Meg & Nikhil | July - EngagedSNE

📸: Blueflash Photography | @blueflashphoto

Meg and Nikhil’s nuptials was a two-day extravaganza: the traditional Indian ceremony at Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, followed by the Western wedding ceremony at Blithewold Mansion the next day.

The Meet Cute: At a mutual friend’s birthday party in July of 2019, Meg and Nikhil locked eyes and talked the entire night.

The Engagement: During their long-distance relationship days when Meg lived in New York City, she and Nikhil would often take walks along the High Line when he visited. After one of their walks, they were window shopping in the Meatpacking District when a bracelet inside a jewelry store caught Meg’s attention. She was a bit alarmed when the clerk asked if they were shopping for wedding rings, since they had only been dating for three months. That same night, at a beer garden across the street, the two said “I love you” for the first time.

Fast-forward a few years: Nikhil and Meg, living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, planned a trip to New York City to visit friends. “We could go shop for rings at that jewelry store we stumbled into a couple years earlier,” Nikhil said. On Nov. 6, 2021, they again strolled down the High Line toward the Meatpacking District, this time with Meg eager to look at engagement rings. To her surprise, he got down on one knee during their walk, ring in hand. They walked into their special beer garden afterward to celebrate. The second surprise of the day: Nikhil had planned an engagement party disguised as a dinner reservation. A few hours after the beer garden, the two headed to “dinner” only to be greeted by all their closest friends.

The First Look: For the Indian ceremony on Friday, Meg and Nikhil followed tradition and didn’t see each other until the ceremony began. Nikhil was at the altar, or the Mantap, when Meg walked in, with cloth called the antarapata hung between them so they couldn’t see each other. When the antarapata was removed, they exchanged traditional varamala garlands, which represents their lives’ entwining. According to tradition, whoever places the garland over the other first will rule the household (ultimately Meg was the winner). On Saturday, they had a first look before the traditional Western ceremony and festivities began.

The Two Ceremonies: It was important for Meg and Nikhil to commemorate both cultures for their wedding weekend, so they had an Indian ceremony one day, and a typical Western ceremony the following day. “People are always amazed that we actually never saw the Friday venue until the day of the ceremony and saw the Saturday venue six months after signing the contract,” says Meg, who was living in Minnesota during the planning. “It was too much to travel back and forth to look at venues, and both of us had the mentality of, ‘If our parents like it, we can look at it on Instagram and if it’s within our budget, then why not?’ We trusted the process.”

The couple traveled to India to visit Nikhil’s family before the wedding, and while there, purchased all the outfits for the Indian ceremony for the bride and groom, family members and the bridal party. “We put so much thought into the details leading up to it,” Meg says, “and seeing everybody be so excited about wearing their sarees and embracing something that’s different was so special.” The couple kept an open and optimistic mind leading up to the wedding weekend. “We thought, ‘We’ll have fun no matter what,’” says Meg. “As soon as we showed up to the venue, everything was beautiful, the weather was amazing. The music both nights, the food both nights … everything was above and beyond what we could have even imagined.”

The Accents: Both venues naturally had many plants and flowers, allowing the two to save money on decor. Blithewold had so many gardens that they only had to buy Meg’s bouquet, the bridesmaids’ bouquets and the flower girls’ petals for the ceremony. Disposable cameras provided plenty of amusement during the reception, with both adults and littles — there were seven flower girls and two ring bearers — taking part in an impromptu scavenger hunt, thanks to prompts handed out by the couple.

The Dresses: Friday’s event was bold and colorful, like many Indian celebrations. For Saturday’s ceremony, Meg chose a soft color palette and had her bridesmaids choose the dresses. “I wanted my girlfriends to feel comfortable in what they were wearing,” Meg says. “I said, ‘Here’s a palette, pick your dresses, pick your fabric; it’s OK if it has prints.’ I wanted everything to be unique.”

The Advice: Identify your priorities early in the planning process. Nikhil and Meg wanted their wedding to be a fun experience for their family and friends, not just an event that only celebrated the couple. “We put a lot of thought into the guest experience. It’s one day and it’s about you, but it’s not just about you,” Meg says. “Your love is an accumulation of the people in your life. We had just as much to thank them for where we were as we do each other every day.”