The wedding we have on tap today is so fun. Bride Amrita was born in India and her husband Joseph in China, so it was important for the couple to combine their two cultures with some American flair thrown in. Not to mention, the amount of DIY that went into this affair is admirable, from the escort cards, to the cake, to 300 macarons! Read on for more on this delicious and happy day.
We spoke to Amrita about her wedding day.
Tell us about the wedding.
I was born in India and my husband was born in China, but we have both spent most of our time in the U.S. which is where we met and fell in love. It was important for us to combine our two cultures and mix it up with American style. We got married in Atlanta (even though we live in St. Louis now) because that’s where we met and where the majority of both our families are.
We had a friend officiate the wedding, and although we had unofficial bridesmaids and groomsmen, we had only our sisters stand up at the altar with us.
Our style was touches of teal and pink with some yellow, gold, and gray. I let my planner choose the flowers since I’m not too particular. I just wanted it to look pretty, and she delivered!
We chose the Biltmore Ballrooms in Atlanta because it’s historical, elegant, and classically beautiful.
At the rehearsal dinner (we did not have a photographer for this) the night before the wedding, we had a Chinese-style dinner. On the wedding night, we kept everything fusion and mostly American.
Sunday was the Indian celebration. Since neither of us are religious, we only kept the tradition of placing garlands on each other and chose to go with a deep red and gold theme, since red and gold are auspicious colors for both the Indians and the Chinese.
Could you tell us about any special wedding customs/clothing you had?
I got my wedding gown made in India in two parts so that I could someday wear each part separately. I plan to wear the inner dress for future anniversaries!
We also bought all the groomsmen and fathers socks and bow ties to match, and only asked them to wear any suit they liked in a shade of gray.
For my unofficial bridesmaids, I didn’t want to dictate what they wore, but asked them to wear anything colorful. I got them all the earrings they wore, big pretty ones from India. They all chose to dress in Indian outfits and they looked amazing!
What was the inspiration for your wedding?
We had no particular inspiration for the wedding except that we wanted it to be as fusion as possible. We wanted to make sure there were touches of India and China, but also include the South since we met in Atlanta, GA, as well as the Midwest, where we now live.
We also just wanted all the people we love all together, happy and celebrating our love. Joe and I are never serious and always laughing, and we wanted everyone to have a great and memorable experience with us.
What was the hardest part about wedding planning?
There are always a lot of difficult bits and random obstacles when planning a wedding, but the two biggest were probably choosing a wedding gown style and choosing the catering. My husband and I are both huge foodies and it was important to both of us to have a fusion in our meal for the Saturday night event.
My wedding planner was thankfully absolutely amazing in helping us choose a caterer. After trying every caterer that I had researched that all turned out terribly, she took us to Dennis Dean and they turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. We still get messages from guests about the food, and I almost wish I had another event to do just so I could cater from them again!
Did you do any DIY (do it yourself) or special projects/things at the wedding?
I decided to make tea as a wedding favor for our guests. Joe and I had visited India a year before and stayed on this gorgeous tea plantation in northern India. Their tea was so delicious we decided to incorporate their tea into our favor. I combined that tea with a lychee black tea that came from China, and added in some rose petals and packaged them in cute little tins for our guests. My friend designed the labels for them, which I absolutely loved, naming them after our first date and listing ingredients and instructions for the tea.
My mother made my favorite Indian yogurt dessert (srikhand) and we served them in little shot glasses as part of dessert.
I also made 300 macarons in different flavors and drove them in from St. Louis and a family friend made my red velvet cake recipe for two tiers and a salted caramel cake for the middle tier as our wedding cake.
My friend and her husband designed the monogram for our names and we put it on everything. They also designed our menus, invitation, and favor labels. Since Joe and I bonded over books when we first met, we decided to use bookmarks as escort cards for our guests. We carefully chose a quote from our favorite authors to assign to each table and all the bookmarks had the name of the guest on one side, and the quote on the other side. We wanted the bookmarks to be a nice accompaniment to the tea.
We also came up with signature cocktails for each other. Joe likes anything with bourbon and I like anything with ginger, so we made cocktails based on those and called them “The J” and “The A.” We had a lot of guests discussing which was the tastier cocktail.
Joe gave all the groomsmen pocket watches and came up with the idea of packing them with the socks and bow ties in cigar boxes. I thought it was adorable.
What was your favorite part of the wedding?
I have too many things! I think the little things were my favorite part of it. Food was very important to us and our caterer did an excellent job of combining our cultures like we asked. We not only wanted to combine Indian and Chinese food but also add in American Southern and American Midwestern into the mix.
We ended up with the most delicious tandoori shrimp and grits, rack of lamb with curry, and Asian spiced filet of beef with sweet potato hash. We opted for chef’s stations so that food could be warm and fresh with little to no wait in line, as well as also customizable for vegetarians.
Since my cousin is a musician in India and Joe’s sister plays the piano, we thought it would be a nice touch to have them perform our first dance. We chose the John Mayer cover of ‘XO’ by Beyonce and it was absolutely perfect! I also asked for the last song of the night to be the original XO by Beyonce and it was honestly the best way to end the night.
What 3 words of advice do you have for future brides/grooms-to-be?
I would just say, get help from family, friends or a wedding planner whenever/wherever you can get it! It’s definitely a huge undertaking even for a small wedding. Take your time and make sure you are happy with all the choices you’re making for the big day. And don’t forget to take moment and breathe when you’re in it—it’s over so soon!
Anything else you would like to add?
I had never wanted a big wedding/ceremony, (let alone three days of partying!) but everything turned out amazing. The best part was seeing all our favorite people in a room together celebrating our love, which is really what it’s all about. We are both all about family so seeing our parents together and our grandparents together was special. It was a wonderful weekend!
Congratulations again Amrita and Joseph! We are so delighted you shared your special day with us.
Vendors: Wedding Planning and Florist: Jade Lee Events // Hair: Scoobie West & Co. // Make-up: Erica Bogart Beauty // Catering: Dennis Dean Catering // Bubble Tea Bar: Honey Bubble // Wedding Invitations: Paperkeet // Bookmarks/Place cards: Paper Daisies Stationery // Photographer: Our Labor of Love // Venue: Biltmore Ballroom, Atlanta, Wimbish House