Sanjay and Harry Gasiorski-Dhrona’s wedding is the story the world needs to read. Not because it was perfect, though it was close. Not because it was opulent, though it was that too. But because two men who grew up navigating the complex intersection of queerness, British-Polish background and South Asian identity stood beneath a mandap on the banks of the River Thames, surrounded by 300 people from every corner of the world, and completed every single ritual that tradition had once innately told them was not for them. The Mandhvo, the pithi, the pheras, all of it in all its glory, with a female Hindu priest, with Gharchola saris, Nike Air Max 95s, and with a poem that left not one dry eye in the house. Sanjay and Harry’s three-day celebration in September 2025 was not just a wedding, but the culmination of years spent navigating identity, acceptance and the courage to live authentically.
A Rain Check That Changed Everything
Sanjay Dhrona was born and raised in London and built a career in event production before moving into hospitality. Harry, born in Yorkshire, is a leading people professional currently working at the Church of England. They met online, though their first date almost never happened. “We had a first date planned, but Harry was really hungover, so he asked for a rain check,” Sanjay recalls. The only available date before Sanjay’s upcoming trip was Valentine’s Day 2019. That rain check turned into a first date at The Groucho Club in Soho. “We knew within six minutes that this was something special, so we fell into a relationship almost instantly.” Seven years later, they share a surname, a home and a wedding that resonated far beyond those in attendance. The proposal returned to the exact spot where it all began. “Sanjay got me there under the false pretence of a meeting about his 40th birthday. The pianist, Rod, played the Schitt’s Creek version of Simply the Best, and Sanjay presented me with a bespoke ring from Bucherer: five carats of sapphire in a myriad of blues, matched to the colours in my eyes.”
The Planning: An Event Producer Meets His Greatest Brief
They got engaged on 8 September 2023, giving themselves exactly two years for planning. But before the venues and vendors was their journey to the altar. Nearly a decade earlier, both men had navigated the often complex experience of coming out, a process that shaped not only their relationship with themselves but also with their families and communities. “Coming out can be hard, especially within the South Asian community. It was tough, but the end result was that our family became tighter and closer than ever,” says Sanjay. What followed over the years was a gradual journey towards acceptance, visibility and living authentically. “Our honesty, openness, and willingness to stand up for ourselves has meant so much to many others who are scared,” adds Harry.
Standing on the cusp of marriage, surrounded by families who had embraced them wholeheartedly, felt especially meaningful because it represented just how far they had come. Planning the wedding, however, was the easy part. Given Sanjay’s background in event production, the structure came naturally. “Harry jokes that Sanjay had the wedding planned before he even met him; it was just a matter of finding his groom.” Harry became, in effect, the client: Sanjay built the frameworks, produced the options, curated the shortlists, and Harry made the final calls. “We wanted both, intimate and a big fat wedding, and we did it,” adds Harry.
The Civil Ceremony & The Happiest Meal
On September 4, 2025, Sanjay and Harry legally married at the registry office in Oxford with only Sanjay’s sister Arti and Harry’s brother Sam as their witnesses. The grooms dressed in Nike shorts, white T-shirts, Lacoste sweatshirts, and caps, wearing their matching Nike Air Max 95s.
“Afterwards, we went to the McDonald’s in Benson for our wedding breakfast. There, we our parents and our immediate families joined us for the celebrations. A crystal-embellished Happy Meal box, customised by our friend Lin, was waiting on the table. We like to say we didn’t have a Happy Meal, we had the Happiest Meal. We chose McDonald’s because Harry and I are a high-low couple. We love Michelin restaurants, but we love McDonald’s just as much. Knowing that the wedding was going to be such an over-the-top experience, we wanted to do something truly grounded and low-key on the first day.”
The Gujarati Pre-Wedding Ceremonies
The following morning, the couple gathered family and friends at a local village hall transformed into the setting for Gujarati pre-wedding ceremonies. “The Mandhvo, Mandap Mahurat, Griha Shanti and Ghari ceremonies carried profound emotional significance. We realised that these are rites of passage, and as a same-sex couple, we did not know whether these would be experiences we would ever get to share.”
A moving moment came from the women in attendance, many of whom wore treasured Gharchola saris as requested. “My mother arrived in the Gharchola she had received on her own wedding day more than five decades earlier,” says Sanjay.
