Going to sound weird but I’m still stressed thinking about my wedding and it’s been two years. Not in a bad way—the wedding was beautiful. But the planning part? That nearly killed me. And if I’m being honest, the only reason it didn’t is because we hired someone who actually knew what they were doing. So I’m writing this because literally every single one of my friends who’s getting married keeps asking me “How did you manage the destination wedding thing?” And I keep saying the same thing: hire a destination wedding planner in Faridabad. So let me just write it down once and for all.
Why Faridabad in the First Place
Okay backstory. I got engaged and immediately my mom started this thing where she’s calling me like every day with ideas. “Let’s do Goa!” “No, let’s do Jaipur!” “What about that farm in Rajasthan?” Everyone wants a destination wedding now, right? It’s like the cool thing to do.
But here’s the thing—I didn’t actually want to go far. I’m from Delhi, my family’s from Delhi, most people we know are from Delhi. Goa sounds nice but everyone’s going to be grumpy on the flight. Jaipur is beautiful but it’s still kind of Delhi-ish, you know? And the farms everyone raves about? I went to one for my cousin’s wedding and honestly it was just fields with tents. Looked nice in photos but people were uncomfortable.
So one day my mom’s friend—Mala aunty—she called and said she was doing some event thing at a resort in Faridabad and asked if we wanted to come see it. And I was like “Faridabad? Really?” Like why would anyone go to Faridabad for a wedding? That’s where my uncle works or whatever.
But we went. And honestly? I walked around this resort and something just felt right. It’s close enough that nobody has to take a flight or spend the night before traveling. Like you could leave Delhi at 10 AM and get there by 11. But it also felt separate, you know? Like you’ve actually gone somewhere. That’s when I realized why a good destination wedding planner in Faridabad is actually worth looking for—this place gives you that getaway feeling without the hassle of actual travel. The property had these gardens that were actually nice—not trying too hard, just naturally pretty. And here’s the thing that actually mattered—it wasn’t crazy expensive. The rates were like 30% cheaper than the fancy Delhi places that charge you because of their brand name.
So I told my fiancé Rahul, “I think I want to do it in Faridabad.” And he was like “Okay… sure?” I don’t think he cared where we got married honestly. But that’s how we ended up there.
The Phase Where I Thought I Could Do It All Myself
This is embarrassing but I have to tell this part because it’s important.
I booked the resort. It was exciting. I was like “Okay, I’ve got the venue, now I just need to figure out everything else.” Famous last words, right?
I started making Pinterest boards. I created spreadsheets. I googled “how to plan a wedding” about a thousand times. I found photographers on Instagram. I was texting with caterers. I was feeling pretty in control.
Then my mom called with ideas. Then my mother-in-law called. Then Rahul’s aunt had suggestions. Then I realized I had to invite 250 people because if I invited my mom’s friend, I had to invite her friend, and if I invited that person, I had to invite their family. It just kept multiplying.
By week four of planning, I was a mess. I’d locked in a caterer but then my mom tasted their food at some other wedding and said “This isn’t good enough.” So I started looking at other caterers. The photographer I liked was actually too expensive when you add videography. The decorator wanted to do something really flashy that I didn’t actually like, but she kept pushing it because apparently that’s the trend.
And I’m working full time. I have a job. I’m an executive at a marketing company and I’m sitting in meetings mentally calculating hotel prices. My boss probably thought I had some serious problem because I was just not there mentally.
The resort started asking me for confirmations. “Can you confirm catering? Can you confirm room blocks? We need to know the menu by next month.” And I was like… I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I haven’t confirmed the decorator. I haven’t confirmed if people actually want to come. I haven’t figured out if my mom’s dress is happening before or after the mehndi.
I remember sitting on my bed one night—this was probably week five—and I just cried. Like actually sat there and cried because I couldn’t figure out how to make any of it fit together. Rahul came in and was like “Are you okay?” And I said “I don’t even know anymore.”
That’s when things actually changed.
