Sheraz Iftikhar and Sheba Khan
For most couples, planning one day of wedding festivities is a handful. But for
Sheba Khan and Sheraz Iftikhar, planning three was a welcome challenge. The pair’s traditional Pakistani affair kicked off April 6, when more than 300 guests showed up to the Red Lacquer Room at the Palmer House Hilton (17 E. Monroe) for Mehndi, a day of nonstop dancing, richly colored decor and henna applications. “You have to invite everyone you’ve ever met,” Khan jokes of the enormous guest list, which included family and friends from her southern Illinois stomping grounds, New York City, California and such far-flung locales as Ireland and Pakistan.
On day two, the number of attendees grew to more than 400, all of whom dressed in customary red garb and flocked to the Palmer House Hilton’s grand ballroom for the official wedding ceremony. The bride’s side of the family played host, welcoming Iftikhar into the fold — and when the night wound down, they officially gave her away to the groom. Despite dancing late into the night, guests woke up early the following day for a brunch to celebrate the newlyweds. Khan and Iftikhar didn’t stop there: The following day, they flew to New York, where they had a third and final day of celebration called Walima, a welcoming reception for the new bride hosted by the groom’s family. The couple lives in Manhattan, where Khan is a marketing strategist with ING Financial Partners and Iftikhar is a managing partner at Arch Global Advisors.