A Mangalorean affair in Italy for DeepVeer wedding

Surrounded by family and close friends, Bollywood’s star couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone exchanged wedding vows in Italy on Wednesday, and the first of the two ceremonies was completely in traditional Konkani Brahmin style — all the guests on the bride’s side, and even the Italian servers attending to the guests, wore the traditional clothing of the Mangalore region, of Karnataka, from where Deepika’s family comes.

At the time of going to press, the couple’s second wedding ceremony — Anand Karaj, as per Ranveer’s family faith — was to be held at the Lake Como venue.

For her first big day, Deepika opted for a Sabyasachi Mukherjee creation: a red and gold traditional sari. Ranveer wore the traditional mundu. The four-hour wedding ceremony began with Deepika walking towards the mandap flanked by her cousins, as classical singer Shubha Mudgal gave a live performance.

Talking about the ceremony, a source close to the couple shares, “The priest had been flown down from Mangalore. He kept the atmosphere lively and jovial by explaining all the rituals and kept the guests engaged.”

Tradition reverberated through the ceremony. The sitdown lunch that followed the nuptials was a Mangalorean-Konkani affair, served on banana leaves, hosted by the bride’s side.

“There were a lot of Italian servers — also dressed in traditional outfits — who were taught about the dishes, so they actually pronounced the names correctly.

The ingredients were flown from Mangalore and so was the filter coffee that’s traditionally served after food. The atmosphere was very happy,” the source adds.

PHOTO: BURHAAN KINU/HT Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh