Vintage Fairytale Indian Engagement

Inderpreet & Simran

Location
Melbourne, Australia

Setting
Event Space Waterfront

Style
Contemporary Romantic Vintage / Rustic

Culture
North Indian Punjabi Sikh

Snapshot

With a floral swing, fairy lights, a glamorous poolside location and that pink and mint Anushree Reddy lehenga, everything about this engagement felt like a fairytale.

We caught up with Inderpreet, our bride to be – to get some insight into the planning and styling of this exquisite event.

About The Couple

How did we meet?

The moment we met, I guess I knew it was meant to be. Simran is from Melbourne and I am originally from Adelaide. He was down in Adelaide for the weekend and after a series of chance meetings, including an introduction at a nightclub called ‘Heaven’ we connected through Facebook. What followed was a three-year long-distance relationship until I moved to Melbourne.

The Details

Engagement Planning

PLANNING: Planning our engagement party took roughly six months. A lot of my inspiration was gathered from blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media. It can get quite overwhelming when you see so many creative and amazing ideas and you want them all for your event! I also felt that it was important to tie the theme with my outfit, and Anushree Reddy’s lehenga reflected the theme perfectly.

VISION: My vision was for us to have a modern engagement party with a vintage and rustic theme, which included lots of fresh flowers, a swing, birdcages, a candy buffet, fairy lights, and candles.

VENUE: Meadowbank Receptions in Victoria. I was quite particular about the theme and style of the party, and how I wanted it to look – which made finding the perfect venue quite time-consuming. But once we found Meadowbank Receptions, we knew it was perfect for us. We loved that it was contemporary, yet classic – and we loved the warm romance of the pool decorated with fairy lights and candles.

PHOTOGRAPHY: I am quite particular and fussy with photography so it took me quite some time to find someone whose work I loved. I don’t like it when images are too bright and colors can appear to be quite tacky (especially because Indians wear such bright colors) and Madeline Druce Photography was just the perfect photographer for our event. Her images were simple yet they effectively captured all our happy moments in the most natural light possible.

Engagement Highlights

The night turned out to be absolutely amazing and it just flew past. Despite it being stressful having to host and hope our guests were enjoying themselves, it was important to remember that they were there because they wanted to be a part of our special day and that we should enjoy ourselves too.

The highlight of my night was when Simran, who is usually quite shy and reserved, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him in front of all our friends and family. I was shocked! It was just an amazing experience to see everyone having a great time and smiling throughout the evening. The night was over before we knew it and we just want to relive it over and over again.

Decor & Unique Details

Most of the decorations at the event including baubles, hanging lamps, birdcages, and fairy lights were supplied and set up by Classique Event. They did an amazing job bringing our vision to life.

Some of our favorite details:

Floral swing – My family arranged for a swing to be made (all the way in Riverland, South Australia) and I had my florist (a friend) decorate it for me. I was absolutely in love with the idea of a swing and I’m so glad we did it.
Hanging baubles – Simran came up with the idea of candles in hanging baubles to decorate the trees around the venue, and it fit perfectly with our theme and looked stunning at night too.
Guest book table – We arranged for a guest book from Etsy and a Polaroid camera. I think our guests really enjoyed taking pictures and writing little notes for us.
Candy buffet – This was supplied and set up by Hey Suga Sweet Buffets. This was an absolute hit, and I’m so glad we did it! I loved the elegance of it and the way it added so much character to the venue. The cake was provided by Splendid Servings Cake Design.
Table list – For the table list, the venue provided the board and we did the decorations ourselves.
Centerpieces – The centerpieces (candelabras) were from Ishka and I bought some candles from Dusk to decorate around the venue.

Engagement Outfits

INDERPREET’S OUTFIT: Anushree Reddy purchased from Ensemble, Mumbai. I absolutely love Bollywood fashion and as soon as I saw Nargis Fakhri on the runway wearing Anushree Reddy’s new collection at Lakme Fashion Week 2014, I was in love! I decided on this lehenga because it was contemporary, soft, pretty, elegant and classy. It blended perfectly with our theme and it was something I had never seen before – I knew I wanted to wear it! My sister also chose a piece from Anushree Reddy’s collection but our greatest obstacle was getting in touch with the designers themselves. We finally got in touch with an amazing sales assistant from a store called Ensemble in Mumbai, she contacted the designer and made it possible for us to get both outfits without having to travel to India.

JEWELLERY: Earrings by Amrapali Jewels and necklace by a private jeweller. My Mum traveled to Delhi before our engagement, and I suggested she visit Amarpali Jewels. They have an amazing collection and that was where my earrings were purchased. My necklace was a last-minute bespoke item made by a trusted jeweller in Punjab. It was inspired by Anita Dongre‘s Rajasthani collection in a royal Mogul style.

HAIR & MAKEUP: Chantelle Baker Makeup Artist and Marie Uva from UVA Salon. A lot of my inspiration came from Nadia Bartel’s wedding. I was especially inspired by the hair and makeup because I know it can go horribly wrong if you don’t find the right person. Chantelle Baker and Marie Uva work with many Australian celebrities and after doing some research and looking at their work, I decided they were perfect for me.

SIMRAN’S OUTFIT: Simran’s suit was purchased from Calibre. He wore a navy blue suit, which we thought was quite modern and not too formal and we decided not to match our outfits as we weren’t going for a traditional couple look.

SIMRAN’S ACCESSORIES: His tie from Otaa and shoes from Aquila.

Upcoming Wedding Planning

There’s just so much to do! We plan to get married sometime next year and although it can be quite daunting and stressful – I’m going to try to enjoy every aspect because you only do this once!

Our wedding will most likely take place in Adelaide and we will have two wedding receptions, one in Adelaide and one in Melbourne. It will be a huge wedding that will need quite a bit of planning. We have thought about a destination wedding in Udaipur or Jaipur – because I absolutely love the idea of getting married in a palace. But we still have some time to decide exactly what we will do.

The part that I look forward to the most is deciding on my wedding outfits. I have been doing my research and I am definitely loving the Sabyasachi collection!

UPDATE: Inderpreet & Simran married in May 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. You can see their full wedding feature here.

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