How this bride gained over 3.9 million views for her unconventional haldi outfit

In our wedding series, we trace the stories of real-life brides, right from when they met their partners to how they planned their wedding outfits

Aishwarya Wadhwani and Aalesh Avlani’s love story is straight out of a romantic movie. What started as one fun night at a friend’s wedding in 2018 led to a strong friendship between the entrepreneurs (Wadhwani is the co-founder of Plane Crazy, a creative agency, while Avlani is a fintech entrepreneur and angel investor), which cemented the foundation of their marriage. In a tell-all, Wadhwani shares how she met her husband, the surprise proposal and the story behind the seven outfits she wore for the wedding festivities, including the look for the haldi ceremony, which got her over 3.9 million views on Instagram. 

How it all started

On Christmas Eve in 2018, I met Aalesh at a wedding party in Mumbai. We immediately hit it off and spent the night getting to know each other. The funny bit is that I didn’t see him after that night for a long time. We didn’t even message each other. So I thought of it as a fun night we spent together at a party, nothing more. A few months later, I posted something about Game of Thrones on Instagram, which he happened to see. We started messaging each other, discussing episodes of the final season. This ignited the spark I felt at the party. For a year, we kept it low-key, not putting undue pressure on the relationship. Instead, we got to know each other better until we realised we were becoming inseparable. So in 2020, we officially became a couple. That’s when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

But it brought us closer. We would go to each other’s houses, meet the parents and get to know them better since he comes from a Gujarati family while I’m Sindhi. We bonded during this period—we learnt to take an interest in each other’s hobbies. For instance, he learnt to ride horses for me, while I learnt to ski with him.

The surprise proposal

In 2021, I accompanied him on a work trip to Paris, after which we decided to meet some friends in Monaco. Little did I know that he had planned a proposal with a fancy dinner, which we drove to in a vintage car. On the way, much to my surprise, he stopped the car by a cliff and asked me to marry him. We even had photographers to capture that moment. I'm glad he thought of everything.

The white wedding

Our celebrations were split between Phuket and Mumbai. It was more of a party in Phuket while the traditional ceremonies were held in Mumbai. But we wanted some sort of wedding ceremony, apart from the parties, in Phuket too which is why we had a white wedding with a sand ceremony—a symbolic tradition where the couple pours sand from separate jars into a single one. We mixed a jar of blue sand and pink sand together—a metaphor for our union and that of  our families. We kicked it off with a welcome brunch, for which I wore a green cowl dress by Maison Blu. For the wedding, I wore a fitted dress with a mermaid-like trail from bridal designer Berta Balilti. I had two references in mind for this—Elsa from Frozen and a mermaid. Aalesh, on the other hand, went the classic route with a white tuxedo and black pants.

We also hosted a pool party, for which I didn't want to look too put-together. Suhani Parekh of the label Misho, who is a friend, custom-made the Malachite body piece for me, as I wanted something tropical to go with the theme. I teamed it with a skirt by Anamika Khanna. The interesting thing about the skirt were the details; there are figures of tribal men embroidered on the shredded skirt, in colours that matched the body piece. The accessories I wore with this outfit were from Misho too.

The last function we had in Phuket was the sangeet. I chose a Tarun Tahiliani pre-draped, champagne-hued saree with a corset, and accessorised it with rubies and diamonds to add a pop of colour to the otherwise monotone look. 

The Insta-popular outfit

This outfit actually has a funny backstory. For the haldi ceremony in Mumbai, I was doom-scrolling on Instagram, looking for a menswear designer for Aalesh and came across this hand-painted sunflower kurta by a new label called House of Koa. I thought it was perfect and ordered it. Meanwhile, I was looking for something for myself and couldn’t find anything to match his outfit. Whenever I’m shopping, I usually make it a point to reach out to the designers for a better shopping experience. So while talking to Kajal Patel, the designer at House of Koa, she offered to design and stitch her first womenswear outfit for me. It’s simple—an ombre skirt and a cropped blouse with exaggerated sleeves. There was no other detailing or embroidery on it, except for the printed sunflowers on the blouse. I think the simplicity of it is why it went viral and it worked out well for the designer too, as she’s now considering catering to women as well.

The unconventional bride

Another special outfit was for a traditional Gujarati ceremony called lagan lakhvanu, where the wedding date is finalised. For this, we sought out Hyderabad-based designer Varun Chikkalam, who custom-made our outfits. We wanted complementary colour palettes, so I chose to wear a twilight blue lehenga while Aalesh wore a grey kurta. The exciting part about this outfit is that the designer incorporated our wedding logo through embroidery. 

For the wedding ceremony I opted out of donning a lehenga in red. Instead, I went for an offbeat Sabyasachi lehenga I hadn't come across online. Initially, I didn’t want to opt for Sabyasachi as most of his designs were splashed all over the Internet. But I was thrilled with this find. The lehenga’s base is ivory, with French-knot embroidery and Swarovski crystals. I wanted my jewellery to be the focus, so I teamed my outfit with pastel green jadau jewellery from Popley Eternal. My husband ended up wearing a Sabyasachi outfit consisting of white threadwork. 

Fashion as self-expression

All my outfits showcased a different part of my personality. I went experimental in Phuket while keeping it slightly traditional yet unconventional in Mumbai. I sourced and styled them all on my own, as fashion was the medium I wanted to express myself through. And honestly, I had a lot of fun putting it all together for myself and my husband. 

Also Read: This American bride wore a Manish Malhotra lehenga for her nuptials in Philadelphia

Also Read: Why Sonam Babani chose Atelier Versace to design one of her wedding outfits

Also Read: Do you need to indulge in a wedding stylist?