Abirami and Dilshan’s Gorgeous Multi-Event Indian Wedding in Australia

Abirami and Dishan first met during their graduation year, becoming good friends throughout. Over that time their feelings began to evolve from friendship to romance, but both initially struggled with telling the other how they truly felt. After finally expressing their love for each other Abirami and Dilshan have remained inseparable ever since. The strong friendship at the core of their relationship is how they knew they were in the presence of “the one.”

Read all about Abirami and Dilshan’s love story, romantic surprise proposal, and experiences in their gorgeous multi-event Indian wedding in Australia.

Bride & Groom: Abirami and Dilshan
Wedding location: Sydney, Australia
Wedding venue: Miramare Gardens
Reception Venue: Sergeants Mess, Sydney
Overseas Reception: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Tell us how you met. We both met in our graduate year at Deloitte, our first meeting could not have been more unromantic. Despite us having very contrasting personalities, we became good friends over the year. It took a long time for us to admit our feelings, despite our closest friends subconsciously pushing us towards each other. Our friendship evolved into love, and as they say, the rest is history…

Tell us all about the proposal. During the year leading up to our engagement, Dilshan had moved to Melbourne for work. At that time, we had both met each other’s parents and were starting to discuss the prospect of sharing our lives together. Our six-year anniversary came and went. We had a romantic dinner reflecting back on our relationship. A mid-dinner call from my father to Dilshan’s phone did arouse my sneaky suspicions, but at the end of the evening, there was still no proposal, nor a ring.
A couple of weeks later, my girlfriends wanted to organise a catch up at my apartment, but little did I know that Dilshan was orchestrating this “catch-up” behind the scenes. Friday night came, and the girls played their roles well, routinely texting me saying they were on the way. When the doorbell rang, I buzzed the girls up and was busy doing some last minute frantic cleaning. I was mid-way through unloading my dishwasher and in bursts Dilshan, who had secretly flown in from Melbourne that afternoon!
I was in such a state of shock that I didn’t even register the fact that he was down on one knee, holding in his hand the most beautiful diamond ring, set in a rose gold band (exactly like the one I had dropped so many hints about). When it all finally sunk in, of course, the answer was yes! I did love that he was successfully able to outwit my cluey and suspicious nature. He told me to pack an overnight bag and whisked me away to a romantic dinner at Flying Fish Jones Bay Wharf, which boasted magnificent views of Sydney harbor.

How did you know they were “the one”? We both knew that we had a good thing quite early on into our relationship. We were good friends before we started dating, which made us comfortable around each other, whether it be acting the fool, debating those serious topics, or laughing out loud at a good dad joke.

How was your wedding planning experience? 13 months seems like ample time to plan a wedding, but time literally flies. We enjoyed our post-engagement bliss for one month before locking in a venue. We had attended many friends’ weddings and had a fair idea about Sydney wedding venues. The only challenge was trying to coordinate auspicious dates with our pundit and the availability of our preferred venues. As a result of the to and fro, and because we wanted to celebrate both my South Indian Hindu background and Dilshan’s Sri Lankan Buddhist faith, we ended up having our Hindu wedding on a Sunday and our Buddhist wedding on the following Friday. A Friday Reception worked out well in hindsight as a nice gate-opener to the weekend. Securing suppliers for Sundays and Fridays is generally a lot easier than Saturdays. The gap between the two events worked well in terms of planning unique elements for each event.
We prioritized all the major wedding decisions using a checklist we found online. We retained all the key decision making on the major wedding items – venues, outfits, photography, and decor, whilst delegating smaller tasks to family and friends. Tasks we delegated include transport, place cards, wedding favors, wishing well setup and pre-wedding events. We left all the ceremonial ritual aspects to our parents. As a couple, we made final decisions on smaller tasks as necessary.

What was wedding shopping like for you? With about four days of leave, I had just enough time to do some wedding shopping in Chennai, since my family had good local knowledge of stores, tailors, and jewelers in the city.
During my three shopping days, I prioritized clothing over accessories, as I already had quite the collection of temple jewelry from SukraJewellers and GRT Jewellers, being a Bharatanatyam dancer. I also had plenty of antique gold and kundan pieces I had accumulated over the years from markets and stores in India.
Ideally, I would have loved to have swung by Mumbai to pick out Reception outfits. However, without the time, I took to Instagram and discovered Carma, an India-based online store, which curates bridal outfits and accessories from a range of Indian designers. Upon my initial inquiry, they assigned me a dedicated sales assistant via WhatsApp. They were extremely professional and went above and beyond to help me source the perfect outfit for my reception by liaising with designers and communicating customization requirements.
Some designers were more flexible than others. I had a difficult time finding a pure white saree for the Buddhist ceremony. I had my heart set on a Sabyasachi saree but they were unwilling to customize the colors of their designs. I then discovered Shyamal&Bhumika. I just loved their signature antique gold floral embroidery work. All their designs are fully customizable in terms of color and style. I liaised with them via WhatsApp and FaceTime to customize my pieces.

Vendors:
Venue: Miramare Gardens
Reception Venue: Sergeants Mess, Sydney
Overseas Reception: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Photography/Cinematography: Splendid Photos & Video
Invitations & Stationary: BWedding Invitations
Printing: InkTank Printing
Decor: VIP Decorating
Florals: Flowers by Drosia
Bride’s Outfits: Shyamal&Bhumika, Sundari Silks, RidhimaBhasin, Gather and Stitch Couture, Payal Singhal, Carma
Bride’s Jewelry: SukraJewellers, GRT Jewellers, Suhana Art & Jewels, Carma
Bride’s Accessories: TariniNirula
Bride’s Shoes: Nine West
Hair & Makeup: Gather and Stitch Beauty
Henna Artist: Reema’s Henna Designs
Groom’s Outfits: Manyavar, Joe Black, David Jones
Groom’s Accessories: Manyavar, Malebox
Groom’s Shoes: Manyavar, Aldo
Bridesmaids Outfits: Nalli Silks, Vogue Loving
Groomsmen Outfits: Myer
DJ & Live Music: Systematic Solutions
Catering: Surjit’s Indian Restaurant, Taj Caterers
Cake: Paintbrush Patisserie
Transport: JC Limousines