Yes, shuttle transportation will be available from the front of Westward Look at 3:00 PM to the wedding venue before the Baraat (first event) begins and from the reception to the hotel after it ends, at 11:00 PM.
Please see the Travel tab for hotel recommendations. Alternatively, the Oro Valley area has great Airbnbs available.
The Sangeet night and wedding day/reception have a formal dress code. We strongly encourage our guests to wear Indian clothes, but American formal is perfectly acceptable. Please see our recommendations below for Indian clothing websites.
For women: - Salwar Kameez - Lehenga For men: - Kurta pajama - Vest - Sherwani (very formal, not expected) If this is your first time wearing Indian clothes, we would not recommend buying a sari for this event, as it requires a specific technique to wrap them. However, if you want to wear one and can practice wrapping one beforehand, you are more than welcome!
Below are a few options for finding Indian wedding guest outfits. Please be aware that Indian clothing sizing tends to be smaller than US-based sizes. Here is one of our family's favorite websites to buy Indian outfits, with options for men, women, and children: https://www.utsavfashion.com/ Lashkara: https://www.lashkaraa.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlPu9BhAjEiwA5NDSA2XY9hkXnMb4bsZStgIkPGEqDNQWY_0823LL-cZVNxAfWHRD6Nf56BoCcIAQAvD_BwE Pernia's Popup Shop offers a slightly higher-end option: https://www.perniaspopupshop.com/ Etsy also offers excellent, budget-friendly options (search "Indian wedding guest outfits").
A Sangeet is a night of celebration and dancing commonly held the night before the wedding. It is similar to a "Welcome Party" in Western traditions but with more dancing. There will be drinks and a buffet dinner available, along with a dancefloor to end the night.
As we are following a traditional Hindu format, here is what you can expect for the day: 1. At 3:30 PM, the family and friends of the bride and groom will all meet in front of our wedding venue to start a celebratory procession to welcome the groom on the wedding day. The procession will last approximately 30 minutes, and the groom will enter with a live drum player, surrounded by friends and family dancing around him. 2. The procession will end at the venue's entrance, where guests will take their seats for the wedding ceremony and prepare for the bride's entrance. 3. The bride's entrance will be similar to a Western wedding, where she will walk down the aisle and join the groom and their families at the mandap, a significant structure in Hindu ceremonies. 4. When the bride and groom are seated on the mandap, the priest will begin to recite the traditional seven vows of a Hindu ceremony in Sanskrit. 5. We will provide written and spoken English translations of each vow, and the ceremony will last approximately one hour. 6. Following the ceremony, Aidan and Shivani will exchange vows and rings and head off to take photos with the wedding photographer. The guests will then move to the arbor area at the front of the venue for a cocktail hour.
We highly recommend renting a car, as Uber isn't readily available in Oro Valley. It's a great way to explore the area independently. We recommend renting a large car together if you attend the wedding with friends or a group. Note: If you decide to drive to the wedding and use the shuttle transportation to leave the wedding venue, you will have to arrange to pick up your car the next day. You can leave it there overnight; just let us know the next day so we can notify the entry gate personnel.