Arpita Mehta and Kunal Rawal’s love story sounds like a plot of a feel-good movie you would want to rewatch. The two incredibly talented and magnetic designers serendipitously crossed paths at a party. Soon enough, they became friends and planned a trip to Goa with mutual friends. Over the New Year’s party, the duo locked eyes and started a new journey together. “Kunal and I met 11 years ago, just after we pursued our degrees in fashion. We got together long before we became established designers. What followed was movie and dinner dates along with fun outings with our common friends,” reveals Arpita. “Since we are both designers, it made things easier for us. Over the years, there was always a complete understanding for each other’s personal as well as professional lives,” recalls Arpita about their courtship. After being together for over a decade, the duo decided to tie the knot in 2022 in a dreamy affair.
With uncertainties and unpredictability that came with the coronavirus outbreak, the couple’s original plan of getting married earlier in January 2022 was derailed. August 2022 was finally set for the big day. “The idea was to always have an intimate yet personalised wedding celebration with close friends and family members. Being designers ourselves, we both knew exactly what we wanted in terms of the aesthetic and overall vibe of the festivities. We were very involved and specific during the entire wedding planning process. From the start, we desired a nature-focused celebration in the city that we both hail from and live in,” reveals Arpita. The designer duo chose the iconic property The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai as the wedding venue for the pheras and mehndi ceremony. The glamorous sangeet and cocktail night was held at IFBE, a 150-year-old ice factory in the Maximum City.
The Mehndi
The bride’s mehndi and the groom’s haldi was hosted in their respective hotel suites. “My look was an amalgamation of my go-to elements, cowrie shells, mirrors and Ahir embroidery that finds its origins in Kutch. I went with mint lehenga because it felt very fresh, it was unique,” says Arpita. She paired her gorgeous lehenga with a reversible Russian emerald and polki necklace by Krsala with a maang tikka and earrings from Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas. Kunal wore a bandi and overshirt from Kunal Rawal x Ekaya line.
The Pre-Wedding Look
For the couturier who has designed clothes for some of the biggest stars, desired a repertoire that was magnificent and meaningful. From choosing complementing colours to adding hidden tributes to Kunal’s signature aesthetics, Arpita’s trousseau was one for the books. “My vision was to make it modern and comfortable with a dose of tradition,” reveals Arpita.
The Bridal Outfit
The duo chose bespoke creations from their own labels. “The starting point was designing something unique and authentic. I started conceptualising my ivory lehenga 6-8 months before the wedding. I wanted to add as many mirrors as possible, and the lehenga had 18,700 different versions on the blouse, skirt and three dupattas. I combined it with Kunal’s signature work, as our wedding dates embroidered in French knots.” The bridal outfit was a sentimental and stunning symbol of the duo’s coming together. The jewellery was as meticulously chosen as the outfit. “I love jewellery and I was 100% sure about wearing big polki. A layered polki and emerald necklace with matching earrings and maang tikka by Falguni Mehta, kadas by Vipul Agarwal and light pink chuddas made my look.” Her minimalistic kalirees centred around frangipani flowers were customised by her friend and celebrity favourite designer Mrinalini Chandra.
The Wedding
The bride was a vision in a beige and gold lehenga from her namesake label, as she made her way to the mandap, swaying to A.R. Rahman’s Tere Bina song. “The track is one of our favourite tracks. It’s from the film ‘Guru’, which happens to be the first film we watched together when we started dating,” she reveals. The groom, who complemented her in an ivory sherwani, stood there waiting for his bride alongside the wedding party which only included close friends and family. “You’re overwhelmed by emotions anyway, so having close friends and family who are there to cheer you, felt like a celebration,” shares Arpita.
The Planning
“Kunal and I were very involved,” reveals Arpita. Shaadi Squad was onboarded for the planning, and Devika Narain for the design. “We always wanted a cream and gold theme. The idea was to keep it ethereal, modern yet traditional. Since it was a city wedding, the feeling of nature was brought inside the ballroom. We created a hedge plant set-up with fragrant flowers, which were a mix of traditional and modern—mogra and tuberoses. We had a mirror mandap. This seemed apt as mirror work has been an important part of my signature aesthetic at the Arpita Mehta brand.” The couple’s friend Pooja Dhingra of Le15 created a special cake in which each tier was a surprise flavour for the newlyweds. The memories were captured by Vishal Punjabi aka The Wedding Filmer for videography, House of Pixels for the portraits, House on the Clouds for photographs, and front-flash photographer Tito (Anupam Sarkar) for polaroid snaps.
The Star-Studded Guestlist
The star-studded guest list included everyone from the groom’s best friends Arjun Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor and former Khush cover girl Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (who joined the ceremony through a video call) to Malaika Arora, Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Karan Johar and Mira Kapoor. Most guests invited to the celebrations were dressed in looks designed by the bride or the groom.
The Sangeet
The black-and-white sangeet was planned as a party with Arpita and Kunal’s friends, including those from fashion and film industries including designer Gaurav Gupta, stylist Mohit Rai, actor Rana Dagubatti among others. “We simply wanted to let loose. Instead of a conventional performance-led night, the cocktail was planned like a concert. The music changed every few hours. It started with an electro-folk Punjabi set by Akshay Raheja, followed by MadStarBase, a performance by rapper Badshah planned by Arjun Kapoor and ended with DJ Ganesh on the deck.”
Arpita went with a sexy all-black pre-draped sari with tonal cutdana, thread and mirror work. “I knew I wanted to dance so I wanted to be super comfortable. I love black and thought it would be ideal to wear it for the cocktail night. I wore a pre-draped sari made with tulle with tone-on-tone embroidery with crystals and cutdana. The pallu was made with organza. It was sexy and understated,” revealed the bride. She punctuated it with rubies in her polki jewellery, which was a custom suite by Krsala and finished it with a stack of polki bangles and a ruby ring.
The Décor
IFBE, once an old ice factory, was transformed into an Instagrammable venue for the sangeet. “The décor and design were a nod to our home city, Mumbai. We picked out our favourite places, from Irani cafes to Best Bhavan, for inspiration to infuse some old-world charm to the night,” says Arpita. The venue, with just bare walls, was elevated with structure, 200 plants, frames, candles and carpets.
