We Must Be in Love by The Impressions

Please share your engagement story and how you met?
Rakhee went to college with her friend Anthony and years later Anthony was looking for roommates in Durham. Rakhee decided to live in Chapel Hill for ongoing school so Anthony found Sijal and another friend who had just moved from Greensboro and they made a home together. Rakhee and Anthony were still good friends, so she was at the house and met the new roommate named Sijal. Sijal would make amazing meals and would generously share with her. They both were getting out of hurtful relationships and would always share with their mutual friend Anthony what they were really looking for in love. He was in the perfect place to hear that they were looking for the same things! Anthony suggested that Sijal ask Rakhee out – Rakhee was looking for a sweetie who could show love and affection. Sijal asked Rakhee on the most spectacular date- an amazing meal on a huge rock in the middle of Eno River ending with star gazing (so many shooting stars that night! ) and he even brought Roman candles. After that Rakhee and Sijal couldn’t get enough of each other and kept planning one glorious date after another for each other. Rakhee knew on the second date she wanted to be with Sijal for a long long time.

How about your wedding shoes and jewelry?

I wanted to be comfortable but fly, so i found some shoes that were both but they were the wrong color, so I dyed them and sewed on gold beads! My jewelry was sent from my 91 year old grandmother in New Mexico. She couldnt make the flight but sent a traditional Marathi (thats what we are) necklace that she had bought in Mumbai in 1965 as a gift. I wore it all night! My earrings and nosering were gold from my mother.

Silk, red, green, gold, flowery. I wore a lehenga that made me feel like i was frolicking in and blooming out of a garden

Sijal went hunting for venues while I was on a tough and time consuming medical rotation. He would send me updates about what he was finding. But when he found this he knew it was the one. It’s Black-owned, beautiful, came with a whole package that suited our needs and was very flexible with what we wanted. Also Nicole of The Cloth Mill connected us to Keisha of K Scott Weddings our wedding planner. Keisha had done Arab and Hindu weddings before and had all the hook ups! Our tagline for her became “Keisha Scott does it all!”

I really like the picture of the circle where we had our ceremony bc it reminds me of how it felt to be in that circle with close friends sitting around us, family and community – a bowl of love!

It was glorious! We were lucky to find someone in town who could make both kinds of this Palestinian dish!

It was wonderful! We felt like they got it. They understood that we weren’t trying to be coy bride and manly husband. We wanted to be playful and loving and they really helped us capture that vibe.

Don’t get caught up in all the details. You don’t have to have an opinion on this or that if you don’t really care. The wedding industry is a huge business so just try to remember why you want to do it in the first place and try to stay true to that. After all, its just one day and really it’s the relationships that matter more and will be more long lasting so make sure you are prioritizing yourself and your loved ones.

Our wedding planner Keisha Scott is the best ever. She let us guide what we wanted to care about and she took care of the things we didn’t really have much of an opinion on. She was so supportive and thoughtful and never made us feel rushed or late. She calmed our nerves and reminded us that the way we wanted to move through this experience was just right. She’s amazing!

Take an active role. This is maybe the first of many projects you two will plan and pull off together, so make sure you are doing it as teammates. This can be an opportunity to work together, learn more about each others’ strengths and fall more in love.

Joke around, make up silly songs about stuff, explore new places in and out of town, eat at our favorite restaurants, cook delicious food and host our sweet friends, visit and host family, snuggle.