Editorial July 2011

July 2011

Dear Readers,

On behalf of the entire Desh-Videsh team, I would like to wish everyone a Happy, and more importantly, a Healthy New Year.

Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming weddings! What an exciting time in your and your family’s life, and we are thrilled to be part of your wedding planning experience through the Desh-Videsh wedding special edition.

In this issue, we are proud to bring you the best of both worlds. We have combined pages full of gorgeous wedding outfits, beautiful jewelry, and real wedding stories to inspire you to plan the ultimate wedding. Three actual brides share their stories of love with the hopes of giving you tips and ideas for your own beautiful wedding. Their experience and advice is invaluable. Vendor list are included at the end of each article.

As I have mentioned before, many Indians combine the best of both worlds in every aspect of our lives here in the United States. This is what makes us a very exceptional community in this country. In the same way, you have no doubt noticed that the wedding issue is equally exceptional. We have taken ideas from the American mainstream such as hiring a wedding planner, emphasizing artistic angles in wedding photography and the recent trend of destination weddings. Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean have become the most popular destinations for weddings. One such wedding was that of Amir and Reema’s, which occurred in Aruba.

I know wedding planning can be stressful for brides and groom as well as their family members. Unlike American weddings, family members are very involved in typical Indian weddings adding to the stress. In the last few years, I have helped the children of close friends in planning their special day. From what I have seen, dividing the work and responsibilities works very well. For example, at a friend’s daughter’s wedding, the bride took on the task of deciding the food catering and menu, while family members planned other details of the garba-sangeet and wedding ceremony. They also decided to hire two photographers – one with a traditional style (which family members took care of) and the other with a more artistic and photojournalistic style (the bride’s responsibility). Dividing the responsibility this way not only reduced stress levels tremendously, but also gave everyone a chance to be a part of wedding planning activities.

In other exciting news, a new book on How to Plan an Indian Wedding is in the works and will be available in major bookstores and the Desh-Videsh website. The book will cover every aspect of planning an Indian wedding including money and time saving ideas and tips on the best ways to get organized. The book will also include wedding planning software tools on a CD as well as access via website.

Finally, the next MyShadi Bridal show is on Sunday, September 18, 2011 at the Hilton Orlando. Be sure to register for a free trip to India online at www.myshadibridalexpo.com. Good luck and see you in Orlando!

Raj Shah
Managing Editor
Desh-Videsh