I spent $1.9 million on my five-day Indian wedding, which included a fire show and LED robots

We're from very different backgrounds. Sanj grew up in America as the only child to an affluent family, while I'm half-Indian, half-white, and grew up in foster care. But we connected on our shared interest in entrepreneurship. Sanj began as a day trader on Wall Street and wanted to start his own hedge fund and brokerage, and I used to own a skincare company.

We now live with his parents in Florida, which is very traditional in South Asian culture.

We had our pre-wedding events — the haldi, mehndi, and sangeet ceremonies — at Sanj's backyard, where we built a 12,000-square-foot structure.

We had our wedding in the Ritz Carlton, and the reception at the JW Marriott nearby.

Because of the location we're in, there are very few resources for South Asian community events. There are maybe one or two fantastic South Asian wedding planners, but they were booked on our event days.

We didn't want an outdoor wedding because some of our Indian outfits weighed up to 60 pounds and we didn't want to carry that weight in the heat.

On our wedding day, we had purely vegetarian Indian food, along with some vegan pastas and traditional treats.

The next day at our reception, we served both fish and chicken dishes, along with a vegan meal — pretty standard stuff. But we knew we wanted some spice, so we added a sweet curry sauce on top of the chicken and fish.

I made slideshows of inspiration for every single event — everything from the color palette and the mood to the type of flowers and the smell.

Our dream was the entire ceiling to be covered in real flowers, and for it to smell like a greenhouse when people walked in.

We also wanted a few non-traditional elements that people had never seen before — small details like a curved runway and sofas instead of individual chairs for people to lounge on.

We also wanted the lighting to be very moody, even though it was a morning event. We wanted it to feel like when you were walking into a different place, a different world.

We also had two custom bars, which had strings of clear glass balls with tinfoil inside wrapped around to give it that celestial, space vibe.

We got a discount for the lighting. For whatever quote your wedding planner gives you, go get two or three quotes yourself.

My wedding day outfit is by Rimple and Harpreet, a big Bollywood designer. The lehenga, along with the shoes and jewelry, cost nearly $13,000.

My white reception outfit is from the Indian designer Manish Malhotra. He'd just dropped a collection right before the wedding, so my outfit was straight off the runway with a custom blouse. It cost $21,000.

Pre-wedding, I spent $3,500 on my sangeet outfit and wore a family heirloom sari for my haldi ceremony.

For hair and makeup, I flew a makeup artist down from Vancouver. I used to model when I was a teenager, and this artist had done my makeup several times before, so I knew exactly what I was getting, which was amazing. She even gave me a massage before every single event before doing my makeup.

Most makeup artists for South Asian events, especially when there are three events or more, usually charge prices starting at $6,000 up to $15,000, so it was a discount compared to others I interviewed.

I'm so happy with the photographer we got, especially since photos and video are what we look back on after the wedding.

These cost a few hundred dollars per hour, and our guests had a lot of fun with them.

Our whole family came out to help us for our wedding, including financially, during the planning process, and with the small details. In Indian culture, the bride and groom often aren't obligated to pay for the entire wedding, and cousins and aunts buy things here and there.

Sanjay is also the only child and has a big family, so he really wanted to throw a grand celebration for everyone.

If you're not Indian and you come to an Indian wedding, the first question you usually have is, "How did you do all of this?" But everybody comes together to make it happen, and I'm really grateful for that.