Real Bride: Kajal Bhagwandas

Kajal and Praveen had a simply stunning wedding in London, England. The bride was absolutely stunning in her Wed2Be dress with her amazing DIY bouquet that she made herself! Trust me, you are going to be totally floored by this wedding!

Your name: Kajal Bhagwandas

Partner’s name: Praveen Kolluguri

Wedding date: 08th July 2017

City, State: London, England

Tell us more about you!

How long have you been together?

3 years

How did he propose? (Or how did you propose!)

We went to India to meet his parents for the first time as they live there.

Whilst we were there, we decided to do some traveling and sightseeing.

Now, my partner knows how much I hate attention and crowds, so he booked a hotel that had a rooftop view of the Taj Mahal.

He woke me up just before sunrise and we sat on the rooftop together talking until the sun came up, at which point he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

A funny little side story--he accidentally packed the ring in my suitcase because they looked so similar. I acted like I didn't notice or know but when he asked me, I started laughing as I am an awful liar and cannot keep a secret from him. I was laughing so much I had forgotten to say yes immediately leaving him wondering what my answer was. He told me he had expected me to cry as I am usually a very emotional person. I still loved the moment and found it very romantic, but we laugh about it a lot to this day.

What was your favorite part of the wedding?

Our entrance to the reception as a newly married couple

What went wrong with your wedding?

I was 45 minutes late, as I hadn't realised there was a race course event at Sandown Park.

My caterer also forgot all the cutlery and food burners, which meant all the food was served very late.

My mom and sister hated their make-up on the day, as the artist didn't know how to suit to their skin tone and left them looking like oompah loompas. However, my sister did an amazing job at rectifying her orange face!

My husband forgot the moves to our first dance.

My wedding cake cracked upon delivery.

A few of our friends got a little too drunk and smashed our centerpieces.

Yet, my day was still perfect!

Did you find any tricks to save you money?

I made my wedding bouquet and button holes myself. It took a few hours; however, they looked just as good as professional flowers. I asked around for a lot of small business owners and start-up companies using Gumtree and Facebook to save a lot of money.

If you could go back and redo it, would you change anything; and if so, what would you change?

Not a thing.

Do you have any advice for new brides?

Things will go wrong which will be out of your control.

Do not stress and let it ruin your day.

Enjoy every moment because the last thing you want is to look back and remember how upset you were on one of the most important days of your life.

Did you over-plan or under-plan, or was it just right?

I don't think you can ever over-plan a wedding. Just don't let it stress you. Once you get to the point you're not enjoying planning your wedding, you need to take a step back and breathe.

Did any of your vendors knock your socks off?

My make-up artist was amazing. She kept me laughing throughout my day and made me feel so calm. Her make-up made me look flawless; however, I didn't feel caked in it. I still looked like myself. Her work is amazing.

My photographer also did an amazing job. Most of his photos were natural, candid shots which made them feel very real and caught in time.

My DJ also managed to play every single song on my request list, even the strange ones which didn't really seem to fit anywhere. He got every single person on the dance floor, old and young. They were two very sweet guys who took the time to know us as a couple and what we like before playing for our big day.

Did any of your vendors disappoint?

My caterer forgot all the cutlery for the food and food warmers. He had to drive to the local supermarket to pick up plastic plates and cutlery. He was also very rude on the day. We ended up getting over 50% of the money we paid back.

What was one (or more!) special element in your wedding that isn’t in most?

We played the Mr. & Mrs. shoe game at our wedding as a fun way for everyone to get to know us a little better.

What do you wish you’d spent more on (whether you were able to or not)?

I would have probably spent more money on a better caterer. We used a small caterer who started off as a from-home business and had recently developed into a bigger company; however, I think our event was a size which they hadn't previously catered for.

I would have probably hired a bigger reception area if I had known so many people were attending.