PAYAL KHANDWALA

43, Fashion designer, Mumbai

This bride kept her wedding a low- key affair and refused to waste money on clothes and jewellery

WITH THREE WEDDINGS IN THREE YEARS,

Payal Khandwala and husband Vikram Ramchandani’s story might seem like a fairytale. It however, is a tale of how two practical people wanted not to have those insane celebrations. Their first wedding took place when the couple were holidaying in Udaipur, and decided to get married at the spur of the moment, while stepping out of the swimming pool, at a local temple. With no parents, no family, and no frills, Khandwala was given away by the hotel butler. “It was a different experience as there were just two of us, with no distraction, and we could enjoy the moment, and focus on each other,” she says. The second wedding happened a year later at Khandwala’s designer friend, Pinakin Patel’s Alibaug home. With 200 guests comprising family and friends, the bride dressed in a vintage brocade lehenga and silver jewellery, and it was an intimate late afternoon wedding with no baraat. Her husband being Canadian, the couple had their third wedding a year later at a cathedral in Toronto, Canada, in front of 50 guests. “I have lasting memories from Alibaug and Toronto weddings; we both were relaxed. My agenda was to have a great time with friends and dress up, but not to be the circus,” she says.

Keep things in perspective. Be your own self. Don’t put on a 20 kg outfit and too much make- up on the day of the wedding. Be realistic, and be comfortable.