The best part of fusing any wedding, but especially a multicultural one? Embracing your respective backgrounds while celebrating with your nearest and dearest. Recruiting the help of Amy Nichols Special Events, Radha and Piper crafted a day—honoring Radha’s Gujarati Hindu heritage—that was not only meaningful and harmonious but represented the modern, same-sex couple’s eclectic taste as well. Allan Zepeda captured it all, right this way.
From Amy Nichols Special Events… Radha and Piper met online and in the span of one week they had three 10-hour dates! A few years and many more conversations later, Radha proposed in a private, warm, and emotional engagement. Once they were engaged, Radha and Piper tapped Amy Nichols of Amy Nichols Special Events to coordinate their large and complex wedding day. After interviewing several planners, they chose Amy because they felt comfortable with her style of communication, her experience and because they just had a gut feel that she was going to be able to work with them to help create the experience they were looking for.
When it came time to start the planning, one large consideration was that Radha was one of the first openly gay member of her community, and her wedding to Piper truly opened hearts and minds. The wedding weekend included three days of ceremonies and celebrations, culminating in the wedding ceremony and reception at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California, east of San Francisco.
The wedding ceremony at Wente Vineyards included a baraat and a traditional mandap in a large tent erected for the ceremony to protect guests from the summer heat. The tent was decorated with woodland-inspired florals designed by Alicia K Designs, and included pops of color.
They wanted to make sure the entire event successfully captured a blend of both of their cultures and wasn’t fully overtaken by the Indian foundation of the wedding itself. Piper’s best friend officiated an additional western component of the ceremony, which was predominantly a traditional Indian Gujarati ceremony officiated by a Hindu pandit. They also had fun personal touches like steampunk-inspired escort cards, mini terrarium favors, and vintage scrolls as a guest book, which were all things that were meaningful to Radha and Piper.
When designing the overall wedding day, Amy Nichols Special Special Events tailored the wedding design to the couple’s eclectic, organic and earthy style. Working closely with Alicia K Designs, Amy and Alicia and kept their woodland-inspired tastes in mind with pops of color giving a nod to Radha’s Indian culture. Bright and eclectic florals of Mokara orchids, dahlias, scabiosa pods, pincushion protea, and greens were incorporated. Greenery was added to the tent supports to keep the natural feeling going, and provided the perfect backdrop as guests danced into the night. One of the best surprises of the night was Piper’s family surprising Radha’s family with a choreographed Bollywood dance routine — which had everyone crying with laughter.
Photographer: Allan Zepeda Photography | Planner: Amy Nichols Special Events | Floral Design: Alicia K Designs | Makeup: Faces by Lilliana | Hair: Sherrie Long Makeup Hair & Effects | DJ: Denon And Doyle | Officiant: Alan Katz | Ceremony/Reception: Wente Vineyards | Day of prop styling: Kelly Oshiro | Rentals (chairs, tables): Classic Party Rentals | Tent, Lighting, Dancefloor: Zephyr Tents | Video: Paperweight Films