Unique Art-Inspired Mumbai Wedding With A Beautiful Proposal Story
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Meet Puja and Jai
Jai and I met on Hinge on July 11th, 2023, and exactly one year later—on July 11th, 2024—we tied the knot. Although it was purely coincidental, the alignment of these dates, with a touch of auspiciousness, made it feel like destiny. During our six months of dating, we realized we not only lived in the same area but also had few mutual friends. Beyond shared values, interests, and a love for food, music, and adventure sports (we even went skydiving in South Africa on our honeymoon), the arts became "our thing." Jai embraced my passion for jazz concerts and art shows, always attending them with me enthusiastically.
Our romance, though hush-hush at first, gradually became known—my family knew right away, while his caught on toward the end of 2023. After meeting each other’s parents and friends, it became clear that we were meant to be. Jai began hinting at a proposal, and I felt something brewing as I prepared to attend Paris Haute Couture Week in January 2024. Jai planned to join me in Paris during a stopover from a work trip in Chile.
Even though I thought I had pieced together the clues, the moment still felt like magic. On January 19th, 2024, Jai invited me to a surprise dinner at my favorite hotel in the world—The Ritz in Place Vendôme. After giving him a tour of one of the salons where I had won an award in 2022 (a place that holds deep meaning for me), we dined, reminiscing about our grandfathers as a pianist played in the background. As we strolled through the hotel corridor afterward, Jai stopped, and I knew this was the moment.
He knelt by my favorite staircase and recited a heartfelt letter he had written in Chile, asking me to marry him. I whispered, “Oui.” What Jai didn’t know was that a proposal in Paris had been a dream of mine in my twenties—something I had long forgotten, only to have it come true in the most unexpected way, reminding me that the universe always listens.
We returned home and celebrated our engagement with an intimate ceremony atop the terrace of my building on Carmichael Road, surrounded by family and loved ones, as the sun set beautifully over Bombay.
Mehendi
Cocktail
Wedding
From The Bride:
The wedding took place on 11th July, 2024. It had to be about us, it had to be about Jai and I. We felt that we wanted to honour our Marwari and Gujarati traditions but make our own as well. A mehendi, wedding and cocktail it would be, all except the cocktail, it wouldn't be what one had previously seen before because it was conceptualised in my mind long before I had met Jai. Although at that point it was just a musing of what an art related wedding event could be like. Starting from our Save The Date which was a Claude Monet inspired Lillies painting turned into an invite to the formal invite which drew inspiration from Claude Monet's Lilies and colour palette, complete with quotes from Marc Chagall - we were sure that it was a window into our wedding and what our intimate wedding's guests would experience in person. Three days of revelry peppered with smaller precursory events, we knew our wedding would be distinctive. An Indo-Sicilian themed mehendi, a French Jardin inspired wedding with a Night At The Museum themed cocktail ensued.
Jai ensured that I got the wedding that I had always wanted and dreamt of, he entirely came up with the idea of taking inspiration from Jardin du Luxembourg (my favourite and most beautiful garden in Paris) for our Mandap and wedding decor, down to the fountain I had shown him to be my meditational spot. At the wedding, we sat surrounded by floral fountains against a backdrop of a vintage French cast iron grill, especially built for the mandap with an aisle that was lined with tall flowering trees to replicate the Jardin. I was walked to the aisle by my brother whilst in Tarun Tahiliani (a dream couture designer of mine) and Birdichand jewels, mixed with heirloom pieces. With the biggest smile on my face, I walked towards my forever and a beaming Jai.
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Vendor Reviews
We picked The Creative Company and Eshant Raju Photography to helm the execution of our ideas (among a village that helped us plan) and capture the wedding across Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, IFBE at Ballard Estate and Imara at Racecourse.
Vendors: Venues: Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, IFBE at Ballard Estate and Imara at Racecourse | Makeup Artist: Meraki by Ritika | Wedding Planning: The Creative Company | Photography: Eshant Raju | Bridal Outfits: Tarun Tahiliani , Alpana Neeraj, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla | Mehendi Artist: Bridal Mehndi Queen | Groomwear: Bohame Official | Bridal Jewellery: Birdhichand Jewellery