Over 50 Vendors Came Together to Bring This Multi-Day Indian Wedding in Mexico to Life

Sangeet and Ravi met in August of 2010 while attending the University of Texas in Austin and living in the same apartment complex. Ravi asked Sangeet on a date during one of their casual run ins and the relationship took off from there. In December of 2018, after three years of long-distance dating while Sangeet finished dental school in Dallas and Ravi ran his company in Austin, the pair got engaged on a ski trip to Keystone, Colorado. “I was completely surprised, because as soon as we came down the mountain I saw all of our closest family and friends there to celebrate our engagement,” Sangeet remembers. “We spent the next couple of days snowboarding and having a beautiful time in the mountains.”

The couple knew they wanted their multi-day Indian wedding to be a destination event, so they invited 155 guests to join them in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for an unforgettable series of parties. “We picked a place that most people would never visit, let alone attend an Indian wedding at,” Sangeet says. “We wanted something whimsical, memorable, and unique, and San Miguel delivered flawlessly.”

On September 3, 2021, they kicked the revelry off with a welcome party at Zumo, a rooftop restaurant in the heart of San Miguel. The next day, Sangeet and Ravi invited guests their maiyan in the garden of the Hotel Real de Minas, a traditional ceremony where the couple’s loved ones apply a dried paste to their skin as a symbol of cleansing. That evening, everyone gathered again for a sangeet celebration at Instituto Allende, where guests enjoyed dinner followed by celebratory song and dance performances. On the third and final day, the couple hosted a Sikh wedding ceremony at La Hacienda de San Miguel followed by a dinner and dancing reception at Rancho las Sabinas. Most notably, each event had its own distinct vibe, something that was extremely important to the couple. "We didn’t have one overarching vision, because we wanted each event to have a different vibe and be a unique experience for our guests," Sangeet explains.

After interviewing over ten wedding planners to help them make their dreams a reality, Sangeet and Ravi hired XB Weddings. “They specifically had experience with a South Asian wedding in San Miguel and had also produced numerous South Asian weddings in the Cancun area,” Sangeet says. “We couldn’t have brought our vision to life without our amazing wedding planners. We wanted to make sure our guests would get a real taste of Mexico’s magic. With our vision in mind, our planners curated a hand-crafted design for all four of our events including Mexican art and custom-made elements such as pillows and napkins. We wanted to make sure our Indian wedding would represent us, Mexico, and our culture all in one, and it truly did."

In the end, the couple worked with over 50 vendors on the four different events, and the results, as documented by Ivy Weddings, were absolutely breathtaking.

Sangeet and Ravi kicked off their wedding celebrations with a welcome party at Zumo, the rooftop restaurant at Villa Limon, a boutique hotel where Sangeet chose to stay with her bridesmaids during the wedding weekend. “As soon as you arrive at the rooftop you are instantly taken aback by the perfect view of The Parish of San Miguel Arcangel, which is one of the most beautiful examples of architecture not only in the city, but throughout Mexico,” the bride says. Guests enjoyed signature cocktails and stations for tacos, quesadillas, and gorditas at the party.

Ravi wore a light pink linen suit while Sangeet wore a colorful crop top, pants, and sleeveless duster set with embroidery details. “My outfit for the welcome party was very playful and fun, so I went with a pony for my hairstyle,” Sangeet says.

The following day, Sangeet and Ravi’s loved ones joined them in the garden of the Hotel Real de Minas for a maiyan ceremony. “We loved how as soon as you walked out you felt like you were just in a  secluded garden and you couldn't hear any of the commotion going on the city just steps away,” Sangeet says. Vibrant flower petals were set up  in circles on the ground while two stools were placed on rugs for the bride and groom with lush arrangements of pink flowers on the ground and climbing the tree trunk.

The couple asked their guests to dress in yellow tones to play off the natural surroundings of the garden. While Sangeet followed suit in a yellow outfit with gold embellishments, Ravi went with an ivory outfit with gold embroidery details.

During the maiyan ceremony, the couple’s loved ones rubbed a dried paste on their skin. This is meant to "cleanse" the couple in preparation for their wedding day.

That evening, the couple hosted a traditional sangeet at Instituto Allende. The bride-to-be wore a red lehenga and dark blue smokey eye makeup to play off the groom’s deep navy Sherwani. “I really wanted all my makeup looks to complement not only my outfit, but Ravi’s as well,” she says. “At the Sangeet I knew I wanted to be dancing the night away, so I kept my hair pulled back in a half up and half down style.”

As guests entered the venue, they were greeted by a grand floral fountain as the focal point of the space. Wooden high tops were decorated with bud vases while round tables held vibrant centerpiece arrangements and colorful candles. The place settings included bold orange goblets, patterned plates, and yellow knotted napkins. Sangeet and Ravi wanted the evening's menu to be a fusion of Indian and Mexican food, so they served avocado and goat cheese pani puri shots and lamb vindaloo empanadas for dinner along with a mezcal mule signature cocktail.

After dinner, guests moved to the outdoor patio where they took in views of the city and  enjoyed cocktails and entertainment from the DJ. Sangeet and Ravi’s friends and family performed a celebratory dance, as is tradition before the wedding day.

