We were so happy to be asked to be apart of this beautiful styled shoot put together by Regal Event Decor! For this shoot, we wanted to highlight the different looks and feels, but also show how everything can be tied together, when you have weddings from two different cultures. We had a traditional Pittsburgh American wedding setup followed by a Sangreet/Mehendi (Indian) wedding setup.

A fusion of South Asian + American weddings are happening more and more, with us having recently photographed one in Washington DC and having two more this year in Pittsburgh. Sometimes the weddings will be two days, where you can focus on one culture each day, but for this shoot, we showed how you can setup and do two looks in one day. All of the fusion weddings I have photographed featured two ceremonies on one day and then a reception to cap things off.

I was able to talk with the awesome designer (who also built the beautiful back drops and provided the furniture), Aarzu Ahmed-Rehman from Regal Event Decor, to hear her inspiration for this styled shoot:

The shoot was inspired to incorporate the variety of cultures becoming more and more apparent in the Greater Pittsburgh region. As many business industries are booming here, they are also attracting more and more diversity. Keeping that in mind, for our American Wedding look, I came up with a design that highlighted the colors we traditionally envision when thinking about a wedding: white--to incorporate the brides dress, the idea of purity, and the innocence of a new life, much like that of a newborn baby; and greens, to resonate with the idea of a fresh, brand new start to a brand new life together. 

Our Sangreet/Mehendi look was created with the idea of festivities in mind. As we see a cultural shift around several areas of Pittsburgh, including an uprising South Asian community, I delved into the idea of colors and really tried to tie that with a new life. What I came to realize is, colors are cheerful. They are associated with the summer time because the days are longer--in a nutshell, longevity. The Indian culture focuses so much on colors as a part of wedding traditions to mirror that idea in marriage--longevity and eternalness. Additionally, colors are often the soul of festivals, hence the Indian and Hindu holiday, Holi--a festival of colors. In the Indian culture, a marriage is a celebration of union--a festival, if you will of two hearts becoming one. And so, we incorporated bold oranges and blues, fused with the prior idea of fresh greens, lanterns to signify am eternal flame, and pinks for the blushing bride. All together, these colors created a symphony, an array of dancing shades that fusion weddings all bring to our eyes, each in their own unique way. 

Vendor information below the photos.

Vendors:

Lead Design, Setup, Furniture, and Florals: Aarzu Ahmed-Rehman of Regal Event Decor

Venue: Noah’s Event Venue Cranberry

Model: Kinza

Hair/Makeup Artist: Elisha Evans Styling

Dress: Blanc de Blanc Bridal

American Cake: Tasty Bakery

Southeast Asian Cake: Kartika of Regal Event Decor

Videography: Jeremy Scott Films

Photography: Adam Michaels Photography

Additional Photography: Liz Capuano Photography