We arrived at Kovalam, sometime about 8 months earlier for Ashmita and Jeet's Wedding.
It was one of those weddings where team-members flew in from different places across the country. I flew in from Goa, Sudhanshu from Jaipur, Lovely and Siddhesh from Mumbai, Purushottam from Delhi and Sinto and his team from Cochin. Logistics was a crazy nightmare for this wedding with flights at odd hours and people arriving across different dates and times. However, thanks to the understanding families of Ashmita and Jeet and the lovely team of Mpire Weddings, planning and executing the wedding, no one faced any problem checking-in to our rooms.
Here is the lovely property, in all its glory.
Before, the teaser of the wedding film gets lost amidst the landslide of photos that is to ensue, let us have a look at it. Use 'letmethrough' as the password for the video.
The beautiful property that The Leela, Kovalam is and the fabulous work done by the guys from Mpire Weddings, ensured that the place was a visual delight.
Check out the slideshow of a few photos of the fabulous decor at Mehendi, for example.
Unlike a lot of grooms, Jeet wasn't very "enthusiastic" about a Pre-Wedding shoot, something Ashmita and I had planned for the first day that we arrived in Kovalam. With Ashmita pushing him, he didn't quite have a choice though. We eventually started the shoot at what was one of the most challenging hours - 2:30 PM!
And, we were told Jeet has to be back for a ritual at 4:30 PM. All the recce that we had done and the plans that we had, straightaway flew out of the window. To be fair to them, they gave us another 45 minutes the next day. At around 10.30 AM. :-D
Check them out.
The first event, was Mehendi. It had to set the tone of the wedding and it did that wonderfully well. Guests were made to feel welcome and the event was a fun filled one with warmth and traditions thrown in. People mingled with each other happily and danced at the Garba.
The slideshow below captures the essence of this function.
The pretty bride had to get ready for her wedding, which was to follow next and we followed her to her room.
Interestingly, not many people including their closest friends and family members knew exactly how they met. When we were taking the audio bytes of Jeet's sister, she in fact said that she was curious to know how they had met. The storied told by Jeet and Ashmita to her separately had not checked out, she said.
Later on Ashmita and Jeet revealed to us that they had met through Tinder!! A perfect "right swipe", that.
A few photos from Ashmita's getting ready is next.
Here is a slideshow from Jeet's Baraat. A vintage car was his Ride of the Day.
The wedding happened with the sea as a backdrop. With rains expected, a German Tent was set up. Luckily, though, it didn't come to use.
The Wedding that followed was very pretty. There were lot of exchange of glances and smiles between Ashmita and Jeet. Clearly they enjoyed their wedding. Do not miss out on the slideshow at the end of the next set of photos or you would miss out on some pretty ones.
The wedding over, it was time for the after-party, that would see us through till 5:00 AM on the next morning. Again, a set of photos, followed by a slide show.