Natasha and Sandeep, Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Texas

What happens when a San Francisco hipster, alternative energy loving finance guy decides to marry a 2010 Miss India USA, lawyer, techie and fashion fiend? You get to witness an epic – and interesting – fairytale wedding! Here, bride Natasha tells us all about their journey of love and highlights from their gorgeous wedding.

How We Met
Sandeep grew up in California, US, and did a double degree in Material Sciences and Business from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing college, Sandeep moved back to the Bay Area to work in banking, specifically in the technology sector; while Natasha, who hails from Dallas, Texas, moved out to California for law school. While they both crossed paths at multiple events, they were never properly introduced until Natasha’s second year of law school internship. After a year and a half of dating, Sandeep contacted Zameer Kassam Fine Jewellery and created a ring that represented their journey as a couple and popped the question in the most romantic way.

Wedding Venue
The picture-perfect wedding celebrations were held in various spaces at the Four Seasons Resort Los Colinas in the bride’s hometown of Dallas. The wedding ceremony was held outdoors on The Terrace of the resort and it was truly a dream come true for the couple and their families.

Wedding Planning
“The biggest challenge we found in planning our wedding was making sure that people understood our vibe as a couple. We like a modern and funky vibe, and wanted something different, which we wanted to achieve in a timeless way. I wanted my wedding to be like my favorite leather jacket! When I look back at pictures, I didn’t want to think I was just on trend. Instead, I also wanted to make sure my the decor and outfits could transcend time. When we first started planning, this was extremely hard to convey what we wanted until we found the right vendors and planners.”

Wedding Functions

Mehndi
“The mehndi ceremony was held at the Four Seasons in an intimate room right off the golf course. The theme was ‘Boots and Bindis’. My girlfriends and I wore cowboy boots and, of course, bindis to blend my Texas upbringing with Indian culture as well as show all the incoming Californians how Texans party. The whole night had a very bohemian vibe from the decor to my floral accessories and outfit. The food matched the theme and featured Tex-Mex flavors. We also had mehndi cookies made for our guests. My mehndi outfit was a floral printed skirt, raw silk top, and organza mirrored dupatta designed by me under my label bZAI by Natasha Arora. Sandeep wore a three-piece kurta and jacket set from Gujral Sons.”

Sangeet
“The sangeet function was all about dancing and was held in the Pavilion of the resort. The boho-chic theme came through the multi-color dance floor and the tassels and streamers hung from the ceiling. The food was special since my dad catered it. As a restaurateur, he owns the top Indian wedding catering restaurant in Dallas, The Saffron House, and did not hold back for my wedding. The sangeet had 12 stations of food – from chaat, Indo-Chinese, vegetarian treats, non-vegetarian delights, lassi stations – you name it!’

“My sangeet outfits drew inspiration from Sabyasachi but with a more boho vibe thanks to my off-shoulder tops. The main outfit was a gold sequined off-shoulder lehenga, and the dance outfit was a tribal IKAT print lehenga with an off-shoulder raw silk top which had a completely see through back. For this function, Sandeep wore a jacket and Bangla-style pants that were from a cute little boutique in South Extension in New Delhi called Heritage.”

“As a dancer, I’ve waited my whole life to perform for my future husband at my sangeet. With my friends from my college dance team, I performed on a mix of Bollywood numbers on the dance floor. It was my favorite part of the night and the YouTube video of the dance now has over 800,000 views! After we performed, my brother performed my favorite song, ‘I Won’t Give Up’ by Jason Mraz. He is my best friend and his performance meant everything to me. After the performances, we danced our way into the morning.”

Wedding
“Our wedding was held outside on The Terrance of the resort. I created a whole Parisian Garden theme around my bridal outfit and wanted the decor to match. There was greenery everywhere and soft touches of blush and champagne, and our families all wore pastel tones and I wore a baby pink lehenga that I created myself. We had vegan gulab jamun, ras malai, and chai spiced cupcakes hanging from a Ganesh tree for our guests to eat while the ceremony took place.

