as we were from different districts and they were willing to send two separate teams to cover both the sides. So when the lockdown was announced and I called them up telling them about the revised date, they we’re quite understanding. They asked me what time and the venue where the function would take place and assured us that they’ll be there early morning. True to the word, they reached early morning. I told them the first thing in the morning that I wasn’t exactly photogenic especially when it came to candids (something I understood from my engagement pictures) but Arjun was excited about the entire photoshoot! They told me not to worry and be myself and made me quite comfortable. They took some really cute candids and cheesy photos that came out quite well. Arjun was a B&W photo enthusiast and they included quite a number of those as well. We had the most pleasant experience with them.

Vendors: Venue: Gopika Regency (Guruvayur); Makeup Artist: The Makeupbox by Fidha Jafer; Photographers: Magic Motion Media★ 4.6 ; Bridal Outfits: Sarees from Kasavukada, Seemati, Bridal Blouses from Paris de Boutique; Groom Wear: Kim Hassan