Meet Kiranpreet and Karanjit, a couple whose love story is unconventional yet conventional at the same time! Theirs is a story that took a decade in the making and finally, they took the #LeapofLove on 29th February 2020… literally on a leap day!
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi!
Kiran and Karan met while at Sikh Camp in Lonavala back in 2008. They noticed each other, but during the ten-day-long camp, they did not interact with each other. But the Universe wanted them to be a couple and so, post the camp, Karan added her on Orkut and then Facebook. They chatted for the first few months and then decided to meet each other. This meeting led to them becoming friends. But they met only once in a few months.
“We then became very good friends and started meeting often. I was the first one to confess my feelings while Karan was still waiting for the ‘right time’ to ask me out. Finally, on 1st April 2011, he proposed to me – to become his girlfriend. We had been unofficially dating for almost a year and a half. Still, he was waiting for this special, memorable day to come to make it official,” adds Kiranpreet.
The couple went on to date for a decade… yes, 10 years! So, what made them realize that they wanted to spend their entire lives with each other?
There is no specific moment that either of them can point out to, says Kiran. “We both always knew that we are ‘the one’ for each other and that we’re going to get married one day. We have never had a discussion about ‘what’s the future of this relationship’ or ‘let’s get married’. We ALWAYS knew! We knew it even before we started dating, to be honest.”
The ‘Not a Proposal’ Proposal
This couple, especially our groom Karanjit, prefers to do things differently. He is someone who always wanted to make everything unique about them and memorable. Therefore, when it came to proposing his lady love Kiran, he planned a ‘Not a Proposal’.
“My proposal was soooo beautiful and unique! It was on our 100th Month Anniversary on 1st August 2019. Karan called me to a hotel, and as I entered the room, he took my hand, and there was our beautiful song, ‘One Life by Ed Sheeran’. There were fairy lights, there were heart-shaped balloons, cake, gifts, a photographer, a cinema sign saying ‘It’s Not a Proposal’. Because proposing is sooo cliche! But what was the biggest surprise? I hugged him, and in the mirror behind him, I saw it – A tattoo of my name, in my handwriting, above his elbow. It was beautiful! I broke into tears, hugged and kissed him, tried to express all the unexplainable emotions I was going through.” – Kiranpreet, the bride.
Meet the Parents Moment
It can be a tedious and formal affair when meeting the parents. But Kiran’s parents knew about Karanjit for quite some time, i.e., at least for five years before they decided to take the plunge. Karanjit’s parents found out only in May 2017, but it was a very smooth ride for the couple as the families gelled really well. “They were delighted, there was literally no friction, and we were both accepted and welcomed in each other’s families with arms wide open!” – Kiranpreet, the bride.
The parents were actually very eager to have a proper Roka Ceremony to seal the deal and start planning the wedding. “The funniest part was, our parents trusted us so much that they never met each other before our Roka!”
Their Roka was literally decided and hosted in a week’s time. It was a family dinner where both families met each other for the first time. It was supposed to be a simple ceremony but ended being formal with a proper Ardaas (Sikh prayer). The Roka took place on 20th April 2019 – is an exceptional month for the couple as their birthdays, their dating anniversary falling in the same month, and so, naturally, their Roka taking place in April was all the Universe’s doing!
Planning the Wedding
Karan and Kiran were out celebrating their monthivarsaries. They were on a date at Social, Goregaon, and that’s when they got started talking about the next steps – the grand wedding! Predictably, Karan already had a date in mind and a special one at that! Fortunately for them, 2020 was a leap year, and they decided to tie the knot on 29th February.
“I took a moment and said how we will celebrate it every year? He said, two days – 28th and 1st! And before he could say anything, I knew this was our date! Also, I knew his second unique date for proposing was 29th February, luckily, he did not wait for a leap year back then, haha!” says Kiran.
And so, began their wedding planning. They both had demanding jobs, but they tried to balance out the preparations by planning their shopping trips over weekends as most stores close down by 9 PM. Kiran always had her mom, dad and sister with her as she did not want to take any decision without them by her side. Karan was accompanied by his family on his main shopping expeditions.
“Honestly, we enjoyed the whole process of spending time and making memories that we will cherish for a lifetime. But yes, it was difficult, there were a lot of trips to the Bridal markets with the car stuffed with diet food dabbas!” adds Kiran.
