Karishma Jhalani and Ashwin Jain’s 3-Day Wedding in Jaisalmer, India
Far-flung locales have played a central role in Karishma Jhalani and Ashwin Jain’s relationship. The Delhi native and boy born in Princeton, New Jersey, met at the Goa International Airport about twelve years ago. Ashwin, his sister, and a friend were on the same flight to Delhi as Karishma, her brother, and a friend. The two friends knew each other, the respective groups started chatting, and Karishma and Ashwin became best friends almost instantly.
“It took a few years for me to realize what was really going on,” recalls Karishma. The couple remained friends throughout college (he: Dartmouth; she: Penn) and afterwards across continents. It took a backpacking trip to Vietnam in 2010 to move the relationship out of the friend zone, and about two years later, Ashwin moved to India.
During the three years they dated, Ashwin had planned several surprise vacations for the two of them, and though Karishma didn’t know it at the time, it was on a two-week trip to Sri Lanka that Ashwin planned to pop the question.
“One morning, when we were in Ella, in the hill country, we woke early to go on a hike,” says Karishma. “I was sipping my green tea and watching the sunrise on our little balcony at the hotel. Ash was sitting across me with his coffee. I don’t quite remember how this happened, but all I heard was, ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’ I proceeded to go through shock and then peals of nervous laughter. The rest of the day was spent excitedly spreading the news to friends and family as we drove across the country from Ella to Twenty Three Palm in Galle.”
While planning a wedding is daunting for most brides, for Indian brides, the festivities include multiple events over the course of several days. To top it off, Karishma wanted a location off the beaten path. Her first choice? Jaisalmer, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It was “a logistical nightmare,” but the end result was a ceremony worthy of a maharaja.
“A family friend of ours, Apoorva Lakhia, had shot a huge Bollywood film in Jaisalmer ten years ago, and knew how we could work around a couple of things,” Karishma points out. “As soon as we set foot there, we knew the wedding was going to be there. The decor was easy given how beautiful Jaisalmer itself is.”
And, it doesn’t hurt that Karishma is the designer and cofounder of 1701, a leather accessories line, and her mother founded the brand Janavi and works with Ferragamo and Chanel. The two put local potters, weavers, florists, puppeteers, and shoemakers to work for the wedding.
After a 500-person dinner party in Delhi, the festivities started with a night of dinner and dancing on the sand dunes. The second day included the mehendiceremony (the traditionally girls-only gathering in which the bride’s hands are tattooed with henna) and the sangeet (traditionally a night of songs and dancing).
The next morning of the following day, the bride and her family had the chooraceremony, during which Karishma was given wedding bangles to show she’s newly married. The groom and his family traveled to the wedding with the processionalbaraat.
“I knew that I wanted my wedding outfit to be designed by my mom,” says Karishma. “She understands me perfectly. It had to have a lot of color, couldn’t be heavy, and of course, had to be flattering.”
Mother and daughter went to Ekaya for handwoven fabric from
Varanasi, India, for the lehenga or skirt. Karishma’s mother designed the border. Rohit Bal designed the blouse and lehenga. Roli provided the handwoven Banarasi dupatta, or cover/scarf.
After the ceremony, guests enjoyed the music of DJ Bosco at the reception. “Whether he played for our parents and their friends earlier on in the night, or for the very last souls, he played it right and kept the party going,” remembers Karishma. The celebration continued until dawn—hours after the bride and groom said good night—fueled by pizza from Instapizza (a restaurant chain Ashwin started).
The newlyweds, after all, had another trip on their horizon. “We took a month off and traveled around Myanmar. It was one of the most beautiful and adventurous trips we’ve been on!”
