Today’s feature is X-TRA special because it is a Modern Jewish Multi-Cultural Fusion of food, color and tradition. I am completely swooning over the amazing details, which make me feel as if I was an invited guest.
The Modern Jewish Wedding Details
The bride & groom are both lawyers in DC but chose to get married in Utah, where the bride grew up. They had two ceremonies one Hindu and one Jewish. In true Modern Jewish Wedding style both families were extremely supportive of both religions and all the traditions. with the groom’s parents partaking in the Hindu ceremony and the bride’s parents being lifted on chairs for the Horah!
As Menaka tells us,
I grew up in Utah and most of my friends had never been there, so I wanted to introduce it to them! And it’s such a gorgeous state–it was the perfect outdoor setting for a wedding. Indian weddings are super bright. Our colors were tangerine, bright aqua/turquoise, and a deep pink/red. The overall theme was to be as brightly colored as possible! I wanted to go for simple and rustic to match the lodge. So we went with single blooms in jars and re-purposed a lot of the flowers from the mandap/chuppah we got married under. The venue was so beautiful we didn’t have to do much. My planner sewed colorful table runners for all the tables and then we had the single blooms mixed in with long branches. My planner also did cute chalkboard table numbers. We didn’t have to do anything else in the dinner area. The dancing area was a patio downstairs that already had a nice white tent up. We hung paper lanterns from the ceiling and that was it!
We did a first look and we are happy about it. We wanted to spend time with our friends at the cocktail hour, so we didn’t want that time to be taken up with a bride/groom photo session.
In Indian tradition, the bride’s mother’s brother walks the bride down the aisle. But none of my uncles could make it so we did the next best thing by having one of my uncle’s sons (my cousin Nilesh) walk me down the aisle. My sari was a beautiful tomato red and I paired it with red lipstick.
I had two outfits for the wedding. One was a red sari with Indian jewelry, which I wore at the ceremony. The second outfit was a Monique Lhuillier fishtail gown, which I wore at the reception. We also had two cakes. One was colorful with delicate white henna-inspired designs & we had a great groom’s cake that showed Josh’s love of professional wrestling.
Menaka has two pieces of advice for all of you Modern Jewish & Jew-ish brides,
Let go of all stress and enjoy the day. Things will run well and most importantly, people will have a good time. Get a planner! That was the best thing I did.
Mazel Tov Menaka & Joshua
Vendor Resources: Photographer: Pepper Nix Photography//Wedding Planner: Anna Silver, Idaho Falls, ID//Venue: The Canyons Resort, Utah//Wedding Cake: Carrie’s Cakes//DJ: Craig Chamber//Floral Design: Every Blooming Thing//Caterer: The Canyons//Stationary: By Hand Invitations