The Bride Wore Pink and the Guests Wore Ivory at This Fairy-Tale Indian Wedding in Malibu

For the sangeet, the bride took inspiration from one of her longtime style icons—her mother. They both ended up wearing outfits by Sabyasachi for the celebration. “She’s so beautiful, and we have such a close relationship,” Tiwinkle says. “She wanted a rich, heritage outfit—no one does it better than Sabyasachi!”

When it came to the concept for her wedding day, Tiwinkle wanted it to feel like a pink Bollywood fairy tale. “I was on Pinterest planning my wedding for years before I knew I was going to be married,” the bride says. “I grew up watching Bollywood movies, and I always wanted to dress up the way the main actresses did during the wedding scenes. They always wore Manish Malhotra!” While she tried on looks from other brands, nothing felt like the perfect fit until she visited the iconic designer’s salon. “As soon as I tried the Manish Malhotra pink lehenga, my parents were in awe. I felt like a princess, and all the customers in the store, as well as the staff, were also in awe. That’s when I knew it was the one. I had to buy it!”

Tiwinkle finished off the rosy look with an emerald set by KK Jewels, which coordinated pieces for all her major wedding events. “Going wedding shopping in India really made me look at jewelry differently,” says the bride. “It really pushed me to pursue jewelry with more fervor than I had before.” The jewelers also worked with Tiwinkle and her family once she returned to California to create a custom tikka and nath that coordinated with the original set they purchased in India.

Tiwinkle wanted to complete her wedding wardrobe with an “American bridal moment” in a white gown for the reception. For this, she chose a beaded Gaurav Gupta gown with a thigh-high slit and a flowing cape as her final look.

Ahead of the main wedding week, Tiwinkle and Gurkirat celebrated their upcoming nuptials with two different religious ceremonies—a jagrata and a havan. The celebrations with their guests began with the Sagan ceremony. As a nod to the proposal, the couple set sail with their guests on a party yacht from Marina del Rey. The next event to follow was the sangeet. Hosted at the Landmark in Mission Hills, the laid-back evening was filled with “music, dance, and joy,” says the bride.

Their wedding photographer, Mili Ghosh, also joined in for these early celebrations. “Mili made art with the pictures she took,” reflects Tiwinkle. “I told her from the beginning that I wanted to blow up big black-and-white photos from the wedding week and frame them on my wall. She has captured pictures that will move me and anyone else who looks upon her work.”

The mehndi and haldi took place over two days at a large estate on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “It was a more intimate and peaceful setting with my side of the family,” shares Tiwinkle. For the mehndi, an artist applied henna to the bride for good luck from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. “It was a long day for me!” Tiwinkle laughs. The haldi is a ceremony where turmeric paste is placed on the bride and groom and then showered away to cleanse the body and remove impurities. “The haldi is an auspicious event as well as a skin care tradition before the wedding,” explains Tiwinkle.

Finally came the wedding day. “It was better and more special than I imagined in my head,” shares the bride. The bride and groom spent their mornings separately with family before arriving at the Pavilion at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu. A giant California oak tree strung with hundreds of ivory floral garlands served as the focal point of the ceremony decor, and the couple also requested that all guests wear ivory for the event. “We had hints of pink from the bride’s side and hints of light green on the groom’s side,” Tiwinkle explains. “Overall, it looked so aesthetically pleasing and dreamy.”

The venue was prepared to host two ceremonies back-to-back. The day began with a Hindu vivah ceremony, followed by a Sikh Anand Karaj ceremony. There was also a short break in between to transition the space. Gurkirat arrived in a baraat processional donning a sage green Tarun Tahiliani sherwani. “The whole process of customizing the outfit was done so professionally,” says the bride. “They provided everything from the safa, or the fabric on the head, to the shoes. It was so detailed and beautiful, which made the outfit so special for my husband. On top of all that, he wore a sword. He felt and looked like a prince.”

For the beginning of the Hindu ceremony, Tiwinkle had a grand entrance as a string quartet played. “As everyone got seated, we had preprofessional ballerinas younger than 12 years old perform to ‘Until I Found You’ by Stephen Sanchez before I walked in with my parents by my side and my two brothers behind us holding my long, cathedral-style veil. Prashe, which did the decor, added a last-minute fog machine, which made things look so ethereal. It was theatrical and set the tone for the day.” The ceremony was conducted by five Hindu priests, which the bride notes is “pretty unheard of.” She adds, “My family wanted very pure vibrations for that day because we deem marriage to be a holy, pure event.”

For the Anand Karaj ceremony, the bride was walked in by her male cousins and brothers. “They all held a veil that a few family members stitched flowers to the day before,” Tiwinkle shares. “It really takes a village to execute something so memorable!” As the couple made their final exit together, guests tossed petals on the newlyweds. “It was surreal,” the bride reminisces. “I felt so happy and so in love with my husband. Looking at him made all my nerves calm down on the wedding day.”

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed a thali lunch from chef Gaurav Anand before the vidaii ceremony, where the bride’s family bid farewell to the couple. “At first, I was all smiles until I saw my brother Suraj,” Tiwinkle recalls. “He was crying, and it made me and my parents emotional. We were all crying and holding each other tight. I looked to see some of the other family members tearing up too. I felt so much love from everyone!”

The following day, all the guests came together again for a grand reception at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena. “We just wanted everyone to feel special and taken care of even though it was our wedding week,” the bride reflects. “It was the perfect way to end the weeklong festivities.”