This couple jumped into Lake Como for a plunge after their haldi ceremony

Love can bloom in the unlikeliest of places. For Chicago-born Sneha Patel and Florida native Nirav Shah, cupid’s arrow struck in a calculus class. As the duo braved the vagaries of a challenging pre-med course together, the study sessions soon kindled the fire for a deeper connection. The stresses and anxieties of university life raged on, all while bringing the duo closer together until he finally asked her to be his girlfriend at their neighbourhood grill restaurant, Applebee’s. While she initially said no, her answer was soon amended. After making it through a long-distance relationship, he popped the question again with a sunset boat ride on Lake Como. Unsurprisingly, Patel’s response was a joyful yes.

It was this location that the couple chose to return to when planning the wedding of their dreams. But as they started navigating the process at an international destination, they found themselves confronted with the deeper question of what it meant to be Indians brought up in USA while getting married in Italy. It is this balance they sought to strike as they infused their culture into every aspect of the wedding.

The wedding festivities officially began with the guests arriving for an al fresco haldi ceremony at Grand Hotel Imperiale Resort & Spa. A voyage of fresh dahlias, carnations, peonies and lemons lit the way as the bride made her entry in a lime-hued creation from Mahima Mahajnan. While the festivities were conducted with aplomb, a hidden surprise awaited as the happy couple plunged into the azure waters of Lake Como in all their wedding finery, soon to be followed by their friends. “It was a joyful and spontaneous moment that added a memorable twist to the traditional celebration,” she reminisces.

The next order of business was to honour their cultural roots, and the mehendi ceremony had Patel favouring an ethnic look that leaned into ancient Gujarati tribal traditions—replete with a triage of protective dots on her neck. “This design not only honoured my cultural heritage but also symbolised our deep connection and the protective blessings bestowed upon our union,” she shares. As fireworks lit the horizon, the duo danced the night away to the traditional beats of garba.

By next morning, however, the wedding party was refreshed and ready to celebrate the most memorable day in the couple’s lives at Villa Revel Parravicini, a quintessential Italian mansion by the shores of Lake Como. A towering mandap served as the focal point of the decor, doused in all-red roses, baby’s breath and charm peonies, and burgundy carnations and peonies—all designed to spotlight the crimson hues of the bride’s lehenga. “When I began the search for my wedding lehenga, I was certain that I wanted a traditional red number that truly felt like me. When I visited Marwar Couture in Delhi for the first time, there was one lehenga that immediately caught my eye. Even before I saw myself in the mirror, I felt an overwhelming emotional connection to it. As soon as I stepped out to show my family, their reactions confirmed what I already felt—I had found ‘the one’,” she recalls. With the guests asked to opt for neutral hues, the standout hue of her bridal lehenga and the coordinated decor served as an impressive visual spectacle as she made her way down the aisle.