Hello, Maharanis! Today we've got Betsy and Suleyman's Pakistani fusion wedding! The lovely couple had a two-day celebration, starting with a nikkah and mehndi party held at Neha Palace on the first night! The nikkah was a personal, quiet affair before the full-blown festivities of the mehndi party, where the talented Dhoom Events Indian Wedding DJ kept the perfect high-energy songs playing all night. Tiger Weddings decorated the venue to perfectly compliment the bride's red-orange anarkali and beautifully beaded red gown. The bride's mehndi, meanwhile, was done by Mehndi NYC; you can see close-ups of the mehndi details as well as all the fun moments Something Blue Photography captured in the full gallery!
Maharani Betsy on her wedding style:
"We started off promising that we would do what felt right to us first and not to be pulled into the 'have to's' that come with weddings. It was important for us to have our family friend perform the nikkah (he's married both of Suley's sisters) and for us to have a photobooth (it's one of my all time favorite wedding treats). Our other priorities were simple: excellent food and drinks, quality DJ and minimal expenses for the bridal party. My mother-in-law gave me a stunning Polki tikka, necklace and earrings to wear, which really set the stage for what I would wear at the mehndi party and Western ceremony. I lucked out with an amazing florist who was inspired by that gown (at the time, we thought we'd only have one party/ceremony), making sure the floral design enhanced and complimented the gown while not stealing the show. While I wasn't sure what I was going to wear to our Western ceremony, or that we'd have a whole separate mehndi party, until late in the game, I knew that I would want to stick to minimal gold with red accents for our decor. The venue had gorgeous views of Manhattan, and that's what we wanted people to focus on."
On choosing her lengha:
"I am probably the weirdest bride you'll ever encounter. I left my mehndi party outfit to my mother-in-law. She has great style, knows my taste and would never steer me wrong. She was generous enough to find and purchase a gorgeous deep red gown with intricate turquoise and gold beading in Lahore that I wore at our mehndi party. The gown is probably 40+ pounds of beads! I couldn't have picked out something more beautiful myself.
For our Western ceremony, I looked at a few traditional Western salons with my mom, and we both agreed that nothing really felt right and knew why - I am not a white-dress bride. I had seen the gold sequined dress I wore by Badgley Mischka as a bridesmaid dress on countless blogs, and I really loved it. I couldn't have been happier with my choice - it was comfortable (even with the insane shape wear I got from Bratenders in Manhattan - a must go for brides needing corsets or shape wear), easy to dance in and extremely elegant. I'm also convinced I can wear it again."
On the most magical wedding moments:
"There are so many, but after the nikkah, Suley introduced me as his wife to a family friend I had not met yet. That was incredibly magical and gave me all the feels.
On a lighter note, having my two little cousins (5 and 3) learn about stealing the grooms' shoes was hilarious. The patience those two had in waiting was adorable, and Suley was thrilled at how young and unfamiliar they were with the custom - he got away with only coughing up $40 total (and they were thrilled -- do you know how many Legos you can get with $40?!). There are some great shots [our photographer] Shinay took where Alexis, my goddaughter, realized she didn't actually want Suley's shoes."
Come back for the Western-style ceremony and reception up next!
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