Stephens Wedding on 9/17/17 at Hotel Sorrento in Seattle, Wa
Music licensed from –
The Music Bed – themusicbed.com
“Yay!!! Thank you so much Reid!!”
Anybody who has ever spent time on Madison right near I5 and St. James Cathedral–whether making their way downtown or up towards Capitol Hill–will surely recognize the regal Hotel Sorrento perched on the north side of the road. Opened in 1909, the website explains that its very first guests were prospectors with heavy pockets after striking rich in the Gold Rush. Back then, the prime position on First Hill would’ve surely featured some spectacular sights, only for a century of construction and development to obscure them.
But despite the city aging around it, Hotel Sorrento is nevertheless an icon, and a perfect wedding venue at that. On one of the last remaining days of summer, Ashley and Rajeev turned the hotel into a meeting of worlds and cultures. Essentially a two-parter wedding, the day started out with a pretty standard ceremony. Ashley and Rajeev exchanged vows in a solemn ceremony surrounded by everyone they love wearing traditional attire. Partway through the ceremony, Rajeev, in connection to his Hindu roots, places the Bindi on Ashley’s forehead, symbolizing marriage and life-long commitment, before sealing the deal with a kiss.
Shortly after the wedding ceremony, Rajeev and Ashley returned for their first dance. In the Penthouse Foyer, family and friends soon joined in on the fun. Though it didn’t last too long, once the dancing was done, the two families headed outside to pose for photos around the legendary hotel. Silliness was to be had as they headed up to the roof for some awesome views of Downtown Seattle. But then everything changed.
The newly weds returned inside to the reception–but this time they took things to an even higher gear. Emerging through the double doors wearing ceremonial Hindi attire, bride and groom Ashley and Rajeev arrived for “Part 2.” Almost as if they flipped a switch, the formal, by-the-books wedding day soon became something akin to a Bollywood movie complete with live dancers, performances, and garbs that showed every color of the rainbow. That’s right: a crew of dancers showed up busting out some gravity-defying moves that both entranced and excited everyone in attendance.
After the troupe finished their routine, the rest of the guests got in on the energy as it fueled them like a shot of espresso. It’s rare at weddings where you get such thrilling moments, but this wedding was particularly special in that it was two worlds and cultures becoming one. Tradition met diversity, East met West, and love found its equal. More than just the ceremony itself “marriage” is, by definition, simply the “combination or mixture of two or more elements,” and if this wedding wasn’t that–I don’t know what is!
Thanks again to Rajeev and Ashley for choosing Best Made Videos to film their special day! We don’t get to see many weddings like it, so it was particularly meaningful to us that we got to film it and share it with the world! Happy six months of marriage!
Have any questions or comments? Let us know in the comments below!
– Scott Johnson