By Garima Sharma in Los Angeles

For a few weeks now, whispers about Bollywood actress Preity Zinta’s impending wedding to Los Angeles-based Gene Goodenough have been doing the rounds.

We have now received a sort of confirmation from Preity Zinta’s spokesperson. The cleverly drafted press release says that Preity is working on her wedding and hints that her wedding date will be announced soon.

Late on Saturday night (Los Angeles Time) Preity’s spokesperson released a statement saying that the actress-businesswoman and her fiancé Gene Goodenoough have decided to “channel the massive anticipation around her wedding” into a charitable cause.

We are sure that Preity will elaborate on that but we decided to steal some of the thunder by telling you what those charitable cause are.

First of all, yes the couple is getting married at a famous church in LA away from the prying eyes of Bollywood. Preity and Gene however have decided to use the interest around their wedding for some good cause.

The couple will be auctioning their private wedding pictures and the proceeds generated will be donated to the Preity Zinta Foundation.

The spokesperson said, “The power couple has decided to direct all the hype and anticipation surrounding their wedding into a charitable cause. They will be putting their private wedding images up for auction and the proceeds generated out of these will go towards the Preity Zinta Foundation. Preity’s foundation works towards educating children and old age home rehabilitation. Preity has been involved in several charitable initiatives but has never spoken about it since she is an extremely private person. However, both she and Gene wanted to celebrate this joyous moment in their lives by giving back to society in their own little way.“

The announcement seems to be in tune with Gene and Preity’s low-key relationship. The duo has been dating for a year and a half, after Preity met him during one of her trips to Los Angeles a couple of years ago. But, they both prefer keeping their life out of the news.

Preity’s older brother Manish stays in LA’s Beverly Hills neighborhood, and the actress frequently flies to the West Coast to spend time with her niece and nephew. It was during one of her trips that she met Gene. The two got along well; in fact, as per reports he was present at Wankhede Stadium during the IPL match when Preity allegedly experienced an unpleasant incident with Ness Wadia.

Gene Goodenough

Gene currently works as a senior vice president at a renewable energy company and got his MBA degree from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Apparently, there will be an Indian-style ceremony in Mumbai for the Hindi film industry. News is doing the rounds that Preity’s closest designer friends Surily Goel and Manish Malhotra will be designing the wedding outfits.

When we contacted Surily, she gave a very guarded response, saying, “I have no idea what you are talking about. I don’t know anything about a wedding or me doing anything. I don’t know what to say.”

While there is confirmation directly from Preity’s spokesperson, we wonder why Surily is denying the development, when the news is already out in the open. She is, in fact, expected to fly to LA for the ceremony.

We now await the announcement of your wedding date, Preity!