Archana and Arun’s September wedding at the main ticket concourse of Union Station reflected the bride’s love of Los Angeles, the rich colors of autumn and the couple’s heritage. Michelle Joy Photography captured their incredible “lovebird”-themed celebration, and All You Need is Love Events helped with the wonderful details!
In choosing our clothing for the night (which was one of almost ten outfit changes that spanned the entire wedding), I chose to go the traditional ethnic route with a red and white crystal encrusted lehenga with a multicolor jewel tone border and net overlay from Deepam silks in Bangalore. Arun’s semi-sherwani from Ethnix menswear in Bangalore complemented the white and gold brocade of my skirt, and his bright red dupatta (scarf) and jhoota (shoes) tied our outfits together.
My father’s silly habit of calling every young couple “lovebirds” inspired the central design element for the reception. My mom went to work handcrafting over a hundred bandhani birds to mount on manzanita branches. Our wonderful florist and designer Valerie Pang from All You Need is Love events came up with a motif based on a string of Indian craft birds and dahlias for our invitations, and designed the beautiful dahlia and succulent florals and accents. I found the ceramic lovebird cake topper during my year long stay in Cairo, Egypt, which was highlighted by a handmade pennant garland accent made by my mother. I spent the week leading up to the reception hand stamping our table numbers and escort cards with a “lovebirds in a cage” motif.
In adding a personal touch and showcasing our deeply intertwined history, we projected childhood pictures of Arun and I growing up together above the ticket booth during the entire night. Arun’s sister Radhika choreographed a Bollywood dance for us, my cousin Prasanna sang a Hindi song he composed about our love story, we shared a wedding highlight reel made by my good friends at Original Knockoff, and our parents, siblings, even Arun’s cousin who came all the way from India all gave heartfelt speeches wishing us the very best. The highlight of the night for me was when I was asked to speak, and I found myself feeling so very blessed that so many of our family and friends came out to celebrate and dance the night out with us, even though they couldn’t be there on our big day. Arun and I want to thank our families and our guests for making the night a very memorable one. We are especially grateful for our coordinators, Vikki and Shannon of All You Need is Love events, who worked behind the scenes to execute our vision to a tee! -Archana
Artists
- Photographer: Michelle Joy Photography
- Flowers, Invitations & Event Planning: All You Need is Love Events
- Reception Location: Union Station
- Music & Lighting: 3D Sounds
