EAST MEETS WEST INDIES: JAMAIKIN IT TO MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING

I’ve been to my fair share of weddings over the years – from the super casual “drinks and cake” only receptions at local neighborhood bars in Brooklyn to lavish, over-the-top Persian weddings that seat 600 guests dripping-in-diamonds at the Ritz. And… I admit, I’m kind of a sucker for weddings! I absolutely love them and get soooo giddy each time I receive one of those beautifully embossed invitations or SAVE THE DATEs in the mail!

One of my favorite types of wedding is the Desi wedding (check out this awesome Buzzfeed piece!) – Indian and Pakistani weddings are usually bursting with brilliant color and fantastic festivities! So you can imagine my excitement when one of my best friends told me she was getting married and planning a traditional Indian wedding… in Jamaica! It’s like color overload exploded in my head! I’m kind of embarrassed to say I might have been more obsessed with finding the perfect outfits for all her events than the bride herself! 😀

Okay, so this wasn’t a purely selfish or shopaholic obsession for once 🙂 – The thing with Desi weddings is, there are a lot of events and the bride doesn’t don a traditional white wedding dress. So it can be a bit tricky for guests of a Desi wedding to make sure they don’t wear the same colors as the bride or overdress! So I bugged my BFF about what colors she planned to wear for her suite of events pretty much every week between her wedding announcement in August and her final outfit decisions just days before she said “I do”! Thankfully, the blushing bride’s outfit choices were beautiful shades of blush pink and fuchsia, which made it easy for me to match the Jamaican scenery in shades of sea green and ocean blue.

Shamefully, I packed a giant suitcase to fit all my potential outfit choices (you know, the kind you take on those 2-week long international trips where you’re working with different climates #SMH)… It kind of worked in my favor this time because I ended up changing a lot due to the extreme heat and humidity (packing tip: don’t take long-sleeved anything to Jamaica!)! My favorite looks were the long, flowy colorful dresses with yards and yards of fabric that created a Grecian-goddess-goes-to-India feel, like the Sahar Dada “Maya” dress and my pleated kelly green maxi from ASOS!

The entire wedding was a 4-day affair at the Round Hill Resort and Villas in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which features the most exquisite infinity pool, which is – in the words of the Fresh Prince – where I spent most of my days, chillin’ out maxin, relaxin’ all cool…! The first night, the lovely couple hosted a welcoming cocktail reception, where I wore this sweet little long-sleeved red shift dress (Remember what I said about not packing long sleeves? Dually noted that night!) by Wayf from Nordstrom. The next day at the Mehndi, I went with my pleated kelly green maxi dress from ASOS as it was a day-time affair and focused on making the bridal party’s hands real pretty! That night was the Sangeet, which is a very fun, festive affair and guests are encouraged to dress up playfully and colorfully! I took advantage of the beach location with my favorite 60’s inspired, paisley-print silk “Marrakech” dress by Milly (Spring/Summer 2009 runway collection) where I could go barefoot and sink my feet in the sand.