Maia found her main wedding dress at Bergdorf Goodman, where she had made an appointment to try Danielle Frankel gowns with her mother, her sister, and her sister-in-law. “Toward the end of the appointment, I tried on the Leighton and my sister immediately burst into tears. I don’t typically let other people’s opinions dictate my fashion choices, but her reaction was so visceral, and the moment felt so special with all of the women in my life present, that I knew,” Maia says.
For their Hindu ceremony, the couple shopped together at Nazranaa, with Maia choosing a red lehenga embellished with flowers and crystals and Neil selecting a traditional Sherwani with a red Dupatta (scarf) to match Maia. For the Saturday ceremony, Neil wore a custom suit by Craig Robinson of Robinson Brooklyn.
For their welcome party, Maia wore an ivory matching set from Sandy Liang. “I love how Sandy combines tailoring with almost coquettish details, and I loved how the skirt’s subtle low rise gave the entire look a slight edge. The party was themed Oyster Shells and Wedding Bells, so I nodded to this with large silver oyster earrings I found shopping the day before with my sister at Mignon Faget, a local New Orleans jeweler I’ve shopped from since I was a girl, and paired them with an Elsa Peretti cuff Neil gave me for my 30th birthday,” Maia says. She completed the look with silvery-blue Manolo Blahnik floral brocade slingbacks sourced from TheRealReal.
Her reception dress has a story, too. “I had pre-ordered a Rodarte dress from Moda with a center floral appliqué. The week it was due to ship, it was delayed and wouldn’t arrive in time. As a contingency, I had booked an appointment with Eva Lopez at Cha Cha Linda vintage in Greenpoint, where I had one of the best shopping experiences of my life,” Maia says. “Eva pulled pieces based on my measurements, and we spent the better part of two hours pairing floral appliques and tulle to create something close to the Rodarte vision. What we landed with was better than anything I had planned.”
Eva introduced Maia to M&S Schmalberg, “the last remaining handmade fabric flower maker in New York’s garment district that supplies to major fashion houses and costume designers,” Maia says. “I went one afternoon to their workroom and sorted through boxes of handmade flowers to find one that would complement the light pink embellishment on the dress I’d chosen, which was a vintage David Fielden gown with a very ethereal loop back detail.” Finally, for their after-party at The Gold Mine Saloon, a historic dive bar, Maia wore a white leather square-neck Bottega Veneta mini dress.
On Saturday, Maia walked down the aisle to “Dreams” by The Cranberries, performed by a string trio. “My brother read from Shakespeare, and Reverend Allen Barrera officiated our admittedly very brisk, but warm, ceremony,” Maia says. The newlyweds recessed to “Wedding March” by Mendelssohn and then “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys.
After the ceremony on Saturday, their guests “spilled out into the streets for a second line led by brass band Knockaz, “ushered by a procession of Mardi Gras Indians in full regalia,” Maia says. Later, they had a cocktail-style dinner at their reception at Brennan’s, featuring boudin balls, raw oysters, and turtle soup. For dessert, they had bananas foster—a dish that originated at Brennan’s, which was flambéed in the courtyard—and a wedding cake by Gambino’s. They danced their first dance to “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, a song Maia had wanted from the very beginning.
Reflecting on the ceremony, Maia shares: “I’m naturally shy and have never loved being the center of attention. And I’ll be honest, I never imagined I’d have a big wedding. With two large families, it was somewhat unavoidable. But the moment I saw Neil, everything slowed down.” She adds: “Having every person from every chapter of your life gathered in one place is a feeling that is almost impossible to describe. It doesn’t happen often. It might only happen once. Standing in that courtyard and throughout our celebrations, I understood that.”
