Everything about this wedding stands out- right from the outfits to the pretty bridal entry and the absolutely gorgeous decor, which was thought out by the bride! Pooja and Gaurav had their dream wedding in Goa, and what we loved was that the wedding had a fun and intimate vibe about it- as if it was all about the celebration of love! The photos by Shutterdown - Lakshya Chawla★ 5  captured the wonderful moments to perfection and the wedding planning and execution by Vogue was on point too!

Meet Pooja & Gaurav

No it wasn't love at first sight. Lol. Because that first sight took some good work from my end (Gaurav). I came across Pooja's profile on Facebook through a friend's vacation pictures she'd shared. Soon after checked with this friend of mine - Richa - and turns out Pooja is her *best* friend. So I troubled Richa for a while to try to get to talk to Pooja. A few months later, on Richa's birthday is when I met Pooja for the first time. It was funny because I'd stalked Pooja so much by then but still had to pretend it was the first time I'm ever seeing her. The evening was fun and both of us interacted a fair bit and she even dropped me home in fact. The next day, *drum roll*, I added her on Facebook. I was pretty confident she would accept almost immediately but she didn't accept my friend request for weeks. Finally after she did, we began texting on FB Messenger (felt like I'm back to school, lol) and after another few weeks of texting (yes this took seriously long) we finally found time to meet. While Gaurav may be exaggerating a tad bit on how long I (Pooja) took to respond to his friend requests and texts, meeting him did take a bit of nudging from Richa's end (in my defense, good boys aren't so easy to find these days). But to my surprise, one drive lead to another, one date to another. And we dated for 2 and a half years before we decided to tie the knot.

 

Welcome Party

La Loca Fiesta' was our Welcome Party and the idea of this pool party was to keep it super fun with pops of vibrant colors (not mehdni-ish) with funky photo ops, your usual run of the mill games like giant jenga and beer pong, super fresh cocktails and light finger food.

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Sangeet

'Scotch & Sangeet' was the theme for our Sangeet and since this was the first formal function, I wanted it to be classic, and there's nothing more classic than a black and white theme.

       

 

Wedding

Our 'Rituals by the River' or Pheras! You guessed it - there's no beach at this property however what makes up is the stunning lawn overlooking the river. Rustic and simple is how I'd imagined the wedding to be and VLW made sure I got that Pinterest-perfect set-up with ferry lights and pastel pink & white flowers with that touch of green.

                

Cocktail Reception

 'Lets Get Knotty' was our Cocktail Reception. This one was the hardest to conceptualize as Gaurav & I wanted it to be a fun cocktail party, different from the standard Gatsby-type themes. Hours & nights of Pinterest-ing & ideation got us to a reference of 'Til death do us Party - and our theme was set.

From the Couple: 

Gaurav and I always wanted a close knit wedding (however small an Indian wedding can be), hence we ruled out having a wedding in our hometown Bombay and started our reccees in places like Mahabalipuram and Goa. Goa resonated with our vibe and the type of wedding we wanted - quirky and chilled. We lucked out with all our vendors - from our photographers to our wedding planners to our make up artists - they were the most down to earth teams, excellent at what they do who went to lengths to ensure we got our dream wedding. Also, Gaurav gave me full liberty in planning the decor (*wink*), and I went nuts on Pinterest and decided the decor as per themes.

 

Vendor Reviews

 

Photographers: Shutterdown Photography

Out of adjectives to describe this team - most creative, enthusiastic, kickass (we’re not exaggerating). They have given us the most magical memories for life. We LOVED working with them.

Wedding Planning: Vogue Luxury Weddings (VLW)

VLW worked endless hours to give us the perfect wedding, we’ve never seen decor executed so perfectly, down to the tiniest detail and being so hands on with hospitality. Kudos to Shruti Tiwari and her team.

Venue: Doubletree by Hilton Panaji Goa

This property honestly wasn’t high on our list at first as it didn’t have a beach. On our Goa reccee, we had seen all the best properties and were about to head back, however since our flight got delayed, we had tons of time to kill and we decided to check it out anyway. It was love at first sight. The aura, the river view, the newness of the property - it was an overwhelming YES from all of us. The A-team at Doubletree ie Eleanor, Anirudh, Sahil went over and above to ensure that everything went smoothly during those 2 days and that we got the wedding we dreamed of.

Makeup Artist: Priya Todarwal; Hair: Sarita Gurav

Hands down the best team a girl could ask for. From nailing every look to pampering me between each function to having a blast while getting ready, I couldn’t have asked for a better team. (My sister and moms makeup artists flight got delayed and she couldn’t reach in time for the first function, one panic call to Priya and she was there, she and Sari got 3 of us ready in record time, no questions asked).

Bridal Outfits

La Loca Fiesta & Let’s get Knotty - Swapnil Shinde

Coolest and sweetest designer who understood and executed my outfit with extraordinary perfection, I couldn’t thank Pakkhi Pahuja enough for recommending him to me.

Sangeet & Scotch - Anushree Reddy

I had a color in mind for this function, and even though they didn’t have that color in the lehenga I chose, they didn’t hesitate to give me what I dreamed of. I guess this is what matters most - working with people who will make sure that brides dreams are fulfilled)

Rituals by the River (Pheras) - Anita Dongre

I always had my heart out for a Sabyasachi or an Anita Dongre, but Anita Dongre was the perfect match for my petite self. I must’ve gone to the store a gazillion times and tried so many outfits and then when I tried this one, I was in love.

Groom Outfits

La Loca Fiesta - Sameer Patel

Sameer is the sweetest guy who patiently must’ve showed us thousands of fabrics before I found the one I was looking for.

Sangeet & Scotch - Troy Costa

The best designer for a tux, period- always giving his personal touch.

Mehendi Artist : Falguni Damania

 I loved my mehndi, full stop. The intricacy of the design, and their understanding of what I wanted to recreate - from giving me an Istanbul skyline (that’s where Gaurav proposed) to palm trees in Sri Lanka (that’s where I proposed to Gaurav), to a London skyline - it was the most memorable mehndi that someone who doesn’t like mehndi wouldn’t mind putting again.

Invitations : Itchha Talreja Designs

It was so much fun collaborating with Itchha. After sharing the mood board for our functions, she instantly understood our fun vibe and created the cutest e-invite.

 

Vendors: Photography: Shutterdown - Lakshya Chawla★ 5 ; Wedding Planning: Vogue; Venue: Doubletree by Hilton Panaji Goa; Invitations: Itchha Talreja Designs★ 4.9 ; Makeup Artist: Priya Todarwal Bridal Makeup★ 5 ; Hairstylist: Sarita Gurav; Mehendi Artist: Falguni Damania; Bridal Outfits: Swapnil Shinde ★ 5 (Welcome Party & Cocktail), Anushree Reddy★ 4.7 (Sangeet), Anita Dongre★ 4.9 (Wedding); Groom Outfits: Sameer Patel Designs★ 5 (Welcome Party & Reception), Troy Costa★ 5 (Sangeet), Anita Dongre★ 4.9 (Wedding)