Ashley and Joseph first met during dental school orientation. On their last year as students, and after three years of friendship, their feelings for each other had grown into love and they began dating. With Ashley being Indian and Joseph Egyptian, their wedding features a church ceremony and a Hindu ceremony. Both ceremonies are beautiful in their traditions, and the reception leaves no details overlooked – a wonderful multicultural event.
Read all about Ashley & Joseph’s love story, romantic sunset beach proposal in Costa Rica, and wedding experiences – view the vendor list below.
Bride & Groom: Ashley & Joseph
Occupations: Both are dentists
Wedding Date: 5/28/2016
Wedding Location: Pasadena, CA
Tell us how you met and all about the proposal. My husband and I first met during our first year of dental school. We both attended USC and met during orientation. We were friends for about three years and started dating our last year of dental school. We had been dating about two years when we planned a trip to Costa Rica. He had the whole proposal planned and I was clueless that it was going to happen on this vacation. Our first day in Costa Rica we decided to take a walk on the beach at sunset, as we were walking we saw a table set up with flowers and candlelight. There was a gentleman playing the saxophone and a beautiful gazebo filled with flowers and candles. We walked past it a couple times as he tried to pretend that it was not for us, until finally he walked me up into the gazebo. He got down on one knee, and of course I just started crying. I was shocked! But it was so incredibly romantic and thoughtful.
What was wedding shopping like for you? So being that I am Indian and my husband is Egyptian we had two ceremonies so I got to shop for two wedding dresses! My dress for church was very romantic with a lot of lace and was a trumpet style, form fitted at the top and lots of tulle at the bottom. It was actually the third dress I tried on and I knew it was the perfect dress. I had no idea what style of dress I wanted when I went shopping but as soon as I put my dress on, I knew that was it.
My dress for the second ceremony, a hindu ceremony, was very bright and vibrant. I knew that I wanted something very colorful and since the ceremony was outdoors I wanted it to be very bright. Traditionally hindu brides wear a shade of red, but i’ve always loved pink so I went with a vibrant pink color. Shopping for my hindu wedding dress was a little more difficult as I wanted something from India that was made for me. We have a designer we work with so it was a lot of going back and forth with sketches and color swatches. Also everything in India is handmade so we had to allot quite of bit of time for the fabric and embroidery. But this was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning!
Did you have any bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts? We both did gifts for our bridal party. My husband loves crazy socks and wanted all of his groomsmen, including our fathers, to have fun socks for the wedding. We bought them each a pair and had them embroidered with their initials. It was a fun little gift. For my bridesmaids I had them split, so half in the church ceremony and half for the hindu ceremony. For the girls in the church ceremony I got them all rose gold bracelets to go with their dresses. And for the girls in the hindu ceremony since they were wearing saris, I got them a tikka which is a piece of jewelry you wear on your head, and bracelets.
What song played for your first dance? We have both always loved John Legend so when we heard the song “You and I” we knew that was the one. It’s a very sweet song and not super slow so something we could easily dance to.
What is your best memory from your wedding? I actually have two! The first one was when we did our first look. I was so nervous to see him when I was finally ready. I don’t know why I was so nervous but I think it was just all the built up energy for the day. As soon as I saw him all my nerves were gone and I was just so excited to get married! Once we saw each other the rest of the day was just fun for me. I felt so at ease and just ready to enjoy our special day together.
My other favorite memory was the ride back from the church to the hotel where the second ceremony and reception were taking place. We had rented a party bus for us and the bridal party. It was so much fun! We had music and it was all of our closest friends just having fun. It was one of the best times Ive ever had because everyone was so excited and you just feel the love in the bus. I highly recommend having a party bus to everyone!
What is the best wedding advice you can give to engaged couples? Don’t let the wedding planning get to you!! It’s stressful and there’s a lot to think about, but at the end of the day it’s about the couple. And they have to remember that. One thing that I realized is that everyone involved in the planning will have an opinion but the only opinion that matters is the couples, because it’s their day and it’s all about them. So do what makes YOU happy!
Vendors:
Wedding Planner and Designer: Nahid‘s Global Events
Ceremony venue: St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Church
Reception Venue: The Langham Huntington
Photography: Yair Haim Photography
Videography: Robles Video Production
Hindu Priest: Mr. Vinod Dave
Hair and Makeup: Leeya Studio
Florist: Shawna Yamamoto Event Design
Hindu Ceremony and Reception Musician: DJ Kucha
Lighting and A/V: Vario Production
Dohl Player: Dhol Nation
Camel for Barrat: Your Enchanted Carriages
Furniture: Lounge Appeal
Mobile Music for Barrat: Riamu Entertainment
Rentals: Glam Events
Rentals: White Night Design
Linen: Luxe Linen
Dance Floor: HCD High Colorful Dance Floors
Photo Booth: Myla Photobooth
Transportation: ABA Unique Limousine
Cocktail Reception Entertainment: Yennie La
What extraordinary detail!
It was a pleasure working on Ashley and Josephs wedding! Thanks so much for sharing!
Ashley and Joseph were such a pleasure to work with. Really enjoyed the planning and design process of their wedding. They are one of our favorite couples.