Welcome to Maharani Weddings

So, this is our very first featured wedding with our re-designed site, and I must tell you it was a no brainer to pick this one out of the bunch.  This wedding not only has “The Dream Team” of vendors (many Platinum Guide members!), but it is also bubbling with joy, love, and family - the best parts of an Indian wedding.

Suki and Andy got married over the summer, and their Sangeet was out of this world.  Designed and executed by Nikki Khan of Exquisite Events, this Sangeet is one of the most amazing I have ever seen. 

 
  
A bit from Nikki : the bride booked me for her sangeet, and wedding one year before the event dates.  We had several meetings with her and her mom and a color palette was carefully selected for her reception.  She had seen one of my events at universal studios for the united nations dinner and was thoroughly infatuated with that look, therefore once the venue was selected (The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach) we transformed the whole outdoor sculpture garden with moroccan furntuire, rugs, areas for mehndi ladies etc and infused a lot of color. There were six different types of food stations ranging from Italian, Chinese, Mexican, American and Indian food.  And of course a dj was playing beautiful tunes to set the mood.

Hair & Make Up by Jeannie Jefferies, Couture Bridal / Photography by Dina Douglass, Andrena Photography

Ridiculously gorgeous, isn’t it?! Part 2 of this Sangeet shortly on it’s way!

Sonoma, saris, simply marvelous…a few words that describe Anar and Dan’s fairytale day.  I have a special treat for all our readers today.  Anar and Dan wanted to do a memorable first dance, so they started the first dance to a country music song as an ode to the groom’s side of the family.  Then, this dancing duo broke into Kajarare (the only Hindi song this groom knows well) and the bridesmaids joined in for a full bollywood production dance!

So, grab a glass of wine {it’s Friday people!}, get comfy and feast your eyes on their highlights video made by our Platinum Guide member {a little publicity!}, Slava Basovich Weddings.

I heart this dance.  This wedding is the perfect fusion of traditional Indian and American style weddings. So often I see fusion weddings where the Indian side takes over. But this bride did a bang up job of highlighting the beauty of both cultures, and combining them for an unforgettable affair.

Congratulations Anar & Dan! Wishing you love, laughter, and happily ever after!

And special thanks to the vendors that made this bride’s dream come true :

Photography ~ Bel Inzio; Cinematography ~ Slava Basovich Weddings; Cake ~ Michele’s Corner Cakes; Bartenders ~ Baytenders; Tent ~ Party Tents and Events; Band ~ Busta Groove; Ceremony Music ~ Ragas to Riches; Caterer ~ Sizzling Tandoor

We are featuring a colorful east meets west wedding today that will make you smile from ear to ear.  If you missed any of Part I of this featured wedding, you should definitely take a peek. 
Bel Inizio Photography shot this incredible wine country wedding, and the pictures will take your breath away.  I love the way they photographed all the lovely details & captured priceless moments.  {Make sure you don't miss the one of the cutest little flower girls!}

 
   
 
More from our bride: So two focal points for us were the music and the food.  This was one of the few places in wine country that would let me have the tandoor ovens and the whole nine yards. Sizzling Tandoor, a fabulous Indian caterer based in Sonoma County, put together an amazing display of Indian food for everyone. The cocktail hour featured a classical Indian band "Ragas to Riches" and had sitar, tabla, and harmomium while people munched on Indian appetizers & mango lassi martinis (soooo yummy). For the reception, we hired a band called Busta Groove that belted 80s, 90s, and today's hits. (They were incredible!) During breaks, the bhangra was there! We took a the rec from Maharani Weddings and walked down the aisle to Desi Girl after the ceremony so we also ended the night with the song....it was a HUGE hit at the wedding!

We had custom made flower girl lenghas made in India that matched the fushia motif.  The flower girls had never met before and became the best of friends! They held orange kissing balls of mini roses to go with the theme.

The cake.. this company in wine country was awesome and local... the whole thing was done in ivory, pink, and orange fondant.  She custom ordered elephant outlines to make the mini elephants along the side of the cake. It turned out gorgeous! (And withstood the Sonoma heat in the tent!)

For the tables... we ordered orange and fushia satin table cloths and had tea lights surrounding cala lillys and orchids, mixed with fushia and orange roses arrangements.  The table numbers I handmade out of my huge wedding invitations. I was in love with the fushia and gold invitations from India, so I used them to make free standing table numbers that all were named after special places that Dan and I had memories of.

 
 
Dan's mother unfortunately had passed away from breast cancer years ago, and we wanted to honor her that day. Breast cancer causes are near and dear to our hearts, so instead of favors we made a donation to the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation and left cards on each seat informing guests of our donation.  It meant a lot to so many of our friends and family who have been affected by cancer.  To continue with the elephant theme, each card was accompanied by a mini handmade elephant key chain we brought from India!

We have lots of goodies coming up…Our finale is on it's way!

I have been waiting all week to show off this wedding.  Not only are the wedding details stunning and the couple adorable, the bride happens to be one of the sweetest people I know. She is the type of lady who would do anything for her friends, and someone I would have fought hard to have as my little sis in my sorority!

Anar and Dan, known playfully as Danar amongst their friends, got married last July in a Bollywood meets wine country extravaganza that was truly a one of a kind experience.

 
 
 
images by Bel Inizio 

From the lovely bride : Wedding took place in a venue that just opened up to private events called Richard's Grove in Saralee Vineyards. They usually do corporate wine events, but now focus on weddings.  It is basically a big grassy grove filled with flowers and trees, surrounded by vineyards in Sonoma County.  Dan is very outdoorsy and fell in love with the place.  It was also perfect because we got engaged in wine country. The best part, is with venues like this, it is a blank canvas that you can design.  We rented EVERYTHING... lots of work but each detail was our very own.

Even though Dan isn’t Indian, I convinced him to arrive to the ceremony in style, on a white horse of course! Him and his groomsmen had a small baraat that made its way through the vineyard to the ceremony aisle entrance. Everyone got out of their seats to get a view of Dan galloping in on a horse with dhol beats! It was classic.

The mandap was bright, simple, and elegant. We didn't want to take away from the beautiful giant tree and vineyard views we were getting married under. We found an amazing reverend "Reverend Blaine" who was able to mix Christian and Hindu ceremony aspects into one ceremony.  He was lively and worked in the garlands, seven steps, and pheras well! We didn't want our guests to sit through two ceremonies, so we got creative and blended them together! (We found him online, he was on TLC's a Wedding Story")

images by Bel Inizio 

I especially love these jai malas.  They are so festive and bright.  Anar is guest blogging over at R A N I S this morning talking about her DIY project that you won't wanna miss.  Make sure you go over there and check out some more great details from this bride.

SO, SO, SO, much more to come, so stay put, it's Friday after all!

We are off to a running start this week with the launch of our new site, R A N I S, and the trendy, chic wedding of Renee and Nick.  If you missed any of the amazing, and I mean AMAZING, shots from this South Asian wedding you can see them here, here, and here.  There are oodles of lovely eye candy in this reception: flowers, table cards, and of course the spectacular sunset…

I can just hear the romance of Sinatra as I browse through the ambiance created by Shirvan Designs..."Fairytales can come true, it can happen to you, if your young at heart." Renee and Nick, I wish we didn’t have to say goodbye, but I love watching you guys go…

Congratulations again to the handsome couple.  And, big thank you to Nikki Khan, from Exquisite Events, and Megan Stark, of Megan Stark Photography, for sharing this enchanted wedding with Maharani Weddings!