This Californian Wedding Blended Hindu And Jewish Traditions Beautifully

When Sarah and Yash decided to meet after connecting on Bumble, neither of the two expected the date to end up with them walking down the aisle together eight years later!

“Our first date was at Antico, a pizza place in Atlanta. I was on time (for once!), but Yash showed up late. Why? Because he made a pit stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up a bottle of Two Buck Chuck,” recalls Sarah, “When his Uber driver asked if he wanted to hurry, he casually said, ‘No, drive safe, I don’t even know this girl—it’s not like I’m going to marry her.’ Little did he know!”

Cut to three years later, when Yash turned their Anguilla getaway into something special.

“I had been planning the engagement for a while and knew Sarah wanted it to be private, just the two of us,” says Yash, “We spent the day at the beach, then took a cocktail-making class—which, in hindsight, might not have been the best idea just before proposing! But as the sun was setting, I asked her to marry me. She was so excited, she didn’t even let me finish, just grabbed the ring and put it on herself! We spent the rest of the trip celebrating, and it was amazing.”

Both Sarah and Yash were on the same page about the kind of wedding they wanted: small, intimate and a celebration of both their cultures. “We knew we wanted our ceremony to blend Hindu and Jewish traditions, and we found that they complemented each other beautifully.” The couple enlisted the help of luxury wedding planning company Amorology to ensure they could pull off an intimate outdoor wedding that had all the special details that celebrated their love for each other while being surrounded by their loved ones (including their adorable dogs!). 

“We were surprised by how many decisions we had to make—it was total analysis paralysis! There are just so many choices, vendors, and options out there. And it’s a lot of money for one day! We were definitely caught off-guard by that. Weddings can get out of hand so quickly. We had to be really open with each other, communicate clearly, and define our priorities throughout the planning process.” 

For their Sangeet-inspired pre-wedding get-together, the bride and groom picked complementary Anita Dongre ensembles, with Sarah going for a hand-painted, hand-beaded co-ord set and Yash choosing a silk bandhgala paired with linen pants. “I was most excited about the clothes!” says Sarah, “I couldn’t wait to wear a traditional Indian outfit at our welcome party and see all of our guests in traditional attire, too. It was also really nice to see Yash’s family wearing traditional Indian clothes on our wedding day. Everyone looked amazing, and the outfits were absolutely beautiful.”

Along with the intricately crafted clothes, Sarah was also drawn to the Indian custom of adorning a bride’s hands and feet with mehndi. “I loved watching how Sarah embraced the mehndi and went for it!” says Yash, “It was amazing to see the traditional mehndi design combined with modern touches, like the dog paws.”

For the main ceremony, Sarah chose a custom Vivienne Westwood gown with a stunning detachable silk cape, and Yash went with a classic black tux from Paris. Even though the couple had tweaked tradition by having the groom accompany the bride as she looked for her wedding outfit, Sarah and Yash had kept the final look to themselves. The couple’s chosen wedding venue, the Klentner Ranch in Santa Barbara, served as a beautiful backdrop for the bride and groom’s stunning outfits.

The couple’s commitment to blending traditions manifested beautifully in their wedding ceremony which was kicked off by the couple signing a ketubah, a standard marriage contract by Jewish law. This was followed by a traditional Indian baraat.  

“The part I was most jealous of—because I couldn’t participate—was the baraat” says Sarah, “It looked so fun with the vintage Mercedes and the dhol players! The dancing and the music were incredible. Even though I couldn’t join in, I did manage to sneak a peek.”

Another important cultural blend happened in the form of the Hindu mandap and Jewish chuppah coming together. The mandap is a temporary platform set up for Hindu wedding ceremonies and a chuppah is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stands during the wedding ceremony.

Sarah and Yash had a combination of the two set up, decorated with flowers that held special meaning to them. The ceremony started with a traditional prayer by Yash’s grandmother and continued on with a mix of the two distinct cultures. “One of our favourite parts of the wedding was that our sisters officiated the ceremony. Yash's sister, Dulari, represented the Hindu traditions, and my sister, Kati, represented the Jewish traditions. It made the ceremony so personal to have two people we love officiate for us.”

While Sarah and Yash never had a fixed idea of a ‘dream wedding’, their beautifully planned nuptials came close to one. “We didn’t grow up imagining our perfect wedding day or come in with tons of expectations. When we started planning, we just wanted it to feel like “us” and to honour both of our cultures. We wanted a day filled with love, friends, family, good music, drinks, and food, where everyone had a great time. Our wedding turned out even better than we ever could have imagined. We loved it so much!”

Post the wedding, the couple is excited to create more new blended traditions together as they live their ‘Happily Ever After’.