When My Mom Said the Thing
So my mom came over the next day. She could tell I was losing it. She didn’t say anything for a while, just watched me stress about something stupid like napkin colors.
Then she goes “Why don’t you just hire someone to do this?”
And I was like “What? No. That’s so expensive and also I can do it.”
She was quiet and then she said “Can you? Because you look miserable.”
And I was actually annoyed with her in that moment. But then I went home that night and I did something I should have done earlier—I actually added up my hours. I was spending like 15-20 hours a week on wedding planning. That’s basically a part-time job. And I wasn’t even getting good results. I was making mistakes, changing things, second-guessing decisions.
I called my mom and said “Okay, help me find someone.”
Finding Our Planner
My mom’s friend knew someone. Of course she did. Everyone knows someone. She said “There’s this woman, she does weddings in Faridabad, she’s really good, very professional.”
I was skeptical. I thought it would be some lady in an office with a binder showing us templates or something. But when I met her, it was just this woman in a coffee shop. She brought nothing. No binder. No portfolio. No pitch deck.
She just… asked me questions for like two hours.
“Why Faridabad?” “What’s your actual budget?” “How many people do you genuinely want?” “What matters to you—is it the food? Is it making sure your families are comfortable? Is it the photos? Is it having a fun party?”
And I was answering and she was writing stuff down. And at one point she said something that actually changed my whole wedding.
She said “250 people is a lot. Have you thought about having like 170 people instead?”
And I was like “Why would I do that?”
She explained. With 250 people, you need bigger logistics, more coordination, more stress. It gets chaotic. With 170, the wedding actually feels intimate. People aren’t just standing around. You can actually talk to people. It’s more manageable.
And honestly? I hadn’t even thought about that. We’d just been adding people because we felt obligated. But when she said that, something clicked. I actually only wanted to celebrate with like 150-180 people anyway. Everyone else was obligation invites.
We ended up with 175 people. And that one decision changed literally everything about the whole experience.
What She Actually Did
She Went to the Resort Like Five Times
Okay so I’d been to the resort once. It looked nice. I picked it. Done.
She went there multiple times. She wasn’t just walking around taking photos. She was actually checking things out properly.
She went on a weekday afternoon to see the light and the quiet. She went on a Saturday evening during actual traffic time to see what noise was happening. She crashed some other wedding to taste the actual food coming out of their kitchen, not the tasting menu they prepare specially.
Then she called me and said “Okay, so the garden is beautiful but in March at 4 PM the sun is going to be brutal if you’re doing an outdoor mehendi there. We need a plan B. Also the kitchen says they can handle your menu but they need two full days of prep, so we need to make sure the resort blocks those days. And the rooms are decent but they’re not luxury, so when we communicate with your guests, we should be honest about that so nobody shows up expecting a five-star hotel.”
I was like… okay these are things I would have never thought about. And she was asking these questions because she’d actually worked on like 30 other weddings in Faridabad. So she knows what problems come up.
She Had This List of People She Actually Trusted
So then she was like “For catering, I have three options. For photography, I have two I’d recommend. For decorating, we have a few different styles.”
And when I was like “How do you know these people?” she told me about each one. Like genuinely specific things. “This caterer’s paneer is exceptional but their rice isn’t the best so we have to give them specific instructions about that.” “This photographer is kind of temperamental and dramatic but his photos are the best I’ve seen.” “This decorator will charge you upfront but she delivers exactly what she promises.”
She wasn’t selling me on people she had random relationships with. She actually knew their work and had worked with them before.
So instead of me having to call like 10 different people and interview them and look at their portfolios and hope they’re good, I talked to three. And they were all good. And I picked one.
The part that made me want to cry in a good way? She’d already talked to all of them about what we wanted. So when we actually met, they already kind of got it. I didn’t have to explain my whole vision over again to each person.
She Managed My Family
This is the part I didn’t expect would be so valuable.
My mom had seventeen ideas. Like literally seventeen different things she wanted to happen. My mother-in-law wanted different things. Rahul’s aunt wanted to contribute. His cousin had suggestions. My best friend had opinions. It was becoming this thing where everyone’s talking over each other and I’m stuck in the middle.
