Their wedding weekend, planned by Alison Bryan Destinations, began on Thursday with a welcome dinner on the beach at Patina Maldives. On Friday, the couple gathered all their friends and family on a sailboat for a snorkel trip, followed by a sangeet at a surf shack. Our friends came together in secret to learn and perform a full-blown Indian dance performance for the sangeet. “Most of them had never attended a sangeet or performed anything Indian in their life—It was so touching and I was so surprised!” Manisha says. She wore a blue saree by Rahul Mishra, embroidered with birds, constellations, and jungle motifs, all paired with Sophie Billie Brahe earrings.
The next day, they wed on the tip of Patina Island in a ceremony only reachable via boat. “On the boat ride there, I remember feeling a little nervous but overwhelmingly, it was the calmest I had ever felt. When the boat turned the corner towards the island, it seemed time had stopped,” says Manisha. Her family, friends, and Chris—in a suit from Richard James Savile Row—were all waiting for her under a serendipitous rainbow.
The bride wore a custom embroidered chikankari lehenga by Tarun Tahiliani with ivory pearl details. Manisha, who grew up outside India, discovered a newfound appreciation for her heritage during her trips to their atelier in New Delhi. “The journey to find my wedding dress was very cathartic for me in the end. I learned so much about my culture and Indian craftsmanship. The amount of artisans and thousands of hours that goes into making an Indian wedding dress is something out of this world,” she says. She accessorized her look with a pearl and emerald choker, as well as round polki (or, uncut) emerald earrings from Mehrasons.
She entered her ceremony under a canopy of flowers in accordance with the Indian tradition of phoolon ki chadar. Usually, it is carried by the bride’s brothers—however, Manisha is an only child. So Chris’s siblings stepped in. “It was really emotional for me to see them all decked out in Indian wear, embracing my Indian culture, waiting to walk me to the aisle to their brother. Just before we started walking, they told me to take a deep breath—and that they were here for me,” she says.
