The Bride Wore a 30-Foot Veil to Marry in an Ancient Basilica at This Catholic-Sikh Wedding in Rome

“There is a lot that goes into planning a multicultural destination wedding, and we felt that having meticulous planners was crucial. We took several trips to Rome and India for meetings with our vendors and venue tasting and planning trips,” Elisa explains. “We went the extra mile to make sure that everything was organized smoothly and that everyone had an amazing time celebrating. The memories we made together with our families were priceless throughout the whole process, as both of our families were very involved in helping to make the weekend happen.”

The sangeet night took place on September 21 at Palazzo Brancaccio, a historic residence in the city center with lush gardens and opulent interiors. The evening also included a tholi ceremony, a tradition in Sikh weddings marking the bride’s departure from her family home and entry into her new life with her husband. “We made our first entrance into the gardens to kick off the weekend and greet all of our guests for the first time to Frank Sinatra’s ‘All or Nothing at All.’ After the tholi processional, we had a surprise private performance once all the guests entered the venue from Jaz Dhami, i.e. ‘the pioneer of Punjabi R&B,’ who we flew in from London,” the couple says. “The energy and surprise in the room when he came out was insane, and we’ll never forget the dancing.”

The bride wanted to wear a more contemporary Indian sharara set for the sangeet. “This was the event where I wanted to have fun, express myself, and show a bit more skin—in a tasteful way,” Elisa says. “I found an off-shoulder embroidered white, silver sequin, and crystal set from Indian couture designer Seema Gujral and fell in love with how it draped. I felt so glamorous and comfortable, and it was the perfect look to compliment the ornate interiors of Palazzo Brancaccio.” She paired the set with embroidered Mach & Mach and jewelry borrowed from Angad’s family. “It meant so much to me to be able to wear pieces that had such special, sentimental value to the both of us throughout the weekend, and especially to honor those who could no longer be with us to celebrate,” she says. For his look, Angad decided to wear a custom-tailored black Canali suit, an Hermès tie and pocket square, and Tom Ford shoes. “He also got to wear my late grandfather’s tie clip, who gave it to Angad before he passed away,” says the bride.

The following day began with the baraat processional, where the groom arrives with a parade of his family and friends to the ceremony where they are greeted by the bride's circle. “Traditionally this happens on horseback, but Angad picked a vintage Bentley S2 Cabrio from the 1950s as his arrival vehicle,” says Elisa. The anand karaj ceremony then took place in the floral-filled ballroom of the Hotel A.Roma Lifestyle, followed by a luncheon for all the guests. To select her looks for the Indian wedding day, Elisa flew to New Delhi with her mother, sister, and Angad’s mother and aunt. “I knew going into it I wanted to embrace tradition for the Anand Karaj and wear red,” says the bride. “I ended up falling in love with my look from Rimple and Harpreet, a made-to-order scarlet red lehenga set with peacock and paisley motifs. There were two dupattas—one of them had the most gorgeous, ornate embroidery that draped so beautifully down the back.”

Jewelry for this ceremony is traditionally a gift to the bride from her in-laws in Sikh culture. Elisa notes how selecting these pieces was a unique and beautiful experience with her mother-in-law. “We flew to Chandigarh in North India, where Angad’s family has a home to meet with their family jewelers, Talwar Cheap Replica Handbags House,” she explains. “Looking through all of their collectsions was exquisite and like being a child in a candy store, but I knew instantly the diamond and lighter green emerald set for my necklace, earrings, and tikka headpiece was the one. The set we chose truly balanced the tones of red and the multicolored embellishments in my bridal lehenga, and complimented my skin tone perfectly. I also wore a diamond bridal nath on my nose to complement the whole set.”

Angad chose a custom pale gold silk paisley Rimple and Harpeet sherwani with coordinating handcrafted shoes for the day. “His pagri, or turban, was red to coordinate with the color of my dress, and he wore a long string of deep green family emeralds, and a coordinating gold headpiece to adorn the pagri,” says Elisa. He also found a traditional sword while traveling in New Delhi to wear with the ensemble.

For her wedding ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, the bride opted for a palette of white and gold. “I really wanted something timeless and classic that would stand the test of time, and all I could picture was lace,” Elisa says. After trying gowns at a few Los Angeles bridal salons, she visited Claire Pettibone. “I only tried on one gown at her boutique and knew instantly it was the perfect dress, but needed customization to achieve the look I had envisioned for myself,” shares Elisa. “The most unique thing about working with Claire is that for every bridal client, she works with you one-on-one, directly. When I met her, I knew the private, custom experience was exactly what I was looking for.” The two collaborated to transform the gold embroidered Vermeil gown, adding long sleeves and more lace, as well as lengthening the train to close to 30 feet. Elisa also had the veil extended to match the drama of the gown. “The process was so memorable and special and I truly felt so comfortable in my own skin—beautiful and confident,” she says.

The groom also went custom for the final wedding day. Angad wore a bespoke tuxedo by Fabio Caldarella, a bespoke artisan sartoria. “Working with Fabio was a one-of-a-kind experience, as Angad really wanted to wear an Italian designer who understood the art of bespoke tailoring,” shares Elisa. “With Fabio, he hand-selected fabric swatches and commissioned the perfect tuxedo and overall look based on exactly what he wanted. Fabio met with us several times in both Los Angeles and New York to create the perfect bespoke look to Angad’s measurements.” The tuxedo was fastened with cufflinks from his late great uncle, and paired with shoes by Magnanni.

The couple share that the Catholic ceremony at the ancient basilica was “the most beautiful and moving experience of the entire weekend.” The bride and groom got ready separately and both arrived at the church in vintage Rolls Royce Wraiths. “By the time we arrived, everyone was already inside, and there was a whole crowd of tourists surrounding the courtyard, waiting to see who would arrive at the church," remembers Elisa. “I felt so nervous, but so excited and emotional at the same time.” The couple worked with the church to arrange live musicians to play hand-selected music pieces throughout the ceremony. “I walked down the aisle to a live performance of Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria,’ and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place, including my own,” shares the bride. “At the exact moment I walked down the aisle, the sun moved perfectly to let in a ray of light, which everyone was mentioning afterwards as it felt very ethereal.” The service was conducted in English, and included readings from the bride’s Aunt Cristina and the groom’s best friend Marcus. The couple adds, “The experience of being married in a Roman Catholic church, one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in Rome, was unforgettable, breathtaking, and so deeply moving that it’s difficult to capture in words.” After the ceremony, the couple was whisked away for portraits by their photographer Reni Maria at the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola. “It was so critical to us to have photographs with the stunning architecture of Rome in the background, and this location captured exactly that,” they share.

For the reception that followed at Villa Miani, Elisa chose her most opulent look of all: a navy-blue velvet lehenga set by Manish Malhotra. Adorned with gold embroidery work and embellished sleeves, the final result weighed 40 pounds. “Completing this look and getting dressed for the reception made me feel like the most elegant version of myself,” shares the bride. “I paired it with the most stunning diamond and rubies necklace and earrings set from Talwar Cheap Replica Handbags House, and a correlating diamond and ruby tikka headpiece which complimented the deep dramatic blue tones of the lehenga so perfectly.” A deep red lip completed the ensemble.

Due to a thunderstorm, the planning team needed to shift plans indoors for cocktail hour. Luckily, it passed in minutes, so the later reception plans could proceed without a hitch. The couple made a grand entrance at dinner, had a cake cutting moment, and continued into an evening of dancing late into the night on a balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican City. “It was a night that we all wished had never ended,” the couple says. “At the end of the evening, we were driven back to our penthouse suite in the vintage Rolls Royce, exhausted but so content and full to the brim with love (and negronis).” The newlyweds then jetted off to a mini-moon in Andermatt, Switzerland to relax after the adrenaline rush of the weekend.

Reflecting on their multi-day celebration, the couple wouldn’t have changed a thing. “It has been so wonderful to keep finding moments to relive that special feeling of pure happiness and joy, which you almost want to try and capture in a bottle,” they say. “Being surrounded by so much love at such a unique moment in our lives is an unforgettable feeling that we’ll always cherish.”