Dream Weddings: Anjella and Sarmad
By Judith White
For Spirit of Saratoga

Sarmad Khojasteh first saw Anjella Teimoori nearly two years ago at a party in a New Jersey country club, and it took all the courage he could muster to break into her mob of friends and ask to buy her a drink.
"I didn’t mean it as a cheesy line, but it was all I could think of at that moment," he recalls now, nearly a year after their marriage. "And then she said she doesn’t drink! And there I was, in front of all her friends, so I just asked her to walk with me to the bar for a glass of water … and she did! And I learned she was from Albany, and I wound up with her phone number, which she never, ever, gave out to anyone."
An attorney in New York City, Khojasteh grew up in Poughkeepsie. His stunning, Dallas-born bride, now 25, an account executive with Fox 23, grew up in Bethlehem. Now living in Manhattan, both have Iranian roots, and so a wedding ceremony and celebration filled with rich Persian tradition seemed a natural.
Khojasteh, then 28, took Anjella to the historic Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs State Park for a romantic Valentine’s date just before they became engaged, and they both knew immediately that Hall of Springs next door would be the setting for their wedding.
"Other than just my husband, we had to make sure that all the guests had fun! We wanted everyone to eat a lot, to drink a lot, and to dance a lot," the bride recalled.
"Our wedding was a full Persian ceremony, with a couple of added (Western) elements, like adding bridesmaids and groomsmen."
Glorious in the photos is the sofreh aghd, a lavish Persian spread of symbolic items, beside which the bride and groom exchange wedding vows.
For the dance with her father, this bride chose a Persian-style quick tempo tune to set the tone for the evening.
Asked about the filtered mood lighting that changed throughout the evening, Khojasteh said, "Every detail of our wedding was planned by my wife, with my mother-in-law and mother doing a great job (planning and working) with her. Three detail-oriented women handled this perfectly, and we have beautiful photos to show it."