A match made in heaven: The fairytale love story of Shraddha and Ashwin

The love story of Shraddha and Ashwin, a match made in heaven, is an ode to the beauty of arranged marriages; their meet-cute moments prove just that. Shraddha’s father and Ashwin’s uncle were in college together, so the association goes way back in time. Shraddha and Ashwin were introduced to each other by her father and his uncle, and as Shraddha says, “The rest is history.” 

Shraddha admits she never thought that she would have an arranged marriage, but life has a funny way of working out. “We never thought we would have an arranged marriage, but we are so happy that our paths crossed and our parents ended up being our matchmakers,” she added with a wide smile. This brings us to the question at hand, what made Shraddha realize that Ashwin is the man for her? 

Well, for their first date, Ashwin took Shraddha to eat dosa and she absolutely loved that. In her opinion, going to fancy restaurants was just too cliché and mainstream, so her dosa-date was truly memorable. The connection certainly deepened when they realized that they were both true-blue supporters of Royal Challengers Bangalore, and that is what it took for them to seal the deal. After meeting each other a few times and going on countless dates, Ashwin decided it was time to pop the question. 

Set against the beautiful skyline of Chicago, Shraddha and Ashwin went on an architecture boat tour. This surprise was orchestrated by Ashwin; Shraddha truly believed they were viewing buildings along the coastline. Ashwin went down on his knees, pulled out a ring and asked Shraddha to marry him. She said yes, and just like that they turned to the next chapter of their love story. 

Now, it was time to start planning the wedding functions. Shraddha and Ashwin’s wedding functions were spread out over four events, a mehendi function followed by the sangeet, the wedding and then the reception. Shraddha said that the wedding functions were some of the best days of her life, and it was so nice to be surrounded by her family and friends. She said, “We barely had any time to shop for outfits or plan things since we live in the States. But our parents managed everything and planned the perfect fairytale wedding.”

The planning process was fairly smooth, especially due to open communication between the families. The bride and groom along with their families communicated every single detail to each other, and that made planning this grand celebration seamless. Shraddha and Ashwin’s families had a network of trusted vendors, so finalizing the venues, caterers, event planners and makeup artists was fairly easy. 

 The wedding festivities started with a mehendi and muhurta at home, which was a close-knit affair. The next day was the sangeet. Shraddha’s father literally converted their home into a resort so that Shraddha could have the sangeet of her dreams. Her father always wanted to have a grand sangeet, and he definitely succeeded. So many months later, people still talk about how beautifully everything was planned, the gorgeous set-up and the attention to detail. Shraddha and Ashwin took to the stage and performed on one song, Kesariya from the movie Brahmastra. Shraddha said that they hardly got any time to practice, but the couple along with their families did manage to dance to a bunch of random songs and the end result was just hilarious. 

 The wedding day dawned soon, filled with excitement and anticipation. Shraddha stunned in a gorgeous pink and gold silk saare while Ashwin looked dashing in his traditional attire. Everything was going according to plan and moving along seamlessly. Except for one ‘little’ thing - they forgot to carry the Mangalsutra to the wedding hall. Thankfully, Shraddha’s house was quite close to the wedding venue, so a family member quickly went back to the house to pick it up. As luck would have it, the Mangalsutra arrived in the nick of time, a few minutes before the Pandit Ji asked for it. 

Shraddha and Ashwin were now husband and wife. The next day, the couple hosted a reception for their loved ones. For Shraddha and Ashwin, their favourite memories are just being surrounded by their families and friends. As Shraddha said, “For us, having our relatives around to celebrate our big day meant the world. A lot of our cousins live abroad, so we know it was not easy for them to be there. Yet, they all made the effort to be a part of our celebrations, and we will always cherish that.”

 The love story of Shraddha and Ashwin was truly written in the stars, and we were so glad that they chose Lightbucket Productions to be a part of their special day. Of course, we asked Shraddha and Ashwin what made them choose Lightbucket Productions. She told us, “I have been following Lightbucket Productions on social media for a long time now. Every time I would see your work, I used to dream about having a wedding just like that. Funnily enough, my husband follows your page too and he religiously watches all your videos on YouTube. In fact, when you did not post for a few days, he actually got curious and asked me why you hadn’t been posting. So it is safe to say that my husband and I are big fans of your work and we couldn’t have imagined having anyone else cover our wedding.” 

Vendors

Shraddha’s outfits

Sangeet: Roopkala Mumbai

Wedding: Sudarshan Silks Bangalore 

Reception: Roopkala Mumbai

Ashwin’s outfits

Wedding: Manyavar

Mehendi Artist: Mangalore and Udupi mehendi artist Simran

MUA

Sangeet: SHRAVANI | Bridal Makeup Artist

Wedding: Diva Salon in Balmatta, Mangalore

 Decor: Just decore events & decorations

 Venue

 Haldi/Muhurta: Home, Kodu House

Sangeet: Home, Kodu House

 Wedding: Kushala Shekhar Shetty International Auditorium, Kalathur

 Reception: Hotel Anya, Manchekal

 Caterers: Shashi Caterers