For her wedding, Anshula Kapoor wore her mother’s 42-year-old dupatta

Let’s get real: in the digital age we live in, online dating can be intimidating. However, for entrepreneur and creator Anshula Kapoor, it played Cupid. Anshula met her now-husband Rohan Thakkar, a screenwriter, over Coffee meets Bagel, a new-age dating app, towards the fag end of Covid-19. Their first chat lasted through the night—a movie date that continued to lunch and touched on everything from family ties to future plans. “Both of us went into dating each other with the belief that we are looking for a long-term partner. I wasn’t looking for something frivolous, and neither was he,” shares Anshula as we chat over a Zoom call.

The couple got engaged exactly a year ago, June 2025, in front of Belvedere Castle at Central Park, New York City, at 1:15 am India time, the exact minute when they exchanged their first message. “He had been planning the proposal ever since we finalised our trip to the US, and I was absolutely clueless. After walking around the park for ages, I realised he was down on his knees giving a speech. But my mind at that point was just completely blank. At some point I think I was also on my knees. I was screaming internally, quite literally.”

The design of the ring was exactly what Anshula had in mind; she had seen something similar a year ago and shown it to her then boyfriend but never managed to buy it for herself. “It has two pear-shaped solitaires, one slightly bigger than the other, and represents the fact that I'm always going to have a partner for life, irrespective of the challenges that life throws at me.”

Following the proposal, the couple had a Gordhana (a traditional Gujarati engagement) in Mumbai and scheduled their wedding for about 11 months later. Time went by in a blur of planning, every decision shared not just among the couple but the family too. “I put out a Reel that is literally me going crazy, planning things, multiple Excel sheets, and Rohan just dancing his way through life,” she says with a laugh.

The most important thing for Anshula, however, was making sure that her late mother, Mona Kapoor, was blessing her on her biggest day. “On the engagement day, we had a chair that was dedicated to her draped with one of my favorite dupattas that she owned. I also had a photo of her and me that I kept there. Even the wedding decor included flowers she liked to keep across the house—rajnigandha, gladioli, and lilies,” shares Anshula. 

Anshula was never one to build Pinterest boards around her wedding day, but she did have a theme that ran through the four-day celebrations: paying homage to Indian craft. Put together with stylists Mohit Rai and Ruchi Krishna, each look was built around a specific technique—from the gold Itrh lehenga with a jewel-encrusted blouse and a contrasting phulkari dupatta that she wore for her mata ki chowki, to the Arpita Mehta lehenga with patola motifs and mirrorwork that she chose for the mehendi hosted by her sisters, actors Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor.

Her kaleeras for the chooda ceremony were custom-made by celebrity favourite Mrinalini Chandra. “Each kaleera has a blessing or a positive affirmation written on it—words like joy, laughter, and hope. The emotion behind it is that when they tie it to me, they were wishing those blessings upon me, and when a kaleera falls on someone, it’s my turn to wish those very same blessings for them.”

For the wedding ceremony, at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, the bride chose to wear a peach ombre hand-painted custom Tarun Tahiliani ensemble with zari embroidery and phulkari borders, paired with polki jewels from Raniwala 1881. The highlight of the look, however, was her mother’s 42-year-old gold tissue dupatta with kashida embroidery that was restored for the occasion. She adds, “We started with the dupatta and then Tarun created an entire outfit around it. He beautifully restored the original so that I could drape it without worrying about it tearing. Now it basically feels like she’s hugging me when I’m walking down the aisle.” The groom, meanwhile, wore custom Kunal Rawal in shades of cream and gold with zari embroidery to match his bride.

Family was the priority—that was clear even from the decor. The mandap had framed images of the couple’s near and dear ones, while the ballroom had a wooden jharoka similar to one that reminded her of conversations with her mother.

The couple skipped the traditional sangeet and instead opted for a final cocktail party where the agenda was to just celebrate the couple’s union. “As soon as you entered the ballroom, there was a projection of words that Rohan and I had written for each other. The carousel bar was a central element along with the giant dance floor. It was more of a party than anything else because I feel like when you marry somebody you truly adore, the only thing you’ve got to do is celebrate that,” adds Anshula. “We wanted it to be easy and casual and a celebration for everybody.”