Home Wedding
Neha and Siddharth got married in the courtyard of Neha's family home in Shantiniketan — the same courtyard where her parents had hosted her Annaprashan, and her grandparents before that. For them, the wedding was never about scale; it was about staying rooted.
The red-oxide courtyard was strung with terracotta bells and hand-painted Kantha cloth, with mismatched cane chairs borrowed from neighbours rather than rented furniture. It felt, guests said, exactly like a Shantiniketan afternoon should.
"Everyone kept asking if we needed more help, more vendors, more of everything. We just wanted our people around us. That was enough."
Marigold garlands were strung by the family themselves the morning of the wedding, and the mandap used repurposed doors from the house's old storeroom, sanded down and painted for the occasion.
The gaye holud was a family-only affair held under the courtyard's mango tree, followed the next evening by a home-cooked feast prepared by aunts and family friends — no outside catering, by design. Sixty guests sat together on the floor for the meal, as tradition once dictated.
