For many couples, planning just one wedding is
hectic enough. But Shireesha Reddy and Edward Carse
celebrated their nuptials for two days with two separate
weddings: first with a Friday morning Irish-Scottish ceremony
and reception, and then with a late afternoon Hindu-
Vedic ceremony and reception on Saturday.
The couple met two and a half years earlier when
Shireesha set up a dinner with the intention of introducing
a close girlfriend to her friend Jay. Shireesha?s sister
Shruthi, who was visiting from out of town, was invited to
join them, so Jay decided to bring two friends along to
meet Shireesha and her sister. "One of those friends was
Jay?s roommate, Ed," remembers Shireesha. Ed was immediately
smitten, and made sure that he sat next to
Shireesha for the rest of the evening. "We have been
together ever since," she says.
The couple kicked off their two-day, two-wedding celebration
on a Friday with an intimate ceremony on the
shores of Lake Michigan that included bagpipes, personally
written vows and an Irish hand fasting ceremony. A luncheon
followed at Navy Pier, where guests had their choice of
entrees topped off by Ed?s favorite dessert, tiramisu.
That evening, the festivities got underway for their
Hindu wedding with a traditional mehndi party, which
involves painting the bride?s and bridesmaids? hands
and feet with henna designs. A sangeet was also held,
filled with entertainment, song and dance.
The next day, 350 close friends and family members
arrived at the Reddy?s home in South Barrington for the
Hindu wedding. The ceremony began with the baraat, or
the arrival of the groom mounted on a white horse led by
Ed and Shireesha?s friends and family. In Hindu ceremonies
marriage takes place under a square canopy called
a mandap, where the couple and their families sat on
hand-carved teakwood stools that were made by the bride?s
grandfather and used in her parents? wedding in 1965.
Nearly a dozen individual rituals followed, each symbolizing
a different aspect of marriage. "The ceremony was
very strictly scheduled to ensure that the actual moment
of the marriage would take place precisely at 4:30 p.m.,"
says Shireesha, "which the Hindu priests had determined
was the most auspicious time for the event based on our
birth times and the position of the stars on that day."
Immediately after the wedding, the guests retired to the
front of the Reddy home for cocktails and hors d?oeuvres
while the backyard was prepared for the reception with a
large, clear-roofed tent for dinner and dancing from
Chicago Party Rental. Once guests were seated, family
and friends made speeches before a multi-course Indian
feast was served. Afterward, everyone hit the dance floor
to both Indian and American music. "The party lasted into
the wee hours," remembers Shireesha.
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Chicago Resources
Ceremony Site
Friday: Lincoln Park (Lake Shore Drive at
the Belmont Harbor Marina);
Saturday: the Reddys? South
Barrington home
Reception Site
Friday luncheon: Lori
Cohen, Riva Restaurant at Navy Pier
(312) 595-5448
Saturday: the Reddys? South Barrington home
Photographer
Martina Konietzny Photography
(510) 652-6563,
Oakland, CA
Videographer
Paul Meyers and Denise
Rushton, Azure IX Media
(847) 843-1089, Schaumburg
OFFICIANT
Friday ceremony: Tracie Birkenmaier, Arlington
Heights traciebirken@aol.com;
Saturday ceremony:
Krishnam Raju, The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago
(630)
972-0300, Lemont
TENT RENTAL
Chicago Party Rental
(800) 322-5868
Wedding Gown
Sue Wong; Alterations:
Nick Fetea, Oak Street Tailors of Chicago
(312) 337-3355
Hair
Hair by Nicole
(630) 834-3499
MEHNDI (HENNA PAINTING)
Bela Shah
(847) 359-5358
Flowers
Smita Mohindra
(630) 369-
2222
Ceremony Music
Friday: live Scottish bagpipes;
Saturday: live classical sitar and tabla by Mr. Verma (630)
717-7436
RECEPTION ENTERTAINMENT
DJ Sudhir Trikha
(630) 904-3199
HORSE
Jayne?s Way Farms
(630) 483-
1827
Wedding Cake
Jarosch Bakery
(847) 437-1234, Elk
Grove
FAVORS
Hand made silver incense holders in the
shape of an ?Om? sign, made in Hyderabad, India
Honeymoon
A three-month trip to Asia before the wedding, followed
by a weeklong getaway to Vancouver immediately
following.
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