"From Proposal in DR to Destination Bride in Mexico" - Rupal and Joshua's Wedding in Costa Mujeres
Proposed to at a destination wedding, it only made sense to get married abroad!
These two have quite a story to tell! From meeting at work (yes, she was his boss!) to getting engaged while at a cousin’s Shaadi Destinations wedding years ago in Punta Cana, Rupal and Joshua have a love that holds no bounds. You can tell just from hanging out a few minutes with them they have a special connection! Even a Category 4 hurricane couldn’t stop this party in paradise!
Author - Rupal Desai, Bride
Love story on aisle 3!
Josh and I met working at Target in 2013 when he had transferred from a store in Las Vegas to Reno! It definitely wasn’t love at first sight, I was the executive that ran the floor, and Josh was a logistics team leader, Josh would spend payroll like crazy, and I would have to find a way to reel it all back in and then hold him accountable for it! Josh decided leave Target in November of 2015, and was going to be out with other team leaders to celebrate. I had told him that if I ended up running into him that night (downtown Reno is pretty small), I would buy him a shot for surviving Target! Josh ended up texting that evening to meet up, and we ended up hanging out till 5am the next morning, and have been together since!!
We went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in July of 2019 for my cousin’s Shaadi Destinations wedding and stayed a few days after to do some exploring. We had decided to go parasailing with some of my family and new friends, it was such an amazing time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such beautiful views before! At the end of it, they took us back to the beach, my sisters and I stopped at shop, and Josh and my brother in-law kept walking. When we caught up to them, they were on a dock, as we joined them, everyone else started getting off the dock, so I walked up to Josh to tell him it was time to go.
That’s when Josh said he had to ask me something, he pulled out the ring and asked me if I would spend the rest of my life with him. My response was “are you fuc*#ng kidding me?”, and I punched his shoulder. A minute later I did say “YES”, but was completely caught off guard about the whole thing!!
Let's start planning
We started researching wedding venues days after we got back from the Dominican Republic, originally we were thinking April of 2020, but weren’t sure we could get everything together that quickly.
I always wanted to get married on a beach, away from Reno, thankfully Josh was up for it too! With the help of Shaadi Destinations, we picked Costa Mujeres because it was further away from the city/hotel zone, thought it would be nice for our family and friends to have a nice get away!! The pictures and reviews of the Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres were amazing!
Shaadi Destinations or bust!
That’s right! After attending their wedding, we saw how amazing it was to have support with all of the details, coordinating and basic questions. Destination weddings are tough, you’re not there to know what everything will look like, sometimes pictures don’t do things justice! It was nice to have a team that was willing to answer questions, find information and give you honest opinions!
Having the Shaadi Destinations team took so much weight off our shoulders, the support and information made it easy for us to get things together! We loved being provided with options for sites and vendors that were available to us, there was no pressure, just information! I still remember my mom and aunt asking us for every event, what they needed to do. The answer was simple and not what they were used to “nothing, go relax and get something to eat”.
Our top tips for future brides and grooms planning their Indian destination wedding!
Compromise with each other! You may not want orange as one of your wedding colors, but it surprising how well it actually went with the teal you did want!! That was the first step!
Make time for the site visit!! It helps to see all different things the resort and local area have to offer for your family and friends. It helped us finalize what we wanted our decor to be for each event, and we found it very helpful being able to meet all of the vendors, get their take on things!
This one is probably the most typical piece of advice, but take the time to enjoy it all!!! Months/years of planning go by in just hours, take it all in. Everyone, including you, worked hard to get to those events. Eat, drink, and take lots of pictures!
Favorite memories…
For both of us, it was the day after the wedding! We met up with family and friends for different things throughout the day, and we finally got to enjoy some pool time! It was just a relaxing day in paradise! What more could you ask for?
The decor was our favorite splurge! There were so many great options that were being presented to us, some of it seemed a like it may not have been 100% necessary, but we’re glad we went with it anyways. Definitely the glass stage and the starry night curtain were great decisions, both of those pieces helped to make those events! The glass stage for the wedding ceremony was perfect, we got so many compliments about it, and it photographed beautifully! The starry night fabric that draped the walls at our reception was better than we could have asked for!!
It’s really hard to see what something will look like when you just see images of it on a computer screen, but we trusted the input and recommendations from the Shaadi Destinations team and the decorators, and honestly, everything turned out more beautiful than we imagined!
Our dancefloor and coconuts featured our wedding logo! We would like to tell you it was something that we thought up, but it wasn’t. It was actually something Jyoti (my sister) created, she had the idea, put it together and sent it to us to see we thought, and we loved it! She’s so creative! ️
On the other side of a Category 4!
When we heard that Hurricane Delta was being tracked to make land fall, over the Cancun area, the same day were flying in, we knew things might turn out differently than we planned. The constant communication from the Shaadi Destinations team really helped!
We had already been told that we would be picked up from the airport and be taken to another Grand Palladium resort that was not in the hurricane path to ride out the night, and that they would keep us posted on what was happening as they knew more, and they did!!!!
Our family and friends also had constant communication with the Shaadi Destinations team about their flight changes and transportation to the hotel once they arrived. Our flight in was smooth, 4 other friends were on our flight in, and they shared the fun 1.5 hour limo ride with us to a resort south of Cancun. The employees at the resort did everything they could to make sure all the guest being bussed to them had a safe place to stay for the night.
The next morning, the Shaadi Destinations team was already sending us communication on the what they knew about the communities and what kind of damage had been caused by Hurricane Delta. They let us know what the timing looked like to get us back to our resort in Costa Mujeres and even sent a private charter bus to come pick us up instead of us having to take the resort transportation which allowed us to get to the Costa Mujeres location first! The unknown was a little stressful, but the Shaadi Destinations team ensured that we stayed as informed as possible!! Hurricanes are rare, but it’s amazing to know how the team is equipped to take on anything!
It’s all about the food!
We had all three events food catered from Patravali, and we were not disappointed!!! Our family and friends raved about how great the food was, even my mom, who was our biggest concern when it came to the food. No one cooks like mom, but the chef at Patravali sure knows what he’s doing!!
We even had friends that went to Cancun to seek out the restaurant so they could eat their food again before leaving!!
Our list of vendors:
Destination Wedding Agency - Shaadi Destinations (Website - Instagram - Email)
Photographer / Videographer - Sweet Caribbean (Website - Instagram - Email)
Hair and Makeup - Alex Corbanezi Beauty & Co. (Website - Instagram - Email)
Our honeymoon to come
Can’t wait for our honeymoon! Definitely leaning towards Grand Palladium Jamaica by using our Shaadi Destinations honeymoon perk they negotiated for us!! Neither of us have been to Jamaica so it will be a unique and new experience for us!
Special thanks to Sweet Caribbean for these fabulous pictures! Contact Dani for your destination photography needs.
Shaadi Destinations is the premier, award winning, modern-day destination wedding travel agency for South Asian couples seeking a streamlined process, incredible experiences, and a party friends and family will never forget! We save our couples thousands of dollars while throwing them the wedding festivities dreams are made of.
We live and breathe destination weddings - with just one consultation, you will be light years ahead in your destination wedding planning process. In less than one week, Shaadi Destinations will find you the most perfect resort that meets your needs, your budget, and your desires. With our vendor relationships and pre-negotiated exclusive perks at resorts across Mexico and the Caribbean, we are confident we can find exactly what you are looking for. You'll find we have the best rates, best incentives, and best booking experience.