The Big Fat Indian Wedding Preparations

Christmas Day 2008 was one of the most special days of my life…my boyfriend got down on one knee with a bouquet in one hand and a gorgeous necklace (he knew I’d appreciate it if he did things differently, hence no ring during the proposal!) in another and while professing his endless love for me, asked me to spend the rest of my life with him! Needless to say, my boyfriend is now my fiancé, whom I am to wed twice this year.

Yeah…it’s a little complicated. I get married twice. And to the same guy! Alas, such is life!

Now, a lot of young couples in this day and age have to go through two wedding procedures – registration/civil wedding and a ‘traditional’ wedding, if I may. My case isn’t any different, in all honesty. However, since my fiancé is a UK national, it is mandatory that we get registered in the UK. We opted to go to Glasgow for a number of convenient factors, which I don’t want to get into right now! But to cut a long story short, we’re getting married in Glasgow on 20 June, 2009. And our traditional Indian wedding is scheduled for 22 August, 2009.

It’s been 4 months since the proposal, and since our families met for the first time. It doesn’t seem like that long, to be honest! Seems like just yesterday when we were shitting ourselves thinking about what our parents are going to talk about! But yes, we’re past all that. *shudder* Yeah, still gives me the blasted shivers thinking about how time has flown by! Why, you ask me? Well, if you are asking me that question then you clearly haven’t been married yet. Or you haven’t been married the Indian way!

To say that there are a million things to be done would be a gross understatement. Because there are about 800 million things to do. And that’s just the beginning! Nope, not trying to scare you off in any way, just trying to convey what I’ve been going through for the past 4 months and will have to go through for the next four! :)

And weddings, Indian or otherwise, need a lot of planning. Which is what’s killing me and my family and family-to-be! The amount of research I’ve done and am constantly doing even as we speak, is insanely ridiculous! And me being me gets carried away with it. So when I go looking for prospect lehengas (wedding dress for Indian wedding) me goes all out and doesn’t realize that there needs to be a “stop” sign at the end of 10 hours of non-stop lehenga researching! I have no idea if that statement even makes any sense! :P

Anywhos…getting to the point: since I’ve done quite a bit of research and know that a lot of others out there will need a lot of it, I thought I’d start posting bits and parts of my research on my blog for anyone who might need any assistance. I’m not quite sure how ‘public’ my blog really is, so am gonna give it a shot anyhow. And in case any of you know of someone who’s getting married/researching, feel free to pass on this link to them so they can (hopefully) benefit a bit and cut down the time of their research.

I currently have quite a bit on me, but will start posting it one by one, just to make sure the information isn’t overwhelming. Nope, not for you, but for me to post up! Hehe!

So, to begin with, let me post up links of the relevant website links that I have come across during the course of my research. And of course, updates will follow. Just wanna see how this is being taken, and in all honesty, will have to make changes based on availability of time. :)

Here goes! Following are the links with website links and little descriptions of the websites (which were basically meant for me which is why some might seem vague). Some of these might be repeats, since I had two lists going at one point of time. I've put them both up, lest I miss out on something. Hope these help!

