Peony lovers will swoon for this Hindu American botanical fusion wedding

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The best part (from an outsider and wedding lover’s perspective) of fusing a multicultural wedding? Two weddings in one, yes! Celebrating both the bride and groom’s cultural backgrounds, Robyn and Proteek planned a Western American and Hindu Indian wedding day that was not only meaningful to family members but represented the modern couple as well.

The couple was adamant about giving the proper love to each ceremony. Starting the day with the Hindu celebration, Robyn wore a custom, traditional sari of red and gold that’s giving us all kind of heart eyes. Designing the look with her future mother-in-law, we can imagine the whole experience was quite the fantastic bonding and welcome to the family. Making it personal for the garden-loving couple, they chose a botanical garden for the first ceremony.

For the cliffside Western vows, Robyn wore another custom gown – this time, an all-white lace and crepe silk stunner and held the most vibrant, drool-worthy fuschia peony bouquet. Also, can we talk about how chic her henna’d hands and feet look against her white wedding gown?!

We could talk for hours about all the colorful, intricate details of this beautiful day, but we’ll let Bramble and Vine‘s light and airy, fine art photos do the proper work for us.

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Hindu American Fusion Wedding (With Peonies) | Bramble and Vine 11

Our Love Story

We met on a Saturday night at a dive-y bar on the Pier in Hermosa Beach, California. We were both out with friends, many of us single in our respective groups. One of my girlfriends saw Proteek and his friends and approached their group. We all started mingling and ended up dancing until the bar closed. It was one of the most fun nights of our lives, second only to the wedding!

We had been dating for five years. For my 30th birthday, my parents told me they were hosting a birthday dinner for me at my their house. A few hours before dinner, I received frantic messages from my mom telling me that she had to change plans for dinner because she was too busy to cook and that we should just meet at a small wine shop in our local neighborhood village for a few drinks and then we could go to a restaurant for dinner. Right outside this wine shop also happens to be the place where Proteek and I shared our first kiss.

When we arrived, I saw my parents and siblings anxiously standing outside the shop, then Proteek got on one knee and proposed to me. It was a beautiful proposal, and it very thoughtful that he had planned this with my parents and wanted this moment to be shared with my family. Of course, I said yes! We immediately called his family after (who live on the other side of the country), and celebrated the night with dinner and drinks!

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The Dresses & Attire

In a Hindu ceremony, the bride will typically wear a red outfit. My mother-in-law helped me design my outfit, and it was handsewn in India with the help of Dreams Collections. The fine details were absolutely breathtaking! Proteek’s outfit was purchased in India.

We, along with family, had a mid-day attire change at a beautiful local house rental. For the Western ceremony, I wore a dress designed and made in Los Angeles by ARIA. I chose a cream dress with a lace bodice and a silk crepe trumpet skirt. It was vintage-inspired with modern details and absolutely perfect for me. Proteek wore a navy suit with a pink bow-tie (because we couldn’t find a great coral colored bow-tie). Pink looked great on him, even though our East Coast guests thought it was very “California”, haha!

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The Ceremonies

Our wedding brought two cultures together (Western American and Hindu Indian). It was important to us that both ceremonies received equal and loving attention. As such, we decided to have two ceremonies and two separate venues to honor each tradition in its own right. Both ceremonies were on the same day, so it was a busy and long wedding day!

We chose to have the Hindu ceremony at a Botanic Garden. As avid gardeners, this suited both of us. And we knew that the lush backdrop would be beautiful against boldly colored attire. For the Western ceremony, we chose a coastal spot next to a lighthouse, which happened to be a sentimental spot for us individually and in our relationship.

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Hindu American Fusion Wedding (With Peonies) | Bramble and Vine 20

The Style & Florals

Since we knew that the venues and the outfits would speak for themselves, we decided to keep the details soft and minimal. Our wedding style was simple and elegant. We are pretty low key so this style reflected both of us. Our colors were coral, sage and gold as my color palette so we could use bright peonies and succulents. We did not have a bridal party, but our flower girls wore coral and gold-toned dresses during the Western ceremony.

The flowers were one of my favorite details of the wedding. Peony is my favorite flower so I was thrilled that they were in season for my wedding day. I also love succulents which I grow in my home garden. My florist did a beautiful job creating simple and beautiful centerpieces that fit the budget and really let the peonies shine! My bouquet included a wider variety of flowers with bright oranges that popped alongside the pinks and whites – truly a masterpiece was done by my florist!

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The Planning

Because more than half of our guests were coming from out of state (and some out of the country from India and Jordan!), we wanted to create an experience that was truly fun and very memorable. Ultimately, we wanted our guests to have a great time and dance a lot, so we felt it most important to splurge on the talent (vendors) that would create a seamless and memorable experience for our very long wedding day! Our venues were then beautiful yet very simple and inexpensive because we knew it was more about the memories.

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Favorite Moments

It’s hard to pick one moment, but the vows were very special to us. Sharing your deepest feelings in front of so many people can be nerve-wracking, but it was one of the most joyous experiences to share our sentiments about each other with all the people we love in our lives. And of course, hearing each other’s vows is a moment we will treasure for the rest of our lives.

Another favorite moment was when my (bride’s) dad surprised us and all our guests by hiding the chorus lyrics to “Love and Happiness” by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris under everyone’s place setting. He then played and sang the song with his guitar and asked our guests to sing the chorus along with him. It was so sentimental for me as an I grew up with a father who always sang to me on his guitar – it was perfect for him to celebrate my wedding day in this way.

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Photo by Bramble & Vine via Bridal Musings

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The DIY Details

Our reception was in a city-owned event space. Behind the sweetheart table, there was a blue conference cabinet mounted against the wall. I struggled to figure out how to cover it until my sister-in-law suggested we create a flower wall. With only a few days before the wedding, a bunch of women in my family came together to put the project together. It consisted of tons of white and cream silk flowers green leaves, garland letters, poster board, and a whole lot of glue! We then added white, rosette fabric to hang below the flower wall. It came out perfectly. After the wedding, we hung the top half of our flower wall above our bed headboard and it looks great!

Our favors were a high ball glass with a wedding logo. I tried to give a favor that people would actually use and didn’t look too wedding-y. They weren’t expensive, and I’ve actually had many guests tell me they use the glasses often and have sent pictures using their glasses for whiskey and wine! Success!

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The Cake

Our cake was actually made by a co-worker’s girlfriend who side hustles as fantastic cake maker! We kept it to a simple two-tier cake with gold fondant. We did not serve the cake for dessert and just used it for cake cutting, but it still looked and tasted wonderful! Our topper said, “You’re My Favorite” which is a phrase we share with each other a lot.

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Advice to Other Couples

There is so much advice to give, but one that I wish I heeded was to let people do things for you. As I envisioned certain details, I wanted to do everything myself to ensure it was done “my way.”

For example, I had left my place cards to be done the week before my wedding, and I insisted that I write the cards myself since I wanted it to be in my handwriting. In the end, my sister-in-law took over and did the place cards for me. They weren’t my handwriting, but they did the job and still looked great! Your sanity and health is worth more than trying to do everything by yourself. Enjoy this special time in your life when everyone around you wants to help in some way!

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The Honeymoon

We went to Tanzania and spent eight nights on a Safari and four nights in Zanzibar. It was an amazing and memorable trip. We want everyone to experience Africa! We’re so happy we splurged!