Good morning, Maharanis! We are in the middle of this phenomenal week, and as always, here at Maharani Weddings, we have the best of Indian wedding celebrations that will fill your heart with tons of inspiration. Today we are pleased to present to you the beauty that surrounded Sophia & Ramzi's wedding festivities. To start with this marvelous celebration, we are heading down to Washington, DC, at the exclusive Fox Chase Manor. You will be enchanted by every single shot captured by the talented team from Maria Fasih Studios. They made sure to capture every emotion, intimate moment, and memory from this magical celebration and transformed them into a fantastic gallery. Sophia, our gorgeous Maharani, had an impeccable look, captivating the attention of everyone in the hall. She made the right call by trusting her beauty needs to Biarull Incarnate's team, who made sure to accomplish every desire from our beautiful bride. Such talent! Everyone had a fantastic time celebrating our lovely duo, from the wedding ceremony to the wedding reception. Today you are invited to relive all of these moments by taking a look at the visual masterpieces below. I know that we will make you sigh. So, don't think twice and get ready to be utterly amazed!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
Ramzi and I met in high school through mutual friends. We were friends for a long time and I'm not sure when I realized when he was the one, the realization felt almost immediately but it also felt like it wasn't anything new that I didn't already deep down know.
In high school as my friend he celebrated almost everything that made me myself, which made him my best friend. He knew nothing of bollywood movies, but because I was so into them he would listen to me rant about them and watch movies on his own time. He bought me my own DVD copy of my favorite movie DDLJ when I was a junior in high school. He also would listen to my obsession with Harry Potter and one day slipped a Hogwarts embossed letter in my locker of my 'delayed' Hogwarts acceptance letter, with the whole first year school supply list attached (AND it was all accurate). He also hates Harry Potter.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I've always wanted to wear traditional red for my wedding. Growing up I used to try on my moms wedding dress and I loved the thread work, zardozi, and pearl work all over the lengha and dupatta. The dress was actually gifted to my mom by my dad and his parents because a couple of weeks before their wedding, the wedding dress my mom originally picked was lost during delivery and she never received it. The wedding dress from then on was always the dress my late grandparents chose.
Months into my wedding shopping, I realized I was basically looking for my moms exact wedding dress. I decided I wanted to wear her lengha and readjust the blouse so it wasn't 80s themed anymore. I paired with it her Nikkah dupatta as my shawl. The dress is very reminiscent of traditional South Asian bridalwear, and I loved how it felt as relevant to me as it did to my mom almost 30 years ago.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The two biggest surprises from my wedding is what still replays in my mind, which was my husbands' surprise performance on the mehndi and the dabke teams on the reception. I knew my friends and family were performing at the mehndi, but i didn't realize Ramzi (who is a very shy person) would be getting up and performing a quick dance to a song from one my my all time favorite movies, Mehndi laga ke rakhna from DDLJ. To this day I still watch the performance and i'm stunned how much effort was put in by everyone and remember how absolutely shocked & heartwarming it was to see Ramzi perform.
For events other than your ceremony, please tell us as much as you would like about the decor, style, dances, and all the special details.
I really enjoyed bringing together both my Pakistani culture and my husbands Palestinian culture into the events. Traditionally, Pakistani Mehndi's are treated basically as a Sangeet. I really enjoyed planning a very Lahori feel to the mehndi, from the charpai's, a wooden swing on stage, a bicycle rickshaw for the guests to take pics with, a live jalebi and pani puri station, and more. Finding places that could accommodate that look and feel was fun.
A day before the mehndi we had a henna party which was the actual application day and is an event that is in the Palestinian culture. I wore a traditional Palestinian dress with my applied mehndi. I wore the headpiece of his families culture which had gold coins - and because my fathers side of the family is Pathan I wore the traditional Afghani choker. The women in his family did traditional chants while the women of my family played the dholki and the men in his played the saz in my parents house. It was very intimate with a beautiful blend of both our cultures.
For the reception though, we created this almost fusion theme. The favors were little arabic inspired bowl with lid that goes along with a Turkish tea set with a tassel and our names written in arabic. The food was both Pakistani, however we picked certain dishes which were more Persian influenced. The decor was simple with red roses and tea lights on each table and the stage was lit with candles as a backdrop with a flower wall and golden lanterns. The surprise to me were the dabke performances - which really made the event and really celebrated my husband's culture. They came in as a procession, with drums and chants and later in the evening performed and brought everyone to join in on the dabke. Which was new and exciting for my family as we'd never experienced it before.
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Honestly, picking out the jewelry was the best part. I wanted to go all out with traditional pieces, because this was probably the only time I could justify wearing so many bold statement pieces. I picked each piece of jewelry I wore separately- which ended up being treasure hunt at desi melas around Northern VA to Jersey, Dubai and online. I found my jhoomar first and loved it so much I based my whole bridal set around that jhoomar. In Dubai, the clerk at the store laughed at me while I was looking for the choker and said it was like I was trying to 'buy a house that match a pair of drapes'. In the end though I loved every single piece and they all come with their own story. The nath on the reception day was a hard find, there is only a limited amount of styles for nose rings for actual pierced noses; and for the nose ring I wanted to go all out - like Deepika's Padmavati nose ring meets Amrita Singh's wedding.
I wanted very timed pieces on both the mehndi and the reception - from the 7-tiered rani haar on the reception to the mughal inspired rings on my mehndi. Which I found in a small Afghan souk in Dubai.
Wait to see what we have prepared for you tomorrow. So stick around!
Wait to see what we have prepared for you tomorrow. So stick around!
Photography: Maria Fasih Studios |
Photography: Maria Fasih Studios |
Sangeet Venue: Silk Hotel |
Reception Venue: Fox Chase Manor |
Planning & Design: Silk Banquets |
Floral & Decor: Silk Banquets |
Hair & Makeup: Biarull Incarnate |
Catering: Fox Chase Floral |
DJ: Kundan Events |
Bridal Jewelry: Adaa Jewels |
Cake & Treats: Bake Sense |
Event Designer: Silk Banquets |
Mehndi Artist: Henna by Abeer |
Photo Booth: Booth on Demand |
Groom Tuxedo: J.CREW
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