Alicia tells us how she planned her Indian – Vietnamese wedding with Thao in Auckland.
“Thao is Vietnamese, and I am Indian. We met through mutual friends, and at first, we only spoke a little, but once we started chatting, it never stopped! We pride ourselves on our banter and how much we can talk nonstop now!”
Tell us a little about your wedding– the functions & venues
1. Engagement:
My proposal was a surprise! In Mornington on a beach, we flew to Melbourne for a gig & ended up getting engaged! I showed Thao, 4 years ago what my dream proposal would look like as a joke & he literally took the photo and made it happen in real life!
2. Haldi, Sangeet & Tea Ceremony:
I drew a lot of inspo from Bollywood films for my two events, not only did Thao’s family love it, they took part too and did some fun performances! Venue for my Sangeet was Manukau Event Centre – Burswood Auckland NZ. Our tea ceremony, was our fusion, such a beautiful day.
3. Nikkah & Reception
Such a beautiful day! Our Nikkah was at Manukau Event Centre – Manukau Auckland NZ & our reception at Park Hyatt, Auckland.
Tell us about your journey in finding and selecting your wedding vendors
In NZ, south asian vendors are a little difficult to find, they are very limited. As we had a fusion wedding, we wanted to make sure we had a mix of vendors who understood me and Thao and also our vision. Our experience with our vendors was amazing, they have genuinely become our friends now too.
Any “wedding planning” tips or advice for to-be-weds who are based in Australia/ New Zealand but getting married in traditional South Asian style?
My advice would be go with your gut, and with who you feel the most comfortable with. Thao & I did the 3 rule, meeting 3 vendors so you can rule out your favourite & who passed the vibe check!
Vendors (list)
- Bride outfits: Paaro – Melbourne, I could not recommend Ayushi (the owner) more; she is AMAZING!
- Groom outfits: Rembrandt – easiest tailoring
- Photography: Harshpreet – TheHPcollective, she was the BEST in the game. So helpful, so easy to work with and made such a great effort to get to know us & our loved ones.
- Content Creator: BTS with Sandy
- DJ: DJKaz – this guys energy is unmatched! He was truly a powerhouse, he was able to read the room and play songs accordingly and also hype the crowd up!!
- Park Hyatt Auckland: Sharon Malloy, she was the best wedding coordinator a girl could ask!
- Cake: The 3 words cake – we tried so many cakes for this & these guys were the best! Even when they got new flavours, they called us in for free trials!
- Manukau Event Centre: we used two different locations, and Neha was great!
