Featured Wedding: A Modern Cultural Affair

Why, hello! My apologies, I have clearly been on a little hiatus due to so many things in the works over here. Today I am putting my blogger hat back on for a few minutes and dusting off the cobwebs because I just have to share this gem with you, which was featured on Style Me Pretty today! My little sister got married last fall. It was the most intimate and love-filled wedding I have been a part of and worked on. I was planner, designer, and big sister - so you can only imagine how much more enthusiastic I was throughout the whole process.

This was a simple affair that felt like an intimate dinner party with family and close friends. The first thing Stef and Shardul told me me was how they wanted the ceremony and reception to reflect both their personalities and backgrounds. They wanted it to be modern, understated, and elegant. We came up with an overall theme that blended both Filipino and Indian details into the decor. In both cultures, more is typically...more. "Restrained elegance" is what I kept in the back of my head the whole time. For the color palette, we went with nude, gold, and burgundy - which worked perfectly for the fall and looked stunning, sophisticated, and oh-so-romantic. Travel and a long distance relationship was a big part of their relationship, so we added touches of a travel theme into the details with a thrifted vintage trunk and a gold airplane cake topper. Everything came together in a span of two months, and I'm proud to say this was a huge bargain wedding. We splurged on what mattered (food, photography, furniture rentals, the most gorgeous red peonies for the bride's bouquet) and saved on what we could (decor, favors, flowers for the centerpieces). The venue, Gamble Gardens - was an amazing discovery. It was the perfect setting that had a great combination of indoor and outdoor spaces, gardens, and classic architecture - all for a steal.

My sister was radiant - literally glowing from the inside out, and of course - as calm as could be. I was a wreck. Not because of prep chaos - it was such an emotional day for everyone, and it just hit me when I gave her that last hug before my dad walked her down the aisle. The ceremony was held in the middle of a pathway surrounded by lush greens- it felt like we were in a secret garden! Cocktails then dinner followed with a casual buffet of both Filipino and Indian Cuisine. We dined under the stars and enjoyed hours of laughter and conversation surrounded by candlelight.