We've already seen the bride who wore her mother's saree for her intimate wedding. And we've met the other couple who bravely had an eco-friendly intimate wedding. But now, it's time to witness a couple who held their intimate wedding in their lawn and even had a sanitization booth at the entrance to ensure everyone's safety.

As far as impressive #IntimateWeddings go, Gurpreet and Ramandeep's story is another interesting one. A couple that, like many others, had dreams and plans of a fairytale wedding. And the bride and groom had never imagined that their wedding plans would be hanging because of an unforeseen pandemic. However, once the wedding had taken place in a quaint setting, both Gurpreet and Ramandeep couldn't agree more on the fact that their Intimate Wedding with just a select few family members made it worth all the trouble. 

Introducing Gurpreet & Ramandeep

Gurpreet and Ramandeep met each other through a match arranged by their families. With mutual consent, the couple was set to be married in April, with not even the slightest clue of what the future entailed. 

"We only had three months. And since three months is a painfully short period to prepare for a Punjabi wedding, we got down to business immediately," Gurpreet recalled to us, "I had dreamt of a fairy tale wedding since forever and that’s what I wanted to have. From the wedding outfit to dresses of bridesmaids, to shoes, to jewellery, everything had to be perfect."

With a weeklong of ceremonies planned and relatives flying in from different parts of the world, Gurpreet was gearing towards a big fat Indian wedding. And with just a month left for the wedding, all that was left was to distribute the invites, a few odd tasks and her brother's outfits. Everyone was very excited about the wedding, ready to have the time of their lives, or as how every big fat Indian wedding goes. But, as the second half of March came to an end, things changed drastically for everyone. 

Small Delhi Wedding

The lockdown was announced and was set to begin from 25th March. And obviously, the mere announcement of the lockdown brought about much uncertainty and the fear of things not going back to normal for a very long time. For Gurpreet and Ramandeep, who were just about to start distributing invites and sweets, wedding plans came to a screeching halt. International visas and flights got cancelled just days before the guests were supposed to arrive. Everything closed down, and the wedding preparations were put on halt as well. 

"There was one good thing that came out of all of this. Actually many, but this was probably the best," said the bride, "After years, all of us got to spend time together as a family. Being stuck at home wasn’t that bad after all. We did everything together. Watched movies, stayed up talking all night, cooked, worked out. And the lockdown kept getting extended."

Eventually, May came and the government eased the lockdown. Soon, weddings with small gatherings started, and this was probably the cue for both the bride and groom to get married. Ramandeep got himself a pass to Delhi and was there within a week. With just a week to prep everything, the couple informed their local relatives and made all the arrangements at home. Gurpreet's Mehendi artist was her cousin, who did hers as well as Mehendi for others as well. As for her makeup, Gurpreet had Tanya Kaur over, who wore protective gear while doing her makeup and even sterilised her tools for extra precaution. 

"We decided to arrange for the wedding on our own lawn. E-invites were sent, phone calls were made, vendors contacted. Everything was being done online," Gurpreet recalled the frenzy of the week, narrating the wedding to us.

It had, in fact, been a frenzy. However, Gurpreet and Ramandeep felt like God was being kind on them. Whichever vendor they needed and contacted was ready to work with them, all the while taking the necessary precautions. With the help of their vendors, the couple had a tent up, along with a disinfection booth set up at the entrance which sanitized the whole outer body of anyone who was coming in. Every person that was on-premises working, had their temperatures checked every day and wearing masks were mandatory. 

The wedding that was planned for over a week, had to be squeezed into just two days. 

"We only invited our family and first cousins. People who were unwell along with the elderly had to stay at home," said Gurpreet, "Everyone, from guests to the people working had the Arogya Setu app installed on their phones. And since people were already worried about their health, practicing social distancing wasn't that difficult."

To add to all of that, the guests showed much support by self quarantining themselves at home after the wedding, just to be extra careful. For the future, however, the couple hopes that they'll be able to hold a grand reception party where all those who couldn't make it will come and celebrate their union. 

As both the bride and groom put it, the wedding was certainly not what they had planned. However, it was an amazing experience. Having only their family there made it even more special. They could pay attention to tiniest details and everyone could be themselves. This intimate wedding gave Gurpreet and Ramandeep's closest of kin to have fun, enjoy and break out from the monotony of the lockdown. For them, it was way better than a big fat Punjabi wedding. It was less chaotic, better managed, and memorable. 

WEDDING VENDORS

Bride's Makeup: Tanya Kaur | Bride's Outfit: Payal Keyal | Bride's Jewellery: Madan Jewellers | Photographer: Mehar Photography

Have an Intimate Wedding to share with us? Email the details to us at submitawedding@shaadisaga.com

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