An interesting way to divide the wedding responsibilities was to ensure the division and allocation of decision making between the couple. “He’s a Graphic Designer, and I blindly trusted his choice for the decor for the venues. I was a part of the final meeting in this sector,” says Kiran.
Kiran, on the other hand, loves fashion and Karan is a fashionable conscious guy too. However, when it came to picking out clothes, the bride turned out to be picky, but the groom knew which designer suited him best.
The Wedding
They had four functions. They started with a Path, an auspicious kickstart to all the functions with prayers and kirtan with the respective families.
Mehendi and Haldi
Both fun events, Kiran’s Mehendi ceremony was hosted at Bindra’s in Andheri while Karan’s Haldi was at home. The dress code for the day was yellow, but the bride chose to wear a designer navy blue lehenga with multi-coloured thread work paired with a hot pink ruffled dupatta. She wore floral jewellery bought from a local market in Malad as well as from Amazon.
“The preparation for my wedding clothes began years back when we started visiting bridal exhibitions every year, regularly. Only this year, finally it was fruitful. We scouted through multiple exhibitions at JW Marriot, The Westin, etc. One of them was Vivaah, the other was Bridal Asia (I guess). We didn’t just find some leads to visit the brands in their stores but also found a beautiful lehenga that I wore at my Mehendi function. It was from a stall called Mansha Jaipur.” – Kiranpreet.
Karan wore a yellow Lucknowi kurta for his side’s function that was bought from Shubh Mangal in Vile Parle.
One of the main highlights of this function was Karan’s surprise visit! Kiran’s mehendi was almost done on one side, and suddenly, she heard a dhol and there he was… the groom with his big clan of friends and family to surprise the bride! “They entered, danced towards me, we hugged and kissed, and they sang ‘Le jayenge, le jayenge, dil wale dulhaniya le jayengey!’ I melted there! It was magical,” says Kiran.
At Karan’s home, they had a dhol and a Haldi session where everyone danced their heart out and applied haldi to the groom. And they tore his clothes off too!
An important point to note is that bride had butterflies designed in her mehendi.
“I used to always say that Karan gives me butterflies in my tummy. So, when it was our 6-month anniversary, Karan gifted me butterfly jewellery and accessories. It had a neckpiece with butterflies and a ring in butterfly shape (which I still wear sometimes). Since then, we have had a lot of butterfly moments, gifts and things in our love story. In recent times, when his family came to my place ‘officially’, they gifted me a butterfly pendant set! And to cherish this, I got a butterfly mehendi design for my wedding! A lot of brides get peacock and tulips, etc. but I was very sure that I want to get something different that is very significant to our love story. I also had our dating anniversary and our wedding date on the back of my hands.” Says Kiran.
The Pre-wedding Party
A joint function between the families, this was hosted at Sai Palace in Andheri one day before the wedding. This party saw every dancing to the beats of the DJ and live dhol. Plus, there was a lot of delicious food involved.
Karan and Kiran’s friends and families put up a show with unique dances choreographed professionally. They had a beautiful couple dance, at the end of which he picked me up! “It was planned, but he kinda bailed on that idea on that very day, and then something came into him, and he just picked me up! The expression on my face says it all!” adds Kiran.
Karan’s outfit for the Pre-wedding party was decided first, and Kiran’s was bought last; almost 20 days before the functions. He had decided he wants to wear a unique statement Mango Bite print shirt designed by Param Sahib Clothing. He wore a bottle-green suit designed by Shubh Mangal at Vile Parle. This was a very unique touch to the outfit, and the couple wanted to work around it.
Kiran wore a stunning bottle green gown in chiffon and lace.
“My wedding lehenga was picked first, and his clothes for the wedding were matched accordingly. I wanted to give him an equal opportunity to choose his clothes first for the pre-wedding party, which meant frantically searching the markets for a bottle green gown in my size, because no one was ready to customize in that small a time frame, in a style that I like, within a month. It was a joyride because I knew somewhere, a bottle green gown is made for me! And it was! We found it when we casually entered a big, newly-opened showroom in Malad called Craze. The sales guy asked me what I wanted, and he said I have something for you, it’s very unique, I hope you choose it. And there it was this beautiful gown that I wore. It complements my personality in the most perfect way it’s trendy, has a lot of intricate layers and patterns and studs – in the exact green colour we were looking for. The jewellery for this day was bought on the very same day of the function just a few hours before, from Silver Plaza in Santacruz.” – Kiranpreet.
