Good Morning, Maharanis! The end of this marvelous week is here, and as always, we are back to re-fill your inspiration with another lovely story filled with tons of emotions and great moments. You will love it! Today we are unveiling the beauty surrounding Mahira & Ekram's wedding celebration! If this sounds familiar is because we have previously showcased this event in a marvelous film by Samson Productions that you can relive here. Today we have more insights captured once again by the enormous talent of this photographic studio, so you can already imagine how amazing it is going to be! To start this journey, let me take you to the exclusive Taglyan Complex, the perfect venue chosen by our lovely duo to tie the knot. And all we have to say is that this was an excellent decision! Beauty was all over the place, but nothing compared with the ravishing look Mahira, our gorgeous Maharani, showcased after being papered by Peace Love Sakeena, who created the ideal style for her. Something we want to remark is the well-trimmed and planned event that The Marigold Company designed. They took it to a higher level, transforming our lovebird's vision into a dream come true. To relive these magical wedding details, make sure to visit today's enchanting gallery!
How did you meet your Groom and when did you know he was "the one"?
I met Ekram (my husband) at a wedding. I actually just decided to approach him on a whim to tell him he looked familiar and just like that, we added each other on Twitter and started talking. I knew he was “the one” when I realized that he was genuinely my best friend. See, Ekram lived in the bay and I lived in Orange County, and we didn’t see each other as often as couples that are beach other do, so we relied on long phone and text conversations that ended up creating a strong foundation for our relationship.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
I had taken Ekram to Victoria Beach in Laguna when I first started talking to him. He ended up flying down to SoCal and coordinating with my friends and family to plan his proposal there. What ended up happening was a bit of a wreck actually, my friends convinced me to dress up, took me out to dinner and decided to go to Victoria beach after. So at this specific beach the entrance is at the bottom of a staircase and so my friends are walking in front of me and at the bottom of the steps you see small candles lit leading to a path of red roses in the shape of a heart, my friends backed away and let me walk into the proposal but I noticed a lot of people I didn’t recognize and long story short I walked in to a DIFFERENT proposal!! Both my friends and I were so incredibly confused and they ended up having to call Ekram who had to come to the steps and lead me to HIS proposal which was further out from the steps, it was similar with rose petals and candles in the shape of a heart and he popped the question. Because of this fiasco, by the time my friends had figured out it wasn’t my proposal, the sun had gone down so there’s actually only one picture from that night that isn’t too dark or messed up, everything turned out fine I just cannot believe my friends and I walked into another girls proposal hahaha
Tell us how you went about planning your wedding, and your overall experience with the Venues, Hair & Makeup, Outfits, Decor Theme, and all of the other important details.
Luckily, I had a good ten months to plan my wedding. I knew exactly what kind of decor, what venues, what outfits, and which makeup artists I wanted. I went to Pakistan twice to ensure all my outfits were fitted and made properly, I visited my venues several times to ensure clear communication with the managers and I reached out to mua’s much in advance. I literally planned every single detail, including countless, thorough meetings with my decorator. I had a lot of vendors for my events so I ensured that my coordinator was aware of each and every one. Even so, things didn’t go exactly as planned, my MUA got stuck abroad and cancelled on me the night before my wedding (I ended up staying up till 4 am that night finding a replacement which is a whole story in of itself) and the day of my wedding, the decorating team arrived late so they were hastily attempting to finish on time, but everything came together even though it wasn’t exactly according to plan. Planning was a stressful process just because I was soo focused on every little thing being perfect, down to the day of my wedding where I was trying to check up on things even in my dress and makeup, but it ended up paying off as it all came together.
