The Wedding Vision
With friends traveling from far and wide to share the joy of celebrating Ash and Scott’s wedding, the pair wanted to ensure everyone enjoyed the Southern hospitality of the area where they—partners in MLA Design Group, Inc., a Winston-Salem civil engineering, surveying, land planning and landscape architecture service—live and work. O.Henry Hotel provided a chic, rich decor in which the couple’s guests, who traveled from as far as London, Mumbai, Singapore, California, Arizona, Wisconsin, Texas, and New York and as near as North Carolina, could relax and enjoy the weekend’s festivities. At the same time, the wedding included a traditional Indian Hindu ceremony with its attendant vibrant colors, sounds, and foods. Blending this variety of elements together was a fun and rewarding process for all involved!

The Color Palette
Ash says that the couple “… purposefully chose a venue like O.Henry that ‘decorates itself,’ thereby allowing us to take a more minimalist decor approach and let the natural beauty and uniqueness of the venue to shine through.” Florals provided by O.Henry’s floral team were in crisp white and green hues, providing a clean backdrop for the intense colors of the traditional Hindu ceremony. In Hindu tradition, red, yellow, and green have special significance for weddings:
- Red is symbolic of power, strength, and valor
- Yellow symbolizes bringing gold into the newlyweds’ lives
- Green stands for new beginnings and new birth

The Wedding Day
The bride and groom enjoyed a full day of meaningful, beautiful events with their loved ones and friends, beginning with a combination Indian/Continental breakfast and lunch in the Magi Suite. Ash, assisted by her mother, prepared for the ceremony by dressing in a traditional Indian bridal trousseau. (The bride purchased her custom-designed outfit in Mumbai, India, from an Indian designer to the royals, Anita Dongre.) While Ash and Scott had photos taken in the early afternoon, their guests enjoyed pre-ceremony hors d’oeuvres with an Indian flair in the Cloister Garden. Then, the ceremony itself, which began at 3 p.m., was a Hindu wedding celebration; the priest explained the rituals in English for the benefit of the groom and guests.



The Reception: Dance, Dance, Dance!
After the wedding ceremony, Ash says, “I wanted to wear a white bridal gown to blend with American culture, though I wanted the gown to have influence of the artistry from India.” Following a break to relax and change, the newlyweds joined their guests in the Caldwell Room for a dance-filled dinner reception that began with performances by ballroom dancers from Fred Astaire Studio, where Ash has taken lessons for more than six years, and the Bollywood fusion dancers from the Nazaare dance team. Ash described it like this: “The studio is like my family, and the wedding would be incomplete without them performing…and [Nazaare] brought high energy and a stunning performance!”


The Food
Following the dance performances, an expansive buffet dinner offered guests:
- Pasta Salad
- Potato Leek Soup
- Fresh Vegetable Curry, crafted by the Chef from the bride’s own recipe
- Herb-Roasted Red Potatoes
- Rice Pilaf
- Green Beans
- Hand-Rolled Chicken Meatballs
- Thai Shrimp Coconut Curry
- Wood Fired Grilled Salmon with Vintage Sherry-Honey Glaze and Thyme Butter
In addition to the wedding cake, guests enjoyed a seasonal bread pudding with whipped cream and créme Anglaise for dessert.


The Wedding Magic Makers
- Officiant: Shastriji
- Wedding Planner: Alma Turner, O.Henry Hotel
- DJ: DJ Rang
- Bakery: Delicious
- Florist: Brenda McLamb, O.Henry Hotel
- Performances: Fred Astaire of Winston-Salem; NCSU’s Nazaare Dance Team
- Photographer: Jordan Tickle
-
Bridal Outfits: Anita Dongre (Mumbai) and Needle & Thread (London, UK)
-
Groom’s Outfits: Anita Dongre (Mumbai)

For more information on the wedding or other event you are planning in Greensboro, North Carolina, please complete our inquiry form, email our Sales Team members, or give us a call at O.Henry Hotel: 336-854-2000 or Proximity Hotel: 336-478-9111.
Check out Ash and Scott’s wedding featured in the Triad Weddings Magazine!