An Intimate Hindu Wedding Amid the Santa Monica Mountains

Thinking through outfits is one of the things Megna spent the most time on prior to the wedding, and she knew she wanted to wear something traditional yet modern for the wedding ceremony. “Hindu brides traditionally wear certain colors, one of which is red, so I started by going to a local Indian clothing shop and browsing through thread swatches of the various shades of red and choosing one that I loved,” she explains. “From there, I thought through the style of the outfit I wanted to wear, which is called a lehenga—made up primarily of a blouse and skirt—and the fabric I would want the lehenga to be.”

She decided on banarasi silk fabrics and worked directly with fashion designer Manishi Joshi of Prémya by Manishii. “She sent me sketches and we finally narrowed it down to my favorite, a scoop-neck blouse with a low back,” Megna says. “Manishi then started sending me sketches of the skirt portion of my lehenga, and we decided on the general embroidery style and the style of my dupattas, which are the shawl-like scarves that are worn on the bride’s head and shoulder. She would send me photos and videos throughout the process so I could see how it was coming together.” All of the beading and embroidery was sewn by hand, and Megna worked with Manishi on all of the other outfits that she wore throughout the wedding weekend, as well as the bridesmaids’ looks.

For jewelry, Megna focused on earrings, a necklace, and bangles. “Jewelry for Indian brides ranges from heavy to simple, and I wanted to go as simple as I could but also have sentimental value,” Megna notes. “I decided to wear the earrings and necklace my mother wore for one of her wedding events and added a headpiece that one of my aunts wore for her wedding!” For her bangles, the bride’s mother kindly went to countless shops in India to find bracelets that matched the wedding look perfectly. With respect to her hair and makeup, Megna knew she wanted her hair to be in a bun because she wanted her dupatta to sit on her bun. She worked with two sisters, Diana and Nancy Alba, who understood the look she was going for and nailed it.

Amish’s outfit was purchased by his parents from India, while the turban-style hat, called a safa, that he wore was made by Manishi using the same fabric as Megna’s wedding outfit, along with a pocket square, which tied their two outfits together.

Guests were encouraged to wear traditional Indian attire, Indian-fusion wear, or semiformal American attire. Most important were comfortable shoes for the grassy venue. For the wedding ceremony, they asked family members to wear shades of sage and olive green, while the bridal party wore emerald green—Eagles green, more accurately!—and cream.

The wedding ceremony was a traditional Hindu ceremony performed by a pandit (priest). “The traditional Hindu wedding ceremony is filled with symbolic moments that we wanted to make sure to incorporate,” Megna says. “To make sure all of our guests could follow along with the ceremony, we wrote wedding programs that included a short description of the different steps.”

The festivities kicked off with the baraat, which is when the groom and his family and friends parade to the ceremony to music and dancing. A lover of classic cars, Amish chose a vintage Mercedes-Benz 280SL for his grand entrance, which took place on a beautiful oak-lined road leading up to the main venue’s entrance. “My dream was always to have a ceremony under trees, so although the space is typically used for receptions, we chose a lawn on the venue that is shaded by trees and twinkling lights to create a peaceful ambience and provide shade for our guests,” Megna says. “It is traditional for a cloth to be held in front of the groom, concealing his view of the bride as she walks down the aisle. I was escorted to the aisle by my maternal uncles, as is traditional in Hindu weddings, and my dad then walked me the remaining way down the aisle—this is not traditional but is something I wanted to experience.”

The ceremony continued with prayers by the priest, the couple’s parents, and other family members, and the significant “seven steps,” symbolizing the newlyweds’ beginning their journey through life together, with each step representing a different marital vow. “Once the ceremony ends, we seek blessings from the priest, our parents, and our guests, and proceed to the vidaai, which is when the bride says goodbye to her family and is welcomed into her husband’s family,” Megna explains. “This was an incredibly emotional moment with a lot of tears and love, and are some of my favorite photos to look through.”

Although Hindu ceremonies are long—often clocking in at over an hour—the whole experience flew by for Megna and Amish. “We smiled and laughed with each other and our guests throughout,” Megna says. “It was a joyous blur. The love and happiness I felt during the ceremony, in the process of marrying my best friend, was immeasurable. We had an intimate wedding by Indian standards, and looking out at the guests and seeing their faces, knowing they came out of their way to celebrate the day with us and shower us with love brought us an immense amount of joy.”

After the wedding ceremony, lunch was served and guests had a few hours to hang out and go back to the hotel to get ready. In the evening, guests returned to the venue for a cocktail hour followed by the reception.

One of Amish’s visions for the cocktail hour was to have an instrumental jazz band playing music while guests ate, drank, and mingled. Jenga, cornhole, and a ring toss was set up on the field for the kids and adults to enjoy during the cocktail hour, and then, when it was time for the guests to transition to their tables at the reception, DJ Preet Bisla of Vox DJs played tropical house music as everyone located their tables using luggage tags with a custom insert that indicated their table number.

The newlyweds entered the reception just as the Malibu sun was starting to set, and Miley Cyrus’s “Malibu” played in the background. Then there was cake, the first dance, the mother-son dance, the father-daughter dance, and vegetarian Indian food by Mantra restaurant, with cakes from SusieCakes and Karma Baker. The rest of the night was full of dancing under bistro lights, surprise performances by family and friends, and photos in the photo booth by Selfie Booth Co. “After the reception, we went back to the hotel and had a casual after-party in our hospitality suite,” Megna remembers. “With some friends, and our guilty pleasures—In-N-Out and Taco Bell.”