Once upon a time in Aurora, a bride and groom had a beautiful July wedding. That’s when Preeti and Sandeep Bal said “I do” at the Bertram Inn. More than 400 relatives and guests journeyed from across the United States, India and the United Kingdom to participate in the celebration.
It began on Friday evening with guests dining, dancing and participating in the traditional Indian henna ceremony. Saturday morning the groom arrived on horseback, like a knight in shining armor. He was welcomed, under the Bertram Inn’s foyer, by the bride’s family.
“Unless the ceremony takes place in a temple, it must be held outside,” Preeti explains of Indian tradition. And so the guests were invited to join the couple in a 50-foot by 100-foot tent.
The fact that everything came together within six months is the true fairy tale, says the bride. Preeti, who is from Canfield but works in New York City, enlisted the help of her mother and brother, Jagroop, to find a suitable place for the wedding. It was Jagroop who discovered the Bertram Inn.
“He said it was beautiful and that it had European architecture. After one visit, I could see that every function could take place here and it could accommodate our guests,” she says. But event planner Liz Palcheck made the event even more special. “Liz said, ‘Whatever you envision, it is my job to make it even better.’ Once she said that, I knew that this was the place.”
With so many out-of-town guests attending, Palcheck arranged shuttle service from the airport for up to 200 guests and reserved 100 rooms at the Inn. For the Friday night dinner, she created food stations featuring Mexican, Italian and south Indian delicacies, as well as traditional hors d’oeuvres. Both Saturday and Sunday brunches featured made-to-order omelet bars.
The Saturday night wedding took Preeti’s breath away. “It was like walking into a dream. I love Moroccan influences. There were lanterns with candles in pink, turquoise and gold hanging above the dance floor. We had custom-made napkins and table coverings and runners from India.” Unlike many Indian weddings with buffets, Preeti requested a sit-down dinner. Palcheck obliged, hiring Saffron Patch to cater.
Preeti credits her brother (who created a 100-page binder for the wedding) and Palcheck with the wedding’s success. “My 28-year-old brother has never organized a dinner party and yet he did this,” she says. “Liz was always there. She was always reaching out to my brother, making sure that everything was okay. I couldn’t have chosen a better venue or staff. They were so calm and so accommodating.”
Here’s to their happily ever after.
