Priyanka & Vishal - InterContinental Wedding Fiji Weddings - Bula Bride

Priyanka & Vishal – InterContinental Wedding

When Vishal attended Priyanka’s 21st birthday party, he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. They had a lot in common and great chemistry and very quickly developed feelings for each other. They fell in love with each other’s personalities and soon realized they were the ones for each other. We catch up with Priyanka & Vishal on planning their wedding.

BRIDES NAME & GROOMS NAME: Priyanka & Vishal
THE DATE: July 11th, 2019
THE LOCATION: InterContinental Fiji Resort, Natadola Bay
THE NUMBER OF GUESTS: 80

We always wanted an outdoor wedding because we love nature, and Priyanka fell in love with the Intercontinental Fiji Resort when she went on vacation the previous year. Having a destination wedding meant that all our loved ones could have a wonderful vacation while also attending our wedding. Additionally, we have a lot of family in Australia and it was very easy for them to travel to Fiji.

We reached out to the InterContinental wedding coordinator to find out more information about the wedding packages and details. After getting more information, we decided this venue would work best for our needs. We worked with Intercontinental’s wedding coordinator Lusiana, and she made the experience so easy and stress-free. Planning a destination wedding is never easy, but she had a lot experience with planning Indian weddings, so she helped arrange many of the vendors we needed.

We looked through destination weddings on the Bula Bride website and found another couple that also held their wedding at InterContinental. This inspired us to do so as well, and it reaffirmed that a destination wedding could be possible for us.

GETTING READY

Priyanka got ready in the Orchid Room in the InterContinental Resort Spa; it was included in the wedding package, and her bridesmaids and mom also got ready there. It was a serene, relaxing experience.

Hair and make-up was done by Totoka Hair and Makeup. I was extremely pleased with their work, and special shout outs to Michelle, Manshita and Palavi for doing such a great job and being amazing, friendly stylists.

My dress was custom designed from an Indian Clothing boutique in Northern California, Chawla Emporium. The bridesmaids dresses were custom designed by Rehana, an independent designer in California.

The groom wore a custom designed sherwani from Chawla Emporium, and the guys wore custom designed outfits by Rehana and Chawla Emporium.

THE CEREMONY:

The ceremony location was Navo Lawn, InterContinental Fiji Resort. I chose summer colors: white, gold and peach for the décor. The InterContinental took care of all our flowers and bouquets.

Our wedding was a traditional Hindu wedding. As such, we did not compose any vows, however, we gave speeches during the reception and told stories about how we met. 

GETTING PHOTOS:

Our photographer was Reenal Prasad from Videoticz Fiji . We spent months looking for good photographers and videographers, and when we came across Videoticz, we looked through their portfolio and were incredibly impressed with their quality of work. It was an easy decision to choose them.

We wanted to capture the elegance of an Indian wedding, and we also wanted to make the wedding look artistic. Furthermore, we wished to capture the natural beauty of Fiji, Reenal did a great job and accomplished this. I love that Reenal incorporated Fiji’s nature into our photos, because it gives our wedding a sense of serenity and elegance that would not be achieved in other places.

THE RECEPTION: 

The location was on the beach, outside the Kama Lounge at Intercontinental Resort.We chose black, white and gold for our theme. Intercontinental provided the table décor and floral arrangements; Youngsters provided the fairy lighting.

We chose an arrangement of InterContinental’s finest cocktails, and we spoke with others who recommended multiple drinks. An assortment of Indian dishes made of seafood, meat and vegetables was on the dinner menu. We met the head chef personally and discussed our dietary needs, and he happily suggested the most appropriate meals to fit our occasion.

InterContinental’s chefs prepared the cake; the cake was the Adhi Chocolate Mud Cake, an original for the resort.

At the end of the reception, we all literally danced into the night. The music kept going and all family and friends continued to eat, drink, dance and make wonderful memories.

The wedding was a three day event. July 10th was the first day, with a prayer ceremony for the couple, which then proceeded to henna night for all close family and friends. We had a lot of food and music to entertain ourselves. Day 2 was the wedding, July 11th, and Day 3 was the reception in the evening on July 12th. The reception evening started with a sunset photoshoot with Reenal, during this time our guests were enjoying unlimited cocktails and canapes during cocktail hour. We then made a grand entrance and performed a dance with our friends to begin the reception evening. 

ADVICE FOR BRIDES PLANNING A FIJI WEDDING:
Begin planning at least a year before your anticipated wedding date. Patience is key, especially when communicating with a venue that is in a different country than you. Not everything will be perfect, but it can still me amazing and memorable. Be sure to look at multiple venues and see which one speaks to you the most. Weddings are extremely emotional, you will find yourself happiest having a wedding at a venue that you have an emotional attachment to.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
The biggest highlight was being able to have all our friends and family in one place. I don’t think we had ever had everyone together before, and everyone had a great time. It was honestly an honor and a huge blessing to see a smile on everyone’s face, as well as seeing everyone enjoy themselves. There were family members we met for the first time, but by the end of our vacation, it felt like we had known them forever. These really are moments we cherish the most. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding, and our friends and family made the wedding and reception so much better. 

Who Did They Use
IN THE KNOW

Who Did They Use?

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Wedding Venues

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa

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Hair & Make Up

Totoka Hair & Make Up Fiji

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Fiji Wedding Videographers

Videoticz Fiji Wedding

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