My experience with KYNAH was wonderful from the beginning! My wedding

was originally supposed to be in 2020, so when I was looking for dresses

last year I needed a ready-to-ship dress and was amazed by the selection

available on KYNAH's website. We ended up doing a mini-ceremony in 2020

(American) and postponed our Indian wedding for 2021, but I'm so glad I

still chose KYNAH. Before I ever reached out, the KYNAH team let me know

they were fixing a loose tassel on my blouse and then getting it ready to

be shipped in a few days. I loved that they were openly communicating with

me and keeping me updated without me ever emailing.

For almost every wedding event, I was aiming for a more simple and timeless look from my outfits, to jewelry and other accessories, and finally with my decor. The one exception to this aesthetic theme was my mehendi (henna) night. I knew I wanted to do something different with my mehendi outfit since, to me, the mehndi event is one that allows for the most creativity of all the traditional Hindu wedding events!

I wanted to have a more magical, ethereal feel for our mehndi event so I knew I wanted something unique and non-traditional for this event, but struggled to find anything in the Indian stores in Chicago. My sister was actually the one who discovered the Alice Outfit on the KYNAH website and sent it to me because she thought I would love it and she wasn't wrong. It was the most perfect outfit for what I envisioned and checked all the marks. The net, bell-sleeved cover, decadently beaded top, and wide-leg pants were stunning! I even decided to get my mehendi a day earlier so I could wear this outfit. The most amazing jasmine outfit I have ever seen!

My husband and I knew from the beginning of wedding planning that we wanted it to reflect our lives and personalities. My extended family was absolutely phenomenal in helping us do this. We ended up doing both our mehendi and vidhi in a tent in my parent's backyard. My entire family helped my mom in creating the decor and putting it all together, and it turned out perfectly. My aunt and two cousins handmade elephant cookies (my favorite animal!) for the mehndi and also made cookies for our welcome bags to match my husband and I! We knew we wanted to incorporate our two dogs (one of which passed away a month before our wedding), so we had a special cocktail and cocktail napkins for one and I added a charm to my bouquet for our dog who passed. We framed our original vows and put them with our guestbook (that had our wedding photographs from 2020) for everyone to read them this year! My husband, who isn't Indian, also

surprised me by doing a short Indian dance with his brother during the reception to a song from an Indian movie we watched together.

I would recommend choosing a place that is special in some way to you and your fiancé. I knew for my engagement photography that I wanted to incorporate the city we met in, which happens to also be where we live now and where my husband, Jordan, was born and raised! That's why we chose to have our engagement photography done in Lexington, KY. We also picked two places, the place where we first grabbed drinks after work and a place that is a more historic and beautiful part of Kentucky. Also, professional photography can feel strange when done for the first time, so make sure you pick a photographer you connect with and makes you both feel comfortable. I do wish I incorporated an Indian outfit, so that's something to consider if you have the chance!

Photographer: Paper Antler