Shivani and Mayank planned a contemporary Indian wedding, incorporating some beautiful and meaningful traditions with their own personal tastes. The result was a stunning celebration that was elegant, romantic and full of love. They tell us more…

‘Given that we were having an Indian wedding, we wanted it to be contemporary, so highlighted the must-have traditional elements, and put our own spin on others.

Normally, a mandup (structure with posts) is used in Indian weddings, where the ceremony occurs. We challenged this idea since our ceremony location already provided us with a canopy of beautiful trees, in essence a natural mandup. We decided to incorporate floral filled pedestals encompassing the small stage area – signifying the natural mandup, and place where we got married. We chose a pastel colour palette for our wedding outfits, including the bridal parties.

Shivani was adamant she wanted to choose both her wedding and reception lehengas in person, to feel the fabric and get the fitting right, and not order online from an Indian designer. Because of this, she was limited to what was available in New Zealand. Shivani was always keen for a pastel look with heavy embroidery and detailing.

The wedding lehenga set came with a blouse which Shivani had made with semi-short sleeves. The set included intricate details delicately handcrafted on the lehenga and blouse which is paired with handworked dupatta. The reception lehenga also kept with the same floral blush theme, but it was stripped back with less embroidery and detail but still carried elegance. We went for a more golden tones for the reception party.

Mayank's wedding attire was an ivory Lucknowi sherwani with all over chikankari embroidery, paired with an ivory chudidar. It had subtle hints of blush to tie in with Shivani’s outfit and to fit into the theme. His reception attire was a custom silk pleated sherwani from Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani. The navy-blue overcoat with the black kurta under suited the reception party look, and the rustic gold buttons tied in with the gold hues of Shivani’s reception lehenga.

Mayank's safa (headwear) was tied on the morning of the wedding. The pastel pink fabric (8m length) was chosen to tie in with Shivani’s outfit and the dupatta (shawl) was altered to include fabric to tie in with his safa. His shoes were also custom designed from Artimen India. The hand-crafted wedding shoes were made in raw silk with a hand sewn motif and his leather reception shoes featured the same hand sewn motif.

We count ourselves fortunate that the weather favoured us on that day, especially as our outdoor ceremony lasted for over an hour! To make the most of our wedding day and spend more time with our loved ones, we opted to have our “first-look’ and bridal party photos taken before the ceremony, rather than interrupting the flow of the day by leaving midway. Our reception was set under the beautiful green vines at Markovina, and it was full of laughter, happy tears and lots of grooving!

Our day was spectacular in every way; it was more than what we had hoped for and couldn't have planned the way it went even if we tried! We feel super grateful to have celebrated with all our friends and family, some who came literally a couple days after borders opened!’