“For the ‘baraat’ (groom’s procession), Sandeep came in on an electric skateboard while his groomsmen drove up in vintage bikes. Since he’s Marathi (I’m half Kashmiri/half Punjabi), he was really confused by the idea of mobile DJ and dhol (ethnic drum) players bringing him in, I told him to go along with it. His quiet family loved it! They danced their whole way into the ceremony and partied Punjabi style! They were having such a party with the ‘baraat’ that all my family and friends actually left the ceremony greeting area to go out and break it down with the groom’s side!”

“My wedding lehenga’s skirt featured baby pink vegan leather stitched into hundreds of florets, while the top was a full, beadwork blouse. There were two dupattas – one for my head and the other with the beadwork to mirror the floral design draped over my body. Instead of wearing the traditional Punjabi gold ‘kalire’ (bridal bangles with tassels), I knew I wanted something softer. We went for white roses, jasmine, and a variety of other white flowers mixed in. Sandeep wore a sherwani from Gujral Sons that matched perfectly with my outfit.”

Reception
“The reception was held in the main ballroom at the hotel. It was ethereal and extremely chic. The dance floor was reflective rose gold, the tables were mirrored, the stage was filled with a dozen trees with white and champagne flowers and candles hanging from them. The ceiling was filled with white streamers and crystals. We were so lucky that my dad took over the food planning. There were cheese stations, American food, traditional Indian food, and a special dessert cart with ice cream and cookies as well as every dessert you can imagine. After 2 am, we had burgers, honey butter chicken biscuits, and taquitos brought in for the after party guests.”

“For entertainment, our families entered in with an anything but typical family entrance. My brother created his own lyrics to Bruno Mars ‘Marry You’, customized to Sandeep and my love story and both of our families came in together posing with each part of the song. Both our dads and my mom gave hilarious, touching speeches. After their speeches, our bridesmaids and groomsmen performed a ‘How They Met” type dance and Sandeep and I joined to finish it out with a kiss at the end!”

“My reception outfit was an ode to Hillary Clinton, my legal role model. It was a four-piece, fully hand embroidered monochromatic outfit – body suit, lehenga, skirt overlay, and belt. The body suit was see through, low cut, and backless. The lehenga and skirt overlay came off towards the end of the night and I changed into wide legs pants. To add the finishing touches, jewelers Zameer Kassam brought me a 50-carat diamond tennis necklace to wear with the reception outfit! On the other hand, Sandeep looked dapper in a custom-made tux by Proper Suit from San Francisco.”

Advice for couples
“My advice for any bride who is just as fashion obsessed as I am – plan ahead. I took pictures of everyone in the bridal party’s outfits, from their jewellery to their shoes, and made sure it looked right in the picture. If there is anything I learned from modeling and pageants, it’s that photo shoots take effort. There’s lots of preparation that goes into getting that one picture fit for Vogue. I explained this to my whole family and made sure they had everything planned. I even mentioned that we should look like we stepped off the pages of Vogue magazine!”

The Wedding Makers
Venue: Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Texas, US
Event Planning: K.I. Weddings (Dallas)
Florist and Decor: Prashe Decor (Dallas)
Food & Beverages: The Saffron House (Dallas)
Custom Macaroons and Cookies: Deelish Cupcakes (Houston)
Makeup Artist and Hairstylist: JTorry Makeup + Hair Artistry, by Jenny Torry
Henna artists: Henna by Zohra (Texas)
Bride’s Outfits: bZAI by Natasha Arora
Engagement Ring: Zameer Kassam (New York)
Groom’s Outfits: Gujral Sons (Mehndi and Wedding); Heritage, New Delhi (Sangeet); Proper Suits, San Francisco (Reception)
Entertainment: Desi Junction DJs (Houston)

Videography: Memories Films
Photographer: Matt and Ivy for Ivy Weddings

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