Good morning beautiful people and welcome to part one of two very different weddings celebrated by the beautiful Meeta + Nilesh. I am lost for words when it comes to the intricate details and traditions celebrated in this wedding, so beautiful and so unique. And did I mention that there were 1800 guests?

Thank you so much to the beautiful couple, and to Dreamlife Photography for sharing these gorgeous (and impressively unedited!) images with us ♥

From the bride..

On love and the proposal…

Our story is a bit crazy, but it begins in Oct 1999 (I was a mere 13 year old girl, Nilesh 15) when we met and took a bit of fancy to each other but at that age it was more a friendship that formed. After a while we lost touch and made our way through high school, until I was in my last year and Nilesh had started Uni, we had a few mutual friends and re-connected. So after 8 years together, Nilesh proposed at Mudbrick Vineyard, Waiheke Island amongst the vines overlooking Auckland’s skyline. He managed to keep it a secret as well and quietly get my family’s blessing without me knowing.  I always thought I would figure it out haha but alas, not until I turned around and saw Nilesh on one knee did it all dawn on me!  We did a trip to India to do our Indian wedding shopping with my family.

I would say, having endured ups and downs, ins and outs, nothing is ever perfect and neither is love, but it is the wanting to make each other happy and choosing to work at it every day that makes love what it is and something to treasure because it is not easy and we are proud we make it work and fall in love over and over again.

On the venue and inspiration…

So we decided to have two celebrations, we always wanted a traditional Hindu ceremony and Indian wedding, this was also important to our families. So our Indian wedding was a rather large affair, with 1800 guests! We held the ceremony at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Newton, Auckland.  It was a very long and emotion filled day but also the most magical.

Since our Indian wedding was going to be a very large affair with out extended family putting a lot of time and effort into making it what it was we also wanted to have a smaller legal ceremony (civil) and reception for our immediate family and close friends, for us it was a celebration of our love and the year of planning, but also a very big thank you to those in our lives. We had this at the Rooftop Events Centre at the Auckland Museum with 165 guests and it was such an awesome day/night.

Our honeymoon was 3 months traveling around Europe and included attending the London 2012 Olympics! 

Tips for brides…

I think it is key to sneak away just the bride and groom and some point during the evening, no one but you two, not even the photographers! It’s an intimate and special moment to reflect on the celebrations and everything that brought you as a couple to this point and what it means for your future together. 

Special touches…

My maternal grandmother was such a huge part of my life from the day I was born, and the one thing we always spoke and got excited about was how she looked forward to seeing me get married one day, unfortunately she got ill and passed away when I was 16, so the one thing I couldn’t do was get married without a piece of her with me, I have the locket she wore everyday and had that put onto my bouquet, it was something small but it meant the world to me to have as I walked down the aisle. 

♥ Photography Dreamlife Photography, Auckland ♥ Indian wedding Venue Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Auckland ♥ Civil/Reception wedding venue Rooftop Events Centre, Auckland MuseumHair + Make Up: Sarika Patel (MAC) and Dimple Dullabh ♥ Cake: For Heavens Cake, Auckland ♥ Invitations + Stationary: Our Indian wedding invitations were done in Bardoli, India. Our Civil/Reception our best friend Alisha Patel ♥ Brides Traditional Dress: San Patrick from Jane Yeh, Auckland ♥ Grooms Traditional Suit + Accessories: Crane Brothers, Auckland ♥ Bridesmaid Dresses: Jan Bach Dressmaker ♥