A wedding that travelled across ancestral homes in Mumbai and Lucknow

PSA: if you’re trying to gather the courage to slide into someone’s DMs, this love story is just the validation you need. Beauty creator Geetika Chakravarti, 34, grew up across seven countries before finally making Mumbai her base in 2022. Soon after she moved, a friend tried to set her up on a blind date with a South Bombay purist.

Enter restaurateur Pranav Mehra, 37, who describes himself as “born and raised in Breach Candy”. As fate would have it, the blind date never went through. But again, as fate would have it, in mid-2023, Pranav serendipitously found Geetika’s Instagram and dropped her a text. It was only many dates later that they discovered they had something of a history.

Despite being from different worlds, the couple were locked in and engaged by March 2025. “One of my first requirements from a partner was humour, and he is very funny,” Geetika says. On a video call with them, this banter comes through instantly. Pranav endlessly flatters his now-wife with intentional cheese that she incessantly rolls her eyes at, only to break into a big grin right after. The proposal was the same flavour of cheeky back and forth.

While on a holiday in Goa, Geetika sensed Pranav was being shifty and joked about him going down on one knee. “You really think I would propose to you in Goa?” he quipped back to throw her off the scent. Well, the following evening that’s just what he did. Couched under the guise of an investor meeting and a foot massage, he whisked her away to a friend’s hotel and popped the question at sundown. “Honestly, I didn’t get what was happening until I saw him crying and getting emotional. Then suddenly it sank in and it was beautiful,” Geetika explains.

There’s often a trope that Indian weddings are as much about the two families as it is about the bride and the groom. Pranav and Geetika’s events truly embody this: his mother was the unofficial wedding designer, while most of the Mumbai events were hosted at the groom’s Nana’s house. Then they shifted the festivities to Lucknow, to the bride’s ancestral home, where her family served the sit-down meal to bring in a dose of intimacy. It was literally all hands on deck.

Below, the couple talk us through the week-long fare that Pranav calls a classic “Rocky-and-Rani-style wedding”, where his Punjabi roots met her Bengali heritage:

The sangeet cocktail with a side of sushi

Pranav: The first event was a party at Koishii [in Mumbai’s St Regis], where we had speeches and dances. The place is beautiful on its own, it’s a great location, and has good food, so it was a no-brainer.

Geetika: We did a few performances that night. I danced to ‘Tempted 2 Touch’ with my friends and then Pranav and I danced on ‘Lover’. I hadn’t prepared at all.

Pranav: I was very happy because I did all three of my favourite songs: ‘Lover’, ‘Jugnu’, and ‘Tattad Tattad’. It was great fun.

Geetika: I wanted to look very glamorous, so I wore this Monisha Jaising feather skirt with a bedazzled crop top and a high pony. My mother says when I was a kid I would always say “glitter glitter” and that really came through in my outfit. I was also very adamant that I would do my own makeup for all the events, and I’m so glad I did.

Pranav: I wore an ivory and beige bandhgala by this brand called Duara. My mum, Isha Mehra, does events, so for the decor she had framed some of our photos and brought in white flowers. It was simple and beautiful.

An intimate mehendi under the champa tree

Pranav: The next day we had a family-only mehendi and dholki at my Nana’s house. It’s a tradition that we’ve followed with all my cousins who have gotten married so far. The house means a lot to us. There’s a big champa tree in the garden that we’ve seen and played around since we were kids.

Geetika: Pranav’s family also has a very cute tradition where every Sunday they all come together to have lunch there. No matter what, everyone shows up. It’s such a nice way to forge and strengthen those bonds, so it was special to have the mehendi there. For that event, I wore a beautiful gota patti silk sharara from this brand called LoveShafali. And Pranav wore a kurta from Arjan Dugal.

The groom’s baraat was the main character

Pranav: We had the wedding itself in the garden around my Nana’s office in Shiv Sagar Estate.

Geetika: I have to say, Pranav was most excited about his baraat, and when I saw the videos of him and his friends dancing I felt so much FOMO. I’ve never seen them come alive like that.

Pranav: Yeah, a lot of the residents in the area weren’t happy about this baraat, so I remember we had to keep problem-solving through it. But it was great—like a crash-course sangeet with lots of Bollywood dancing. Also, my friends and I love football, so before I entered the venue they did a guard of honour and then I walked through it to the mandap. The next moment was probably my most favourite from the whole wedding. I saw Geetika walk in to the song ‘Stand By Me’ and a lot of my family and friends started singing along too, and I just began howling. I had waited for and manifested that moment for so long, it felt incredibly special to see it all come together.

Geetika: Yeah, there were flowers everywhere and the mandap looked like a pink cloud in the sky. It was brought to life fantastically by Flower Lab by Anushka Shah. For the wedding, I wore a taupe chikankari lehenga that I got made in Lucknow by a brand called Nazrana Chikan. I always knew I wanted to wear something from Lucknow instead of a big designer, because their artistry is so exquisite.

Pranav: I picked a Kunal Rawal outfit in this metallic grey shade.

Onto the city of nawabs…

Geetika: Lucknow was a lot more intimate than Bombay. The first event was in my ancestral home, which dates back to 1949. It’s a typical Bengali-looking house. I’m very proud of my heritage and wanted to represent that side, so I put alta on my hands and wore my grandmother’s pearl choker and her tikli. For the outfit, I chose a red Benarasi sari that I got made from a weaver.

Pranav: We’re all actually very grateful to Geetika’s family for hosting us with such care. Every detail was so thoughtful and done with so much love. It’s so different from the kind of weddings we see in Bombay.

Geetika: We had a quick Bengali wedding ceremony and then we got Pranav’s family to sit down for a traditional dinner called poribeshon. It was an eight-course meal that my cousins served on a patal leaf. So, you have all sorts of Bengali dishes like macher jhol, shukto, and posto bori. It was delicious.

The next evening we had the reception at Safed Baradari, which is just this beautiful white building [made by Wajid Ali Shah back in the 1800s]. It used to be a prayer hall. The place needs absolutely no decor. It has these big chandeliers that transport you to the city that once was. Again, I wanted to wear something traditional, so I chose a gharara by a Lucknowi designer called Asma Hussain. We had qawwali singers that evening too. It was probably my favourite part of the wedding.