This Couple's Multi-Day Wedding in California Ended With an Elevated "Alice in Wonderland"-Inspired Reception

Yahoo

5 days ago

The couple honored their distinct backgrounds by hosting both a Hindu and a Christian ceremony.
When Brittany Riddick and Rohit Nambiar met in San Francisco in early 2019, they had no indication that less than three years later they would be engaged. In August of 2022, Rohit proposed at the Legion of Honor, an iconic spot in the city. 'It was a beautiful way to start our next chapter of our relationship in the city where we met,' Brittany remembers. The couple immediately began planning a wedding weekend that would weave elements of their African American and South Indian heritages together, honoring their roots, their families, and a shared vision for the future all at once.
'California holds a dear place in our hearts and we wanted to showcase how beautiful the state is,' the bride says, so they found two separate venues they loved that gave their family members and friends a taste of the Golden State. And since they wanted to the tie the knot twice—first, with a Hindu ceremony on May 3, 2024, and then again in a Christian ceremony on May 4, 2024—Brittany and Rohit knew they'd need the help of an expert to pull off a multicultural celebration that packed a major design punch. Their pick? Erica Adams and her team at Erica Adams Design.
With Erica's help, the couple planned an Indian ceremony with bright pink, orange, and red florals at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara followed by a second ceremony featuring gospel singers and a tented reception at Olive Grove Estates, which had been known as Klentner Ranch at the time of the wedding. They drew inspiration from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland for the reception, focusing on whimsical details and a color palette of deep green and black. 'I wanted our reception tent to feel like we walked into a magical garden,' Brittany explains. "I am creative by nature and trade, and I wanted to choose vendors who produced work that was out-of-the-box, but traditional and timeless. I feel we hit the nail on the head."
Read on to see the thoughtful touches of their wedding celebrations, including a custom white-and-black dance floor, floral-patterned chargers, and hand-painted menus, as documented by Nirav Patel.
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The couple's invitation suite, created by Happy Meneocal, set the tone for their wedding weekend. The Alice in Wonderland-inspired trifold design featured custom illustrations of the Santa Barbara coast, horses, and dice. Their RSVP cards featured an illustration of the couple's two dogs.
Guests were also given a weekend itinerary encouraging them to wear color for Friday's Hindu ceremony and welcome reception at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara and black-tie attire for Saturday's wedding celebration at Klentner Ranch.
For the couple's Hindu wedding ceremony on Friday, Brittany wore a blush lehenga by Tarun Tahilani, which featured intricate beading and appliqué details. 'For our Hindu ceremony and welcome reception, I went for a traditional South Indian bridal hairstyle, in which I incorporated jasmine into my hair,' she says.
Rohit wore a matching blush sherwani from Pernia's Pop-Up.
The ceremony took place on the lawn at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara where a mandap covered in cascading greenery and vibrant flowers in shades of purple and pink framed the panoramic ocean view. The aisle was flanked by two flower arrangements on each side, which were planted in white pots.
Having two ceremonies—one in honor of each of their backgrounds—was essentially to Brittany and Rohit. "It was extremely important to blend our two cultures together in every aspect, from the food, music, fashion, and décor," Brittany says.
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After the ceremony, Brittany and Rohit joined their guests for an outdoor cocktail hour. A round bar took center stage, featuring a wooden dowel design and vibrant color blocked floral arrangements in shades of orange, pink, yellow, and red. High top tables and small round tables were dressed in pink linens in various hues, adding to the pops of color throughout the space.
The evening's celebration doubled as the couple's welcome party. Brittany changed into a strapless silver art-deco-inspired Oscar de la Renta dress with chain fringe beading. 'We hired Yonas Michael, who is phenomenal and mixing multicultural music with modern hits,' Brittany says.
The venue even introduced the couple to chefs from Kerala who served some of Rohit's favorite foods.
On Saturday, the couple celebrated with a second ceremony and reception. Brittany wore a strapless A-line wedding dress by Danielle Frankel in an ombré pink hue. 'It just felt like the most perfect dress for our Californian ranch wedding,' Brittany says. 'I knew it was the one when I saw it first in their collection and, secondly, when I tried it on in their atelier in New York City.'
