Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eaglecrest

Mehndi and Haldi Ceremony (Private Pre-Wedding Ceremony, by invitation)

Sangeet 

Hindu Wedding Ceremony & Luncheon 

Revel Run

Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Reception 

Farewell Brunch

Our Wedding

From Brooklyn, With Love

The Spark (and the 15-Minute Warning) Every great story needs a catalyst. Ours was a last-minute text. In August 2020, in the middle of COVID, Matt woke up on a Saturday with no plans. He texted his friend Hunter: What are you up to? Hunter replied, “We’re coming in fifteen minutes. Get ready.” And hung up. Fifteen minutes later, Matt’s Brooklyn doorbell rang. Hunter and Sheila walked in, along with a couple friends and a girl Matt had never met before. Arshiya. It was Arshiya’s first Saturday living in New York City. Hunter had promised to show her “this amazing place,” which in 2020 Brooklyn meant one rare and highly coveted thing: a backyard. Matt made coffees for everyone. Arshiya clocked the hospitality immediately and the barista skills. What started as a casual backyard hang turned into a full-day adventure around Brooklyn. They talked design, fashion, technology, blockchain, food, ambition, and family. Both left intrigued. Then, silence. Matt didn’t text. He figured if it was real, it would come back around. Arshiya decided not to leave that to chance.

The HelloFresh Offensive Arshiya asked Hunter for Matt’s number and sent him a HelloFresh box as her very first text. No small talk. Just dinner. Matt responded immediately and enthusiastically. The HelloFresh box turned into photos of plated meals. The photos turned into a first date. With New York still mostly closed, they started at an art gallery and walked nearly the entire length of Manhattan. Ten hours. 30,000 steps. Late-night pizza. Conversations about life, purpose, sustainability, healthcare, cars with spoilers, and where they wanted to go in the world. By the end of the night, it was obvious this was not casual. On their second date, Arshiya biked from the East Village to Crown Heights in the rain. When her bike broke down midway, she kept going and showed up drenched. Matt loved that about her. Strong-willed. Determined. Not the type to turn back.

The Build HelloFresh became home-cooked dinners, eventually retired once Matt convinced her they could out-cook the subscription box. Weekends became weeknights and separate apartments became shared keys. They moved into Greenpoint together and did what they love most: host. Friends constantly cycling through their living room, having long dinners and building a strong community. Over time, life deepened. They supported each other through product launches, career pivots, late nights, early flights, family milestones, and everything in between. They traveled the world together, building memories across cities and continents while building a life side by side at home. When Arshiya decided to pursue her MBA at MIT, they packed up Brooklyn and moved to Boston, choosing growth and adventure together.

The Helicopter Plot Twist Early in the relationship, Arshiya made one thing very clear: if Matt ever proposed without consulting her girlfriends and brother, he would be a fool. So Matt scheduled a full Zoom council. One slightly chaotic Uber ride in New York later, with Matt visibly stressed and Arshiya calmly suggesting they could “just take a bike,” they arrived just in time for a helicopter departure she did not know existed. They were the only passengers. The helicopter led to a waiting sports car, which carried them through the winding mountain roads up to Bear Mountain in upstate New York just as the sky turned golden at sunset. There, after reading the words he had carefully prepared, Matt got down on one knee. The rest of the weekend was spent celebrating in the mountains with friends and family, including the very people who introduced them that first Saturday.

The Next Chapter: Full Circle What began with a spontaneous backyard hang in Brooklyn has become a partnership rooted in curiosity, ambition, hospitality, and deep love. We have built homes, moved cities, changed jobs, and brought our families and cultures together along the way. Through it all, the constant has been the people around us. The friends who showed up that first Saturday and our families, who have welcomed each of us as their own. The community that filled our living room in Brooklyn and now stretches far beyond it. Now we get to gather everyone who has shaped this journey for a wedding weekend in Michigan. We are deeply grateful to celebrate this next chapter surrounded by the people we love most.

Our Story

Photos

Wedding Party

Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest

Getting to the Hotel 

The Marriott Eaglecrest Resort is located in Ypsilanti, about a 20–25 minute drive from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).You do not need to rent a car for the wedding weekend. Most events will take place at the hotel, and we’ll provide shuttle transportation to and from the Jewish ceremony and reception.From the airport, the easiest option is Uber or Lyft, which are readily available at DTW.If you’d like to explore Detroit, Ann Arbor, or the surrounding area during your stay, having a rental car can be helpful, but it’s completely optional.

Travel + Lodging

Near the Venue (Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti)

Food and Drink

This beloved Ann Arbor institution is famous for enormous deli sandwiches made with carefully sourced meats, cheeses, and bread. Browse the specialty-food market while you’re there, or grab coffee and something sweet at the adjoining Next Door Café.

Zingerman's Delicatessen

A lively downtown restaurant inspired by the food and convivial spirit of Spain. Order a tableful of tapas, add paella and sangria, and make an evening of it.

Aventura

Bellflower is a standout neighborhood restaurant serving seasonal dinners, excellent sandwiches, wine, and cocktails in downtown Ypsilanti. Come for a casual lunch or reserve a table for a special dinner built around ingredients from local farms.

Bellflower

Coffee and Cafés

This independent Ypsilanti roaster serves exceptional single-origin coffees in a relaxed café near Depot Town. It’s the place for guests who care deeply about what is in their cup—but remains friendly to normal people, too.

Hyperion Coffee Co

Vertex is a sustainability-minded café with thoughtful coffee, welcoming service, and comfortable indoor and patio seating. Its Ypsilanti location sits almost directly beside Hyperion, making an impromptu coffee crawl entirely reasonable.

Vertex Coffee Roasters Ypsilanti

Art, Outdoor, and Cultural Attractions

Known locally as “the Arb,” this free riverside landscape offers wooded trails, rolling meadows, and peaceful views of the Huron River. Its historic peony garden is especially spectacular around late May and early June.

University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum

The Collegiate Gothic Law Quadrangle and Library are two of the University of Michigan’s most beautiful architectural spaces and looks convincingly like a corner of Hogwarts. Public access to the Reading Room varies, so guests should check current access hours and bring identification.

University of Michigan Law School Library

UMMA brings historic and contemporary art together inside a beautiful Beaux-Arts building on the University of Michigan campus. Admission is free, and its central location makes it easy to combine with the Law Quadrangle and downtown Ann Arbor.

University of Michigan Museum of Art

City of Detroit

A Corktown favorite serving slow-cooked barbecue, creative sandwiches, and generous sides inside a restored historic building. It’s an easygoing introduction to Detroit’s food scene and sits conveniently close to Michigan Central Station.&nbsp;

Slows Bar BQ

One of Detroit’s iconic no-frills dining experiences, Lafayette serves classic coney dogs covered with chili, mustard, and onions. Its decades-long rivalry with neighboring American Coney Island is part of the fun—try both if you want to choose a side.

Lafayette Coney Island

Gus’s serves phenomenal Tennessee-style fried chicken with a crisp, spicy crust and just enough heat to demand another bite. Add baked beans, greens, mac and cheese, or a slice of pie and surrender to the situation.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

Coffee, Cafés and Bakeries

Trinosophes combines a vegetarian café with an adventurous nonprofit arts and performance space near Eastern Market. Stop in for coffee and a light lunch, then see whether an exhibition, reading, or experimental concert is underway.

Trinosophes

This bright West Village bakery creates inventive seasonal pies, cookies, and pastries using Michigan-grown ingredients. Its current model includes a changing mix of regular service, preorders, pop-ups, and classes, so check the schedule before visiting.

Sister Pie

A light-filled Eastern Market café and roastery for guests who take their coffee seriously. Anthology roasts its own beans and serves beautifully prepared espresso, pour-overs, and seasonal drinks in a relaxed industrial space.

