Monizeh Qadir was preparing to visit Pakistan to pick out her sister’s wedding dress when her then-boyfriend Abbas Khan said, “Maybe you should order your wedding dress also.”

“For about 10 minutes I didn’t realize he was proposing. I just kept saying, ‘What do you mean?’” says Monizeh. The bride-to-be put off ordering her own heavily beaded dress for a few months, but she began planning her wedding within a month of Abbas’ proposal.

From the beginning, the couple wanted a wedding that would fuse Pakistani and American traditions. This meant several days of festivities surrounded by close family and friends. Early in the week, the couple married in a religious ceremony at the bride’s parents’ home, and they continued to celebrate with family and friends over the next few days. Monizeh, who wanted to make her wedding special for everyone involved, made a point of having her cousins help decorate her hands and feet in the mehendi ceremony that took place on Friday. That same evening, the guests enjoyed a choreographed dance-off.

The festivities culminated on Saturday evening with a reception for 250 guests at The Parador, captured by,Ky Photography. White orchids from Lisa Tran of Blooming Gallery filled the room, and candles lined the windowsills and tables. Accompanied by her brothers, the bride made her entrance in a jeweled dress from Pakistan, to the melody of a Pakistani song.