Looking at this beautiful couple, you can literally feel the love radiating off the screen during their Hotel Monaco DC wedding. The couple infused both of their cultures into the wedding with a sandalwood garland exchange as a nod to his Indian heritage, and a unity candle lighting and personal vows for their civil ceremony. The couple opted to focus in on the things that were very important to them, such as an amazing band, Doctor’s Orders, and having plenty of personal touches involved in their wedding, such as the pretty awesome grooms cake as a nod the the brides southern roots! My favorite detail has to be Robin’s girly wedding dress and stunning bouquet by Wild Green Yonder. The oversized dinner plate dahlias and trailing greens conveyed such a romantic tone that was perfectly balanced by the light pink bridesmaid dresses! A big thank you to Maryland based photography team at Birds of a Feather Photos for sharing this heart warming Hotel Monaco celebration with us!

From the bride: It was most important to us that our wedding was a joyful day and that everyone had a wonderful, fun time for all of our guests, and we wanted to remember it forever. For us, that meant we needed an awesome band, delicious food and drinks, and the perfect photographers.We wanted our wedding day to be a reflection of us that was classic, elegant, and timeless with special touches that would separates ours from a traditional wedding. Our goal was to design a wedding that would feel both grand and intimate, a happy celebration that respected the solemnity of the union we were entering into.

During the week before the wedding, the bride hosted a traditional Mehndi, or henna, party for her mother, sisters, future mother-in-law, bridesmaids, and female friends. All of the women wore saris that were gifted to the guests and had henna designs drawn on their hands. The bride had henna drawn on her hands and feet, with the groom’s name hidden in the design for him to find.

As for our photographers, we cannot give them enough of the positive praise they deserve. Betty and Maggie, of Birds of a Feather Photography, were excellent from beginning to end, and beyond. They have found the perfect balance of professionalism and personality. Throughout the entire wedding day, I felt they were instrumental in making sure everything ran smoothly and perfectly while simultaneously letting us enjoy every second of the day. They were unobstrusive but captured every special moment that we could hope to remember in photographs.

Advice from the bride: Don’t be pushed into spending more than your comfort level. We focused on working with vendors who would customize their services to meet our needs and our budget. Our florist, Lori at Wild Green Yonder, was a delight to work with. She customized our floral design to our budget and we got everything we wanted and more. 

Bringing our vision to life resulted in a civil ceremony, encircled by our guests, that included both traditional American and Indian wedding rituals, tuxedos and saris, a dear friend as the officiant, and exchanging vows that we wrote for each other. My favorite memory from the day was that I remember standing, before all of our family and friends, across from my groom and listening to the vows he had written to me, and, when he was finished, asking if I could kiss him. I was told I would have to wait.

The band was one of the first vendors we booked for our wedding and we could not have been more thrilled with their performance at our reception! Everyone was on the dance floor all night and our guests still rave about our great band. After the ceremony and cocktail hour, we kicked off our reception with a choreographed dance to “For Once in My Life.” For the father-daughter dance, the bride and her father surprised the guests with a choreographed dance to “Rocky Top,” as an homage to the bride’s alma mater.

Advice from the Bride for other Washington DC area couples:

Remember that, as the bride and groom, you’re on the same team! Listen to each other and stay true to what is important to you.

I highly recommend pre-marital counseling for all DC couples. Ashley Seeger of DC Couples’ Counseling is wonderful! We weren’t quite sure how we would benefit from pre-marital counseling, but we were open to the idea, and we still use the tools and advice we received. It’s a great learning experience before you take on your new role as a wife or husband.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that we could take advantage of several discounts just because we were getting married in August in DC. While August in DC can be humid and hot, we knew our wedding would be entirely indoors and unaffected by the weather. We were able to book vendors we otherwise may not have been able to afford!

Congratulations to Robin and Sandeep and thank you for sharing your beautifully romantic Hotel Monaco DC wedding with us!

The following Washington DC area professionals contributed to their wedding:

Photography: Birds of a Feather Photos

Ceremony + Reception: Hotel Monaco DC

Videography: Sarah Stuart

Cake: Fancy Cakes by Leslie

Band: Doctor’s Orders

Stationery: Bellajenna

Floral Designer: Wild Green Yonder

Hair Stylist: Meghan Moody

Makeup Artist: Gina Robertson

Gown: Pronovias

Bridal Salon: The White Room

Shoes: BHLDN

Jewelry: David Yurman & Washington Diamond

Wedding Party Attire: J. Crew

Groom Suit: Hugo Boss

Bridal Party Suiting: The Black Tux

Ceremony Music: St. Charles Quartet

Henna Artist: Henna Harmony

Favors: Donation to Bread for the City 

For more wedding vendors, please visit our Washington DC area wedding vendor guide and for even more amazing local ideas, check out our wedding inspiration galleries and other Washington DC area real weddings.

Photo Credits: Birds of a Feather Photo