Happy Friday Maharanis! To wrap up the week, we give you the best of Karima and Yasir's fusion wedding! The cute pair met as coworkers ten years ago and began dating long-distance. The romance continued until Yasir surprised Karima with a unique proposal in London and finally came to the States to tie the knot in a fabulous autumnal fusion wedding. The couple's September wedding was filled with rustic elements and autumnal hues but especially a mix of Indian and western wedding traditions! Meredith Commender helped make their wedding special! "She was extremely prompt, organized, and practical with her advice," Karima says. Before their big day, the couple hosted a mehndi function and a fun Ismaili Pithi to honor their Indian roots. It was time to wed, thankfully their wedding venue was an easy choice. The duo booked The Venue at Waterstone, an idyllic site that offered a stunning waterfront spot for their ceremony. It was a beautiful outdoor western union under a floral arbor arch at the golden hour. Ishnae & Co.'s team glammed Karima with natural makeup that accentuated her stunning eyes and finished the look with a loose updo. She showed off her best bridal style in Pronovias' gown, while Yasir looked equally sharp in an Edit Suits burgundy jacket and black trousers. They were the epitome of modern elegance! The reception decor created by Platinum Petals incorporated a delicate rustic aesthetic and fall hues. It also featured a tasty customed donut wall by Wow! Donuts that included the couple's favorite Ferrero Rocher chocolate flavor, plenty of dancing, thanks to Le Force's DJ Dominic Nagella, and an impactful firework finale! William Bichara Photography photoed the lovely pair throughout their special days, captured all the best of their intimate affair, and compiled it into a gorgeous wedding album! Click here to unveil all images!
How did you meet your Groom, and when did you know he was "the one"?
We met at work 10 years ago at Twilio, a tech startup in San Francisco. We both still work there today! We were on the same team and definitely had eyes for each other on day 1, but we didn’t act on it until years later. I had actually moved to Ireland with the company and was back in town on a work trip when I finally made the move. We couldn’t stop talking for the next few weeks, FaceTiming nonstop after I got back to Dublin, and I knew from our immediate connection that something was different. He flew out to see me in London a few months later and after spending 10 days together, while we were at a rooftop bar named Radio, he essentially gave me an ultimatum which was to go all in and date him or not speak to him again because the casual dating in between thing we were doing was not working for him.
Share the scoop on your Proposal Story!
We were living in London at the time. I had 2 of my best friends in town (which I should have known was a sign that they were visiting at the same time). One of my local friends in London was having a party on a boat and she shared the location of where the boat would pick us up and asked if I knew any nice cocktail bars around where we could all meet up for a drink before. I, as my husband knew I would, suggested Radio. We got to Radio and the host led us to the rooftop where Yas was waiting amongst rose petals, many photos of us, and the London skyline. He proposed (neither of us really remembers what he said) and then had an amazing lunch in the cabana on the rooftop just the two of us. About 2 hours later, one by one, our friends started arriving and surprising us on the rooftop. He had managed to coordinate our closest friends from San Francisco, LA, NY, and Dallas to fly to London to spend the weekend with us.
Tell us how you went about planning your Wedding, and your overall experience with the Venues, Hair & Makeup, Outfits, Decor Theme, and all of the other important details.
We loved our wedding planner, Meredith Commender, founder of Significant Events of Texas. She is very easy to work with, she’s done so many different types of weddings with different cultures so she just gets it all. She was extremely prompt, organized, and practical with her advice.
We loved our venue, The Waterstone Venue in Celina! It was a beautiful barn on the water in a remote part of north texas. Ishnae for hair and makeup was incredible, I’d definitely recommend them again!
How did you select your bridal lengha or wedding dress? Did you have a favorite color in mind?
I went western for my dress, it was actually the first dress I tried on at a bridal store in London called Pronovias, a Spanish designer. I had 8 more dress appointments after that (both in London and back in Dallas) but I ended up choosing that first dress I tried on at Pronovias as the one!
The Lengha I wore to the Mendhi is actually an old sari of my mom’s that I took to a designer in India to re-purpose as a modern Lengha and top.
What was the most enjoyable part of the planning process, and why?
The small details- thinking of ways to delight guests and things that were truly us. We opted for a donut wall instead of a wedding cake and we sat down with the pastry chef at Wow! Donuts to custom make our flavors (our favorite was the Ferrero Rocher chocolate donut)!
What did your guests particularly love about your Wedding?
I think they loved how intimate it was. It was 120 people, which for how large our communities both are, was quite small.
Was there a really special moment in your Wedding that constantly replays in your mind?
The fireworks at the end! It was a surprise and the guests didn’t know it was coming so watching everyone’s reactions as we ran through the wedding tunnel at the end was amazing!
For events other than your ceremony, please tell us as much as you would like about the decor, style, dances, and all the special details.
The only other thing we did was the night before at my parent’s house we did a mendhi. We had a taco truck and a bartender and it was a very casual night for everyone to meet each other. We also did the typical Ismaili pithi (even though my husband is not Ismaili) and most of the guests had never seen one before so they were in for a treat! They fully leaned into the tradition.
Do you have any words of wisdom for Brides-To-Be?
Find a good planner- everything else will follow!
Anything else you want to tell us? We'd love to hear all about your other details! (jewelry, mehndi, venue, cake, bouquets, etc.)
Our photographer, William, was amazing! We’ve already referred him to 6 or so weddings that he has booked since our wedding a year ago. Finding a photographer that you connect with is really important bc they are a big part of your day and with you in very intimate moments. We felt very comfortable with William. One of the things he did that we loved is he encouraged us to do an engagement shoot. We got used to taking professional photos. It’s a bit awkward at first so i think this was a good trial run to get comfortable taking photos so that we were ready for our wedding weekend photos! Also, we got really comfortable with William so we weren't meeting him for the first time on our wedding weekend.
