Darya + Mike were married on a gorgeous New Hampshire summer day. They live on Nantucket where Darya runs Darya Salon and Mike makes custom wood furniture, and they returned to Mike’s (and my own) hometown of Durham, NH for their wedding. They were married in the church of Mike’s childhood and had their reception at Shanhassick Farm, a lush green rolling hills kind of place. They had a Persian marriage ceremony following the church service which was beautiful and ended in them feeding each other honey and seeing themselves in the mirror for the first time as husband and wife. During the reception the most amazing rainbow perfectly arched over the entire venue, followed by a deep golden sunset. Everyone came out of the tent to witness the magic and beauty of this rare moment.
This led into the dancing and the band Xperimento came into town from the Florida Keys to absolutely rock the party. An insanely talented vocalist, two horn players, two drummers, and two guitarists make up this bilingual, multicultural band that blends latin and reggae with urban funk and soul. They were simply amazing. Darya + Mike had hired me bring my reception party costume kit and once the wigs, hats, sunglasses and boas were out everyone was celebrating and playing to the fullest. To finish the ‘formal’ part of the program, I choreographed a fire ritual that involved some firedancing on my part and the involvement of the wedding party. The bridesmaids and groomsmen stood in two lines and held lit torches making a love tunnel that Darya + Mike danced through as the entire wedding congregation chanted “Darya and Mike, Darya and Mike, Darya and Mike!” Many people commented on how this wedding was the coolest, most epic wedding they’d ever been to. Congratulations Darya + Mike!
