On a beautiful spring day in Palmerston North, Neha and Daniel held two gorgeous ceremonies in the grounds of Roseburn Park. They started the day off with a Hindu ceremony, then followed the Christian ceremony afterwards, as it was important to them to celebrate both families and cultures.
Neha chose the classic and timeless Selena dress by Maggie Sottero as her wedding dress. The beauty of the dress speaks for itself! She accessorised the look with our 304E earrings, S421 belt, ESCN84 tiara, and completed the look with a stunning two tier cathedral length veil. Their dog even wore our dog bandana that says "My Humans are Getting Married" - how adorable!
Enjoy scrolling through their beautiful photos and reading Neha's insight into their wedding day.
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
I had tried a few dresses at Astra Bridal but as soon as I saw my wedding dress - I knew it was the one. I loved the simplicity yet how elegant it was. I loved how it complimented my figure and I think my wedding dress had the traditional style about it, which I absolutely loved. Also it had pockets! Very handy when it came to storing my vows.
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
Astra Bridal was my first and last stop for the search for my dress. The girls at Astra Bridal were absolutely gorgeous and helpful. They were patient and kind. It's like I've always known them. My experience was great - I give 10 stars!!!
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We met through a mutual friend. For our first date, we met for a coffee and really connected that hours went by and we totally forgot to order our coffees. On the first date I knew I was going to marry this man - I texted my mum and said, 'I'm going to marry him'. It took Dan 9 dates (1 month) to place his arms around me or to even hold my hand. After dating for just over one year, Dan took me back to the same spot where he had built the courage to put his arms around me after 9 dates; to propose!
What was your favourite part of the day?
My favourite part of my day was seeing Dan standing at the altar holding back tears as I was walking down the aisle for our Hindu ceremony.
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
I went to bed at 2 am and woke up at 3 am to start getting ready. My makeup artist arrived at 3:15 am to start getting me ready. Yes, I only had one hour of sleep before my wedding kickstarted! But it was so much fun getting ready with my mum and bridesmaids by my side. We had hired a huge bungalow where everyone was staying. The groom and his groomsmen were downstairs and the bride and bridesmaids were upstairs. It was busy but a joyful time. We had the best weather on our day. The sun was out and clear blue skies and it was hot. I thought of this as a blessing from my late grandparents who I really missed on my wedding day. We had 2 weddings/ceremonies- a Hindu wedding (as I'm Indian) and a Christian wedding (as Dan is NZ European). We decided to have both ceremonies to honor our parents and both sides of the culture. We had the Hindu ceremony first, followed by Christian ceremony and then the reception. All in one day. The wedding day went by in a blink of an eye. However, I will do it all over again in a heart beat.
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
Delegate to people you trust. Trust me, some things will never go by plan no matter how much you prepare - just embrace and go with the flow. Don't stress and just enjoy your beautiful day! Try to get more then one hour of sleep!!
