There are eight weeks left before our wedding, and this week the invitations were sent! I will be waiting for the RSVPs to come in and will be busy crocheting the color coded “meal flowers” immediately.
My colors are all jewel tones – an amethyst purple, dark sapphire blue, and an emerald/teal green and of course gold. Each flower indicates a coordinating meal and will be attached to each escort card.

Our reception will be a plated dinner and our selections are the following:

Chicken Option:
(Nadia’s Favorite Food)
Chicken (Murgh) Makhani
A Pakistani dish consisting of a spiced curry mixture of cream, tomato, and butter,
blended together with full flavored roasted boneless chicken pieces served with Basmati rice.

Beef/Seafood Option:
(Nate’s Favorite Food)
Steak/Salmon
6 oz. center cut sirloin steak with king salmon, paired with house whipped Yukon gold potatoes and fresh garlic hericot vert

Vegetarian Option:
(Combined Favorite)
Classic Pesto Linguini
Linguini in light pesto cream with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, onions, and shaved parmesan served with garlic toast

For all kids, we will be serving signature Mac & Cheese.

Before planning a wedding, one never realizes the details that go into coordinating such an event!

Since we are having a Pakistani/Irish fusion wedding held on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, there are fun details from both of our cultures being incorporated into our special day.

My Mehndi is being held a day before our wedding and this event is a fun day for the ladies.  The Henna Ceremony, or the Rasm-e-henna ceremony, typically takes place one or two days prior to the main wedding day. Mehndi is a form of body art from Ancient India, in which decorative designs are created on a person’s body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant. The henna is symbolically placed on the bride’s hands and feet by a professional mehndi artist. The designs are very intricate. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or initials of the groom are applied. In Pakistan, the Mehndi is often one of the most important pre-wedding ceremonies. This ritual is supposed to bring good luck and longevity to the bride’s married life.

The wedding day will all be held at the same place with our ceremony being held in one part of the venue and reception and dinner in the banquet room.

The Walima (Groom’s Reception) is a meal that is held the day after the wedding. It is a feast of traditional Pakistani foods. It is at this ceremony that the bride and groom are formally and publicly showcased as a married couple.

Thankfully we are able to do much of the wedding DIY ourselves. My mom and I have been on the go for the past week, (well since I got engaged, but more so in the past week!) and we have been able to check a lot off the to-do list. We are definitely do-ers and planners! Nate has been sooo incredibly helpful as well, and of course, my dad weighs in to share ideas about the Pakistani parts of our wedding.

We met with our amazing DJ and planned out the music for the best dance party!

I may have mentioned in an earlier blog post that I plan to make all my flowers myself. I have been working on all the flowers for the bouquets, boutonnières, corsages, and centerpieces.

We started to put together an arrangement this past weekend to come up with how to incorporate the crochet flowers into our centerpieces. This was just a rough start, but we are loving how they look against the Lemon Leaf greenery. I have gotten a good start on the flowers and have about 150-175 left to crochet aside from those tiny meal flowers which I will know more when those RSVPs come in.

I crocheted my girls the Wrapped In Jewels Shawl which I will be gifting to them at our Rehearsal dinner. I shared those with you at the end of last year, and I was able to cross that off my list. I also have the Henna Inspired Mandalas that I crocheted and hope to somehow incorporate those into the weekend but not sure where.

Details, details, details!! I love the creative parts of the planning, but the logistics are giving me a touch of worry trying to keep everything straight and organized. So far, it is all coming together very well. My excitement is growing by the day! More updates to come!! Thank you for joining me on this journey!!

~Nadia

My dad will continue to be the videographer, editor, and photographer for our videos when I move away.
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