Meet the couple behind Fran ‘N’ Nelli! Francesca has been a follower of Tie The Thali since day one and when she posted about her beautiful Blindian wedding, we knew we had to feature her and Raghav on our blog! This lovely couple stands true to how coming from different cultural backgrounds is not a burden when planning a wedding, rather a blessing in that you get to integrate the best of both backgrounds and beliefs into your ceremony!
HOW THEY MET
Raghav and I come from different backgrounds as I am Half Black/Half Filipina Catholic and Raghav being a South Indian Hindu. Our paths eventually crossed when I moved to San Francisco after college and was hired to work the night shift at a manufacturing site. Raghav was already working the same shift where we got to know each other better and it naturally developed into a relationship. I actually was the one who asked Raghav out and he told me had to think about it! Eventually Raghav gave me a YES a couple days later after he got back from a trip but I still give him grief for keeping me on my toes! His reasoning for taking a couple days was he always thinks big decisions through but he knew the moment I asked he was going to say yes! Raghav is very thoughtful and does everything with intention which is something that I love about him.
ABOUT FRANCESCA AND RAGHAV
I was born in Austin, Texas, USA and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and San Antonio, Texas. Raghav was born and raised in Manipal, Karnataka and came to the US to study engineering management and shortly after graduation was offered a job in Southern California. We currently work as medical device engineers in the San Francisco Bay area. I’m very career oriented and Raghav supports my goals and pushes me to excel in my passions but at the same time he keeps me balanced. In our free time, we love to do anything outside like traveling to new places, eating out, hiking, biking and running – Raghav has a goal to complete a half marathon in each US state, he’s currently completed 35 out of 50 states. We also want to pursue our creative interests like writing, filmography, and photography – we are obsessed with watching movies and TV!
WEDDING
We got engaged in Iceland on April 14th 2016 in and our wedding was on June 24th 2017 at Rengstorff House in Mountain View, California, USA. We also had a Sangeet the night before at San Jose’s Womens Club. We had about 100 guests attend which is very small for Indian weddings. Our vision for our special day was something intimate to share with our loved ones and we wanted a garden setting to showcase our love for the outdoors. We also thought California would be neutral ground for our families and friends coming from India and Texas – they loved spending their free time with us exploring Northern California. The months that led up to the wedding were stressful but everything worked out in the end. We wanted a venue that was unique but we had to jump through a lot of hoops to let them incorporate the Indian elements Raghav wanted like the fire, Indian caterer and baraat.
Some of my favorite aspects of the wedding was the DJ, the food, and the beautiful decorative details my vendors put together – we received so many compliments from guests regarding these aspects. I would say my favorite part of the wedding was the different cultural traditions we did: Jumping the Broom, exchanging rings and mangalsutura, and Saptapadi. Raghav and I wrote the ceremony script ourselves and had different family members recite it – embracing our cultures was the best part of our day.
Thank you Tie the Thali for the opportunity to feature our wedding and to take a little peak inside our lives. Please continue to follow our adventures on frannnelli.wordpress.com and on Instagram @frannnelli
WEDDING/SANGEET IMAGES
WEDDING HIGHLIGHTS
Francesca + Raghav Wedding Highlight from Fusion Moments Media on Vimeo.
Featured Vendors:
Planner: Blushing Joy Events
Photography: Nathalie Cheng Photography
Videography: Fusion Moments Media
Decor:
DJ: DJ Tanveer
Catering:
Henna: Kamala
Hair & Makeup: Jireh Artistry
Tie The Thali would like to thank this lovely couple for sharing their big day with us and our readers. We wish them nothing but the best for their married life!
thank you so much for the feature <3
Great pictures. Depicts love!
Such beautiful pictures! I love seeing the way you integrated the two cultures into your special day. <3 Thank you for sharing your special day with the world. ~Jessica (ourgloballove.com)
Beautiful photos! Having recently attended a Hindu wedding, I know firsthand what a joyous and loving occasion it is!