"Blended cultures, full of love" - Deepa and Shalveen's Wedding in Costa Mujeres
Swimsuit swapping in paradise
We wanted to have our friends and family experience something unique with an exotic backdrop! Some of the important factors included catering Indian food, decorations, and making sure our families were able to make the trip without visa issues.
We ended up choosing a destination wedding because we wanted to have a smaller celebration. We ended up going with Grand Palladium because it looked the prettiest, was more in nature and it was new. It was an absolutely great spot. My older relatives spent every day in the spa, borrowing each other’s swimsuits because they never thought to pack their own, the kids played on the beach and in the kid’s club, our friends spent their days by the swim-up bar in the pool.
Author - Deepa, Bride
A wedding planner that goes above and beyond the coconuts
We were assigned a wedding planner (Eunice) from the resort after placing our deposits. She ended up being amazing and really pulling through. On the day of our ceremony, our parents told us we needed extra coconuts and she went out and bought them for us herself! She worked really well with us and was amazingly patient.
When you’re given the option to make an entrance by boat, you don’t turn it down
We had about 100 guests attend our Indian traditional wedding which incorporated both of our Gujarati & Tamil cultures. The wedding started with a religious pre-wedding Pooja on Day 1, Mehndi ceremony on Day 2, a Garba dance on Day 3, the Baraat & Wedding on Day 4, and Reception on Day 5.
The resort is beautiful! The variety of bars and restaurants, contemporary design, and proximity to the beach were all great selling points. The groom also had the chance to use the boats as part of his Baraat and the wedding took place on the beach, which were huge plus points for us.
A theme for each event
For the wedding, we wanted something more on the simple side to not take away from the natural beauty of the ocean view. For the Garba, we decided to do an Indian street-market type of decor with outdoor food-carts, overhead lighting, and an assortment of bright colors. The reception was held in a contemporary, elegant style with backlights and a ballroom setting.
Memories to last a lifetime. Which was the favorite?
Dancing outdoors at night during the Garba, chilling on the Mandap while drinking from a coconut, relaxing with friends/family at the pool after the wedding, so many moments...
Find your dream team and soak up paradise
We used Patravali. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food. Their north Indian items were really good. all of the dishes they served during our cocktail hour and at the reception were excellent. Our guests commented on the great taste, and we were relieved.
For photography, we hired Luke and Walter Luke Fotoliv. We loved what we saw of their work online, especially what they did with nature. They were absolutely great to work with. Very relaxed and professional, plus they were a lot of fun to spend time with. They had a lot of experience with Indian weddings and were very aware of different traditions and respectful.
We hired DJ Josh from MVP DJs. He was also great and professional. He played short clips of songs we both loved but no one else knew to please us, had a great theory on progressing from Indian music early on when the elders were around before going to things we youngsters love, and he really read the crowd. We were a smaller group, so during dinner most people were leaving the dance floor and my father requested the music to be lowered, so he turned it down. This was amazing, gave everyone (most importantly me!) a chance to relax before turning the energy back up with a revitalized crowd. We loved how flexible and responsive he was to our group. Plus, he really figured out the type of music we were into and rocked it all night!
We hired Loto Mehendi, the preferred vendor, and loved it. I wanted a unique design (the king and queen of hearts), and Gaby executed brilliantly. Her colleague even did a play on the theme for Shalveen’s hand that was really cool. Her work was efficient and beautiful, and she was able to tailor her packages to something that worked for me (I didn’t want anything fancy on my feet).
We hired Alex Corbanezi and were extremely happy about their work. I went with different themes on braids for my events, and Alex did an amazing job executing my vision. Suzy was also really great and found a way to give me false eyelashes that looked great in photos. Their team is great and fun to work with.
Veena Prasad, a Vedic priest based in San Antonio, TX performed our ceremony. She was great and did a very thorough job explaining everything so that all our friends could really understand. This was also great for us so that we knew what we were doing on the mandap as well!
Shaadi Destinations also helped arrange Lomas Travel for airport shuttles, which was very appreciated by our guests.
Our list of vendors:
Special thanks to Luke Fotoliv for these fabulous pictures! Contact Luke Fotoliv for your destination photography needs.
Shaadi Destinations is the premier, award winning, modern-day destination wedding travel agency for South Asian couples seeking a streamlined process, incredible experiences, and a party friends and family will never forget! We save our couples thousands of dollars while throwing them the wedding festivities dreams are made of.
We live and breathe destination weddings - with just one consultation, you will be light years ahead in your destination wedding planning process. In less than one week, Shaadi Destinations will find you the most perfect resort that meets your needs, your budget, and your desires. With our vendor relationships and pre-negotiated exclusive perks at resorts across Mexico and the Caribbean, we are confident we can find exactly what you are looking for. You'll find we have the best rates, best incentives, and best booking experience.
