Accomplishing It All: Indian & Ethiopian Fusion — The Double Knot | Certified Planners | Weddings and Events

Not sure which traditions to include in your wedding ceremony and reception? There are only so many hours in the day, so sometimes you need to pick and choose your favorites. However, for those who want to do it all, you just got to spread it out over the week! Go on a journey with one of our couples to see how they celebrated their love over a four-day Indian Ethiopian fusion spectacle! The Double Knot was honored to guide them through two of their four-day event.

Part One: A Western Ceremony on the Beach

After a quick first look overlooking the bay, our beautiful couple chose to begin their festivities with a romantic ceremony on the sand at Crescent Bay Beach during a gorgeous Wednesday evening sunset. Serenaded by a live violinist, they had a family member officiate with 40 guests present to cheer them on. It was a moment to remember forever! Then, they gathered at a nearby Peerspace to enjoy an incredible dinner together. Although it seemed like a simple event, our team assisted with setup and teardown, and also organized the permits, florist, rentals, license signing, musician, officiant and of course the guests all the way through the end of dinner that night. It was a lot of work but the love surrounding this couple were palpable and priceless!

Anatoliy Photography; Crescent Bay Beach; Lily of the Valley Florist

Part 2: The Fusion of Cultures

In the Indian culture, the groom gets hoisted up like a king while he and his family parade toward the bride’s family in a high energy celebration called a Baraat. Traditionally, they use elephants, but these days it is popular to use horses, or convertibles and in this case a gorgeous white Mercedes G-Wagon. There is always drumming, incredible fashion, and upbeat music to create an incredible uplifting celebratory vibe. However, the bride’s family had their own pre-ceremony Ethiopian traditions as well, so this time, the groom had to battle his way through her uncles to sweep the bride away to the ceremony in a fun tradition called the Anasgebam Sergenya.

Anatoliy Photography; Los Coyotes Country Club

Then, once the groom wins over the bride, the crowd walked to the beautifully adorned mandap where the Hindu ceremony took place. For this Hindu ceremony, the priest squeezed in as many traditions as he could before the sunset including the Milni where the immediate family honors the grandparents, aunts, and uncles with garlands as well as other traditions that are over 4,000 years old. These symbolize not only the joining of the bride and groom together but also the joining of the families.

Anatoliy Photography; Los Coyotes Country Club; Lily of the Valley Florist; ESC Productions

Then, after some gorgeous sunset photos, the party continued in the ballroom and it was jam packed with traditional displays of dance as well as incredible outfit changes! They wow’d their guests with an incredible Indian catering and a classy string quartet for dinner music as well! The event was truly entertaining around every turn.

Anatoliy Photography; Los Coyotes Country Club; Lily of the Valley Florist; ESC Productions; XL Entertainment Systems

The party went all night long and it was only day three of the four-day celebration! It was an honor to be chosen to bring these two days to life. Want to get a peek into the rest of the week’s events? Check out an article published by Over the Moon here! We wish you the best in your wedding planning journey! Don’t forget to download your free wedding planning checklist on our website too!

We couldn’t pull these events off without this amazing team of vendors! Here’s the full vendor list:

Publication @overthemoon
Planning and coordination @thedoubleknot
Beach - Crescent Bay Beach
Catering @heritagecateringsocal
Violin @lilia_valerie
Rentals @surfcitypartyrentals
Benches @akt_made
Venue @loscoyotesccevents
Catering @mantraindiancuisine
Florist @lilyofthevalley_oc
Photo Video @anatoliykweddings
DJ @dj_mojoe
Quartet @orchidquartet
Bakery @pattys.cakes
Rentals @xl.entertainment.systems
Staging @jc.the.esc.co
Hair and Makeup @a_d_makeup
Transportation @hblimoservicesinc
Henna @bridalbynisha
Dohl Player @drumaticsoundz
Audio Guestbook @at_the_beeep