So the planner—her name is Neha by the way, I should say that—she just took over that conversation. She wasn’t rude. She was actually really nice about it. But she basically said “Okay so here’s what we have: this budget, this space, this timeline. Those are the fixed things we can’t change. Within that, what are the things that actually matter to your families? Let’s focus on those.”
And suddenly everyone wasn’t fighting with me. They were telling Neha what they wanted. And Neha was like “Okay, we can do that” or “That won’t work because of this specific reason.” She wasn’t dismissing anyone, but she was being clear about what could actually happen.
She created this WhatsApp group with like 25 key people—close family basically. And she sent updates. Like “Okay we’re blocking rooms at three hotels. Here are the rates. Here’s the address. Here’s when to book.” People could ask her questions directly. It sounds small but it was huge because suddenly everyone wasn’t asking me. They were asking the person whose job it was to know.
The Actual Planning
So for like six months, I would meet with Neha maybe once a month. We’d look at progress. She’d show me mood boards for decorations. We’d finalize the menu with the caterer. She’d give me options for photography styles. I’d pick. Done.
It wasn’t me stressing about every detail. It was me making actual decisions about things I cared about, and her handling the execution and all the millions of tiny details I didn’t care about.
For instance, I cared about the food being good. I didn’t care about how many forks were on the table. She cared about the forks. She’d send me photos like “Look, we’re using these forks with the new plates, what do you think?” And I’d say “Looks good” and that was it. She’d handle it with the caterer.
I also didn’t have to chase people. Like, the photographer hadn’t sent his thoughts on the timeline? Neha would text him. The decorator wasn’t confirming the mehndi setup? Neha would call her. My job wasn’t to manage vendors. My job was to enjoy getting married.
The Wedding Actually Happened
So it’s like one week before the wedding and I’m… not even that stressed. Weird, right? Like I should have been panicking but I actually wasn’t.
Neha shows up at the resort on the actual day like at 8 AM. Before the mehendi even starts. She walks around and checks that the setup matches what we discussed. She confirms the caterer’s there with the right food. She tests the sound system. She’s basically doing a walk-through of the whole day.
And then something happens that would have been a disaster if we didn’t have her.
The mehendi is happening and the photographer’s assistant doesn’t show up. Just doesn’t come. Doesn’t call, doesn’t text, just isn’t there. And Neha, she just… handles it. She calls another photographer she knows, explains the situation, and he’s there in like 40 minutes. It’s seamless. I literally didn’t even know it was a problem until two days later when she mentioned it casually like “Oh, remember when his assistant didn’t show? Yeah I got backup.”
Throughout the whole day, I see her maybe three times. Each time she’s answering a question. The rest of the time she’s just solving problems that I don’t even know exist.
Like apparently my dad’s friend brought a plus-one who wasn’t invited. She just rearranged the seating. Nobody noticed. The caterers needed clarification on something with the menu. She clarified it. The aunties wanted to start the mehendi an hour early because that’s what they do. She coordinated with the musician and the decorator to make it work.
And me? I’m sitting with my friends during the mehendi. I’m actually talking to people. I’m not checking my phone every five seconds. I’m not stressed about whether things are happening. I’m just… getting married.
That’s the difference. That’s literally the entire difference.
Why It Was Worth Every Rupee
People ask me the cost and I’m like “Yeah she charged us.” I think it was around 4 lakhs, maybe 4.5, I can’t remember exactly. And your first reaction is “That’s a lot of money.”
But then you think about it differently. I make a decent salary. Every hour I spent on wedding planning was an hour I wasn’t doing my job. I probably lost way more money in productivity than what I paid her.
Also, she saved money. Like when the caterer quoted their original menu, it was like 15% more than our budget. Neha sat down with him, looked at what he was doing, and restructured the menu to be the same quality but 15% cheaper. That one thing paid for like a third of her fee right there.
