A Summery Multicultural Western & Indian Carmel Valley Wedding

The Venue

We chose Holman Ranch as our wedding venue because it felt like a destination wedding, close to home. We wanted our friends and family to feel like they were transported – especially the friends and family from the Saxena side who had never experienced a Western-style wedding before. I knew that I wanted everything to be very traditional – but uplifted.

The Decor & Florals

Our color palette was primarily neutral colors, lots of greenery, but then really fun pops of color and texture, like rose velvet table linens, copper table number holders, shimmery cocktail table linens, etc. I wanted it to feel very romantic so we used a lot of flowers and invested in vendors who could create an experience like visiting a European village (The Whiskey Chaser and Cafe Apae.)

The Catering

Food was SUPER important to us. Early on we found a vendor in Napa – Ramekins – when we were looking at venues in that area. They’re a fantastic culinary school and I knew we had to work with them. We ended up convincing them to travel to Carmel Valley (by some miracle) so we could have the menu and quality of food that we insisted on. They helped us design a custom menu with amazing appetizers, a live oyster station, epi baguettes, artisan cheese plates and family-style dinner.

The Reception

Other special touches included copper pipe table number holders (which my dad handmade for weeks before the wedding), affogato served from a Vespa and champagne popsicles – along with the most amazing cheese boards anyone has ever seen at a wedding. Oh! And last but not least we had a surprise table magician during cocktail hour and the beginning of dinner who performed magic tricks for guests. We both LOVE magic.

Advice to Other Couples

Plan early – I never felt like I started too soon. Find vendors that you trust and that you feel like you could be friends with in real life. We had a stellar set of vendors who totally understood what we wanted from the day, which made the execution perfect. I am still obsessed with my planning team from Quintana Events and my photographer, Lauren Feddersen, both of whom I would love to work with again in the future.

As for the budget, be realistic and get creative with what you have. There are so many ways to add special details without blowing your budget. Also, invest in things that will leave an impact for your guests. This was a big one for me since I quickly realized that there were lots of “must-haves” for me that were going to go completely unnoticed by guests – like monogrammed butter pats(!). Don’t skimp on photography – I look back on our photos all the time and it’s the best way to remember the day.

The Honeymoon

We left the day after our wedding for an unforgettable 3-week honeymoon through Turkey, Egypt and Greece. There was something so magical about sneaking out the morning after, just the two of us, while most of our guests who stayed on the property were still sleeping off the night. We had just enough time to come home, grab our suitcases and head to the airport where we completely disconnected from the real world and recounted stories of a magical wedding week. I absolutely recommend a honeymoon, even if it’s a mini-moon right after. You’re surrounded by so many people and so frantic leading up to the event (after months of intense work and stress!) that you deserve downtime with your new husband or wife.