Wedding | Emily & Josh

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We first met and fell in love during our senior years of college at Georgetown. We separated when medical schools brought us to different states. Years later, Josh asked Emily for a walk in Central Park after not having seen one another in several years. A few minutes into the walk, Josh said he thought they ought to get married. We started dating again, still long distance while completing residency in different states, and 2 years later got engaged. We got married 10 years after first falling in love.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

Emily grew up in Bavaria for most of her early childhood; we wanted a special but central place for all of Emily’s family in Germany, Josh’s family in India, and all their loved ones in the United States to spend a long weekend.

How many guests did you have?

126.

What was your budget?

100k.

Tell us about your outfits.

The night before our wedding, we had a traditional Malayali event called the Madhuram Veppu that incorporated dances and receiving sweets from family elders; for that, Emily wore a lehenga fabricated in Bangalore and tailored in New York by a friend. Josh wore a sherwani custom made by Raymond’s in Cochin.

On the day of the wedding, Emily wore a gown that she found in Chicago at the first store she went to with her best friends, by Moira Hughes, which was shipped from Australia and tailored in New York. Josh wore a vintage Armani tuxedo. Throughout the weekend, Emily wore jewellery from her late mother, including her pearl necklace and Josh’s brooch on their wedding day.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted a full weekend where our loved ones from all the parts of our lives could really spend time with each other, soak in love, and purely celebrate. We as a couple relished the luxury of being able to spend time with each guest over the course of all those events in a relaxed and genuine way.

We wanted to maximize the events where we could take in the fresh air and the late sunsets; every evening ended into the night and took place on all parts of the lake – from the tennis courts, to the top of an Alp, around and across the lake itself.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We had intended from the start to fill the weekend with all the things we loved in our lives and from our cultures – tennis, fresh air, dancing, good food and good drink. The first day we welcomed everyone at a tennis tournament, filled with fun competition and good beer. That evening, we hosted a casual welcome drinks event at a beer garden. The second day, we planned a big hike up a mountain (for those able to participate) with lunch on top of the mountain. That evening, we had our traditional Madhuram Veppu celebration, with Indian food, dancing, sweets, and sunset views of the lake.

On the wedding day, we got ready with our closest loved ones, had a beautiful church ceremony, and were transported across the lake by boat to our wedding reception. We wanted to incorporate as many personal elements as possible. For example, we had our best friends DJ our wedding dancefloor, Emily’s little brother played her father-daughter dance song on the saxophone, we had guests all stay at the same hotel so everyone could spend time together. We planned everything ourselves so it was all personal to us as individuals and as a couple.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Without a planner, we made sure to prioritize planning each event together; we were both on every email thread. We found that a lot of the process involves a leap of trust in the people on the other end – it made for an even more special night when we found that things had fallen perfectly into place on the wedding day more than we could have planned.

We leaned throughout the process and the weekend on our families and close friends to fix the odd ends, they did so graciously, and it made the wedding truly feel like a communal celebration rather than a performance, like they once were in the small towns in Germany and India our families came from.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Our photographers, Honey Wasp, went above and beyond throughout the weekend, taking beautiful film and digital photographs of all the events, but also joining us for our tennis tournament, our hike, and all the special moments in between.

The boat company, Tegernsee Schifffahrt, made the ride from our church to the wedding absolutely special with a good old-fashioned captain.

Photography & Videography: Honey Wasp @honeywaspweddings | Second Shooter: Mimo Weddings @mimoweddings | Planning & Styling: by the couple | Flora: Käfer Gut Kaltenbrunn | Ceremony Location: Pfarrkirche St. Quirinus, Tegernsee, DE | Reception Location: Käfer Gut Kaltenbrunn, Tegernsee, DE | Celebrant: Monsignor Walter Nolan | Hire: Käfer Gut Kaltenbrunn | Makeup: by Emily | Hair: Marion Hartmann @braut_werk | Catering & Beverages: Käfer Gut Kaltenbrunn (Wedding), Aran (Madhuram Veppu), Taj Mahal Tegernsee (catering for Madhuram Veppu) | Cake: Käfer Gut Kaltenbrunn | Stationery: by the couple | Entertainment: Anirudha Vaddadi @rudhacris | Dress: Moira Hughes @moirahughescouture | Suit: Vintage Giorgio Armani | Engagement Ring: Kathryn Oxtoby, Frank Darling | Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo | Emily’s Necklace & Josh’s Brooch: from Emily’s late mother