And the vendors gave better rates because they work with her regularly. If I’d called them as a random person, I would have paid full price. But she’s brought them like 30 weddings. So they have a relationship. So they work with her on pricing.
Plus honestly, the peace of mind alone was worth it. I didn’t have a stress headache for six months. I didn’t cry. I actually slept.
The Actual Details That Made It Work
So the mehendi was in the garden but it rained two days before the wedding. Like we would have been in trouble if Neha hadn’t already arranged an indoor backup. We moved it inside and it was beautiful. If we’d planned this ourselves? We’re scrambling the day before trying to figure out what to do.
The food thing—because we had Rahul being vegetarian and me being not, and his family being mixed—the caterer initially wanted to charge more. Neha had done another wedding where this came up and she showed him how the other couple solved it. Suddenly it made sense to him and the price came down. Both sides of the family ate amazing food.
The rooms—we booked 175 rooms across three different hotels. If we’d done this ourselves, we probably would have overpaid or ended up at a bad hotel or had the reservation somehow get lost. Instead, Neha negotiated group rates, had a contact at each hotel, gave everyone a document with their hotel info and check-in instructions.
One person had a problem with their room on the actual wedding day. Instead of calling us at 2 AM, they called the hotel contact number. It was solved in 20 minutes. We never even knew anything was wrong.
How Do You Actually Find Someone Good
Okay so everyone asks me “How did you find her? Can you give me her number?” And honestly the recommendation thing is real. My mom’s friend who recommended Neha had used her for an event. That’s the best way.
But if you don’t have a recommendation, ask questions. Look at actual weddings they’ve done. Don’t just look at pretty photos—call the couple. Ask them real things like “Did she actually handle stress well?” “Was she organized?” “Did she come under budget?” “Did things actually run smoothly on the day or did stuff go wrong?”
Also when you meet someone, watch if they’re listening or just pitching. The ones I turned down, they spent the whole time talking about their packages and what they do. The good one just asked questions and listened.
If you want to reach out to the team we worked with, they’re at https://annhadevents.com. Neha’s the one who did ours and she was genuinely great. Not flashy, not trying to upsell you on stuff, just competent. And competent is what you actually need.
Real Stuff People Ask Me
How much time do you need?
We did it in like nine months. That felt right. Not rushed, but also not so long that I was anxious about it the whole time. Could you do it faster? Maybe like six months? But you’d be stressed. I wouldn’t go less than that.
Was it actually cheaper?
Yeah, like 20-25% cheaper than if we’d done the same wedding in Delhi. Everything’s slightly cheaper in Faridabad but you get the same quality. Plus it felt more special because people actually traveled there. In Delhi everyone would have just driven home after.
Did everyone actually show up?
All 175 people came. And they didn’t come annoyed. They came because the whole thing was organized so they didn’t have to think about logistics. Neha handled it so nobody had to worry.
Would you do it again?
Honestly yeah. If we were doing an anniversary party or renewing vows, I’d definitely do it in Faridabad again.
The End (But Actually Real)
Look, planning a wedding sucks if you do it yourself. Like it’s just objectively a lot of work and you don’t know what you’re doing and there are a million decisions and people have opinions and it’s stressful.
But when you have someone who actually knows what she’s doing—someone who’s done 30 weddings in Faridabad and knows exactly what can go wrong and how to prevent it—it changes everything. She’s the one who remembers the things you forgot. She’s the one who handles the crisis. She’s the one who calls vendors. She’s the one who manages your family. She’s the one standing there at 8 AM making sure everything’s set up right.
You pay her money and you get your life back. You get to actually enjoy being engaged instead of stressing about seating charts.
So if you’re thinking about doing a destination wedding in Faridabad, don’t do what I did first and try to do it yourself. Find someone who knows what they’re doing. Find someone who listens to what you actually want instead of pushing their ideas. Find someone competent.
Check out https://annhadevents.com or find someone through recommendations. But talk to someone. Your future self on the wedding day will thank you because the day goes so fast. And you deserve to actually be there for it instead of managing it.
That’s genuinely the best advice I have.