How this couple honoured both Islamic & Hindu traditions at their wedding
Childhood sweethearts Sama Ali and Kaeshav Sahnan got married in not one, but two beautiful ceremonies, with pheras and a nikaah. Vogue talks to the couple on how the wedding came to be
Long before designer and future custodian of fashion label House of Kotwara, Sama Ali, tied the knot with UK-born, New Delhi-raised performance nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach Kaeshav Sahnan, they were just another pair of childhood sweethearts. Ali and Sahnan’s relationship began when the two were in their teens, and culminated years later in a stately version of an Awadhi wedding. Scroll ahead to know more about their lavish ceremonies, and the fairy-tale love story that started it all.
How they met
Image: Karan Singh Photography
“Kaeshav and I met in high school, and I had the biggest crush on him. We got along instantly,” muses Ali, when asked about her earliest memories of her now husband. Sahnan, on the other hand, bonded with Ali over “our shared passion for fantastical sagas and movies.” Having spent her childhood days over discussions about music, art and crafts with her multi-hyphenate parents—Ali’s mother Meera is an architect, a production designer who has worked on film sets, a revivalist designer and the co-founder of House of Kotwara, and her father, Muzaffar Ali, wears many hats as a painter, musician, filmmaker, designer, craftsperson and the other half of the design label—Ali was imbued with an affinity for all things creative. “I’m a bit of an audiophile too. Plus, we both have an appreciation for quality when it comes to creativity, visual art and music,” Sahnan says about what the couple connected over.
How they began dating
Image: Karan Singh Photography
Sahnan moved to England post their 10th year board exams, but the duo stayed in touch intermittently for several years as close friends. After graduating from her 12th year, Ali relocated to pursue a degree at London College of Fashion—a move that put her in the same country as Sahnan, who was studying at the University of Nottingham at the time. Staying apart in different continents for a little over two years, the couple finally met after Sahnan’s first university exam. “I was exhausted but still remember the rush of adrenaline waking me up as my train pulled up to the platform in London. I clocked her from miles away; Sama was dressed in the most elegant camel overcoat with these adorable furry earmuffs,” recalls Sahnan. “Our friendship seamlessly evolved into a major romance. We knew each other as friends, so it made things easier,” adds Ali.
The proposal
Image: Karan Singh Photography
Image: Karan Singh Photography
Despite their busy individual lives, Ali and Sahnan only got closer with time, and fate had them returning to their home city after their education. “As soon as we were together in Delhi, we began to set the scene for us to be with each other forever,” Ali cites. In March 2018, the couple arranged for their parents to get together over dinner. Sahnan chose this moment, amid their families, to pop the question to Ali—pleasantly surprising her. “The last course ensued discussions regarding planning and logistics, while I set off gleefully to design the clothes,” she relays.
The wedding planning
Image: Karan Singh Photography
The couple and their families decided on a wedding date in December 2018, but started prepping from August itself. Ali’s mother, Meera, who had designed and executed many weddings for her friends and clients over the years, helmed the wedding planning, along with Ali’s aunt, Anuradha. The original idea was to host the celebrations at an ancestral palace in Kotwara (the princely state of Uttar Pradesh), but paucity of time and the cold weather didn’t allow this to be an option. The final celebrations were held at Meera and Muzaffar Ali’s farm and residence in New Delhi.
Image: Karan Singh Photography
The thought behind the wedding was simple: it should be intimate and the decor should be an extension of the Kotwara lifestyle and aesthetic. “The events were all I wanted and more—beautifully created and picturesque, as if one of my father’s paintings was brought to life,” says Ali.
The wedding festivities
Infused with the Ganga-Jamuni culture of Awadh, the celebrations included both a nikaah honouring Islamic dogma, and the traditional Hindu pheras. They started off with manjha, a ceremony similar to haldi, on December 10, which saw Ali adorned in yellow as the married women in attendance applied ubtan and turmeric paste on her. The guests in attendance were serenaded by singer Smita Bellur.
