Story Of My Romance – An Arrangement That Is All About Love

Marriages are made in heaven, but we coin them arranged or love, on earth. I was once told by someone that a marriage is a marriage, no matter how the communion happens. Whether it is a set up through our parents (arranged in one word) or a result of a date leading to courtship and subsequently love. At the end of the day, every marriage needs love to hold it together, not how it really transpired. It needs the details of the ever after, rather than the details of its beginning.

But all beginnings are beautiful. Kajal Nagar Choudhry and Harshvardhan Nagar tied the knot in April this year. They had booked their wedding photographer, Ankit Aggarwal, through UrbanClap. They met through their parents and courted for about a year before that. She calls it an arranged marriage that is full of love. I hear the giggle in her laughter and see the twinkle in her eye as she talks about her husband, and I know I am in for a great story.

The day she first met him was the day of their Roka- a custom in India where families meet to formalize a date of the marriage. I express my surprise at the fact and ask her how she decided in that moment that she is ready to marry this man she has just met, she laughs

“For starters, I found him very attractive. His eyes were so mesmerizing and I know just why they were like that, after talking to him. He told me about his past relationship that had not worked out. It was a long relationship and he told me everything I wanted to know. I was surprised because generally, with parents around, you would expect the person to be less candid. But he was completely honest, the honesty that reflected in his eyes and made me see his soul.”

Post the formalization, Kajal and Harshvardhan didn’t exchange their numbers. After about 15 days when Kajal thought that perhaps he was marrying her out of his parents’ pressure & was expressing her concern to her sister. He called.

It was like fate! Call me crazy but I knew just then that we were meant to be.

Isn’t love like that? Crazy in its inception, and logical in its existence. I hear the logic when she talks about how they are different and how they deal with it:

“He is a fitness freak and I am miles away. I am a die hard romantic and he is miles away. I am short tempered and he can control his anger. He can only boil water in the kitchen and I am a good cook and a foodie. But here is the thing. Love teaches you things. Like when I am mad at him, he will volunteer to cook and start to boil water, which will make me smile. Or when I am mad, he will calmly try to listen to me. And we never go to sleep without resolving an argument. Our marriage has redefined romance for me, for better.”

So why did she book Ankit Aggarwal and why UrbanClap?

“That was fate too! I heard about the app from a friend and, believe me, Ankit was the first guy whose profile we liked. Even the recommendations from friends didn’t work out and UrbanClap did. When Harsh and I met him, we instantly hit it off. It was like a friend photographing our event, not a professional who we were paying. The kind of work Ankit gave us, and the kind of photographs that came through, I can get married all over again!”

I offer an alternative and suggest that perhaps she can book Ankit again for her first anniversary.

Why just a photographer? UrbanClap can do much more for me, for my anniversary. Right from the event planner, to the caterer to a photographer.

 

Cheers to the impending first year and many more after that. This is their story, still being written, captured and presented through us and an UrbanClap partner in its inception. If you wish to get your day captured through Ankit Aggarwal as well, Click Here!