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Megan Disharoon & Joseph Patrick
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 Rentals. 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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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
Lamont
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
MAKEUP
Hina Salon
(630) 205-0830
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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