I know I saw something on weddings on southern Cali before. But does anyone know of any good makeup artists, decorators, hotels etc in Southern Cali (LA or SD)…
Also what are the normal budgets for a nice wedding (not including the dress and jewelry but everything else).
You guys have any recommendations? I’m so lost 
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
see these:
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/461636-california-makeup-artists.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/295960-wedding-in-california-need-help.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/428976-bridal-makeup-artist-in-southern-california.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/371142-wedding-in-southern-california.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/427108-any-inexpensive-mehndi-venues-in-southern-california.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/272616-wedding-venues-in-la-oc-southern-california.html
as for budget, depends on SO many things! how many guests, what kind of wedding, the venue, the bridal dress (designer or not), how many events, etc. etc.
if you enter your zip code, it spits out average wedding cost for your area but they’re also talking about gora weddings, not desi. still, its probably a starting point.
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
Thank you SO much Some Groovy Chick. I was losing hope in getting any help here.
Would you happen to know what Nomi Ansari’s heavy bridal wear cost? a guesstimate or an average perhaps?
Something as heavy as this.
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
Hey-
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/wedding/252929-bridal-pics-972.html
^ Scroll down this page. its under the Bridal Pics page 972 (in case link doesnt work).
This bride wore the Nomi Ansari that you are wondering about at her wedding. It cost about 4 grand I think. And, her outfit actually arrived a few nights prior to the wedding (even though it was ordered months in advance) and wasn’t what she wanted. The pants were not the color which she ordered.
Her valima outfit was by Elan.
^ Or so been heard from mutual family friends… don’t know the bride personally…
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
I was thinking about something like this in dark green and turquoise blue. My wedding will be around September inshallah. I know it's a long way off but want to know exactly when should I start planning /ordering the dress or what I should keep in mind as far as the budget goes. Since my fiance isn't from So. Cal, it'll just be his immediate family coming over from Pak for the wedding inshallah which reduces my guest list to around 150-180 people. The fact that I'm not desi myself and have no desi contacts here either to help me out isn't helping one bit. I'm trying to coordinate a wedding which shows half of my culture (afghan) and half of his (Pakistani), so both sides are happy inshallah.
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
Awesome, Mashallah.. Congrats 
I’m at times, what our friends called a typical type A personality… my brothers event is 6 months away… and we are done with all the preps.. from ordering clothes, setting up make up, invitations, venue, caterer, etc… Allhamdulillah… I highly recommend this book to anyone planning a wedding: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Ultimate-Wedding-Planner-and-Organizer/Elizabeth-Lluch/e/9781934386408/?itm=12&USRI=wedding+planner
So, on that note… I’d say start looking for designs, styles, research designers, etc now… If you choose to order something from over seas… If not, Mirage boutique in Artesia is whom i’d stick with locally.. I’d plan to order your outfit 6 months in Advance… most places take that long to get it back to you… You want it back a good 1-2 months prior in case alterations need to be made. Budget- if you plan to go with a fancy designer from pakistan you’re looking at a budget from 2500-6000. My sister-in-law is having her outfits made by a designer, and each outfit for the two main events is coming to about 3 grand each… However, places like Mirage you can get gorgeous outfits custom made for about 2-2500 as well. Your color combination sounds beautiful, Mashallah. We actually bought an outfit in that combination for my bhahbi to be- it’s beautiful, (mA)
Desi weddings, are fun.. this forum is great for ideas and SoCal contacts.. I’m not sure where in SoCal you are. But the LA area has tons of desi oriented decor/planners. However, I’d also suggest branching outside of ‘desi contacts’ for decor/florists.. Photographers- Global, Andrena or Samson. Top 3- hands down. DJ – Special Occasions, DJ Dhamakha, 3D sounds.
Invitations- I don’t know how many folks are aware – but check out Party City. Yep, party city. They have gorgeous invitations, and you don’t pay an arm & leg for something that folks toss in the trash. They typically have a 20-30% off deal, don’t charge extra per lines/fonts.. You only pay for the card design and color of ink… We paid 365 bucks for 250 invitations/rsvp cards - that includes envelopes with return addresses…
Good Luck!! Inshallah, it’ll be wonderful.
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
I was thinking about something like this in dark green and turquoise blue. My wedding will be around September inshallah. I know it's a long way off but want to know exactly when should I start planning /ordering the dress or what I should keep in mind as far as the budget goes. Since my fiance isn't from So. Cal, it'll just be his immediate family coming over from Pak for the wedding inshallah which reduces my guest list to around 150-180 people. The fact that I'm not desi myself and have no desi contacts here either to help me out isn't helping one bit. I'm trying to coordinate a wedding which shows half of my culture (afghan) and half of his (Pakistani), so both sides are happy inshallah.
my SIL's nomi ansari was about as heavy as the picture you posted and it was 2.5 lakh so that would be roughly $3000 US. it was gorgeous and beautifully made. you should be thinking about ordering your dress in the next few weeks absolutely, esp. if you are interested in designer wear. the more time they have, the better it usually is for you. you should also aim to give them your wedding date as a month before the actual wedding so your dress arrives safely in time with no possibility of delays.
gupshup is a fab source for all things pakistani and bridal so you're definitely in the right spot! :)
for invitations, you can also check out online sites like www.minted.com which has a lovely selection but also check Etsy.com as you can find beautiful things there too made by independent designers.
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
Pakcol and everyone else,
Thank you so much for helping out. I can't seem to reply back to private messages though.
Those links are a great help. 2-3 months for Karma isn't bad. I'm trying to decide between karma and nomi ansari.
I already went to mirage and their bridal section is very very very limited and not much at all. They have a tiny section in the back with not so heavy stuff and I want to go on the heavy bridal side. Since I'll be wearing the Desi jora for the first half of the wedding (changing into a white gown after), i wanted to go heavy so it can please the desi inlaws side too :)
Honestly speaking, if I can I would love to just avoid mirage anyway. My cousin got engaged a couple of months ago and even though most of the shopping was done from mirage, their customer service sucked. The owner/main person is very rude. We ended up getting two bridal lehngas (3K each from frontier in front) for the engagement event and doing the rest of the shopping (brides presents, family's clothes etc.,through mirage). So i have been put off by mirage. I might still get a mehndi outfit from them but not looking into bridal side through them. Frontier has nice stuff but I'm not really a big fan of Indian designs.
I will try to get in touch with nomi ansari and Karma to see if I can get quotes on some stuff I like. Will keep you guys posted. :)
Re: Wedding in So.Cal
I can recommend a very good makeup artist. She did my wedding makeup and she is really very good she also does brides in Pakistan every year. You can check out her website
www.laenka.com