Website	Details
http://www.vdiembroidery.com/guruji.asp?cid=1&pid=307	Pictures of various kinds of dresses for the wedding, shagun, sangeet, mehendi, etc.
http://www.pbase.com/utsavsarees/designer_wedding_lehengas	wedding lehengas, designer lehengas
http://www.bargello.com/Bridal+Wear_107_290_1.htm	extensive Pakistani designs for wedding lehengas; very wide variety of lehengas, extensive in desings and colors
http://www.utsavsarees.com/pages/bridallehenga.htm	Bridal lehengas, heavy sarees for various occasions; best collection of lehengas
http://www.weddingmantras.com/tag/bride/	All things wedding! How to apply mehendi to what a wedding is all about! Also has wedding venue set up styles, etc. Also has a few examples of dresses.
http://www.shaadionline.com/sol/asp/feart/ritukumar_gallery.asp	Examples of wedding dresses, some Ritu Kumar designs, other designer wear.
http://shaadishoppe.com/ecart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_3&products_id=38	Wedding lehengas, various designs and colors; other ideas, such as card designs, etc.
http://www.indianfashionwear.net/womens-apparel.html
http://cuisinesnconcepts.com/index.html	A wedding reception, a sitdown banquet, a business launch or a touching art show.
http://www.myexpression.com/ArticlesWedding/ShouldMyWeddingInvitationsBeEInvitations.cfm	everything to do with wedding
http://www.seasonsindia.com/marriage/wedbeauty_sea.htm	everything to do with wedding
http://www.vdiembroidery.com/guruji.asp?cid=1&pid=307	Pictures of various kinds of dresses for the wedding, shagun, sangeet, mehendi, etc.
http://www.pbase.com/utsavsarees/designer_wedding_lehengas	wedding lehengas, designer lehengas
http://www.bargello.com/Bridal+Wear_107_290_1.htm	extensive Pakistani designs for wedding lehengas; very wide variety of lehengas, extensive in desings and colors
http://www.utsavsarees.com/pages/bridallehenga.htm	Bridal lehengas, heavy sarees for various occasions; best collection of lehengas
http://www.weddingmantras.com/tag/bride/	All things wedding! How to apply mehendi to what a wedding is all about! Also has wedding venue set up styles, etc. Also has a few examples of dresses.
http://www.shaadionline.com/sol/asp/feart/ritukumar_gallery.asp	Examples of wedding dresses, some Ritu Kumar designs, other designer wear.
http://shaadishoppe.com/ecart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_3&products_id=38	Wedding lehengas, various designs and colors; other ideas, such as card designs, etc.
http://www.indianfashionwear.net/womens-apparel.html	wedding dresses
http://www.bharatplaza.com/showitem.php?itemid=BSL5017	wedding dresses
http://www.devtasarees.com/traditional%20lehengas.php	wedding dresses
http://www.varsidhi.com/home.html	wedding dresses
http://www.fortegrand.com	Venue
tivoligarden.com	Venue
www.intercontinental.com/icnehruplace	Venue
Ashoka Hotel	Venue
http://www.hotelvikram.com/	Venue
http://www.homeindia.com/	wedding dresses
gola five star banquets	venue
http://www.meenakshiduttmakeovers.com/about_meenakshi.html	Best make up guys in town!
http://shalinivasisht.com/	Best make up guys in town!
http://www.ambikapillai.com/static/index.html	Best make up guys in town!
http://www.confetti.co.uk/article/view/5266-100-0-What_honeymoon_do_we_want__Honeymoons.do	honeymoon how-to's. Destination detials, etc.
http://www.idoweddingfavours.co.uk/	wedding favours
http://www.diyfavourboxes.co.uk/store/	wedding favours
http://www.world-of-wedding-favours.com/	wedding favours
http://www.ukweddingfavours.com/	wedding favours
http://www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk/wedding-favours.html	wedding favours
http://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Homemade_Wedding_Favors	wedding favours, with step by step procedure on how to do what…even the thinking process! Must see!!!
http://www.weddingvowsden.com/romantic-wedding-vows.shtml	wedding vows!
http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/wedding_planning/wedding_vows/best_free_wedding_vows.php	wedding vows! Fantastic collection!
http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/wedding_planning/wedding_vows/C01_I_Do_-_Your_Guide_to_Free_Wedding_Vows.php	wedding vows! Fantastic collection!

Website	Details
http://www.evite.com	e-invites
http://www.ewedding-invitations.com/wedding-invitations.html	e-invites
http://uniquegiftideas.cruets.com/view-e-wedding-invitations-1488.html	e-invites
http://www.myexpression.com/ArticlesWedding/ShouldMyWeddingInvitationsBeEInvitations.cfm	everything to do with wedding
http://www.cardfountain.com/ecards-index/wedding-ecards/invitations.php	e-invites
http://www.allweddingcards.com/Wedding_greetings.htm	e-invites
http://www.seasonsindia.com/marriage/wedbeauty_sea.htm	everything to do with wedding
http://www.vdiembroidery.com/guruji.asp?cid=1&pid=307	Pictures of various kinds of dresses for the wedding, shagun, sangeet, mehendi, etc.
http://www.pbase.com/utsavsarees/designer_wedding_lehengas	wedding lehengas, designer lehengas
http://www.bargello.com/Bridal+Wear_107_290_1.htm	extensive Pakistani designs for wedding lehengas; very wide variety of lehengas, extensive in desings and colors
http://www.utsavsarees.com/pages/bridallehenga.htm	Bridal lehengas, heavy sarees for various occasions; best collection of lehengas
http://www.weddingmantras.com/tag/bride/	All things wedding! How to apply mehendi to what a wedding is all about! Also has wedding venue set up styles, etc. Also has a few examples of dresses.
http://www.shaadionline.com/sol/asp/feart/ritukumar_gallery.asp	Examples of wedding dresses, some Ritu Kumar designs, other designer wear.
http://shaadishoppe.com/ecart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_3&products_id=38	Wedding lehengas, various designs and colors; other ideas, such as card designs, etc.
http://www.indianfashionwear.net/womens-apparel.html
http://www.bharatplaza.com/showitem.php?itemid=BSL5017
http://www.devtasarees.com/traditional%20lehengas.php
http://www.varsidhi.com/home.html
http://www.fortegrand.com
tivoligarden.com
www.intercontinental.com/icnehruplace
Ashoka Hotel
http://www.hotelvikram.com/
http://www.homeindia.com/
http://www.myshadicards.com/	printed cards' details, how to, custom made
http://www.indiamart.com/blinggiftpacking/	We provide a range of exquisite gift packing accessories, cane gift baskets, gift trays and gift tags which are a blend of creative designing and fine craftsmanship. We can get gift wrapping ideas from here!
gola five star banquets
http://www.confetti.co.uk/article/view/5266-100-0-What_honeymoon_do_we_want__Honeymoons.do	destination details!

Ok...so that's a lot of information! Now, this is only the beginning. Moving forward, I'll post up further details of what I think, what I like and what I've finalized upon once I have some more time.

Meanwhile, I hope all this helps. I've spent quite a lot of time putting these lists together and if this helps someone else in their wedding planning, I'd be the happiest person! :)

Have fun planning!