heidzillas | cleveland wedding planner

the wedding of: sai & k | the date: july 3, 2011
the hdz services: wedding planning | planner: heidi, with brittany
the venue: shaker heights country club
the photographer: making the moment‘s vince
the videographer: z media‘s jared
the pianist professional piano
the music benipal djs
the photobooth crystal clear sound & video
the florist blooms by plantscaping
the rentals party decor
the lighting rock the house
the stationery paper trails to you
the cake topper bitter sweetz
the cake sarah’s stylish sweets
the makeup: kajal by kimberly
the color palette:

the notables:
the process: sai had the venue and colors picked out – especially for all of the custom-made in nyc attire – so utilized her lehenga most for inspiration.
the priorities:  decor was a major focus for this event – from lighting, to major rental selection and a small mandap-like area for the ceremony. we had a blast working with arne from blooms to perfect four separate centerpiece looks. we definitely prioritized what was most important about decor, along with the overall flow of the night.
the challenges: the logistics of the bharat and bengali wedding were tricky. we had to move guests from cocktail hour outside for the bharat, then through the hallway, to their seats for the ceremony.

the preparation: post fountain-dip, saira and her maids retreated back to the shaker heights country club ladies’ locker room to shower and start all over again with getting ready.

making the moment provided some insight on saira’s transformation from american-ceremony-white to the amazing bollywood-bangladeshi-bride!

how AMAZING is this image from making the moment!?!?

the bharat:
an elephant just wasn’t in the cards for kevin, but he had sassy the horse and a fantastic dholi.

photos by making the moment:

photos by hdz:

photos by making the moment:

the groom entered and headed towards the ceremonial couch

then came the bride’s entrance, complete with a lone violinist playing. after negotiation between the bride’s family and the groom (cold hard cash is paid for the bride!), the ladies finished their entrance.

the ceremony was narrated by the bride’s aunt

this is such a stunning image of kevin saying what he saw in the mirror – from making the moment.

the details:
now for some details! first up – the fabulous card box from party decor

s&k’s entire wedding had elephants, including this darling floral one from blooms

you can’t be indian until you love hot sauce… and guest favors were “saira and kevin’s spicy love hot sauce” complete with monogram from paper trails.

the monogram also appeared as a gobo from rock the house.

red uplighting looked amazing throughout shaker heights country club.

and now for the incredible details photos lent to us by making the moment:

and a few more details from us, including the bride and groom’s sweet heart table

the cake topper by karly west of bitter sweetz was EXACTLY what we were hoping for! kudos karly! thanks to making the moment for the shots.

the reception:
the bride and groom took some time to do creative formals while guests enjoyed dinner. my associate brittany kept saying, “saira! STOP IT with those eyes!” just wow sai!

the results from making the moment. gasp.

back inside, the bride and groom cut their cake formally and did the traditional american feeding. then, the parents each fed the bride and groom. it was a nice addition to this tradition.

they also did two more american wedding traditions – the first dance…

and the bouquet toss.

then it was dancing time! :::twists a lightbulb::: i will forever associate the song “take over control” by afrojack with this wedding.

i have no more words for how amazing it was to work with saira on her wedding. hopefully the photos will tell thousands of words for the incredible… well, journey!… it was. saira: thanks for taking a chance on an american planner. i learned so much, made some great new friends had a blast all the while.

the review: in saira’s own words:

I met Heidi after interviewing several planners in the area… She is literally the best money I spent on my wedding. I not only had my head on straight through the planning process as she literally blew me away with her organization, honest opinions, and really just her hard work. She made my wedding perfect and you could tell that her blood, sweat, and tears were all over my events. I had a 2 day, 3 event (4 if you include my bengali wedding, 5 if you include the baraat, and the Mehendhi and Holud were combined in one so technically 6) weekend. Heidi worked the whole weekend in ADDITION to planning out all of the details. She bent over backwards for me and made sure everything looked phenomenal. We literally had members of the Country Club where our big finale reception was held stop and take pictures because they said it had never looked so fantastic. Unlike so many Indian weddings I have been to that are disorganized and messy— ours went without a hitch. I was hesitant, as was my father, to permit an American planner into our realm. However, my father, who happens to be the biggest critic in our family, actually started introducing family members to her as he was in disbelief at how incredible everything was and how hard she worked. Heidi, I can’t thank you enough…

the links:
making the moment: two weddings one couple
the sari-clad bride: a colorful bengladeshi bride in all her glory

past posts:
saira & kevin | gaye holud
saira & kevin | traditional ceremony + fountain dip

the wedding of: sai & k | the date: july 3, 2011
the hdz services: wedding planning | planner: heidi, with brittany
the venue: harkness chapel at case western
the photographer: making the moment‘s vince
the videographer: z media‘s jared
the music cecilia ilg mckay
the transportation a1 mr. limo
the florist blooms by plantscaping
the makeup: kajal by kimberly
the color palette:

the notables:
the process: the ceremony was fun to work on with saira because we got to be more of a guide and show her how things were done traditionally with american weddings, for kevin’s side. we helped put together the ceremony program (which she gave heidzillas a shout out in – so sweet!) and even had a little hand in the actual marriage of s+k!
the priorities:  i have just a few things to say: vera. phalaenopsis. louboutins.
the challenges: because the gaye holud was the day before, we didn’t get to do a rehearsal, but of course wanted EVERYTHING to go off without a hitch. the bridal party was great with letting me give them detailed instructions, and it went off better than most weddings that DO have a rehearsal!

the ceremony:
vince from making the moment started the morning with the ladies at the shaker heights country club locker room getting ready, and was kind enough to share these images:

brittany and i headed straight to harkness to coordinate the flowers, musicians and set up the italian cookie table and refreshment stand that kevin’s mom put together.

 

and here comes the bride! the bride and groom hadn’t seen each other yet, so we kept them in separate rooms and gave the maids and men instructions on how the ceremony would process and recess.

the BEST part of the ceremony is that saira came down the aisle to “the dog days are over” by florence and the machine… except played by the harp and violin. JUST when she appeared the doorway, the harpist hit this amazing trill. i will never forget that moment.

thanks again making the moment for this great image of the rather short ceremony!

this is the part where i helped once everyone was gone. : )

then it was creative photo time! quick one with us first!

saira and kevin met while students at case western so it was apropos that’s where they got married and took their formal photos.

the group headed over to the art museum…

…and then saira decided to head to the fountain. (this photo i caught of sai running made me think we were shooting a perfume ad! SWOON!)

she went for it while the maids literally were running after her screaming “NO! VERA!!! VERA!!! NO!!!”  while she was still teasing them… should i or shouldn’t i???

and then this happened. and it was epic. and yes, “epic” is an overused word, but it’s so appropriate!

making the moment’s amazing results:

you MUST see the full blog post including more getting ready and more fountain shots here: making the moment: two weddings one couple

the links:
the sari clad bride blog: saira & kevin’s white & teal ohio wedding
the sari clad bride blog: a bangladeshi bride sparkles in white

past post:
saira & kevin | gaye holud

coming up next:
cleveland muslim indian ceremony & reception