The Wedding
Their wedding date, 29th February fell on a Saturday. So, it became one weekend-long celebration for all. They had a traditional Sikh ceremony aka Anand Karaj at the J.B. Nagar Gurudwara in Andheri East. As per the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhs have four Pheras around the sacred book.
“I did not sleep the entire night, obviously. After an awesome party, my friends and I chilled, and before I knew it, it was time for me to take a shower before my Chooda Ceremony. I’m one of those girls who has always dreamt of wearing choodas, one of the things that excited me about weddings were choodas. So, that was early morning 5 AM ceremony before my hairstylist, and makeup artist walked in. The had madness begun!” says Kiran.
The wedding lehenga had to be unique. “It had to be a Lehenga, unique in colour and intricately-designed with a heavy dupatta because we have to take it on the head in the gurudwara. And after several visits to stores, and lehenga trials, I found ‘The One’ at Roopkala. It was purple in colour with the traditional zardosi work, paired with a peach dupatta! Initially, we were thinking of pastel colours, but I realized that very day that I am someone who likes bright and flashy colours and I should just try some other shades. Happened to try a purple one where my perception changed, and I knew I want to look for a purple lehenga. There were some water works too! We called up our parents immediately and bought the second purple lehenga that we laid our eyes on.”
Karan wore a peach turban, and a shawl with cream layered embroidered sherwani designed by Rajee’s in Juhu. He wore a pearl mala and shades that matched his outfit to a T.
Kiran wanted her jewellery to be dramatic too. She wore a stunning Padmavati-inspired Kundan set from Swara Jewellery in Santacruz.
The couple had unique Pheras too. It was a ceremony that was carried on by their friends. It was not conducted by the Granthis at the Gurudwara but their friends who were well-read in all the Shabads of the Lavaan (Pheras). It was extraordinary.
“Yes, I was nervous, worried and overwhelmed all at the same time, which resulted in having almost a blank state of mind at that time. I was getting ready when Karan walked in our room, thanks to the photoshoot. He gave an amazing reaction to me and my look. He looked like a Prince in that royal designer sherwani with the shawl and pagdi, and holding the kirpan (sword, that is traditionally held by grooms on the wedding day). My Prince Charming was here to take me home!” adds Kiran.
About the Photographer
Our photographer was Kodoclicker. Karan and Varun, the founder of Kodoclicker, knew each other from a photoshoot they assisted on together. Karan does photography too. So, Kodoclicker was hired for Karan’s elder brother whose wedding was in June 2018. Karan was quite happy with his quality and creativity and had him in mind since the beginning. I had anyway left the decision on Karan, so he was hired.
I had a good experience with his team. Very friendly and hands-on with their work. The team allocated to me took care of me and made me very comfortable. Harjinder was one of the photographers who clicked for my side, he was patient, always there before time and got along with my family really well too. They were very creative, you can see that in the output, it’s not a regular wedding shoot. We received our announcement picture the very same day of our wedding, and the first set followed soon.
About Mehendi, Hair and Makeup Artists
At the mehendi -I did the makeup myself. I always wanted to do makeup for one of my own functions, it was awesome!
Hair – Savita aunty, who has done hair for me on a lot of other occasions never disappointed me.
Mehendi Artist – Harsha. She worked a lot with me on my designs and gave me exactly what I wanted with butterflies. Her Mehendi is harmless and of good quality.
The Dream Team
Mehendi
Venue – Bindra’s, Andheri
Mehendi Artist – Harsha
Pre-wedding & Wedding
Makeup & Hair by Chandani Varandani
Venue – Gurudwara Sri Guru Nanak Nagar, J.B. Nagar, Andheri East
Venues: Sai Palace, Andheri (Pre-wedding)
Outfits – Kiran
Mehendi – Manshaa Jaipur
Pre-wedding Gown – Craze
Wedding Lehenga – Roopkala
Outfits- Karan
Pre-wedding – Param Sahib Clothing & Shubh Mangal (Vile Parle)
Wedding – Rajee
Photography – Kodoclicker
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