For the Sikh wedding ceremony, Sangeet wore a custom designed blush bridal lehenga with intricate beading details and an organza skirt from BZAI by Natasha Arora. “I loved how lightweight the skirt was in comparison to traditional bridal lehengas,” Sangeet says. Though she initially planned to wear heels on the big day, she made a last-minute swap to gold flats when the lehenga arrived from India shorter in length than she had expected. Luckily, it was a happy accident. “I was easily able to walk in the cobble stoned streets of San Miguel with our entire wedding party,” Sangeet says. “Everything happens for a reason I suppose.” Since her head was meant to be covered for the whole ceremony, she went with a classic low bun hairstyle to complete her look.

Ravi wore a traditional Punjabi wedding outfit for the ceremony. He wore a Sherwani with a green turban and a pink shawl. He accessorized with a kirpan (sword) and mojdi (traditional shoes). “I also had a pin on my lapel with a picture of a fallen angel that had recently passed away from breast cancer so that she would be able to participate in the event from above,” Ravi says

Sangeet and Ravi chose to share first look together their ceremony because they would be side-by-side during their traditional Sikh ceremony—not facing each other. “Seeing one another for the first time dressed in the outfits we would become husband and wife in is something I’ll never forget,” Sangeet says. “We were both extremely grateful that the day we had been looking forward to, for so many years, was finally here.”

Sangeet’s younger sister, Gurman, was her maid of honor and Ravi’s older brother, Sachin, was his best man. The bridesmaids wore sage sharara sets with gold detailing. “The reason I chose sage green was because it is such a serene color and I thought it would beautifully complement the greenery of our wedding venue,” Sangeet says. The groomsmen wore ivory Kurtas with gold shoes and a sage green vest to complement the bridal party.

The couple hosted their wedding Sikh ceremony on the lawn at La hacienda de San Miguel overlooking the city of San Miguel. Guests were seated on pillows underneath ivory drapery and whimsical floral installations suspended from the ceiling. Two small rugs were placed on the aisle for the bride and groom to use during the ceremony.

The aisle was lined with grounded flower arrangements that matched the florals climbing the altar’s columns in tones of ivory, pink, and peach. “We chose light and airy tones so that the décor added to the serenity of our ceremony,” Sangeet says. The same pink and peach tones were used in the welcome sign at the entrance of the ceremony tent. 

Ravi made his entrance to the ceremony venue in a vintage red convertible. Sangeet’s bridal party was waiting for him with a sign that read, "If you want our sister, pay up mister!" They playfully held a welcome ribbon and handed Ravi a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon and make his way through to his bride. This is a wedding tradition called a baraat where the bride’s relatives often tease the groom and make him "earn" his way to her.

The priest played live music as Sangeet walked down the aisle with her mom and dad. “I wanted to have both my parents by my side because they have been my biggest supporters throughout my entire life,” she says. The couple had a traditional Sikh ceremony, where they sat beside each other in front of the Guru Granth Sahib. Musicians recited and sang the verses of the marriage prayers and Sangeet and Ravi walked around Guru Granth Sahib to complete the ceremony.

After the ceremony, Sangeet and Ravi stepped away with their photographer Ivy Weddings to take some portraits around the venue’s grounds.

At Rancho las Sabinas, guests mingled around the pool with cocktails and passed appetizers before being escorted through the house and manicured lawn to the reception tent. “We loved that the house divided the venue into two separate areas so our tent was completely hidden away until after cocktail hour,” the bride says. “It was almost like a little surprise for guests!”

The couple took a few more portraits once they arrived at the reception venue and changed into their second looks of the day. Sangeet wore a fully beaded lehenga and Ravi wore a custom dark blue tuxedo with a black lapel for the reception. “It’s hard not to be swept off your feet when you first see Rancho las Sabinas,” Sangeet says of the property. “From the architecture to the landscape, it was hands down one of our favorite venues.”

Inside the reception tent, the layout centered around a custom white dance floor. Locally sourced woven baskets hung from the ceiling and were embellished with arrangements of dried grasses and florals. “For the reception, we went with a boho glam style,” Sangeet remembers. “It was a combination of both our individual styles while also suiting the architecture and style of the venue.” The tables were dressed in floor-length white linens to add a formality to the event.

The couple sat at a head table, where white pillows were placed at each seat, and pink pillows were placed on the bride and groom’s chairs. A variety of high and low centerpiece flower arrangements in hues of ivory and lush filled the table along with pillar candles. The place settings included blush napkins and white plates paired with gold cutlery with white handles. Custom menus with sprigs of dried bunny tail grass tied with ribbon were placed on top of each plate.

A floral arch was arranged on a platform with two chairs, creating a lounge area and photo opportunity for guests at the reception.

Sangeet and Ravi shared their first dance to an unplugged version of Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye by Rahul Jain and partied the night away with loved ones. Once the evening came to an end, they left in a shower of sparklers.

Following the wedding, the two enjoyed a honeymoon in Bora Bora. To couples planning a wedding,  Sangeet and Ravi have some words of wisdom: “As stressful as wedding planning can be, try to enjoy the whole process because at the end of the day you are planning the greatest party of your life with all your favorite people.”