In 2005, during her freshman year of college, Aditi Nim met Hans Sahni when she joined a dance team. However, sparks didn’t fly between them until 2011 at a reunion for the same group. “It was the first time we were both single at the same time, and something just clicked,” she says. Within a few months, they were a couple. Five years later, they got married on the anniversary of that reunion, when they first saw each other in a new light. 

In order to accommodate their different religious backgrounds, the pair elected to have both a Hindu ceremony and a Sikh ceremony. With a mehndi and sangeet in addition to a reception, there were many events to organize. The team at Nahid’s Global Events planned and designed the big weekend, and a luxury hotel in Laguna Beach made for the perfect location for the first half of the celebration. 

The outdoor mehndi party was filled with bright colors to contrast with the December date. Guests received henna tattoos and even enjoyed some games of beer pong with personalized red cups. The sangeet followed, with a still vibrant palette – though this time the hues were closer to jewel tones. At one point, Aditi and Hans joined their friends in a dance performance, reliving the routines from their college days. 

To embrace Hindu auspicious time, the first ceremony was held at midnight. Attendees sat in the round, in either gold chairs or red lounge furniture. In order to accommodate their guests, who would not all understand a service in Hindi, the couple found a Hindu priest who could perform the services in English. 

Due to the late hour of the vow exchange, “we allowed guests a morning of rest before getting back into the groove with the Sikh ceremony a day later,” the bride explains. The next morning, the festivities moved to another Orange County resort. This time, the color scheme embraced pastels, from the bride and groom’s blush-hued outfits to the bridesmaids in yellow and groomsmen in turquoise. 

The reception took a different tone. Hans changed into a Western-style tuxedo, while Aditi wore a sari in black and white. The ballroom was filled with moodier shades, from the ebony linens to the deep plum flowers. Gold accents and ivory napkins kept the look from being too dark. Revelers danced until 2AM, helped by In-N-Out burgers as a midnight snack. With friends and family all over the globe, the newlyweds wanted to make sure their loved ones had the full Southern California experience. 

Noting she wouldn’t have done anything differently, the bride muses, “Our wedding was a really joyous celebration for us and is the only time we’ve had (or will have) all of our closest friends and family from all over the world together in the same place. So it was important to us to make sure we were having a great time, so that everyone else could do the same.”