Alok and Erica's Wedding in Newport Beach, California

My sister was MOH and his brother and beat friend split the Best Man duties. My best friends all were sort of honorary bridesmaids but we didn’t do the traditional parties. During getting ready we swapped secret gifts with the help of the Best Man (we didn’t do a first look). I gave him whiskey bourbon chocolates and a silver jigger and he gave me a (gorgeous!) Shinola watch. He also gave me fresh flowers (and got pretty close to our reception look!) and champagne. I had a gorgeous hairpiece I picked up from Nordstrom of all places and asked Jamie to do her best to copy Clair Dane’s hair from the party scene in Romeo + Juliet. She NAILED it. I wore my mother’s veil from 1970 that I have admired my whole life. My siblings and nieces all had roles in the ceremony. My eldest brother Mark sang Ave Maria and brought down the house! Our reception was at the Estate on Second and it was a candle-lit flower-drenched wonderland! I didn’t know how to describe my aesthetic concisely so I found myself (with my planner) defaulting to “when the phantom kidnaps Christine. But in a happy way”

My dad balked at 200 candles on the quote but when he saw the final product he got it and was so happy and proud. Our families and friends flew in from all over the world. Alok was born in India and it was the first time I was meeting his family in person. It was amazing. His mother wore a traditional sari and stole the night. She was gorgeous. My dad’s side of the family made up over half our 120 guests - 10 of my 14 Aunts and Uncles made it along with about 40 of my cousins, cousins’ spouses, and cousins’ kids. It was the first time we had all been together since our Granny’s funeral and it was so so special. We had so many guests that Alok was meeting for the first time that I made a literal Facebook on Excel. I made a giant spreadsheet of all the guests with names, photos, how we knew them, where they were sitting (and if applicable what gift they had given us). It was so thorough I ended up sharing it with most of my vendors. It especially helped the catering staff to know and recognize the VIPs so to speak (they knew Dad was paying the bill and took SUCH good care of him!) We had babysitters and took advantage of the extra attic space to make a playroom for the SEVENTEEN children we had at the wedding. It was a hit. I was so thrown by all my cousins’ kids running up to me all night with their drawings and crafts saying how pretty I was, definitely a highlight.

For cocktail hour and dinner, we put together a list inspired by a favorite restaurant of ours in Philadelphia. Their manager shared their Spotify playlist, it was a jazzy, Frenchy, bistro vibe. For dancing my fiancé and I had our first dance to an acoustic cover of Metallica’s Sweet Child o’ Mine. I nearly cried. Dad and I danced to Stand By Me and Alok was jealous of how great a dancer my Dad and I were with no practice. For Dancing, Dart Collective nailed our playlist and the horn trio blew our guests away. It was so much fun. We have asked for a copy of the playlist they used and hope to get a custom vinyl pressed.

We rode away in a creamy white vintage Bentley sipping champagne. I saved the cork and have it in a keepsake box in our living room. It was a dream. I wish I could do it again. Planning it was so fun and satisfying. I feel so happy and proud when I think of it.