Anthology Coffee

The DIA houses one of the country’s great encyclopedic art collections, spanning ancient cultures through contemporary work. Don’t miss Diego Rivera’s monumental Detroit Industry murals surrounding Rivera Court.

Detroit Institute of Arts

One of America’s oldest and largest public-market districts, Eastern Market fills with produce, flowers, food vendors, and Detroit characters on Saturdays. The surrounding streets are also packed with murals, specialty shops, restaurants, and bars.

Eastern Market

Artist Tyree Guyton transformed this residential street into an evolving outdoor environment made from painted houses, found objects, and everyday materials. It is free to explore and offers one of Detroit’s most distinctive encounters with public art.

The Heidelberg Project

Metro Detroit (The burbs)

A longtime Hamtramck favorite for comforting Yemeni dishes, including tender lamb, bubbling fahsah, flatbread, and fragrant rice. Portions are generous, so come hungry and order several dishes to share.

Yemen Cafe Restaurant

Part butcher shop and part casual restaurant, Dearborn Meat Market is known for charcoal-grilled halal meats served with bread, vegetables, and garlic sauce. The surroundings are wonderfully unfussy—the smoky kebabs are the reason to visit.

Dearborn Meat Market

This enormous museum uses automobiles, aircraft, machinery, and cultural artifacts to tell the story of American invention and change. Highlights include the Rosa Parks bus, presidential vehicles, and an astonishing collection of historic objects.

Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

Cranbrook brings modern and contemporary art, architecture, and design together on one extraordinary campus. Leave time to walk the grounds, where landmark buildings and landscapes make the setting as compelling as the exhibitions.

Cranbrook Art Museum

Things to Do

Sangeet (Jewel Tones/Dark Colors)

Hindu Wedding (Pastels & Light Colors)

Jewish Wedding & Reception (Bright & Bold Colors)

We invite guests to embrace Indian attire for the Sangeet and Hindu wedding! Women’s Indian AttireFor women’s Indian attire, you can either buy or rent depending on how often you think you’ll rewear the outfit. Helpful search terms include lehenga, sharara set, palazzo set, gharara set, anarkali, pre-draped saree. Shop:<a href="https://www.perniaspopupshop.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop</a><a href="https://www.azafashions.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aza Fashions</a><a href="https://www.houseofindya.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">House of Indya</a><a href="https://www.kalkifashion.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kalki Fashion</a><a href="https://g3fashion.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">G3+ Fashion</a><a href="https://www.lashkaraa.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lashkaraa</a> Rent:<a href="https://www.allborrow.com/collections/women" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AllBorrow</a><a href="https://marigold.rent/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marigold</a><a href="https://byrotation.com/us/collections/ethnic-wedding" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">By Rotation</a><a href="https://borrowthebazaar.com/collections/catalog" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Borrow the Bazaar</a><a href="https://www.shoponpickle.com/home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pickle</a> Men’s Indian AttireFor men’s Indian attire, you can either buy or rent depending on how often you think you’ll rewear the outfit. Helpful search terms include kurta pajama, kurta set, sherwani, bandhgala, Nehru jacket, jodhpuri suit, Indo-Western outfit. Shop:<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mens+kurta+pajama" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.manyavar.com/en-us/men" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Manyavar</a><a href="https://www.kalkifashion.com/collections/see-all-menswear" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kalki Fashion</a><a href="https://g3fashion.com/en-us/men-store" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">G3+ Fashion</a><a href="https://www.perniaspopupshop.com/menswear" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop</a><a href="https://www.azafashions.com/men" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aza Fashions</a> Rent:<a href="https://www.allborrow.com/collections/men" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AllBorrow Men</a><a href="https://marigold.rent/collections/mens-collection" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marigold Men’s Collection</a> Please don’t feel pressure to buy something expensive or brand new. Renting, borrowing, rewearing, or choosing a simple outfit is completely welcome; we just want everyone to feel festive, comfortable, and ready to celebrate!