This bride ditched classic red for a gold chikankari lehenga by Tarun Tahiliani, at her California ranch wedding
“The ranch has been a very special place for us as a couple,” says bride Jayni Shah of her wedding location, where the groom’s family traditions were combined with those of Jayni’s Indian heritage.
Way before the wedding, although Jayni Shah and William Dixon first came across each other on Hinge in 2018, they can technically say that a friend set the pair up. “I noticed a photo of him with a work friend of mine on his profile,” Jayni recalls. “This friend turned out to be William’s very best childhood friend. We both texted him, he strongly recommended we meet, and the rest is history!”
William, an emergency medicine physician, and Jayni, a software venture capitalist, nurtured their relationship in San Francisco, but would often head north to William’s family ranch in California wine country. “The ranch has been a very special place for us as a couple,” says Jayni. “We spent a lot of time up there during the COVID lockdown when William had time off from the hospital. I wasn’t able to go visit my parents in India for over two years during the pandemic, and found comfort in spending time with William’s family and all our friends up at the house, and in nature.” It made perfect sense, then, that William would pop the question to Jayni in that special place in the summer of 2022.
The Geyserville property was also the natural choice for the couple’s wedding venue. Not only did it hold dear memories for the couple, but the big day would not be the ranch’s first rodeo. “We got very lucky as this was the third family wedding at the ranch, and William’s mom had many of the vendors locked and loaded from William’s siblings’ weddings from prior years,” shares the bride. “We decided to work with several teams who were already familiar with the property, and with whom my mother-in-law had built rapport and trust over the years. She even booked our wonderful band, Hip Service, before William had officially proposed! This made the planning process very smooth as we felt comfortable tackling the logistics involved with setting up the infrastructure needed for an estate wedding.”
With William’s mother and wedding planner Taylor Lyons of So Eventful handling the ins and outs of transforming the property into an event space, Jayni led the charge on creative details. “We hoped our wedding weekend would showcase the gorgeous landscapes of California wine country and its incredible food and wine scene,” share the couple. “We fell in love with the fresh, California-inspired flavors of Jessica Lasky Catering at the first tasting, and they completely delivered. Max Gill’s stunning, rustic floral designs accented the natural landscape of the property and our invitations were created by San Francisco–based Elsa Madeline Design.” The duo shares they were especially excited to work with their wedding photographer Valorie Darling, who previously shot William’s brother’s wedding.
To represent their two cultures, the couple held a traditional Indian Hindu ceremony, followed by a “classic American black-tie reception.” This choice meant the bride and groom would need to select two distinct outfits for the celebration, and the shopping trip was the perfect excuse for Jayni to introduce William to her extended family in India for the first time. “He survived the time change, Mumbai’s notorious traffic, and late nights with Jayni’s high school friends and family to fall in love with a Sabyasachi sherwani,” recalls the couple. “He was sold when he noticed the buttons were tigers—the mascot of his alma mater, Princeton. We convinced the tailor to let us walk outside and see it in the sunshine, where a passerby stopped to ask for a picture. So, he knew he looked wedding-ready!” For the black-tie reception, William suited up in a sleek Hugo Boss tuxedo.
As a longtime fan of Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani’s craftsmanship and ethereal style, it was a natural choice for Jayni's bridal lehenga. “While red is the classic colour for Indian brides, I chose a hand-embroidered gold-beige chikankari lehenga with tones of green and pink on ivory,” she shares. “I come from many generations of jewelers, and the outfit paired beautifully with my family’s jadau jewelry.” Jayni would later don a strapless Sarah Seven gown to dance the night away.
Celebrations began with a traditional Haldi ceremony at a family friend’s home a few days ahead of the wedding. “It was the first chance for our extended family and some closest friends to meet and get to know each other,” the couple says. Once more guests arrived in town, the pair hosted a welcome dinner on the picturesque grounds of the Truett Hurst Winery in Healdsburg. “We set up long tables and had delicious Mexican-inspired food from our wedding caterers,” say William and Jayni. “During and after dinner, friends and family gave toasts and roasts, and then many hit downtown Healdsburg to continue the celebrations.”
On the day of the ceremony, guests arrived at the ranch and were greeted with drinks before the beginning of the Baraat parade. “William emerged in his sherwani with a selected group of Baraat boys to get the party started,” says Jayni. “They loaded a large speaker onto the back of a four-wheeler and blasted a mix of Indian party music, techno, and hip-hop.” As the procession passed the barn, William mounted a family horse dressed for the occasion and rode to the ceremony site, where Jayni’s sister and family greeted him with traditional blessings. The bride was then escorted by her family to the mandap.
