As for how we say, someone who is meant to be with you will find you when the timing and chances are right. This wedding tale is about two people who met in high school and after dating for almost 10 years, they found a perfect match for each other.
They both curated each tiny detail as an extension of who we are individually & together creating a lifetime worth of memories in their wedding. Officiated their wedding with two female pandits, sharing the feminist principles they both believe in.
How They Met
Akshay & I met in school & after over a decade of dating each other, when we decided to get married, we knew that the only way that our wedding could be an honest celebration of us would be if the both of us curated each tiny detail as an extension of who we are individually & together.
In doing that, I realized that I had found a partner who not only mirrored my principles about following gender agnostic rituals that had meaning for us both but also stood like rock-solid support through the tumultuous time that planning & getting everybody on the same page in a wedding can be.
How they Planned their Wedding
To put our dream wedding together was an absolute treat! A celebration with just family & close friends, our wedding was a weekend-long party at a resort nestled away from the city in the hills of Udaipur. It was an amalgamation of a lot of day drinking, flash mobs, fun customs, never-ending after-parties, drama, happy tears & overwhelmingly special memories. From ensuring a strict ‘no gifting’ principle between both families to the clothes carefully curated keeping in mind our love for fabrics and weaves from across the breadth of this country, to the venue & its detailing to even the progressive rituals we got married with, everything was an extension of who we are & what we believe in.
About their Wedding Festivities
We kicked off our celebrations with a boho-chic-themed ice breaker for our extended families to meet. What was planned to be a quiet short affair, turned out to be a night-long rager that started with a dhol & ended with everyone including our Mehendi wala getting drunk! My outfit was from Rana’s, Jaipur & jewelry from Pinwheels. Akshay’s outfit was from Nasir.
Mehendi
Keeping in mind my inexplicable obsession with peacocks, our official Mehendi was a peacock-themed one. Pitara & WDNE painstakingly put together each element keeping the various colors & aesthetics of a peacock in mind. Akshay and I wore matching blue-green outfits to complement the gorgeousness that was the decor that day! My outfit was from Vasansi Jaipur & my jewelry was custom made by Mortantra.
I designed Akshay’s outfit along with designer Nasir, to match my favorite stole that I’ve had since forever! Akshay loved the stole so much that he decided to wear it to our Mehendi, making our outfits even more special! When I told YSDC choreographers that I wanted to surprise Akshay with a flash mob, they put together the choreography & taught it to us in just a day! Akshay’s priceless expression is etched in my mind for life!
Haldi
Our Haldi pooja was an attempt to bring everyone into the fold of wishing the bride & groom the best with the symbolic blessing of the mangal sutra by everyone present.
I chose to wear a Banarasi suit designed by me, complemented with a green Bandhej dupatta from Jaipur
Cocktail Party
Our cocktail was a glitzy affair in colors of black, gold, red & all shades of bolly-glam! With performances by both sides & an after-party that lasted till morning, the night it must’ve been amazing because most of us don’t seem to recollect much of it!
I wore a red embroidered lehenga designed by me & executed to perfection by designer Divya Goyal based in Jaipur. My jewelry was by Ajnaa. Akshay’s outfit was by Nasir.
Wedding Day
Our wedding day truly matched up to the crescendo that the day is expected to be! Akshay & his friends made an impromptu plan to meet our surprise flash mob with their own version of ‘Gulabo’ to celebrate my favorite color! I made it a point to enter hand-in-hand with my parents, the two most evolved people I know – the people who have inspired in me the ability to stand my ground & own it regardless of the consequences! The moment was so overwhelmingly special that I’ll probably go down in history as the only bride to have cried at her own bridal entry!
Our ceremonies were conducted by two beautiful Panditains, proving with each Vedic verse they chanted, that knowledge knows no gender barriers & stereotypes! We replaced age-old patriarchal traditions like “kanyadaan” & “vidaai” with empowered rituals tailored to what Akshay, I & our families believe in. Rituals that celebrate the coming together of two equal individuals and don’t place the burdensome pressures of building & upholding relationships only on one gender. We decided to perform our ‘pheras’ slightly differently & do the last few walking together side-by-side, symbolizing the equality of life, respect, choices & opportunities that Akshay & I were stepping into. The ‘kanyadaan’ was replaced with ‘Hasth Milaap’ (meeting of hands) where our parents joined both our hands together, metaphorical of unison of equals starting a new chapter together. Doing away with the ritual of ‘vidaai’, we see the beauty of marriage as both of us gaining an additional family, an additional home & additional responsibilities, rather than the woman having to reprioritize her entire life & break ties with a home she’s identified with all her life, only to now identify another home & family as a priority
The décor was rustic-themed, with pink & white-hued florals, fairy lights & beer barrels! My mother ensured that even the ceremony was inclusive for all our guests. She had the symbolism of all the rituals we were following carefully penned down into beautiful wedding booklets shared with all guests. As a result, there wasn’t a soul around us who wasn’t listening & engaging with rapt attention. I wore a monotoned pink lehenga by Anita Dongre & custom-made jewelry by 925 silver, Jaipur. Akshay wore a blush pink sherwani by Sawan Gandhi.
Reception
Our reception back home in Delhi was conducted at Taj Mahal Hotel. I wore a blue Anita Dongre lehenga with ancestral Kundan jewelry that’s been in my family for over 100 years. Akshay wore a modern take on a bandh gala by Nasir along with an embroidered ancestral stole to complement the look.
TIPS for To-Be-Couples
Your wedding must be a celebration of the coming together of you & your partner. But, most of us in the vigorous planning to our wedding days, forget that above the wedding will always be the marriage! So plan those days keeping in mind the fundamental principles of life you and your partner want to come together basis, the life you aspire to build & the people that you are.
The Wedding Vendors:
Mehendi Vendors
Bride’s Outfit: Vasansi Jaipur
Groom’s Outfit: NASIR
Jewellery: Mortantra Jewellery
Wedding Day Vendors
Bride’s Outfit: Anita Dongre
Groom’s Outfit: Sawan Gandhi
Jewellery: 925 Silver Jaipur
MUA: Isha Khanna
Hair: Santosh Pokharel
Reception Vendors
Bride’s Outfit: Anita dongre
Groom’s Outfit: NASIR
MUA: Kashika Kapur
Hair: Dablu Kumar
Choreographers: YSDC Wedding Choreography
Wedding Concept & Design: PITARA
Event Production: WDNE
Photographer: Shutter Down Photography
