This Mumbai-based couple omitted the baraat and kanyadaan as they reimagined traditions for their intimate wedding

12 January 2024

Photos by Ethereal Studio

For their garden wedding in Karjat, Prernaa Lohiya and Rohan Hande consciously picked rituals that reflected their core values like walking down the aisle together

It’s not every day that an Indian groom chooses to forgo his baraat, but Rohan Hande did just that. “Every wedding we’ve been to has been similar—where the groom enters with a baraat, and then waits at the mandap for his bride walk in.” It was not a template that appealed to Hande and his bride Prernaa Lohiya, and they decided to create their own format. Since the wedding was meant to celebrate their union and future life together, they wanted to walk into it together. So they entered the ceremony together in a vintage Ambassador. Their friends and family welcomed them at the entrance and then escorted the couple down the aisle.

Their whole wedding was consciously designed around one simple thought: to share a glimpse of the couple’s core values with their loved ones. So while they did opt for a Vedic ceremony, they chose rituals that spoke to them. “We omitted the kanyadaan and opted for four pheras,” reveals the groom, who started his career as a mixed media visual artist at Vogue India’s photo desk over a decade ago. The couple did include a few Indian customs such as ‘naak khichai rasam’, as well as Western elements like the throwing of the bridal bouquet. “Rohan’s best friend, and not one of the bridesmaids, caught it. Why should girls have all the fun!” laughs Lohiya. Instead of keeping their outfits a surprise from each other, they went shopping together and Hande even helped his bride pick out her wedding sari.

When Mumbai-based Lohiya and Hande first met online in 2021 it was not just their common interests and shared goals that brought them together, but also their creative inclinations. As an independent artist, Hande has created visuals for Netflix and Prateek Kuhad apart from Vogue; while Lohiya is the founder of her organic clothing brand Something Sustainable, which she launched after stints with Manish Malhotra, French Connection and Payal Khandwala. So, when it came to planning their wedding, it was a given that they would creatively direct every little detail. “We both have ample experience in producing shoots. This was a little bit like that, but times 100!” admits the couple.

While the couple did have an events and management team, as well as the family members taking care of logistics, the aesthetic was all them. Since the duo had been set on a whimsical garden wedding that allowed them to exchange vows under a tree—which they hosted at Oleander Farms, Karjat—that was a starting point for the design. The tree was the central motif on the invitations designed by the groom. He also designed customised covers for the hazelnut chocolates from All Things Chocolates that were part of the welcome gift bag. Lohiya, whose label is committed to utilising overstock fabric and creating natural dyes out of food and flower waste, designed some of their pre-wedding looks.

The couple’s mehendi looks, for instance, were dyed with coconut waste reclaimed from temples across Mumbai. Hande’s pocket square and saafa were naturally dyed with coconut and madder. For other occasions, the couple gravitated towards responsible labels like Anavila, Moonray and Rajesh Pratap Singh, choosing outfits they could reuse with ease. For the wedding day, Lohiya went with a sari from Sabyasachi instead of a lehenga, ensuring her bridal look had ample repeat value. From the vows to the wedding, every little detail of Hande and Lohiya’s nuptials was personal, thoughtful and mindful.