A Colorful, Floral-Forward Wedding at the Wharf

Three years after Maya, from Virginia, and Rami, from California, met in class at law school, they were engaged. After spending the summer apart to study for the bar exam, the pair took it, then flew to California together to see Rami’s family. One day while visiting San Francisco, Rami proposed at the Palace of Fine Arts as a string duo played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in the background.

For their August wedding, they wanted a colorful, flower-heavy design and included a palette of purple, orange, pink, and red. They chose the InterContinental at the Wharf for its window-filled ballroom with a view, but say the location was doubly special: “The Intercontinental is in DC, where we currently live, but the view is of Virginia, where we met at school, so it was very symbolic for us.”

Throughout the celebration, they mixed Indian and Palestinian elements to represent the coming together of their two cultures. For example, Maya says, in Indian ceremonies the bride’s saree is tied to the groom’s scarf, so for their ceremony, they tied her saree to Rami’s kuffiyah, a traditional Palestinian headdress. They chose South Indian dishes that Maya grew up eating, then cut the wedding cake with a sword as is a Palestinian tradition. They also represented both cultures through dances, as well as both Indian and Palestinian wedding desserts presented with take-home bags for their guests.

After the wedding, the newlyweds honeymooned in New York City. See the details of their big day below.

Wedding Details

Amy Moeller

Fashion & Weddings Editor

Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.