“Falling in love was easy; planning the perfect wedding long-distance half the country away was the hard part.” – spoken by today’s Bride & Groom and the statement that made my jaw-drop. Yours will too, when you see how incredibly beautiful their celebration was. Details Details and Art With Nature had a little something to do with that! It’s a blending of formal meets whimsy and colorful meets curated—all captured by The Great Romance Photo. Cozy up to the full collection of images!
From the Bride & Groom… Falling in love was easy; planning the perfect wedding long-distance half the country away was the hard part. We had gotten engaged earlier that year in New York City, where Abbas is from, on one of the coldest and snowiest days of the year. We then had our wedding at the beautiful Los Angeles Arboretum near Sarrah’s hometown of Pasadena, California, on Labor Day weekend, on one of the hottest days of the year. We wanted to bring together all our friends and family for a magical all-day garden party. Our guests came from all over: New York City, where we first met; North Carolina, where Abbas grew up; Boston, where we fell in love; Egypt, where Sarrah has family; Chicago, where we live now; and all over Southern California, where Sarrah grew up. The dress code was “Garden Formal”, which became the theme and dresses, bright skirts, yellow ties, classic suspenders, and pastel suits. They looked gorgeous strolling around with their personalized parasols and fans on the Waterfall Lawn, where the ceremony took place. Sarrah’s brother officiated a special family tradition with a green cloth draped over us, patterned with gold Arabic calligraphy, representing our safe home in each other.
After we walked back down the aisle as a married couple to the sounds of Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”, our guests followed their maps to the Historic Lawn of the Queen Anne Cottage, where they were met with a breathtaking magical garden designed by our florist, Kim Sanders of Art with Nature. The long and round rustic wooden tables were organized into sections based on the lines of a poem written by Sarrah’s late grandfather: the full poem was on display in calligraphy on the long canvas draping off of the sweetheart table.
If you ask anyone, the main character of the day was definitely the food, coordinated by Abbas and the head chef of the Peacock Café. A donut wall greeted our guests followed by a bunch of different cocktail hour stations blending the couple’s favorite foods, including watermelon, cheese, chaat tacos and samosas (a tribute to Abbas’ Indian heritage). Our bar served a wide mocktail selection, featuring Her Drink (Bluberry Mint Lemonade) and His Drink (Moscow Mule Mocktail) and an espresso station kept our guests alive and awake with lattes on demand.
At the end of the cocktail hour, we made our entrance into the reception led by the Zaffah, the Egyptian musical troupe characteristic of weddings. Sarrah then surprised Abbas and all our guests by singing him an old classic love song in Arabic. Conversations in Swahili, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic and English filled the air as the crowd settled into the eventful evening over dinner, speeches, Bollywood songs, and lawn games. It was a beautiful celebration that brought together all our favorite people, who had each contributed to the magic we felt on our wedding day.
Photographer: The Great Romance Photo | Event Planning: Details Details | Floral Design: Art With Nature | Wedding Dress: Ines Di Santo | Catering: Aboretum Gardens | Hair & Makeup: Design Visage | Groom's Attire: Hugo Boss | Cake/Dessert: Fantasy Frostings | Ceremony & Reception: Aboretum Gardens | Getting Ready: Langham Hotel Pasadena | Groom's Shoes: Cole Haan | Invitations/Paper Goods: copper willow paper studio | Music: Vox DJs