Ni and Reza : Wedding

The sounds of Farsi filled the air, while the smells of Vietnamese spring rolls floated through the living room. A cacophany of voices filled the air while aunts, uncles, and cousins prepared for the tea ceremony. When the limo arrived, Reza’s Persian family debarked bearing gifts and passed through tunnel of Vietnamese greetings and hugs. As Ni descended the staircase as a tearful bride, Persian sugar rained down on her. When Ni and Reza saw each other for the first time as bride and groom, they held each other tightly while Ni cried tears of joy. On one side of the room stood one family looking directly across at the other, and the two souls in the center joined them in love.

Love transcends language. This was extraordinarily evident during Sunday’s wedding as neither family spoke English. Reza and Ni would flip back and forth between their native tongue and America’s lengua franca, filling in the translation gaps will laughter and smiles. A simple handshake, or hug, or three kisses on the cheek made up for traditional communication, but where there were no words, there was love. True and unadulterated love. A love that punctuated sentences and completed silent paragraphs.

JD and I were so moved to be part of such an amazing wedding day and heart-warming ceremony…we walked away from the day knowing that love has no tongue, but takes the form of a touch and a smile.

Here are a few of my favorites…




Ni was looking out from an upstairs window as her groom met the family outside...




Ni grandfather delivered a speech in Vietnamese, but at the very end looked down at a crumpled piece of paper and recited a sentence of congratulations in English...everyone cheered and this was his reaction...


As the group was walking toward the videographer, Ni stepped on her dress and started falling, but was carried along by an unknowing bridal party and groom...her face says it all! :)


After the tea ceremony, the wedding reception was held at the fabulous Yamashiro Restaurant in Hollywood Hills...it was awesome!!



A cool view of Los Angeles...





To see more of their wedding images, CLICK HERE for a slideshow!


**On a personal note, I want to thank Reza and Ni for making JD and me truly feel like family. Everything from the shrimp springs rolls silently passed our way, to the Vietnamese pastries, to the saffron rice and pitas, to the amazing limo ride and Persian music…everything felt like family. Thank you for forcing us to put cameras away at the end of the night and raise serpentine arms along side you and dance to Persian music like no one was watching. We loved every minute of it and thank you for becoming our friends!**