She paired her gown with Tom Ford shoes, a modern updo, and a natural California-inspired makeup look. 'I wanted to feel comfortable in my skin,' she notes. She chose Santa Maria Novella's Eau de Cologne Gardenia as her wedding-day fragrance.
She also carried a bouquet of burgundy calla lilies with exposed stems.
Inspired by the celebration's ranch location, Brittany wanted her bridesmaids to wear gowns that emanated a refined yet rustic aesthetic. 'I worked with Tara Maietta on all of our looks and she helped really streamline the styling process to ensure that all looks were cohesive,' the bride notes. 'I love fashion and I knew immediately that Tara shared the same vision and taste for the day.' To achieve the perfectly mismatched array, they gave each of Brittany's bridesmaids a few inspiration photos and let them choose their dress for the day.
Each attendant walked down the aisle carrying a single white calla lily stem.
Rohit wore a custom tuxedo from Klein Epstein Parker, which he paired with Christian Louboutin shoes. His groomsmen wore black tuxedos for a cohesive look.
The couple wanted to have a private moment together before the ceremony, so they set up a first look. 'We shared our vows privately and it was a chance for us to be with each other before celebrating with our loved ones,' Brittany says. In the end, the time they spent alone before the ceremony was one of the couple's favorite memories of the entire weekend.
The couple had a very specific vision for their Christian ceremony: They wanted to be surrounded by their guests while they exchanged vows. The team at Erica Adams design came up with a creative (and beautiful!) solution: They brought in a round wooden platform as the couple's altar and seated guests in four groups around them. The altar was decorated with a semi-circle arrangement of purple, pink, and red wildflowers and additional arrangements decorated the stone staircase leading to the aisle. The result was visually stunning, but it also ensured the couple felt encircled in love during that very important moment.
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The couple hired a choir through Chris Wade Productions to provide live entertainment at the ceremony. 'We had gospel singers enter within each quadrant of the seating to ensure guests were included into the ceremony,' Brittany explains.
Finally, the bride made her grand entrance as the choir offered a lively performance. Brittany hugged her dad before he accompanied her down the aisle to her groom.
Brittany and Rohit wrote their own ceremony vows and exchanged them in front of their guests. At the end of the ceremony, they jumped the broom before celebrating back down the aisle as husband and wife.
At the couple's hillside cocktail hour, guests mingled as they enjoyed signature cocktails and passed appetizers. They found their escort cards displayed in the garden on a round wooden table featuring an oversized arrangement of calla lily and local blooms in an urn. The escort cards took on Brittany's garden-aesthetic vision, featuring illustrations of flowers and butterflies.
Brittany and Rohit's reception took place under a clear-top tent, which let in tons of natural light. They added pendant lighting and velvet "Gucci Green" drapery throughout the space for warmth, texture, and dimension.
Bella Vista painted a custom black and white checkered dance floor inspired by Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland as the focal point of the space. As they entered the space, guests walked down a path lined with planted trees and lanterns.
Black tables were decorated with moss runners, delicate centerpieces of pink, white, and purple blooms, and taper candles in gold holders. 'We curated an artful mix of floral-patterned chargers from Lola Valentine, perfectly complementing the alternating purple and mint china from Theoni Collection,' Brittany says. 'To tie it all together, we had hand-painted menus from Menocal Studio.'
'For us, our menus were a chance to share our cultures with our families and friends,' the bride says. They served a Southern menu including spins on some of the couple's favorite foods, like mini catfish po-boys and duck jambalaya.
Brittany and Rohit shared their first dance to 'Love' by Musiq Soulchild before enjoying dessert. They envisioned a minimal design for their two-tiered wedding cake, so they kept things simple by adding just a few fresh flowers that complemented the day's color palette. The couple chose red velvet and cream cheese frosting for their wedding cake and created a dessert bar of bite-sized cakes and tarts.
The newlyweds danced the night away with their guests, which was made much easier when Brittany changed into a fun gold sequined mini dress for the party. 'We love a live band, and our band brought everyone to the dance floor,' Brittany says. 'For our wedding we wanted to throw a large party to celebrate our union and West Coast helped us definitely achieve this.'
Although Brittany acknowledges the wedding planning process can be overwhelming, she recommends enjoying the moment when the day comes! 'It's rare to have all your friends and family in one space so enjoy it,' she says.
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