On December 11, a lively, fun-filled mehandi brunch was held at the farmhouse’s garden pavilion—with a grand highlight: an outdoor space designed as a bedroom for the bride by her mother, where she could sit and get her henna applied at ease. Muzaffar Ali’s vintage car, a 1948 Studebaker, was filled with floral bouquets to serve as a backdrop to this as well. The same evening also played host to a safari-themed sangeet-cum-cocktail party for about 150 guests, which went on till the wee hours of the morning. “Family and friends also performed on Bollywood songs from my father, Muzaffar Ali, and my brother, Shaad Ali’s films,” said Ali.
Image: Karan Singh Photography
The wedding day fell on December 12, and the ceremonies began with the groom’s baraat entering the venue, which was set up for a traditional nikaah. This was followed by dinner and then pheras later at night, with about 500 guests, including renowned industrialists, artistes, musicians and other actors who have worked with Muzaffar Ali, in attendance.
The outfits
Image: Karan Singh Photography
“Every outfit was designed and styled by me, with the support of House of Kotwara and my mother, in particular. I set out to create a fully hand-embroidered, couture wedding wardrobe for Kaeshav and myself. Each outfit was a salute to the fine craftsmen from the House of Kotwara,” says Ali.
For the manjha ceremony
For the first function of her wedding celebrations, the bride wore a yellow Benarasi cotton silk kurta with woven gold butis and a pink and yellow brocade dupatta. Amritsari juttis featuring hot pink and gold zardozi and a Patiala salwar completed her look.
Image: Karan Singh Photography
A red peshwaz (Mughal-style anarkali) with orange, green and red embroidery and pearl highlights won the bride’s vote for the mehandi function, paired with red embroidered juttis from Fizzy Goblet. Almost twinning with the bride, Sahnan wore a woven Chanderi angarkha in earthy orange and ivory hues for this function, along with a churidar, brown Lahori khussas and an heirloom Kashmiri embroidered pashmina.
For the sangeet-cum-cocktail
Image: Karan Singh Photography
Inspired by a warrior princess, Ali designed an effortless outfit for this function—a grey lehenga with a nude undertone of chikan shadow work, highlighted with silver katdana in 16 kalis spanning over eight metres. This was further layered with a chintz-inspired floral jaal, with ivory and pastel zardozi and beadwork embroidery. The blouse was high-necked and full-sleeved, and showcased silver and pearl geometric zardozi work too. The dupatta, draped simply over the shoulders, was accentuated with mukaish with a silver zardozi border. Since the outfit was shimmery in its own right, Ali opted for a ruby and diamond chocker from Kishandas & Co to complement it. Sahnan, on the other hand, wore a black matka silk dagla with a classic shikari jaal, embroidered in gold silver and tones of blue, with an ivory churidar and black and silver Amritsari juttis.
For the nikaah
Image: Karan Singh Photography
Borrowing aesthetics from the 1981 classic Umrao Jaan (starring Rekha and directed by her father), Ali designed a vintage rose traditional brocade and multicoloured gharara, embellished with pearls, gold zardozi embroidery and gota patti. She ditched the archetypical short kurta for a long front-open coat with an all over jaal of pearl droplets and zardozi embroidery at the borders, and bodice in gold and ivory. She brightened the toned down colours with a magenta veil. The outfit was paired with a polki and emerald choker, earrings and tikka, along with a multicoloured passa, and an emerald sathlara and a haathphool. Sahnan wore a vintage rose silk brocade angarkha to match Ali’s outfit.
For the pheras
Image: Karan Singh Photography
The bride changed her look for her Hindu ceremony, picking a lilac Benarasi lehenga with light green, blue and maroon details. Zardozi with highlighting pearls dominated the lehenga’s design. Ali styled her bridal outfit with two dupattas—one organza brocade dupatta, which matched her silk brocade blouse, as a veil; and the second dupatta when she was sitting for the pheras. A polki emerald choker and a mathapatti by Kishandas and Co brought her look together. The groom layered a maroon velvet jacket with zardozi work atop his existing outfit from the nikaah.
“Sama looked like the princess she is at each of the events. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her at all. I think she designed the most flawless looks I’ve ever seen for both of us,” closes Sahnan.
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