1 Year, 2 Weddings, 3 Families, 4 Individuals
It's amazing how much lives can transform in a year. It was a year that went by, leaving behind a trail of memories and experiences, something that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives. Here's a recount of the revelations the year 2012 brought about.
ONE:
After the traditional bride groom selection formalities, it had finally come down to this, the first event of the year - Deepika - Shiva's engagement ceremony held at Vijay Park, Chennai on 05-Feb-2012. These were interesting times with plenty of discussions among family members. Organizing this ceremony also warmed us up for the busy times ahead. On the D day, all events took place as expected with overwhelming guests. The engagement event in itself was a grand success and everything fell into place at the right time, thanks to the support of both the families, friends, hours of meticulous preparation and the supportive crowd which overflowed the party hall.
TWO:
The second event of the year was my engagement ceremony with Jeevitha held at Vasanta Bhavan party hall, Vadapalani, Chennai on 25-Apr-2012. Being the hero of the event, my role was curtailed to just being locked in the room waiting to be called onstage. Little did I know, the priests would actually forget that I existed and later called me on stage after all the formalities with elders got over. Thanks to my dear friends, Karthikeyan, Raj, Hemangi and Saran who gave me some company in the dreaded groom room. It was a comedy of errors and in the end the adage "All's well that ends well" was a perfect fit to the occasion. Special thanks to Jeevitha's parents and her sister Brindha who organized the event in the best possible way.
THREE:
The third and the MEGA event of the year was Deepika's wedding with Shiva Kumar on 20-Aug-2012. It was mega in every way and probably even qualified for the "The Great Indian Wedding".... alright that's stretching it a bit too much, but that's how I saw it. We even selected the date, such that 19-August coincides with my parents anniversary! Being responsible for the event, I knew I had my work cut out. It was a herculean task just thinking about the various aspects to be handled. It didn't help either that with under 2 months to go, my company sent me to US on an urgent 15 day project trip. I took this time to recharge myself and gear up for the busy days ahead. The enormity of the wedding planning sunk in after I returned to India. Just to list out some cogs in the wheel, Wedding Hall, Decorators, Wedding Invites, Caterers, Photographers, Music bands and music, Gifts, Dresses for bride, groom, other family members, Accommodation, Flowers & Garlands, Temple, Priests, Make-up artist and the list goes on.. It's a fine balance between splurging and making the occasion grand. To top it all, there were last minute challenges, such as the connecting road to the marriage hall was dug up a week before the wedding and heavy rains made it impossible to even reach the hall. Special thanks to the wedding hall owner, he made sure it was all set on the day of wedding and Rain God not to shower on the day of the occasion. At the final moment of the reception and wedding, all pieces fell into place and the wedding occasion on the whole exceeded all our expectations and was a gala event. Both our families enjoyed every moment of the occasion.
It's amazing how much lives can transform in a year. It was a year that went by, leaving behind a trail of memories and experiences, something that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives. Here's a recount of the revelations the year 2012 brought about.
ONE:
After the traditional bride groom selection formalities, it had finally come down to this, the first event of the year - Deepika - Shiva's engagement ceremony held at Vijay Park, Chennai on 05-Feb-2012. These were interesting times with plenty of discussions among family members. Organizing this ceremony also warmed us up for the busy times ahead. On the D day, all events took place as expected with overwhelming guests. The engagement event in itself was a grand success and everything fell into place at the right time, thanks to the support of both the families, friends, hours of meticulous preparation and the supportive crowd which overflowed the party hall. TWO:
THREE:
The third and the MEGA event of the year was Deepika's wedding with Shiva Kumar on 20-Aug-2012. It was mega in every way and probably even qualified for the "The Great Indian Wedding".... alright that's stretching it a bit too much, but that's how I saw it. We even selected the date, such that 19-August coincides with my parents anniversary! Being responsible for the event, I knew I had my work cut out. It was a herculean task just thinking about the various aspects to be handled. It didn't help either that with under 2 months to go, my company sent me to US on an urgent 15 day project trip. I took this time to recharge myself and gear up for the busy days ahead. The enormity of the wedding planning sunk in after I returned to India. Just to list out some cogs in the wheel, Wedding Hall, Decorators, Wedding Invites, Caterers, Photographers, Music bands and music, Gifts, Dresses for bride, groom, other family members, Accommodation, Flowers & Garlands, Temple, Priests, Make-up artist and the list goes on.. It's a fine balance between splurging and making the occasion grand. To top it all, there were last minute challenges, such as the connecting road to the marriage hall was dug up a week before the wedding and heavy rains made it impossible to even reach the hall. Special thanks to the wedding hall owner, he made sure it was all set on the day of wedding and Rain God not to shower on the day of the occasion. At the final moment of the reception and wedding, all pieces fell into place and the wedding occasion on the whole exceeded all our expectations and was a gala event. Both our families enjoyed every moment of the occasion.
