A haveli wedding where the bride styled the priest, the bartenders, and the mehendi waalis

What do you get when two “creative” and “creatively controlling” fashion industry veterans decide to get married? Stylist Devanshi Tuli and photographer Pranoy Sarkar’s two-day wedding in Mandawa, Rajasthan, was a joyful celebration of love and friendship. Every detail—from the giveaways by Pistabarfi to the sindoor-covered floor to the outfits made by their closest designer friends—was a reflection of the couple’s eye for detail and their shared passion for beautiful design.

The couple met, of course, through work. “A lot of designers suggested we shoot together,” recalls Tuli, and that professional relationship quickly turned deeper. Six years later, there was a surprise proposal, and a year later a wedding where all of Delhi’s favourite fashion folk were in attendance. The couple spoke to The Nod about putting it all together in just over a month.

The proposal

Pranoy Sarkar: I popped the question on a boat in Hachiman-bori, a 16th-century canal in Japan, and thankfully she said yes. I hired a photographer from Tokyo to come take pictures and I already had the ring that I had custom-made from The Line.

Devanshi Tuli: I really wasn’t expecting it. Until I met Pranoy I never actually considered getting married; it wasn’t something I believed in. But we were already living together, so really it was like we were already married. We’re very different personalities, but we know each other through and through. There’s this deep sense of comfort. I was surprised he knew my ring size, though! Apparently, he used a ring measurer while I was asleep.

Pranoy: Meanwhile, Devanshi handed my band one year later while we were watching TV at home!

Devanshi: In my defence, he created his own band and was really particular about it, so I anyway had to have his approval before I gave it to him.

When two creatives collaborate

Devanshi: Pranoy and I planned everything together with Harsha Sinha from Elements Productions. She does all our big, hectic shoots, and when we broke the news to her from Japan she immediately said she would do the wedding. A lot of people were surprised we didn’t get a proper event planning company, but really it was just the people we work with who are also our friends coming together to create this beautiful celebration.

Pranoy: I did the art, or creative direction, and Devanshi did the fashion and logistics. We wanted to get away from Delhi with our friends and I had already seen the haveli [Vivaana Culture Hotel] in Mandawa a few years ago and knew that we would get married there. The location itself is stunning, so I wanted to keep things minimal. It just needed a few pops to lift it up and turn it into a wedding venue. For example, instead of flowers that go to waste, we put sindoor on the floor for the wedding day. And instead of having marigolds hanging from the ceiling, I said, why don’t we use oranges. I wanted a red backdrop for the cocktail, so instead of building a full set we just got stands and added a canvas that you use for shoots. It was all about cutting out the fuss. We didn’t want to do a hundred different rituals. We just wanted to have fun.

Devanshi: The best thing was how we just took everything into our own hands. We’re both creative and also creatively controlling. For example, even the mehendi cones we ended up decorating with gota. We packed the gift boxes ourselves and designed the giveaways. It was the same kind of details and attention we give to our shoots.

Pranoy: I designed the invites too. They were photographs of these large-scale installations I had created for a brand. Again, it was about breaking things down to the basics. What are the essential things you have at a wedding? Mehendi, sindoor, kolam. How do we depict it in the most minimal way?

The wardrobe

Devanshi: As someone who has access to fashion on a daily basis, I was very clear that I wanted to be comfortable during my wedding. While we locked the venue a year ago, it was really just a month and a half before that we actually started planning. We were very lucky to have support from so many designer friends who made our outfits in a matter of days.

Raw Mango did my wedding sari, and for the baithak I wore Anita Dongre, which was easy; I already knew what I wanted. For the cocktail I worked with Yash Patil from That Antiquepiece. We’ve spent a long time talking about films like Umrao Jaan and Pakeezah or looking at old miniature paintings, so we agreed on a 16-panel lehenga with a churidar inside, a Benarasi churidar blouse, a gold jacket on top, and a dupatta with sun and moon motifs. There were no embellishments; it was all about the textiles. I think it’s the first time he’s done an Indian wedding look.

For the mehendi both of us wore Aseem Kapoor. Aseem and his wife Pooja [Haldar] have been our friends forever, and Pranoy wore something by her label Boyan for the cocktail. Finally, for one of the after-parties, I wore Am.It by Amit Aggarwal. A month before the date, Amit had called me to his office and showed me some new pieces, so of course I wanted to take some of them for my own wedding!

Breaking the rules

Pranoy: The most beautiful part for me was the wedding itself—all 100 people dancing with us when we entered together.

Devanshi: We had a common baraat and the pandit was quite funny and fun. The photographer said he was so stressed because no one was ever still at this wedding. We basically partied for 48 hours.

Devanshi: The dress code was all Pranoy. I just got the memo from him and planned accordingly. I even styled the priest, the mehendi waalis, and the bartenders.

Pranoy: We didn’t see any point in everyone being dressed differently from us. Why create a contrast? It was a celebration of all of us, not just the two of us.