Real Wedding: Bright Modern Indian Reception at Fairmont DC

I had the privilege of partnering with the talent decorator, Prabha Bhambri, on a Hindu wedding reception at the lovely Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC. The reception was the finale to several days of celebrations. While the sangeet and ceremonies focused on traditions, the reception had a more modern flair. We worked closely with the mother of the groom who had impeccable personal style.

The cocktail hour was held in the Colonnade Room and the courtyard, while dinner and dancing were held in the Ballroom. While the colors for cocktail hour of yellows and mauve were more soothing, the reception colors were bright and vibrant orange and hot pink.

Venue, Lighting, Cake: The Fairmont Hotel, Washington, DC (Mark Medrick)

Decor: Prabha Bhambri

Photographer: Regetis. See their blog for more beautiful photos.

Videographer: Suburban Video (Bill Bowen)

DJ: Magic Mike

— Vicky

Incorporating Cultural Traditions in Your Wedding

We often work with brides and grooms that come from different cultural backgrounds and they want to incorporate their individual traditions into their wedding in some form. However, we have also seen the  challenges that this desire can create, sometimes resulting in undue stress and even friction between the families. Here are some tips and thoughts from what we have learned from our clients.

Determine which cultural wedding traditions you want to incorporate. If you are not familiar with the wedding traditions associated with your ethnic background, consult your relatives. While you can do some research on the internet to get an overview, it is best to ask your relatives because traditions can vary even amongst different regions of a country. For example, with Hindu weddings, there are subtle differences between northern and southern Indian ceremonies and even variations depending on the Hindu priest. When my husband and I got married, I was familiar with Chinese wedding traditions but did not know the details of each step. So, my Mom sent me a written translation of those steps, which really helped us decide which steps would be appropriate for us to incorporate.

Discuss with parents. This is one area that I feel can benefit from working in conjunction with your parents. Their input can be important. The cross generational understanding of what certain traditions are about and how they are to be perform may differ between you and your parents, especially if you and your fiance are of different ethnic or religious background and if you want to incorporate both sides, as well as some standard Western wedding elements. It’s best to talk about it openly in detail early on.  Is it acceptable to modify certain traditions? You might be surprised that it may not be acceptable to the families. After all, the wedding is suppose to be about the joining of families, so doing something that can be viewed as offensive to one side or the other because of religion or culture might not be a good way to start.

When and how will you incorporate the selected wedding traditions? Is it something that your guests would enjoy? Would it be better done in private or on another day? When my husband and I got married, we performed the Chinese tea ceremony after our Catholic ceremony – in private. We did it before all the guests arrived at the reception venue. I consulted with my Mom and she felt that it was more respectful to do it in private. On the other hand, my best friend from high school incorporated the tea ceremony into her reception so that all the guests may share in the experience [see photo below. I’m the bridesmaid on the right].

Photo by Brett Matthews Photography

Will your guests understand what is happening? If not, you may consider having some written or have a MC describe what is happening. My husband and I attended an Afghani/Pakistani wedding not too long ago. The bride and groom performed wedding rituals which we had no idea what they were all about and it went on for a long time.  While it was interesting to observe, it would have been more enjoyable if we knew what was going on. A few weeks ago, our client had a Hindu ceremony. While a program was provided to the guests so they could follow along, for the first time, the Hindu priest actually explained each ceremonial step he performed, which made it so much more meaningful to the guests. Normally, the priest speaks in Hindi only.

How long with it take? How elaborate are the set up for the tradition?  One of our clients wanted to perform the traditional Korean Pae Bek ceremony during her reception. While we really enjoy having the guests participate and learn about the ritual, it took 30-45 minutes to set up all the items needed and for the bride and groom to change into their Korean outfits. The venue was also not ideal for such an elaborate set up, and would have worked out better if it could have been done in another larger room.

Photo by Love Life Images

Real Wedding: Lakshmi and Sunil (Part 2)

If you missed the wedding overview and vendor roundup, go back to Part 1.

Sangeet: Lakshmi and Sunil wanted a Moroccan style event. Note the mini tent in the far corner. There were 2 others throughout the ballroom. Prabha Bhambri did a great job with swagging the ceiling, decorating the stage and the rest of the ballroom.

Surrounding the stage were low furniture groupings for a lounge like feel.

The stunning stage.

We set up a small stage in the center of the ballroom where a Mehndi artist worked. Bindis and bangles were available for guests too.

