A Romantic Bachelorette Party

Nina’s bachelorette party was so much fun to coordinate.  We went with an elegant, simple look, with neutral linens and white chair covers.  The floral centerpieces added some color, while keeping the simplicity of the afternoon.  Nina looked stunning, and her and her closest friends and family had so much fun celebrating the bride-to-be!

A Hornblower Cruise Wedding at Sea

Sejal and Ashutosh met during a huge blizzard on the east coast.  Sejal was  a third year in medical school and her best friend was having a birthday party she couldn’t make it too because of the blizzard.  The party was cancelled, bringing out the irony.  Ashutosh had been invited to this same birthday party.  Originally, Ashu was not going to make it to the party because he was working, but because the date was changed his RSVP changed from no to yes. This unfortunate “snow-mageddon” ended up being not so unfortunate after all…

Sejal thought Ashutosh was a bit strange at first.  For example, his order at Denny’s was 3 orders of hash browns and nothing else. He wore goofy socks with sandals  and never cut his hair. Facebook messages turned into texting which turned into FaceTime. Ashutosh visited Sejal in Virginia and walked through a raging blizzard to get supplies to bake her cupcakes. The visits back and forth continued.

The two went on many of adventures from coast to coast — Virgina Beach, VA to Mammoth Mountain, CA.  Sejal eventually got acceped into the pediatrics residency program at Children’s Hospital of Orange County/University of California Irvine, which was conveniently within 10 miles of where Ashutosh was living at the time. They finally we shared a time zone.  Ashutosh finally proposed to Sejal in her birth city of Chicago and the rest is history!

Here are the gorgeous photos from the couple’s bright and sunny San Diego wedding on The Inspiration Hornblower.  Thanks to Braja Mandala Photography we can continue to relive the gorgeous day!

Venue: The Inspiration Hornblower

Coordinator: Wedding Elegance by Nahid
Photography: Braja Mandala Photography
Videography: Robles Video
Decorator: Sheer Romance Yogi Patel
Lighting: Amber Event Production
DJ: Legacy Sound DJ
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Caterer: Manohar Delhi Palace Manohar Lal
Photobooth: Lumee Studiobooth

Cindy and Will’s Bali Hai Wedding

Cindy and Will were such a fun couple to work with! They had so much love and their Bali Hai Restaurant wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Here is their love story 2 ways, as both Cindy and Will see it:

Cindy | When Will first saw me on a mountain bike at our law firm retreat, he thought I was British. Why, you ask? I don’t know, ask Will! When I first met Will, I thought he was the tallest guy I’d ever beheld. We were friends for the longest time, throughout our summer internship at the law firm and throughout law school. It took Will six months from when we started seriously “talking” for him to finally ask me out. And after we went on our first date, I remembered telling my friend (now bridesmaid) Tritia, “this guy could be the one.” Little did I know…

He was not only THE one, he is MY one. My one and only. Things kind of spiraled out of control (in a good way) from there. And before we knew it, we were professing our love to each other during our first weekend trip together (probably our third date I think)! I remember taking the Palm Springs ariel tram ride up to the top of that mountain and looking up at Will (not just because he was so tall) and I distinctly remember saying these words mentally to myself while gazing up at him, “I love you.”

I only said that to myself, not to Will. But it’s such a funny story, because later that same night, he said those three words to me (aloud), for the first time.

Will | What is love? Haddaway asked this important question in 1993, and for many years this question has yet to be answered. Until 2010, when Cindy and Will met. Then love was realized, and it was realized in full force. Many people think love is a dance or a song, it’s not, it’s a state of being. And I be in love, with Cindy.

Venue: Bali Hai Restaurant, San Diego
Planner: Wedding Elegance by Nahid
Photography: Tim Otto Photography
Videography: Russell John Films
Ceremony/Cocktail Musician: The Wedding Harpist
Bakery: Sumi’s Oven
Florist: 800 Rose Big
Reception Music: Mobile Music Plus
Photobooth: TMZ Booth
Lion Dance: Three Treasures Cultural Arts Society

A European-American Outdoor Wedding

Lidia was European and Matt was American, making for a beautiful outdoor wedding reception at a private estate.  We incorporated Middle Eastern traditions throughout the wedding, including a Hookah and Belly Dancers at the reception.  We did sit down dining and had both a chocolate fountain and cake for dessert. The couple and their guests partied until the morning hours with a beautiful brunch the next morning.

Lidia and Matt also included “Sharing of the Bread, Salt and Wine,” a very popular Polish tradition, to their wedding.  As tradition goes, the parents of the bride and groom greet the newly married couple with bread, which is lightly sprinkled with salt and a goblet of wine at the reception.  With the bread, the parents are hoping that their children will never hunger or be in need. With the salt, they are reminding the couple that their life may be difficult at times, and they must learn to cope with life’s struggles. With the wine, they are hoping that the couple will never thirst and wish that they have a life of good health, and good cheer and share the company of many good friends.  The parents then kiss the newly married couple as a sign of welcome, unity and love.

We designed the outdoor reception with bold orange table linens and brown chiavari chairs.  The florals, designed by Artquest Flowers, included beautiful centerpieces full of brightly mixed flowers.  Thank you to Tim Otto Photography for capturing the beautiful evening!

Venue: Private Estate
Wedding Coordinator: Wedding Elegance by Nahid
Floral Design: Artquest Flowers
Photographer: Tim Otto Photography
Rentals & Draping: Concepts Event Design
Wedding Cake: Sweet Cheeks Baking Company
Entertainment & Lighting: DJ Julius
Hookah Bar Lounge: Plush Lounge
Hookah: Fumari Hookah Lounge
Belly Dancer & Drummer: Ina Belly Dancer

Beachside Engagement Shoot with Fonyat Photography

How Katie and Deep met | Katie and Deep met a a mutual friend’s house over a friendly game where you have to shoot a ping pong ball and land it in various red solo cups. They immediately bonded over their shared love of competition and the music Katie was playing on the speakers. We won’t mention who lost that game but the outcome was one person having to do a set of multiple push ups in front of the whole group (Ok, Katie had to do the push ups but Deep was impressed that they weren’t girl push ups!). A friendship grew over the next few months until Deep spontaneously bought concert tickets one morning and asked Katie to come to LA to go with him that same day. Katie made the unexpected trip to LA and the rest is history!

The Engagement | The excitement of the holiday season was in the air and Deep suggested that we go to dinner to exchange Christmas gifts and to celebrate the holiday on our own. Before we left for dinner, I gave Deep his present of a gorgeous leather jacked which I insisted he try on as I was opening his gift to me. I opened Deep’s gift of canvas prints of some of my favorite pictures of the two of us accompanied by a beautiful card with a note saying these prints are going to look great in our “future home”.  A little confused, I turned around and was completely shocked to see Deep on one knee (little did I know that when I was insisting he try on the jacket that he had this all planned and had the ring in his jacket pocket the whole time)!

Congratulations to Katie and Deep! We cannot wait for their gorgeous wedding next month!

Photography: Fonyat Photography