A Fusion of Indian and Vietnamese Cultures in Texas’ Hill Country

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November 20, 2023

The Planning

Design / Vibe / Vision

Sangeet Design: At the sangeet, we wanted our guests to feel like they had been transported into an all-night dance party where the music never stopped. The Sangeet had a color palette of purples, blues, golds, and pinks. The space was designed around a custom blue acrylic dance floor with a gold mandala pattern. The space was filled with coordinated lounge furniture in blue velvet accented with gold tables and gold carved arches. A ceiling installation of marigolds, carnations and miror umbrellas added to the dance party vibe. We wanted our wedding weekend to stand out from any previous Indian fusion wedding our guests had attended and also for it to feel true to who we are as a couple. For our wedding ceremony and reception, we wanted to create a day that honored important aspects of our Indian and Vietnamese cultures, the location in Texas Hill Country, and the fall season. We did this in small ways throughout the day including serving a family-style dinner inspired by all three cuisines at our reception and ensuring that all our guests could experience the magic of a Hill Country sunset through the magnificent windows at the Arlo during dinner. Our wedding planner Kate from Wild Sky Events was the true glue that held everything together and was the reason our vision came to life - we couldn't have made any of this happen without her. From Kate at WSE: To design Trishla and VP's vision the overall wedding design focused on a muted citrus fall color palette with pops of orange, red, pink, and neutrals. The venue is a neutral space and having a bright and modern color palette makes the design pop. Textures was the next main focus and we incorporated beautiful pattered neutral linens and textured china for the place setting. To complete the look we worked with Jolie and Co to create a custom signature stamp pattern in red and pink that was used on the menus, bar decor and seating chart. During the design process we were reviewed every detail to ensure it added to the design and didn't detract from the overall space.

Proposal Story

We got engaged in October 2020 during a trip to Yosemite National Park with two of our friends. Although I chose all the hikes we did on the trip, VP kept the ring stashed in his backpack, waiting for the right place in the park to propose. When our group reached May Lake after hiking for a few hours, VP decided it was the perfect view for his proposal and sat down next to me to ask if I wanted to get married.

Getting Ready

Bridal Portraits

Flat Lays

The Fashion

Wedding Gown

Since we were planning a lot of the wedding during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to go to India to do any wedding outfit shopping. Instead, I worked with Divya Agarwal of Studio D Dallas to source all of my outfits. When she first showed me the red lengha that I wore for my wedding ceremony, I knew I wouldn't be able to find anything that matched it even in India. The embroidery was exquisite and the animal motifs at the bottom of the skirt were completely unique. We also sourced an amazing coordinating red sherwani for the VP's wedding outfit from Ishan Sanghvi at Rivesse that was tailored to fit VP perfectly. Although I loved my classic red wedding lengha, nothing could beat how I felt in my silver, shimmery reception lengha, another outfit that I immediately fell in love with the first time Divya showed it to me. Silver is one of my favorite colors so that outfit combined with an amazing old-school Hollywood glamour hairstyle from Miranda at LoLa Beauty made me feel on top of the world.

Wedding Party

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

The Details

Food & Drink

For the food, we wanted a vegetarian menu that took inspirations from Indian, Vietnamese, and Southern cuisines. We shared Indian and Vietnamese recipes that we liked with the Contigo team, along with a list of ingredients that we loved (for example, mushrooms and okra). They took that input and created an amazing ensemble of creative dishes that celebrated our heritage in a subtle and accessible way. For the beverages selection, we wanted to highlight wines from Sonoma, a place of fond memories for us, and also celebrate local breweries and distilleries in Texas. Kate and the team at Specs did an amazing job at helping us curate the drinks menu the way we envisioned.

Florals & Decor

The overall wedding design focused on creating an muted citrus color palette filled with texture inspired by the fall season. Jill from Layered Vintage creates pure magic with flowers. From our first meeting with her we knew she would be able to create floral arrangements that would make a lasting impression on our guests. Whether it was creating beautiful marigold arrangements hanging from ceilings and chandeliers, constructing the floral-forward mandap that we got married under, or creating beautiful bouquets for the tables and our wedding party, Jill did a great job sourcing so many gorgeous flowers that perfectly matched our color scheme for all of our events and brought our vision for the weekend to life. Our wedding planner Kate from Wild Sky Events also sourced some beautiful Vietnamese lanterns to hang over our reception dance floor.

Wedding Cake

We had the most delicious chai-flavored wedding cake from Danae at Feathers and Frosting. We chose the chai flavor as a nod to my Indian heritage and one of my favorite drinks and as a subtle ode to the fall season. Danae and her team knocked it out of the park, and we had so many guests come up to tell us that it was the best wedding cake they had ever eaten.

Special Detail #1

The day before the wedding, we did a special ceremony called a chura ceremony where a set of red and white bangles traditionally worn by a bride on her wedding day and for a period of time after her wedding are presented to the bride by her maternal uncle. I'm wearing my churas throughout all of my wedding weekend events.

Special Detail #2

As a nod to both cultures of the bride and groom the installation above the dance floor incorporated traditional Indian wedding flowers of marigolds and carnations along with specially sourced Vietnamese lanterns.

Special Detail #3

The ceremony programs were beautifully designed by Jolie and Co and were a lovely keepsake for guests.

Couple Portraits