A Wedding Celebration of Cultures in Sun-Soaked California at Ruby Hill Winery

[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]

Each one of our wedding events had a different color palette! Our Sangeet was all three primary colors: yellow, red, and blue. Our Haldi was mustard yellow and forest green. Our Wedding Ceremony was maroon, light pink, and light peach. Our Reception night was navy and gold.

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[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]

We wanted our wedding week to be a fun & entertaining journey for our guests through the different elements that Paras and I love about each other and our relationship. First, our Sangeet vision was to transport our guests to a traditional outdoor Indian Punjabi mela (or parade), with our food, décor, and parting gifts for guests. As Indian Americans, we both grew up attending these kinds of melas, so it was a not-so-subtle nod to our heritage. Next, the concept for our Haldi was the tropics, to represent our first vacation together as a couple in Hawaii. Instead of flowers, we used tropical fruit and leaves to set the mood! We wanted the most important day in our lives to take place at a venue that was private, beautiful, and most importantly, aligned with our values. When we found Nella Terra Cellars, a small family-owned sustainable & organic winery that operates as a B Corporation, they were fully booked for the foreseeable future. But we knew this place was worth postponing our wedding date by 13 months. Our joint love of plant-based food, cute farm animals, and epic live music truly set the vibes for this day. From first date to first dance, we wanted our Reception to reflect the ambiance of our first date many years ago at a dimly lit wine bar in San Francisco, so we opted for more candelabras and less overhead lighting. But we first wanted the party to start at our cocktail hour, where we entertained guests with small bites, Bollywood violinists, and a mentalist.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

Paras isn’t a huge planner, but he did a great job keeping the proposal under wraps. We somewhat spontaneously (or so I thought…) decided to go to Apple Hill, CA, on Nov 28, 2022, to spend some quality time together. On the drive up, we got a call from his brother, who owns & operates their family-owned hotel in Placerville. “We’re out of wine in our restaurant, could you pick up some from a winery in Apple Hill and drop it off on your way back?” he asked. I thought, ok then – we’ll do it right now. So we headed to a winery nearby called Starfield Vineyards. When we got there, Paras noticed a trail map and got excited about taking a walk through the vineyard. As we approached some vines up the hill, I noticed a lady nestled in the bushes. I quickly approached her to ask for a photo on my phone, and she seemed apprehensive. “It’s ok if you don’t want to,” I said. She reluctantly took a quick picture on my phone, and after she handed me my phone back and I turned around, Paras was on one knee. Turned out that this woman was a professional photographer whom Paras had hired to capture the moment! We all shared a good laugh about it afterwards over a glass of sparkling wine. Later, I found out that Paras’ brother and mom were both at the winery when we got his phone call about “running out of wine,” so there was no red wine shortage crisis after all. It was sweet to hear that his whole family was involved in the proposal.

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[board_carousel title=”First Look”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]For the sangeet, I sourced my colorful outfit from Irrau in New Delhi, where I worked directly with the up-and-coming designer Samir Mantri on the cut and design to match our Punjabi mela vibe.

For the haldi, I ditched traditional yellow attire and sought out a beautiful tropical orange ready-to-wear piece from a mom-and-pop shop at a New Delhi market.

For the wedding, my eldest aunt gifted me a rich maroon velvet lehenga that she lovingly purchased for me when I had first gotten engaged. She selected a fabric embroidered with floral motifs to represent Paras’ & my love for the great outdoors.

For the reception, I worked with a family friend on multiple sketches of a modern white wedding dress with an Indian twist. This one-of-a-kind piece ended up weighing 30 pounds and took nearly 3 months to embroider by hand![/field]
[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]

I couldn’t find any readymade bridal party outfits that I believed were fit for our wedding vibe or worthy of my best friends. So, I decided to design them to not only suit our color palette but also be comfortably worn by various body types. I selected a modern choli blouse with a crisp V-neck, tied in the back with a large ribbon instead of standard hooks. It was coupled with a delicate organza skirt, which was dyed pink and then silk-screened with flowers that I designed digitally. The entire ensemble was pulled together with a ruffled dupatta. The groomsmen’s outfits were dyed to match and included the same custom floral motif. All of the outfits arrived from India just weeks before our wedding date!

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[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]

Since the sangeet was Punjabi themed to represent Paras’ heritage, he gave a nod to his bride’s Kashmiri heritage by sourcing a beautiful multi-colored pashmina jacket for his sangeet look. For his haldi look, he wore a simple orange kurta because he knew it would be ruined in a few short hours – and it sure was, with turmeric, honey, and… Cheerios! For his ceremony look, he customized an ivory sherwani with fully hand-embroidered pearls, coupled with a maroon stole to match the bride. For our reception, he designed his own fully custom tuxedo at a local shop in Sacramento, where he and the bride picked out every element together, from the lining down to the buttons.

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]

Food was undoubtedly our number one priority during the wedding. Our family collectively attended food tastings with six different caterers across the entire state to find the perfect balance of Indian flavor and innovation. We ultimately partnered with a different chef for each event, all with unique strengths. Our sangeet had all authentic North Indian food, as this is where all four of our parents grew up. Our ceremony meal was fully plant-based to align with our cultural and sustainability goals. We also used food as a design element here, working with our caterer to carve fruit rinds (that would otherwise be wasted) into beautiful sculptures. Our reception menu was an Asian fusion of Thai, Chinese, and Singaporean cuisines as a reflection of the types of meals Paras and I commonly share. We also provided a variety of meals and snacks for our guests in between our events at the hotel – we wanted to ensure that no guest ended any night hungry!

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

It is truly a challenge to plan a luxury Indian wedding with sustainability in mind. We decided to keep our sangeet floral-free and opted for pre-existing décor elements like lanterns, rikshaws, and Punjabi truck food stations. For our haldi, we used tropical fruits like papaya, dragon fruit, and pineapple to spruce up our backdrop. My cousins later ate these once the event was over! For our ceremony, we embraced florals at our mandap as it held religious significance to our families. We then made sure that our loved ones took home all the lunch centerpieces. Before the ceremony, we distributed petals to guests in banana leaf cones rather than plastic bags so they could later be composted altogether. For our reception, Paras had a strong vision and conceived a unique 24 ft x 24 ft overhead structure, filled with smilax and disco balls. Underneath it lay a custom marble dance floor with gold streaks that tied into our elegant gold tableware and candelabras at our four long king tables.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]

We decided to forgo a cake and opted for more bite-sized Indian desserts, like kala jamun, tava milk cake, and a live paan station. For one of our smaller events, we partnered with my favorite MasterChef contestant and Indian fusion baker, Milk & Cardamom, on fusion items like rasmalai tres leches cake.

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”][/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

One of our favorite elements at the ceremony was bringing in alpacas from a local farm. We opted out of horses for the groom’s baraat to spare them from the loud noises, but still wanted to incorporate our love for farm animals. So we created a meet-and-greet opportunity. After the ceremony, children and adults all loved hugging and petting the two sweet alpacas that drove in for the day. One of our favorite reception performances was a one-hour concert-style set by Indian American pop star Mickey Singh. Mickey is an artist that we had both been listening to since college, and once we realized that he was from my same hometown as my mother-in-law, we knew he would have an instant connection with our guests, and we convinced his team to fly out from the East Coast. He brought the energy and made everyone dance, from our young nephews to our elderly grandmothers. It was an unforgettable night! One of our favorite memories was bringing on a fusion tabla player, who played Indian tabla beats on top of Drake and Afrobeats tracks. We even got a private feature performance, as he continued performing for just the two of us, even after our guests had left.

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[field title=”Special Detail #2″][/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #3″][/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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