This year in January, Divij, my boyfriend of five and a half years proposed to me in the most incredible setting at the same place where we started dating. While the dreamy proposal came as a surprise, everyone had been anticipating it for a while. And, finally, once Divij popped the question, the planning of our roka ceremony started!

From a surprise photo cake to the most adorable impromptu performance by the to-be groom, scroll below to read everything about my dreamlike roka function in Delhi that was captured beautifully by Delhi Velvet Photography! 

Introducing Shweghna Gursahaney & Divij Malik

Right from the start, Divij and I knew that we wanted the roka ceremony to only have our nearest and dearest ones. So, once the guest list and location were finalised, I got in touch with Divij’s cousin who is a graphic designer by profession. I told her how I wanted a caricature invite and the invite should highlight my proposal. She was so patient during the discussion and managed to give me exactly what I wanted! The best part was that she also managed to capture every single detail of our relationship and proposal so well! 

On Finding The Perfect Outfit

After the invite was sorted, I started hunting for the perfect outfit. Although I had always imagined myself in a gown or a western outfit for my roka function, my mom convinced me to buy the lehenga that I finally wore at the function. For me, the issue was that it was TOO traditional and I could just not imagine myself in that outfit. Another reason was that I found it on the first day of outfit hunting and that made me feel a better outfit is waiting for me out there. But, I’ve always put my faith in my mom when it comes to Indianwear so I went ahead with a stunning lehenga by Frontier Raas (and thank god for it) and her gut feeling :)

On D-day, when the makeup artist - Vikram Maadan got me ready, I was so ecstatic to see how the overall look came together! 

While I went with a pastel outfit, Divij went with a black bandgala. His outfit was getting custom made and was the last one to get finalized so he was constantly in stress about how everything will turn out. But, when he saw the final outfit, he was over the moon! 

The Hilarious ‘Wedding Shoe Game’

I really wanted all of my guests to enjoy themselves to their fullest and get to know Divij and me as a couple, so I asked my sister to make questions for the ‘wedding shoe game’. While it is not conventional to play this game on the roka function, my roka had only the closest people, which is why I found it to be the perfect occasion for playing this game!  

I told her to make the questions as funny as she can so that everyone cracks up. And, the best part was that she didn’t just ask questions from Divij and me but also included all of our friends in it! 

The Surprise Photo Cake

After the game, came the cake. I knew this baker based out of Gurgaon who makes the most interesting ‘photo reel cakes’. These cakes have a lever in them and a photo reel, and when you pull out the cake topper, a physical slideshow of photos comes out. The concept that I thought of for the cake was chronological photos of our relationship from the time we started dating. Starting from 2017, I put photos year-wise leading up to the last photo we took together before the roka. Divij’s expression was priceless when he saw these come out one by one!

The Heartwarming Poem by the To-Be Groom

What came as a surprise to me was that Divij had written a poem for me that he recited in front of everybody on the roka. Those of you who have seen my beautiful proposal know that the guy writes a poem for me on all our big occasions, but little did I know he would write one for the roka as well AND read it out in front of everyone! 

The poem had everything right from where we first went on a date to how he has found ‘the one’. Being the emotional person that I am, I wounded up with tears on the last few lines! 

The Impromptu Dance Performance

But if you ask me, the highlight for me was the impromptu dance performance by Divij. While dating, on more than one occasion, he has done the famous SRK slide from Main Hoon Na for me (despite him getting hurt every single time).

So when this song played on the function, he got me out of the dance floor, cleared the area right before it, and did the slide impromptu.

Got my little Bollywood moment on one of the most amazing days of my life!

Final Words

For me, the roka ceremony was very important because it was the first function to celebrate Divij and me. I wanted everything to be customised to the T.  I would be lying if I said that planning the roka function was no biggie. A lot of brainstorming and planning went into every small detail. But the key to having a successful function is to delegate work to your family and friends. I had allotted every single person a task and that immensely helped me with the timelines.

Another piece of advice I'd like to offer to all brides out there is that do not go looking for an outfit way too early as you will question your choice. I cannot tell you how many times I asked everyone around me whether donning a pastel outfit will be the right good choice, if I should opt for a gown or if I should don head accessories to amp up my look. Long story short, if you go at the right time and not too early, you won't have free time to fret over your look. 

Wedding Vendors

Wedding Photographer: Delhi Velvet | Bridal Outfit: Frontier Raas | Bridal Makeup Artist: Vikram Maadan | Groom’s Outfit: Custom Made | Wedding Venue: Legacy by Essex Farms | Digital Invite: Sameera Khurana | Roka Cake: Love is Cakes

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