We all know that planning a Nigerian wedding can be as daunting and involving as you can ever think of, but the festivities that comes with Indian weddings is far more involving than what most countries are used to. And, that is why Ashwin Jain and Karishma Jhalani’s indian wedding caught our attention.
Delhi native Ashwin Jain’s was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and met Karishma Jhalani at the Goa International Airport about twelve years ago while traveling with other family members on a flight to Delhi and both of them became instantaneous friends. The couple remained friends throughout their college days, and afterwards across continents. In 2010, they took their relationship to another level and Ashwin later relocated back to India 2 years later.
While on a two-week trip to Sri Lanka, Ashwin had his plans well laid out to pop the big question.
“One morning, when we were in Ella, in the hill country, we woke early to go on a hike,” says Karishma. “I was sipping my green tea and watching the sunrise on our little balcony at the hotel. Ash was sitting across me with his coffee. I don’t quite remember how this happened, but all I heard was, ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’ I proceeded to go through shock and then peals of nervous laughter. The rest of the day was spent excitedly spreading the news to friends and family as we drove across the country from Ella to Twenty Three Palm in Galle.”
The Indian wedding events often span the course of several days with associated traditional festivities. To top it off also, Karishma’s choice of wedding location was “a logistical nightmare,” at the Jaisalmer, in the heart of the Thar Desert.
“A family friend of ours, Apoorva Lakhia, had shot a huge Bollywood film in Jaisalmer ten years ago, and knew how we could work around a couple of things,” Karishma points out. “As soon as we set foot there, we knew the wedding was going to be there. The decor was easy given how beautiful Jaisalmer itself is.”
But the nice part of the story is that Karishma is the designer and cofounder of 1701, a leather accessories line, while her mother founded the brand Janavi and works with top designers – Ferragamo and Chanel. Consequently, the two were able to put together local potters, florists, weavers, puppeteers, and shoemakers to work for the wedding.
After a 500-person dinner party in Delhi, the festivities began with a night of dinner and dancing on the sand dunes. The second day featured the mehendi ceremony, which is a traditionally girls-only gathering in which the bride’s hands are tattooed with henna and the sangeet, traditionally a night of singing and dancing.
The next morning of the following day, the bride and her family had the choora ceremony, during which Karishma was given wedding bangles to show she’s newly married. The groom and his family traveled to the wedding with the processional baraat.
“I knew that I wanted my wedding outfit to be designed by my mom,” says Karishma. “She understands me perfectly. It had to have a lot of color, couldn’t be heavy, and of course, had to be flattering.”
After the days long wedding ceremony, the newlyweds enjoyed another fun trip:
“We took a month off and traveled around Myanmar. It was one of the most beautiful and adventurous trips we’ve been on!”
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Source & Photo Credit: Vogue