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
As mentioned earlier, I went to Pakistan twice for my outfits. The first time I went for three weeks and I kid you not I looked at wedding outfits every single day. I knew I wanted red and gold but I wanted some more color in the dress as well. That proved hard to find as I remember finally picking an outfit on my final days of the first trip. I ended up choosing an outfit but altering the entire color scheme to match red, gold, and peach. My mom (who has an eye for color) helped me ensure every detail of that dress worked well, often times asking for swatches of the design before finalizing it. On my second trip, I was able to finalize other outfits and see my dress come to fruition, the end result was absolutely stunning, the shop owners themselves said that they decided to create one to place on the rack since we had designed the color scheme. I didn’t realize how heavy each outfit was until the day of the events as the hair, makeup, dress, and dupatta setting really make you feel sssooo much heavier but because of the rush and energy I was still able to dance my heart out at the events
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
My favorite part about planning was brainstorming ideas. I knew for a long time I wanted certain themes (peacock for mehndi and gold/white/blush for wedding) but being able to just come up with decor through looking at thousands of inspiration pictures was just so fun. My sisters had lots of fun sifting through instagrams and Pinterest pages to find vendors or cute ideas to incorporate at the events. It felt like a team effort and when it all came together, it was just amazing, I still cannot believe it sometimes.
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
I’ve been to a ton of weddings and so my main goal was to ensure that my guests had a good time. I didn’t want anyone to be bored of lengthy speeches or starve waiting on the food. I know that everyone appreciated this as they were entertained throughout and were not left hungry. Everyone absolutely loved the variety and quality of the food and dessert so shoutout to taglyan Complex’s in house catering. I made sure speeches were kept short, that the program overall wasn’t too long, and that food was served at appropriate times.
Was there a really special moment in your wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
Yes so it was actually after the ceremony and during our entrance at the reception. For some reason I was just nervous to enter the hall even though I had just gotten married. The music was playing and the doors were just about to open as Ekram tells me he’s going to do something. I was so confused as to what that meant and asked him what? But the doors had opened and we had to walk. As we’re walking in people are of course clapping and cheering and Ekram keeps saying I’m about to do it and under my breath I’m asking him what?? And then halfway into our walk just as we’re in the middle of the hall and the chorus of the song, Ekram takes off his turban and runs in a large circle around me while pointing to me as the sparklers are sparkling and the crowd just goes wild and I realized ooohhh this is what that meant. Every time that song comes on (sauda khara khara) I think of that moment
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 had quite a few events but my favorite were the mehndi and shaadi. The mehndi decor was peacock themed so it was very colorful within that color scheme and the decor was just amazing. Additionally, my family and friends practiced their dances for months and everything looked soo coordinated and just perfect. We also had hired dancers for both events, joya kazi for the mehndi who did more classical, technical style dancing and karmography who did more big, Bhangra type moves which was a nice contrast between the two that kept people entertained. I could go on and on about each and every vendor and what they did to make the event special, but it would take forever! I had found a singer on Instagram named Neel from New York City that ended up moving to LA after my wedding to further his music career here. We had a chai cart come to the mehdni that featured Kashmiri chai which was a crowd favorite. Agnes was a live painter for the wedding who everyone just loved. There was just so much going on for every event but it all came together beautifully.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
My only advice is to take it easy and enjoy the events. I recall stressing out minutes before the ceremony and reception as the decor was finishing up and they had locked me into the room upstairs so I just couldn’t see anything anymore but as I entered both the ceremony and reception, everything came together and was fine even if it didn’t go exactly as planned. So just do your best to not worry the day of and enjoy your time because all this time, effort, and energy is spent on events that go by so fast so you might as well ensure you enjoy each and every moment of it
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Jewelry: I also took an very long time picking a set for my wedding mainly because my mom was extremely picky when it comes to gold but I ended up finding the most beautiful set I’ve ever seen and even though the entire thing was heavy I am still in awe just looking at the intricate design/sparkle.
My venues for the mehndi and shaadi, Hilton in irvine and taglyan cultural complex in LA were just amazing when the decor came together. Noel from Hilton and Hovig from taglyan were amazing people that were extremely nice and helpful to work with, they really did all they could to help.
There are lots of vendors we used but I really want to give a special shoutout to @peacelovesakeena who decided to do my wedding makeup last minute since lulu had cancelled and sakeena did an AMAZING job and was so kind to me and I knew she hadn’t slept since she was responding so late and I knew she had a bride in the morning and at night so she fit me in between which was just so nice of her because I actually almost fainted when I found out at 11 pm that my wedding hair and makeup artist was not going to be able to make it. I still can’t believe that happened but sakeena really came through and helped me.
For more inspirational stories, visit us Monday. We have something special for you.
