Tale as old as time, true as it can be; we like to think Katy and Amir locking eyes in the library foreshadowed the details that came to play in their luxurious fairy tale wedding at the Carnegie Museum. Oozing with gold and ivory decor, touches of greenery, and monogrammed wax seal escort cards (made by the bride herself!), the style of their wedding fused perfectly with the ornate detailing and architecture of the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer, making for a lavish reception ambiance filled with romance. Katy was the “Belle of the ball” in her sparkling Nicole Spose ballgown wedding dress from Bridal Beginning. Her look was completed by gold studded Valentinos, a sparkly hair accessory from Clarissa Boutique, and a chic top knot by Simply Captivating Salon that was fit for a princess! And as if those details aren’t dreamy enough, Katy and Amir shared a choreographed first dance to “Beauty and the Beast “with loved ones swooning as they watched the two twirl from the balcony. Enjoy these charming captures by Joey Kennedy Photography along with the sentimental video from Dorosh Documentaries. You’re in for a treat with this happily ever after!
About the Couple
Amir and I first met in December 2010 while we were both attending dental school at UCLA. I was the social chair for my class and was planning a school-wide event, for which everyone needed to purchase a ticket. Amir had missed the scheduled ticket sales due to being out of town for residency interviews, so he emailed me to set up a time to meet up to purchase a ticket.
We decided to meet up in the library, as it was finals week. Amir was two years ahead of me in dental school, so our paths had never crossed until this moment. We figured we would quickly make the exchange and go our separate ways, however, we were chatting and joking with each other like we had known each other for years. Right away, we both knew we shared a special connection! We continued to text throughout the entire finals week. Even though we were stressed and running on fumes from lack of sleep, we couldn’t stop thinking about each other!
At the end of the week, we both attended the annual school holiday party to celebrate the end of the term before everyone left for winter break. We hung out during the entire party and I didn’t want the evening to end!
The next morning, I left for my hometown of Pittsburgh and Amir departed for his hometown of San Francisco. During the 3-week break, we were on the phone with each other non-stop. When we got back to Los Angeles, the relationship took off!
In May 2018, Amir and I went on a trip to Portugal and Spain with our parents. At the time, we had been dating for 7.5 years, so I was hoping that Amir wouldn’t blow this prime opportunity to propose!
On May 5, 2018, we were in Seville, Spain. We spent the morning exploring the breathtaking Alcazar palace. The whole time I couldn’t help but notice how romantic of a city Seville was! That afternoon, Amir told me that he wanted to have a little date with just the two of us. We went to the gorgeous Plaza de España where we rode a boat on the canal. Afterwards, we walked around the plaza and ended up on one of the bridges over the canal. After sharing a lot of sweet sentiments and reminiscing on our crazy path to get to this point, Amir got down on one knee and proposed! Of course, I said yes! He also surprised me by having some local photographers capture the moment, which was priceless! Our parents, who knew this would be happening, arrived soon afterwards to celebrate at the beautiful Hotel Alfonso!
About the Wedding
Our overall wedding style was elegant and timeless with a modern twist. Our color palette was gold and white with some hints of green. We both love to travel and enjoy the beautiful architecture of ancient Europe, so our venues were the perfect backdrop. The ceremony venue, Heinz Memorial Chapel, was very sentimental to me because I went to college at the University of Pittsburgh. The reception took place in the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer, which is part of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Growing up, I would frequently visit this museum with my parents and four siblings, so it was very meaningful to celebrate one of the most important days of my life here. Both venues are so unique and beautiful on their own that we didn’t want any of the decor to upstage them, just to compliment them.
We chose spring floral arrangements to accent our day. My bouquet consisted of ivory Duchesse de Nemours peonies. The reception centerpieces consisted of hydrangeas, peonies, and roses with some greenery. I assembled the escort cards myself and added a personalized “K & A” wax seal stamp.
Amir is Iranian-American, so we wanted to incorporate aspects of his cultural traditions with some classic Pittsburgh and American wedding traditions. We had a Persian knife dance prior to cutting the cake. In the Persian tradition, when the bride and groom are ready to cut the cake, they have to earn the knife. A family member or friend will begin to dance with the knife (most typically to Persian music). The couple must offer money to the dancing friend in exchange for the knife. The dancer may act coy and take the money, only to give the knife to another person to continue the knife dance. This will continue until one of the dancers decide that they have been won over by the given money and will give the bride and groom their cake knife in exchange. Our Pittsburgh wedding ceremony was a Catholic mass to honor my religious background and we had a separate Muslim wedding ceremony in California a month prior to honor Amir’s religious background.
Favorite Moment
Our favorite moment of the night was our choreographed dance to “Beauty and the Beast” by Ariana Grande and John Legend. We took dance lessons for several months leading up to the wedding. Our cocktail reception took place on the upper balcony of the ballroom and guests stayed on the balcony and looked down onto the ballroom floor as we entered and had our first dance. I also surprised Amir with a personalized poster of the two of us dancing that an Etsy artist made prior to the wedding using pictures that I had sent to them. We figured, when else do you have the opportunity to dance in a grand ballroom in front of all of your family and friends? So, we decided to make it memorable and we had so much fun preparing for it!
