PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
How do you plan an event that will:
1. Launch your wedding festivities and set the tone for all the celebrations
2. Combine a traditional Pakistani event with classic German traditions
3. Have a surprise venue that no one is expecting
4. Allow your guests to sight-see the beautiful city you just asked them all to fly to
…?
Simple – you rent a boat and organize a River Cruise, timed perfectly to coincide with the sunset on the Vlata River, and ask your guests to meet at the InterContinent Hotel ten minutes prior to docking, where the wedding planner will walk all guests to the waiting boat, and bridesmaids are waiting to welcome them with rose bracelets. Okay, maybe not so simple? But then who said the #KCFairyTale was simply? Not me.
Wait, I forgot that the bridal party was responsible for setting everything up for this auspicious event just prior to the event beginning. Oh and also that none of the guests were expecting this. And most of them were wearing “Bollywood Fusion” as per the dress code listed on the invitation. So pretty much, it was buckets of fun and surprises, and in my humble opinion, we managed to honor the traditions of Pakistan and Germany, while taking in the beauty of Prague, and staying true to ourselves. Monika hand-made her entire outfit, plus my shoes. Fashion meets culture meets fairytale? I think so. We had a wonderful opportunity to introduce the bridal party to the guests, my parents were able to perform their very cute (first ever!) dance performance, we partied on the upper deck of the boat, we smashed the plates from Monika’s Oma’s kitchen, my sister gifted me with the special wedding bracelet, my aunts fed us both sweets and applied mehindi on our hands. Ah, an evening chalk full of incredible memories.
We purposely ended the event by 7:30 pm because the next day was the “big day!” as they say, and we did not want anyone to be tired or late (or hungover) for this. That being said, all of our friends walked back to our hotel/Old Town Square with us, and we couldn’t not get together for a few drinks with them! So we changed, and found ourselves back downstairs in the lobby of our hotel which was also a beautiful cafe facing Old Town Square and the church where we would be getting married. Those moments; toasting champagne with my closest friends, overlooking the church where I would be getting married, laughing at old stories and new memories, those are the moments that I will always cherish. I think of that time often, and remind myself how blessed I am. How lucky to be able to live this life.
