Cassandra Alicia Sethi, a personal stylist and founder of Next Level Wardrobe, and Ramit Singh Sethi, a New York Times bestselling author and founder of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, met at a friend’s barbecue in the East Village. “He could tell that I was from California and struck up a conversation with me in the kitchen,” says Cassandra. “I knew from the very beginning that he was the one.” After four years of dating, Ramit proposed after a baking class in SoHo.
When first planning their wedding, the couple made a list of the top three things that were important to them to have. They landed on an outdoor venue in California, good food, and a beautiful mix of her Mexican culture and his Indian culture. Once the two saw The Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe and Northstar California Resort, they were sold. Brilliant Event Planning, who was also behind the engagement, stepped in to help plan all the wedding events.
Being a personal stylist, Cassandra felt it was very important that she and her fiancé feel amazing in their clothing and that their looks communicate who they are as a married couple. “Also, let’s be honest—the pictures and video last forever, so getting super fit was important for us. Big thanks to Chris Coulson who trained BOTH of us!” she says.
Because there were multiple events over the days, the bride-to-be created mood boards to help lead direction. “We did our Indian clothing shopping in Delhi with family, so it had extra special meaning to know they were a part of the process,” Cassandra says. For the Catholic ceremony, Cassandra found her dress designer, Katie May, on Instagram and trekked out to her L.A. studio to try it on; however, she ended up purchasing the gown on Shopbop. For beauty, the bride flew out makeup and hair stylist Flynn Pyykkonen from New York to execute all four of her looks.
For the Sikh ceremony, at Northstar, Brilliant Event Planning worked closely with Ramit’s parents to ensure that the Anand Karaj (Sikh marriage ceremony) was as traditional as possible. The resort also made sure the food was authentic, and even asked for a copy of Mrs. Sethi’s family cookbook!
The afternoon after the Anand Karaj, the Catholic service was at The Ritz Carlton, where Mexican touches were weaved into the ceremony. “Words can’t describe how I felt to marry my love, my partner in life. It felt so awesome and meaningful to finally call Ramit, my husband!” Cassandra remembers.
At the formal reception, since the previous events were filled with Indian and Mexican food and decor, the newlyweds decided to go with traditional American cuisine. In a sweet moment, the bride and grooms’ parents made speeches, and then the two had their first dance to “You Send Me,” by Aretha Franklin. Their DJ, DJ Goga, got the party started right after and even belted out a few tunes while playing his instruments. During the party, the couple’s nieces and nephews performed a dance that they had been working on for months.
After the reception, the couple hosted an after-hours party in the main living room of The Ritz Carlton. “It was the perfect way to wind down the night,” the bride says. “We were so happy to see so many people attend.”