FOUR:
The final big event of the year was my wedding with Jeevitha! Fresh from having seen through Deepika-Shiva's wedding, I was fairly confident on the kind of planning required, the nuances, pain points and above all had all important contacts in my finger tips. The only thing that made me jittery was that on the D-day, I would be Onstage and not be handling any of these responsibilities. Meanwhile again I needed some means to recharge myself before the run up to the wedding preparations, I took some time out and participated in my first Sprint triathlon and subsequently my first half marathon. It helped me stay in shape and refreshed me mentally for the busy days ahead.
As with the previous occasions, gave tremendous attention to details, (Just to quote an example, we went to Menaka Cards 6 times to make sure all was well, before collecting our final Wedding Invites !). Also, we reused most of our contacts wherever possible, including Caterers, Photographers, Make-up artists etc. This saved us time as these guys already knew our preferences. We were anticipating one major hick-up - Heavy Rains, this being a monsoon season. Thankfully, the Rain God was kind to us again and refrained from pouring. Deep and Shiva both were sick with fever on the day of reception, but still managed to pull it off. Infact Shiva revealed a big surprise - A Website dedicated to Jeevitha and me (http://karthikwedsjeevitha.com/). We managed to keep an eye on the presentation, all through the reception ceremony. The wedding reception itself was fun filled, with friends and relatives living it up all through the evening late into the night. The marriage ceremony was perfect in all its tradition just like we wanted it to be.
The final big event of the year was my wedding with Jeevitha! Fresh from having seen through Deepika-Shiva's wedding, I was fairly confident on the kind of planning required, the nuances, pain points and above all had all important contacts in my finger tips. The only thing that made me jittery was that on the D-day, I would be Onstage and not be handling any of these responsibilities. Meanwhile again I needed some means to recharge myself before the run up to the wedding preparations, I took some time out and participated in my first Sprint triathlon and subsequently my first half marathon. It helped me stay in shape and refreshed me mentally for the busy days ahead.As with the previous occasions, gave tremendous attention to details, (Just to quote an example, we went to Menaka Cards 6 times to make sure all was well, before collecting our final Wedding Invites !). Also, we reused most of our contacts wherever possible, including Caterers, Photographers, Make-up artists etc. This saved us time as these guys already knew our preferences. We were anticipating one major hick-up - Heavy Rains, this being a monsoon season. Thankfully, the Rain God was kind to us again and refrained from pouring. Deep and Shiva both were sick with fever on the day of reception, but still managed to pull it off. Infact Shiva revealed a big surprise - A Website dedicated to Jeevitha and me (http://karthikwedsjeevitha.com/). We managed to keep an eye on the presentation, all through the reception ceremony. The wedding reception itself was fun filled, with friends and relatives living it up all through the evening late into the night. The marriage ceremony was perfect in all its tradition just like we wanted it to be.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Aunt (Mrs. Saraswathi, my mom's sister), who was my sole source of inspiration and guidance and who helped see through all the 4 occasions. Special thanks to all the family members (Shiva's family members, Jeevitha's family members, cousins Udaya and Arun), and my friends (who stepped up at crucial times) and some strangers as well. Above all, none of this would have been possible without my parents blessings who were our unseen force behind every event.
As the year goes by, and looking back at the events, it has been 1 hell of a year with 2 big weddings uniting 3 families and culmination of 4 souls.
Wishing us all a happy life ahead !
Epilogue:
One year:
- 2012
Two Weddings:
Deepika Weds Shiva Kumar (20-Aug-2012)
Jeevitha Raji weds Karthik (26-Nov-2012)
Three Families:
- Arumugam and Family
- Mrs. Anbarasi and Family
- Mr. Rathinavelu and Family
Four Protagonists:
- Deepika. A (Technical Writer)
- C. Shiva Kumar (Entrepreneur)
- Karthik. A (Software Professional)
- R. Jeevitha Raji (Research Scholar)
