Inside celebrity stylist Archana Walavalkar's intimate temple wedding and star-studded sangeet

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt played a small (albeit incognisant) role in bringing celebrity stylist, former fashion editor of Vogue India and the co-founder of StyleCracker, Archana Walavalkar, closer to her now-husband, Prithwish Ganguly. “We worked together on the 2015 rom-com Shaandaar. I did the costumes for the protagonists, while Prithwish was with Fox Star Studios [the production company for the movie] at the time,” Walavalkar told us.

But professional pursuits didn’t serve as the backdrop for the couple’s meet-cute—they found comfort in each other’s fitness routines. “‘Do you want to go for a run together someday?’ he asked me at our gym one day,” she laughs, reliving Ganguly’s smooth attempt to ask her out. “On the day of, Prithwish called me to say he had pulled his hamstring, and would instead like to turn the plan into dinner. We landed up chatting all night.” Two years and a few months later, the couple tied the knot in what could be called a modern-day multicultural wedding celebration.

The proposal

Since the get-go, the two were sure that they were in it for the long haul. Three months after the first date, the couple went to Bali to celebrate New Year's Eve. “Our trip concluded with a pitstop at Prithwish’s parents’ home in Kolkata. Although it was not a formal ‘meet the folks’, he wanted to officially introduce me to his family,” reveals Walavalkar. Looking back to May 2017, she can pinpoint the exact moment the associate vice president of Yash Raj Films chose to pop the question to her. “One random night when on our way to dinner, Prithwish pulled over the car in Bandstand, Bandra. He went on to tell me how he had almost made up his mind to move back to Howrah, until he met me. He chose the spot because it was also where Prithwish brought his first house, and couldn’t wait to build a home with me.” The proposal turned into a party with the two’s friends and family, who were already present at a restaurant to celebrate the newly-engaged couple.

The bachelorette in Mexico

“Lucky for me, my closest girlfriends, Priyanka Kapadia [fashion director, Vogue India] and Antara Motiwala, were scheduled to get married only a couple of months apart. So, we pulled out all stops with a common bachelorette party. It was the best year—I got to play the bride and bridesmaid.” The bridal party chose Tulum, Mexico for the last hurray. The destination would eventually become the bride’s decor and design inspiration for the post-wedding celebration—think fronds, ferns and other flamboyant foliage straight from the tropical locales.

The wedding planning

The first step in planning 101 was zeroing down the dates. “Prithwish is way more traditional than I am, so we got a pandit to share his recommendations. Next step was commissioning a wedding planner. Given our professional obligations and not wanting to add pressure to our families, we hired Shaadi Squad to do the needful. We have known the founders, Tina Tharwani and Saurabh Malhotra, in our personal capacities too. They were absolutely seamless to work with, and this way we could have a wedding that was true to ourselves,” adds the bride. The couple went the digital route for their invitations, and a modern-meets-timeless aesthetic for the decor, which was done by Altair by Janki Desai.

The haldi and mehandi

The celebrations kicked off with an intimate haldi and mehandi celebration at Walavalkar’s house on November 22, 2017. When it came to bridal outfits, “I wanted to stay true to who I am and how I dress,” she explained. But she did so by also beautifully bridging the cultural chasm—each ensemble had a traditional as well as personal touch to it. Her mehandi separates serve as an example too. “I wanted to honour my Maharashtrian roots, so Arpita Mehta created a cami-tunic and sharara pants out of a Paithani sari I had bought a few years ago. I wore at least 20 gold kadas and bangles from my mother’s collection, paired with shoulder-dusting tassel earrings by Deepa Gurnani,” she adds. Her haldi outfit, a traditional laal paar sari, was a nod to the groom’s Bengali background, which she styled with floral jewellery.

The temple wedding

A gorgeous private property in Navi Mumbai played host as the wedding venue on November 23. “It houses a stunning white temple, overlooking a lake. We couldn’t have asked for a better location in the city,” Walavalkar said. The place was peppered with white flowers and candles, evoking an outdoorsy vibe. “I always desired a golden hour wedding, so the ceremony began at 5pm. It was perfectly timed for our varmala that saw molten yellow rays of sunlight streaming through the space.”

Wearing white was non-negotiable for the bride. To get around this, she opted for two handwoven Benarasi tissue saris from Roliana Weaves for the special occasion, “but I wanted to turn it into something special. My friend, Shiraz Siddique, who is a film costume designer, helped transform the six-yards into a lehenga-sari.” The celebrity stylist upped the ante with a zardozi-embroidered off-the-shoulder blouse created by Kresha Bajaj and a metallic handwoven dupatta from Akaaro. She tied the look together with a regional south Indian sari belt to cinch the waist, and an heirloom Kolhapuri saaj necklace along with uncut diamond jewellery from Jaipur Gems. Late celebrated makeup artist Subbu did her makeup. “Prithwish was very clear that he wanted to wear Kunal Rawal so he chose to twin with me in a white kurta. All the designers have played important parts in our lives, so it meant a lot to have them involved in our wedding.” The ceremony was followed by dinner and an after-party at a banquet in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, located in the same vicinity.

The post-wedding party

The next day saw a post-nuptial sangeet party at the Zenith Lounge in St. Regis hotel in Lower Parel, Mumbai. “We wanted to let loose, and host an extended celebration.” The guests then enjoyed a lavish dinner, with dancing and performances. Some notable names in attendance included Varun Dhawan and Ranveer Singh, among the couple’s closest friends and family members. “I wore lilac Tarun Tahiliani gota patti lehenga, which was as gossamer as it was glamorous. It was crafted with tulle, and had a flattering off-shoulder blouse. It was my first time wearing a lehenga, and I have to say, it was a game changer. I could dance all night!” Walavalkar rounded off the look with Art Deco jewels by Pransukhlal Bros Jewellers. The groom complemented his bride in another Kunal Rawal number, a purple bandhgala this time around. “If I could go back, there’s nothing I would want to change about the wedding,” concluded Archana Walavalkar.

Scroll ahead to take a look at Archana Walavalkar and Prithwish Ganguly's wedding album. 

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