Nikesh and Ruby’s story began long before they became a couple. The pair attended the same university, although their paths didn’t cross until they were both scouting for tickets to Ministry of Sound. Nikesh was selling tickets, and Ruby, grateful for his help, gave him a warm hug. Little did they know that this brief crossing of paths would set the stage for their future together. Years later, they met again as co-workers, where they were assigned to the same client team. Their first weekend getaway preparing for a client presentation, marked the beginning of their relationship.
The groom shared, “I remember when I was planning to propose to Ruby and how lost I felt in trying to find the perfect ring for her. I’d told her we’d go ring shopping together so she could have a choice, but I also really wanted to keep it a surprise for her. I remember us talking about rings one day and Ruby goes, ‘You know, I’m one of the few people who could also pull off having a ruby ring’, and in my head I’m just thinking ‘great, that’s another gemstone I need to research and add into the mix’. In the end I actually found the ring I thought she would love and was also able to add a little ruby onto the inside of the band. The next challenge was trying to guess her ring size! But once again luck was on my side as the sales assistant was able to guess her ring size from a picture!” Nikesh proposed to Ruby during their trip to Dominican Republic.
The Planning
The couple wanted to thoroughly enjoy their engagement before jumping into wedding planning. Once they started the planning, one thing they instantly agreed on was having a destination wedding. “We really liked the idea of either a Greek island or a Tuscan countryside wedding. Other than that, we had no idea what to do next. We both wanted the best of both, the big fat traditional Indian wedding but also with a touch of Greek culture and to celebrate it with those nearest and dearest to us.” This is when industry expert wedding planner Radhika of Radhika & You entered to bring the couple’s vision to life.
The bride shared, “To be completely honest, Nikesh was quite against hiring a wedding planner as he thought we could do it all ourselves! But he didn’t know that I had been following Radhika for years (on social media) and knew if we were to ever have a wedding planner, it would have to be Radhika. Her attention to detail and ability to create amazing weddings was second to none! Radhika worked with us from the beginning, helping us get organised, select suppliers, plan all the events to the minute and even helped us with ideas and inspiration. She truly made our dream wedding come true.”
The Venue
“We decided to put our details on to a generic ‘weddings abroad’ website to help us find venues or suppliers but didn’t have a lot of luck. That is, until we got an email from Aegialis Hotel & Spa on a Greek island called Amorgos. We initially dismissed it as we hadn’t heard of it. But something about the island and resort meant we kept revisiting it and decided the only way to put it to bed was for us to actually visit. We ended up arriving at 3AM so went straight to bed, but nothing could have prepared us for the view the next day. We knew straight away that this was our venue and the few days spent with the resort team and their wonderful hospitality only cemented the decision for us.”
The Décor
The couple’s vision for their décor was quite tasteful and aligned with the trends. “For the welcome party, we wanted a beach party vibe, so went for boho décor with all guests dressed in white.”
“Haldi is all about yellow! We used marigold garlands to decorate the room and also had an arch with fresh flowers and foliage to frame where we were sat.”
“For our wedding ceremony, we opted for lots of pink and asked the décor company, Fleur Du Jour Athens to do an ombré style with colours ranging from pink to white with some greens to complete the mandap. We were truly in complete awe of how it turned out in the end.”
“The reception was a black-tie event. The theme for this event was Greek so we incorporated blue florals into our centrepieces and also had locally hand painted blue evil eye stone magnets as favours for each of our guests. Our seating plan was a custom-made map of the Greece with tables named after different Greek islands.”
The Wardrobe
For the white-themed welcome party, the couple embraced the theme with hints of gold. The bride opted for a lehenga from Mongas and jewellery from The Jewellery Trunk. The groom wore a custom-made waistcoat with mirror work done in Mumbai.
For the haldi ceremony, the bride opted for a gorgeous green-thread jewellery set by Red Dot Jewels to match her yellow ensemble.
“Ruby’s favourite colour is pastel pink so it was a natural choice for her to find a lehenga that met this for the wedding look. She tried a lot of different outfits in India, until she finally found the perfect outfit in Mumbai at Kalki Fashion, where they listened to what she wanted and made a few changes to the embroidery pattern, as well as adding a contrast sage green dupatta for a subtle pop of colour.”
The bride opted for a gown by designer Dolly J for the reception look in mauve colour, while the groom chose a sharp suit for the glamorous black-tie evening.
The Bride’s Checklist
The Bride: Ruby Dutt
The Groom: Nikesh Shah
Makeup and Hair Artist: Tasneem Kanji
Wedding Planner: Radhika & You
The Venue: Aegialis Hotel & Spa, Greece
Photography and Videography: KAT Films
Wedding Decor: Fleur Du Jour Athens
Entertainment: DJ Shindy
Bride’s Wardrobe: Mongas, Kalki Fashion, Dolly J
Bride’s Jewellery: Red Dot Jewels, The Jewellery Trunk
