Elegant Pre Pandemic Philly Wedding With A Gorgeous Reception Shoot

A pre pandemic wedding yes, but one that had a very modern and edgy vibe! This, despite the bride choosing a classic ensemble for her wedding day! But the thing that really stood out for us in this pretty Philadelphia wedding was the reception shoot the couple did, bang on in the middle of the city. The wedding thanks to being one just before COVID hit was well researched and planned by the bride and groom and their planners, and we love the execution and how gorgeous the photos turned out. Nikhita and Nand's wedding with some cute ideas for inspiration, and everything had a lot of attention to detail, see for yourself!

Meet Nikhita and Nand

We met on a dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, 6.5 years ago. We first met in a café half way between our homes in New Jersey. This was just the beginning of a long series of dates during the summer of 2013 through which we got to know each other while Nand was in the middle of medical school in NYC and I was a fresh college graduate in search of a new job in health policy. I fell for Nand's kind heart, thoughtfulness, and serious drumming skills! Nand proposed in Prospect Garden on the Princeton University Campus where we had spent so many hours together during the formative days of our relationship back in 2013 --and I excitedly said yes! The proposal was followed by a sweet surprise dinner with our parents, siblings, and grandparents!

Sangeet

Wedding

Reception

From The Couple:

Our hope was to have a personal, understated, and effortlessly elegant wedding featuring the traditions of the Indian culture. We wanted our guests to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible. The most memorable part of our wedding was being surrounded by our closest friends and family members who came from near and far to celebrate our love. The Sangeet was also pretty epic- it was held on the top floor of high rise building with gorgeous view of the city! We loved wedding planning because we were able to work on everything together as a team!

Vendor Reviews

Bridal Wear: Anita Dongre

I purchased my gorgeous, classic bridal lengha from Anita Dongre NYC, working closely with manager, Sonal Rathi. Finding the perfect dress, finalizing measurements, and my final fitting took a total of 3 visits between May 2019 and September 2019. I received the lengha in a timely manner in early September for my late October wedding. Sonal was fabulous to work with-- very helpful with design choices, styling, and fittings. She really made me feel like a bride through all of my visits to the store. I'd highly recommend Anita Dongre NYC to all brides/grooms/bridal parties without hesitation!

Wedding Planning: Diwan by Design

We’re excited to have found Diwan by Design to plan our Fall 2019 Indian wedding in Philly! Sneh Diwan was organized, transparent, down-to-earth, and executed our vision for a simple, classic, chic, romantic wedding perfectly (being very cognizant of our budget every step of the way).
My fiancé and I contracted with Sneh for full-service planning (supporting us with the following major buckets of work: vendor research & contracting, vendor comms and coordination, day of coordination, wedding styling, and most importantly – sanity and gut checks) for our Sangeet, Wedding, and Reception.
Of the 20 or so planning companies we interviewed, Diwan by Design came out on top for the following reasons: 
• High quality customer service – she was professional, respect
• Responsiveness – she responded to questions/concerns from us and vendors in a timely manor and was accessible via email, phone, text, and gchat!
• Affordability – by far the best bang for our buck compared to other Indian wedding planners
• Transparency – she was honest about cost/feasibility when it came to all aspects of wedding planning and vendor selection
• Organization – she has a multitude of tools/resources to use to stay organized.
• Eye for design – with a background in fashion, she was a great resource for various aspects of styling (from décor, to bridal wear, to bridal party colors).
• Consistent friendly demeanor and positive attitude. 
We hired Sneh 11 months in advance of our wedding and it was the perfect amount of time to start the wedding planning process from scratch (we didn’t even have a venue). Sneh kept us on track with her month-by-month calendar/timeline which mapped out what we needed to accomplish in a given month prior to the wedding.
If I could, I would share all of the awesome things Sneh did for us but here are a couple of highlights:
• Sneh was instrumental in helping us prioritize where our money would be well spent. She even helped us a create a “reality check” budget which we were able to stick to through the wedding.
• Sneh was great resource as we planned our Philly wedding from Boston. She met with several vendors/venues on our behalf so we didn’t have to make additional trips to Philly.
• Sneh single handedly obtained a permit and coordinated with the Philadelphia police department to shut down a major street in Philadelphia for our Baarat. This could have been a major headache for us but Sneh took care of it seamlessly!
• We ran into an unfortunate situation on the day of the ceremony when our 22 fresh marigold garlands were not delivered. Luckily, we had a few extra feet of marigolds (used for decoration) which Sneh and her team tied into garlands on the day of the ceremony!
Overall, we had a wonderful experience working with Sneh and team. Additionally, each of our vendors communicated their respect for Sneh’s working style and dedication to flawless execution. We’d highly recommend Design by Diwan for your wedding planning needs without hesitation. 

Wedding Cake: Cake Life Bake Shop

Chic wedding cake! It was great to work with Katie when deciding on our wedding cake. She was very responsive to our questions. We went with a 3 Tier wedding cake - 6"/8"/10" : Pistachio with rose (white) filling and Rose (white) outside. It was simple, delicious, and enjoyed by all of our guests.

Henna Artist: Henna by Jinal

Jinal did my bridal henna in October 2019. She was so lovely to work with and my henna was representative of her perfect balance of technical expertise and creativity. I followed Jinal's detailed after-care instructions to the T which resulted in a beautifully dark stain that lasted for days beyond my wedding. I would highly recommend Jinal to all brides-to-be without hesitation!

Vendors: Venue: The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia; Wedding Planning: Diwan by Design; Photography and Videography: The Santos and Co.; Pre Wedding Photography: Serena Morandi Photography; Wedding Decor: Wedding Design and Decor; Makeup Artist: Cinderella Bridez; Bridal Wear: Anita Dongre; Groomwear: Tom Ford; Wedding Cake: Cake Life Bake Shop; DJ: DJ Sunny Entertainment; Wedding Entertainment: Ryan Tennis Music