Week after week, our team receives and showcases stunning weddings from across Miami, all courtesy of the immensely talented wedding vendors and lovely couples who submit to us. Each month, our editorial team selects one spectacular wedding to highlight, one that stands above the rest for its uniqueness and beauty. Our March Vows That Wow couple is Mitali & Ashton. Their wedding weekend in Miami stood as a testament to the beauty of blending deep-rooted traditions with modern elegance.
How The Couple Met
Mitali & Ashton met while studying abroad in Hong Kong in the spring of 2016! They met on their first day in the city and spent five months together traveling Asia and immersing themselves in the culture, food and language of Hong Kong. They began dating that semester and have been together for nine beautiful years since.
The Wedding Celebrations
The couple are both first-generation Indian Americans, so finding thoughtful ways to infuse both Eastern and Western culture into their wedding weekend was a top priority. Their goal was to reflect the duality of their upbringing by blending Indian wedding practices with modern Western traditions. They kicked off their wedding weekend with a welcome party at Hutong Miami, where guests were served Asian-inspired cocktails and flaming peking duck as an ode to the start of their story in Hong Kong. The next night, their friends and family arrived to the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in full Bollywood glamour for the couples Sangeet night – a pre-wedding celebration of Indian dance, music and food. The highlight of their night was watching their 20 bridesmaids and groomsmen perform a choreographed Bollywood dance for them.
Their wedding day took place on a gorgeous, sunny morning at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne. The ceremony kicked off with a traditional Baraat – the groom’s procession – where Ashton entered the venue on a white horse with nearly 250 of his family and friends dancing alongside him. Mitali recalls waiting inside the hotel and feeling the entire building vibrate from the noise. As his procession neared her parents, their families took part in a pre-wedding ceremony called the “Milni”, which translates to “coming together” in Hindi and symbolizes the union of their two families through their marriage. It’s a Hindu wedding tradition that resonated strongly with the couple. Their hope was to closely honor their Indian heritage through their wedding ceremony. Mitali & Ashton opted for traditional Indian dress and a marriage ceremony performed by a Hindu priest. To make it their own, they also incorporated Western traditions that they both valued such as the integration of wedding vows into the ceremony. The couple curated every detail, from the flower patterns on their garlands to the monogram on their coconut water welcome drinks, to the in-ceremony instrumentals, so that it would all feel uniquely theirs. Later that night, their guests gathered for the wedding reception. They opted for a modern, black-tie affair with Western wedding traditions that they loved, from the bride’s white reception gown to their ten-piece band, as they showcased their Indian culture through the food and late-night music. The couple reflected “It truly felt like the most authentic celebration to us and the perfect finale to the weekend – with the party going until 5 in the morning.”
Mitali & Ashton’s Favorite Details
The couples favorite wedding day memory was their first look. Mitali & Ashton shared, “We asked our team if we could do the first look on the beach by the ocean. It was the most stunning, serene morning and the ocean was sparkling. When we first saw each other, we were so overwhelmed with emotion and simultaneously calmed by the sound of the waves crashing against the shore as our long-anticipated wedding day finally began”
The couple added, “The teams at PS Photo & Film and Motive Cinemas truly exceeded our expectations. We spent so much time with them throughout our wedding weekend, particularly at the most emotional moments of the wedding such as the first look, the moments right before and right after the aisle, and the wait at the ballroom doors before our reception entrance. They worked together so seamlessly to capture every second with authenticity and style. Our sessions with them were some of our favorite moments of our wedding weekend because instead of conducting a formal photo shoot, they encouraged us to just spend time together. So we talked, laughed and danced, and most importantly had time to connect just the two of us before every event, and their magic brought that connection to life on camera.”
This unforgettable wedding weekend was a true celebration of love, seamlessly blending the richness of Indian culture with the elegance of modern Western traditions. From vibrant pre-wedding festivities filled with music, color, and time-honored rituals to a stunning ceremony and a glamorous reception, every moment reflected the couple’s unique journey. It was a perfect harmony of tradition and innovation, family and friends, joy and romance—setting the stage for a lifetime of love and togetherness. As the couple embarks on their forever, their wedding will remain a beautiful testament to the magic that happens when two worlds come together in the most spectacular way.
