Smita: Born in New Delhi, India and a self proclaimed 'citizen of the world,' the bride grew up in more countries than most people see in a lifetime. After this southern girl dodged the mean streets of the Big Apple while completing her residency in pediatrics, she moved to Los Angeles with her groom.
Gil: Born in the metropolis of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the groom survived the tough classrooms of Fairfield Preparatory School. After completing his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship at Yale, he moved to Los Angeles with his bride.
As I was starting orientation for residency, there were so many things on my mind. Just last month I was a medical student...I'm so nervous to be on call! What will residency be like? What's a southern girl doing in New York? Why am I asking so many questions? Then the neonatal ICU conveniently gave us a calculation test which all the residents failed. As luck would have it, we had to go over it with a very obnoxious chief resident. As he looked over all the scratches on my paper, he quite rudely asked me 'ARE YOU ON CRACK?' in front of the entire class. Quickly, I responded that I am ALWAYS on crack and walked off with fumes coming out of my head. As weeks went by, and I told all my friends how much I did not like our chief resident, he conveniently invited himself AND his best friend to a party I was having for the first year residents. As we hung out on the rooftop of my apartment building overlooking New York City, I began to see that this person I once did not like had humor, compassion and a heart of gold. The laughter and good times continue to this day.
So after Gil spent all Thanksgiving weekend in Houston alone being grilled by Smita's parents, he returned to New York with a smile on his face. Smita was quite unaware of what was brewing underneath. Then one Saturday when Smita was post-call and pre-call, Gil planned a dinner to 'talk about the Thanksgiving weekend'. Smita, feeling as if she was just hit by a truck (a cute red one of course!) was quite reluctant to go. But when she saw the black limousine pull up in front of her apartment, she knew it would be a special night.
Gil had planned dinner on the Bateaux New York dinner cruise! As they were wining and dining, watching the sights of New York City from the Hudson river, a singer with a band was singing cheesy Christmas songs. All of a sudden the tone changed. The singer began to sing "The Way you look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra. Smita's eyes widened. Knowing that Smita has played this song on repeat in the past, much to Gil's annoyance, he knew that this was one of her favorites.
Gil asked Smita to come to the dance floor. Smita, feeling a bit shy to dance in front of everybody, needed some coaxing. As they danced to Sinatra, Gil kneeled down on one knee as the waiter hurried to the dance floor with Smita's camera! When Gil asked her, the entire boat got up on their feet and clapped. Guess what she said??
The mehndi party was held at the bride’s parents house. The Sangeet was held at the Sugar Land Ballroom in Sugar Land, TX. The theme was ‘A Night in Punjab’. The program was meant to depict a wedding in a Punjabi Village. We had a band that played Punjabi folk songs, a dancing group that taught the crowd to bhangra (as my husband’s family is not Indian) and bracelets for all the women. The entire immediate family dressed in white and gold.
The wedding was held at the elegant Houstonian Hotel in Houston, Texas. The colors were pink and white. The groom arrived on a horse with his immediate family dancing all the way. It was a true blending of cultures. The pandit conducted the entire ceremony in English and asked the audience to participate in the ceremony by repeating our vows. The ceremony was intimate and held everyone’s attention for the entire two hours! There were also 23 bridesmaids dressed in magnificient blue saris.
The reception followed the wedding at the Houstonian Hotel. The colors were teal and white. The first dance was a salsa that transitioned into a bhangra showing our two unique personalities. The dhol player at the reception kept the crowd dancing the entire night.
The honeymoon was at the Four Seasons Resort in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. There, we had our own intimate wedding ceremony on the beach with the white dress followed by a ‘reception’ that the hotel had for us. It was just two of us, a candle lit dinner and a band. Truly amazing. We went zip lining, ATV riding, white water rafting and came back with an official Costa Rican marriage license!
Unique Touches
23 bridesmaids, our wedding favors were donations to a charity that we had chosen, our wedding cake was made of several smaller cakes that curved like stairs, and best of all, our wedding was a testament that two cultures can come together to celebrate one unified cause.
Bridal Wisdom
In your quest to plan the ‘perfect’ wedding, remember that the most perfect thing is becoming your fiance’s wife.