The Pithi ceremony followed, with guests enthusiastically covering both grooms in turmeric paste. Their wedding wardrobes reflected the same thoughtful approach. Mirror-work kurtas from Mumbai’s Shubh Labh Ethnic Wear Studio that Sanjay had patronised for years.
A Pizza & Mehndi Party With Heart
That evening, festivities shifted to The White Hart Hotel in Dorchester-on-Thames for a relaxed Pizza and Mehndi Party. Instead of passive entertainment, guests became collaborators. One station produced floral arrangements. Another focused on creating wedding garlands. The most meaningful activity centred around crafting the antarpat, the ceremonial cloth separating the couple before their first glimpse of each other during the wedding ceremony. “The piece incorporated chundaris blessed at temples including Mahalakshmi Temple, Siddhivinayak and ISKCON Juhu. Harry’s mother stitched sacred sindoor prasad into the fabric. Guests were then invited to leave handprints across the cloth. This meant that in the first moment we saw each other, we were surrounded by divine blessings as well as those of our most special people,” Sanjay shares. The evening also delivered one of the wedding’s biggest surprises. “Unknown to Sanjay, I had secretly been taking lessons with Bolly Queer, a gender-inclusive Bollywood dance group. I performed to Heartthrob from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.”
The Hindu Wedding
The main wedding day took place at The Close Care Home in South Oxfordshire, on the banks of the River Thames. As the owner of the care home, Sanjay brought the celebration to the residents who had been part of his daily life. The first ceremony, in which Harry’s mother formally welcomed Sanjay, was held in a gazebo decorated by those very residents.
For Sanjay, the arrival was staged with characteristic showmanship. “I sourced a lifelike elephant puppet in response to the knowing jokes from friends who had asked if I was arriving on an elephant.” The grooms wore bespoke sherwanis. Harry’s sherwani carried custom an embroidered Polish eagle, nodding to his heritage and a Yorkshire rose. The borders of both outfits featured elephants alongside a white deer, the White Hart, a reference to Sanjay’s hotel. “Rather than a Gharchola sari, my family gifted Harry a Gharchola dupatta from Jamnadas Khatri. I also presented Harry with a mangalsutra bracelet.”
The ceremony was conducted by Pandit Chanda Vyas. “Not many Hindu priests are open to offering inclusive ceremonies. She is an icon, and to have every ceremony conducted with such heart, such clarity, and so beautifully within the Vedic traditions and requirements made it the most special day ever.”
Every element was curated through that rainbow lens. “We had friends and family come up to help us perform all elements of the ceremony, no matter their colour, creed, or identity. We chose to de-gender many of the roles. It didn’t matter who you were — if we wanted you to be involved in that particular part of the wedding, we had that individual take part. We also retitled the Akhand Saubhagyavati to Prema Ashirvad so that everyone was able to give us their blessings and secrets to a happy married life.”
The English Nuptials
That evening, guests gathered for an English vow exchange conducted by Sanjay’s closest friend, Fiona. The grooms walked to Isabella Kensington’s rendition of Still Into You. “Our friend Ali read The Untold Story of the Birds and the Bees by poet MyndState. It is an extraordinary piece that speaks to inclusion and acceptance.”
For the evening, Sanjay and Harry changed into bespoke double-breasted dinner jackets. A quick outfit change mid-evening brought out the second jackets: Sanjay in Gujarati Patola ikat fabric, Harry in Yorkshire leopard print. Both wore Cartier jewellery.
The mother-and-son dance was performed to My Man, Your Boy from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Midway through, they switched mothers, and the marquee dissolved once again into tears. Afterwards, the dancing continued to UK garage until the evening ended, guests boarding buses clutching bottles of champagne for an after-party that ran until 4am.
The Grooms’ Checklist
Grooms: Sanjay and Harry Gasiorski-Dhrona
Photographer: Sanjay D Gohil
Wedding venues: The Close Care Home; The White Hart Hotel, Dorchester-on-Thames
Wedding Production & On-Site Management: Ronak of Panache Events and Komal
Wedding Décor: Gayatri Weddings & Events
Grooms’ Outfits: Shubh Labh Ethnic Wear Studio, Jamnadas Khatri and Legacy Bespoke
Draping & Styling: Vikas Rattu of The Styling Pod
Jewellery: Bhavya Ramesh and Cartier
Accessories: Gaziano & Girling, George Cleverley, New & Lingwood, Dunhill, Cad & The Dandy
Catering: Ragasaan
Videographer: We Are Visuals
Mehndi Artist: Amys Mehndhi
Entertainment: Target AV