Table setting with a gorgeous Indian inspired peacock blue tablecloth from DC Rental. We alternated between this color and a pink tablecloth of the same design.

Groom on his horse for the baraat with the horse and its handler from Harmon's.

Due to the rain, wet grass, heat and humidity, we moved the ceremony inside. Another beautiful mandap from Prabha.

Look at the cute flower elephant.

The 7 tier cake!

The reception was held in the Blue Room. This is the stage with the head table. Isn't it gorgeous?

The Blue Room bathed appropriately in blue lighting. The couple provided plasma screens around the room so that all could see the toasts.

Closeup of one of the tables. silver chivari chairs with a white mesh cap and a beautiful white and silver overlay for the tablecloth.

The South Beach inspired white double bar from Gala. Isn't it cool? Note the blue light in the background during cocktail hour in the Pre-function area.

You can see the white banquette in the center of the room in this photo. Note how the lighting is now changed to pink in the same pre-function area during dessert.

Icecream Bar!

Real Wedding: Sunil & Lakshmi (Part 1)

Gazebo at the Omni Shoreham Hotel

In the fall, we had the opportunity to assist Sunil and Lakshmi at their Hindu wedding. This was our second time working at the Omni Shoreham but it had been a long time since Richa and Deb’s wedding in 2006. Luckily, we were very familiar with the hotel from other events. By far, this was the most extensive wedding we had coordinated to-date beginning with the Sangeet the night before, and then breakfast, baraat, ceremony, lunch, hospitality, cocktails and dinner.

We had an extraordinary team of professionals to pull of this 300+, multi-day event.

Venue: Omni Shoreham Hotel (Catering Manager William Grace). William is single handedly the reason I love working at the Omni, besides the beautiful gardens and ballrooms. His professionalism and experience make the whole process so easy. The Omni really is the perfect venue for an event that requires many rooms. Being a historic hotel, each ballroom is beautifully decorated with such character, a quintessential DC hotel. The one drawback is that it is a huge hotel and the ballrooms are split between two sides of the hotel so signage is important for your guests. With Sunil and Lakshmi’s wedding need rooms for breakfast, lunch, dinner, ceremony, hospitality, and cocktails, the facilites at the Omni worked out really well.

Decor & Floral: Prabha Bhambri. I had just worked with Prabha at Soumya and Tejus’ wedding the month before so we got along really well. Prabha is very creative and did an excellent job providing the decor for the entire wedding weekend. I assure you that it was no easy feat. For the reception, Prabha created a very modern design dripping in crystals. You’ll see in the photos in Part 2 of this series.

DJ: Ravi.

Sound & Lighting: PSAV (Omni’s in-house)

Dance Performance: Dhoonya Dance. This group of dancers provided the entertainment during the baraat and got the energy of the guests way up!

Horse for the baraat: Harmon’s Hayride and Carriages. Pretty easy. They choose a very mellow horse to deal with all the noise and commotion during the baraat and the handler is there the whole time.

Bar Rental: Gala Inc. At the last minute, we need a substantial South Beach style bar that would become the centerpiece of the cocktail area. Gala was so easy to work with on this late request and everybody loved the result.

Lounge Furniture: Cort Furniture. To complete the South Beach lounge look, we rented several ottomans and banquets in white. Guests enjoyed lounging on them all night.

Photography & Videography: A1 Action Photo & Video. This family owned business does it all and was super flexible the day of the wedding as things changed on the fly by the minute.

Chair & Linen Rental: DC Rental. We had different chairs and linens for each event of this wedding and DC Rental did a great job of getting it all right.

Sangeet Catering: Aroma Restaurant.  Great to work with. Responsive and was familiar with the rules and processes at the Omni. This was smooth sailing.

Reception Catering: Tandoori Nights. Not recommended.

Cake: Fancy Cakes by Leslie. The 7 tier cake was a stunning focal point in the ballroom.

Stay tuned for Part 2 – the photos!

Real Wedding: Soumya & Tejus Part 4

Lastly, here are the photos I took from Soumya & Tejus’ wedding showing more of the details. Go back to Part 3 for professional photos and Part 1 and Part 2 for my event notes.

Fairview Park Marriott - Mandap for the ceremony. Note: the ceremony & reception were both in this same ballroom. Notice how the lighting changes the whole mood and feel of the space.

The Ganesha welcoming guests

A traditional gate welcoming guests

Photo Booth by PartyBooths

guests leaving a message for the couple with their photo booth photos

Cake by Creative Cakes