Abirami and Dilshan’s wedding was one to watch out for. Not only did their six year love story sound like a dreamy escape, but Dilshan’s proposal gave us serious proposal goals. The two held in high regard what love meant to them - a combination of magic and a handful of dreams thrown in for good measure. When Dilshan went down on a knee to ask if Abirami would spend the rest of her life with him, both secretly knew the answer. What they didn’t perhaps know, however, was that 13 months might seem like it's enough time to orchestrate a wedding, but that’s far from being true!
The couple decided to keep it real - they wanted a South Indian and Sri Lankan wedding, whilst keeping it true to their traditional roots. Agreeing that narrowing down on a date for the wedding, while keeping an eye on their favourite wedding venues in Sydney and looping in a pandit to have a favourable date on hand, was the toughest bit, the two seem to have had a ball at every event! However, thanks are also due to the photography by Splendid Photos & Videos who managed to click the two at their best and brightest, while keeping their attention focussed on other elements of the wedding as well.
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Our personal favourite when it came to Abirami’s stunning trousseau was the ivory lace saree she donned, complete with a fresh bouquet of elegant white roses. Her thick lustrous tresses were pinned back loosely, revealing the dewy glow on the young bride’s face. Dilshan managed to keep up with Abirami’s jaw-dropping looks- whether it was in a sleek suit or a sherwani to go with her South Indian style saree. We love that this pair didn’t hesitate to mix it up instead of sticking to the plain old ways of getting hitched!
"Our favorite moment was when we first saw each other at the Hindu wedding, we could not stop grinning at each other. We were completely oblivious to all the other wedding commotion happening around us. We had the most fun... We had epic levels of fun during our first dance."
Kudos to the decorators for recreating a beautiful mandap, complete with marigolds and coconuts, and to the culinary experts for bringing some authentic Indian dishes to the palates of the couples’ loved ones all the way in Sydney! Isn’t this one wedding you’d have wanted to attend?!
About the Couple
How we met
We both met in our graduate year at Deloitte, our first meeting could not have been more unromantic. Despite us having very contrasting personalities, we became good friends over the year. It took a long time for us to admit our feelings, despite our closest friends subconsciously pushing us towards each other. Our friendship evolved into love, and as they say, ‘the rest is history’.
The proposal
During the year leading up to our engagement, Dilshan had moved to Melbourne for work. At that time, we had both met each other’s parents and we were starting to discuss the prospect of sharing our lives together. Our six year anniversary came and went. We had a romantic dinner reflecting back on our relationship. A mid-dinner call from my father to Dilshan's phone did arouse my sneaky suspicions, but at the end of the evening, there was still no proposal, nor a ring.
A couple of weeks later, my girlfriends wanted to organise a catch up at my apartment, but little did I know that Dilshan was orchestrating this ‘catch-up’ behind the scenes. Friday night came, and the girls played their roles well, routinely texting me saying they were on the way. When the doorbell rang, I buzzed the girls up and was busy doing some last minute frantic cleaning. I was mid-way through unloading my dishwasher and in bursts Dilshan, who had secretly flown in from Melbourne that afternoon!
I was in such a state of shock that I didn’t even register the fact that he was down on one knee, holding in his hand the most beautiful diamond ring, set in a rose gold band (exactly like the one I had dropped so many hints about). When it all finally sunk in, of course, the answer was yes! I did love that he was successfully able to outwit my cluey and suspicious nature. He told me to pack an overnight bag and whisked me away to a romantic dinner at Flying Fish Jones Bay Wharf, which boasted magnificent views of Sydney Harbour.
Wedding Planning
13 months seems like ample time to plan a wedding, but time literally flies. We enjoyed our post-engagement bliss for one month before locking in a venue. We had attended many friends’ weddings and had a fair idea about Sydney wedding venues. The only challenge was trying to coordinate auspicious dates with our pundit and the availability of our preferred venues. As a result of the to and fro, and because we wanted to celebrate both my South Indian Hindu background and Dilshan's Sri Lankan Buddhist faith, we ended up having our Hindu wedding on a Sunday and our Buddhist wedding on the following Friday. A Friday Reception worked out well in hindsight as a nice gate-opener to the weekend. Securing suppliers for Sundays and Fridays is generally a lot easier than Saturdays. The gap between the two events worked well in terms of planning unique elements for each event.
We prioritized all the major wedding decisions using a checklist we found online. We retained all the key decision making on the major wedding items - venues, outfits, photography, and décor, whilst delegating smaller tasks to family and friends. Tasks we delegated include transport, place cards, wedding favours, wishing well setup and pre-wedding events. We left all the ceremonial ritual aspects to our parents. As a couple, we made final decisions on smaller tasks as necessary.
Indian Wedding Vendors: Venues: Miramare Gardens , Sergeants Mess, The Kingsbury Hotel / Photography & Cinematography: Splendid Photos & Video / Invitations & Stationary: BWedding Invitations / Printing: InkTank Printing.com / Decor: VIP Decorating / Bride's Outfits: Shyamal&Bhumika , Gather and Stitch Couture / Bride's Shoes: Nine West / Groom's Outfits: Manyavar Joe Black / Groom's Shoes: Manyavar, Aldo / Bridesmaids Outfits: Nalli Silks , Vogue Loving / Groomsmen Outfits: Myer / Transport: JC Limousines