1. Real Weddings

A Vibrant Multicultural Wedding at Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas

Blaire Pugliese (26 and a representative for Landman) and Aneil Kochar (26 and a private equity associate) met in high school and then attended rival

Blaire Pugliese (26 and a representative for Landman) and Aneil Kochar (26 and a private equity associate) met in high school and then attended rival universities. They reunited at a college football game and have been together ever since. In their multicultural two-day wedding for 500 guests at Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas, Blaire and Aneil honored both his Sikh heritage and her Jewish and Catholic background. A luxurious, colorful Indian ceremony was held on Saturday and a more naturalistically inspired Jewish and Catholic event was held the following day. “On Saturday, I wanted people to walk into the room and smile when seeing the vibrant colors,” Blaire says. “We used flowers ranging in color from hot pink to orange, from green to yellow and red. On Sunday, I wanted everything to be classy with a twist—an organic, woodsy look.” Blaire and Aneil recommend taking time to connect with older relatives at the reception and leaning on friends to document details. “Have friends take as many pictures as possible,” Blaire says. “It takes weeks to get your professional pictures back, and the night happens so fast. With your friends’ pictures, you can relive the gorgeous details that you spent months on while you're waiting to get the professional pictures back.” —Carolyn Meers

"I really wanted to wear bright colors," Blaire says of her look for Saturday's Indian ceremony. "The Indian culture is so vibrant, and I wanted to emulate that through my clothing. We worked with an amazing local designer to create clothing that was basically works of art. A typical Indian bride wears a shade of red, but I tried to push the envelope a bit and opted for hot pink during the ceremony."
"A typical Indian bride wears a shade of red, but I tried to push the envelope a bit and opted for hot pink during the ceremony," Blaire says.
For the Indian ceremony on Saturday, Aneil and his groomsmen wore a custom Indian outfit from Sameera Faridi and turbans.
"On Sunday, the ceremony was filled with tons of bright flowers," Blaire says. "We had a hanging structure draped in flowers that were orange, pink, yellow, green and red. The middle structure where the holy book was located was also draped in flowers of that color scheme as well as rich, gold fabrics."
For Sunday's hybrid Jewish and Catholic ceremony, Blaire wore a romantic lace gown. "The delicacy of the lace was understated yet impactful. I loved how my dress was classy with a touch of sass with the low back, the sweetheart neckline and the tighter fit," Blaire says.
Sunday's event honored Blaire's Catholic and Jewish roots. This ceremony brought in organic, woodsy elements such as branches, boxwood walls and lots of greenery with pops of yellow.
"We incorporated a lot of colorful flowers and gold linens and furniture," Blaire says. "We wanted everything to be extremely vibrant."
"We incorporated a lot of colorful flowers and gold linens and furniture. We wanted everything to be extremely vibrant," Blaire says.
Large centerpieces consisted of yellow, orange and pink roses at the reception at Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas.
Invitation Solutions crafted the floral-imprinted menu cards for the two receptions at Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas.
Florists from Blooming Gallery helped create each ultra-vibrant centerpiece for the traditional Indian reception on Saturday. Orange and hot pink roses brought great energy to each table.
At Saturday's Indian wedding, Aneil’s groomsmen and ushers and Blaire’s bridesmaids each performed their own choreographed dance to an Indian song. "These dances opened up the dance floor and were a ton of fun," Blaire says.
For the first dance at Sunday's reception at Hilton Americas in Houston, Texas, Blaire and Aneil moved to a string quartet version of Safe and Sound by Capital Cities.
On Sunday guests were served a four-layer vanilla cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting crafted by Susie Cakes. "There were nice details such as swirls and dots and a monogram, and each layer of the cake was filled with fresh flowers mirroring the centerpieces," Blaire says.
On Sunday guests were awed by a special burrito-themed groom's cake made by Susie Cakes. "The groom's cake was a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting that was designed to look exactly like a Chipotle burrito, complete with chips, guacamole and everything," Blaire says. "It was definitely a huge hit."