32 pictures and videos from Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Anand Ahuja’s wedding ceremony

It certainly doesn't feel like it's been two years since #EverydayPhenomenal and #SonamKiShaadi took over our Instagram feeds. And yet, here we are! Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Anand Ahuja’s May 8, 2018 wedding was just the cap to a two-year long relationship that reads like a modern-day fairytale. Theirs was a multi-event celebration that broke the internet, with the A-list guest list, the dance-offs, and since it was Sonam—the incredible bridal trousseau. But, despite the couple's lavish ‘I Dos’, their relationship actually has humble (albeit digital) roots.

Here, relive their cutest couple moments, her emotional Anand Karaj montage, and everything in between.

How Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja met

The Mumbai-based actor and London-based entrepreneur’s love story began in 2016 on social media. Anand recaps the early days of their friendship: “We were chatting on Snapchat one night and she said, ‘Stop texting, just call me.’ And we spoke for two hours that night… Our friendship started over superficial things like vegan chocolates and sneakers but soon we were having deeper conversations.” Two months in, they met. Sonam chose London, since Anand lived there and she had a fitting with designers Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo in the city prior to her Cannes appearance. Since patience was in short supply, they met immediately. Recalling her first date, she told us, “I was apparently wearing the worst sneakers he had ever seen. I keep telling him that he fell in love with me despite my bad sneaker game… That day, walking and talking in London, I knew he was the love of my life. He apparently knew the first time we spoke on the phone… It was just so easy.” After two years, the duo decided to tie the knot. 

The wedding planning

The Zoya Factor actor, and founder of clothing label Bhane and sneaker store Veg Non Veg, decided to skip exotic destinations for a close-knit wedding ceremony in Mumbai. “I didn’t want an opulent wedding, we didn’t want to show off. We wanted something small and intimate and just have our friends and family there,” Sonam Kapoor Ahuja told us. The intimate Anand Karaj finally took place at her aunt Kavita Singh’s Mumbai residence at Bandra’s Rockdale. Every detail of the nuptials, she points out, was planned together by the couple including minuscule details like scenting the space with Jo Malone candles. The wedding planners, Rani Pink, elegantly decked the venue with elements inspired from Jaipur and a concoction of beautiful blue shades to create a soothing space that allowed the emotional energy to shine through. 

The Anand Karaj

The couple opted for a traditional Sikh wedding for their nuptials, which comprises four laava pheras around the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. The bride’s brothers Harshvardhan Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor walked her down the aisle under a red chaaddar. Also part of the Anand Karaj rituals includes the groom carrying a sword, just like Anand Ahuja is in the photos. 

The celebrity guests

Although intimate, the Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s Anand Karaj ceremony was a star-filled extravaganza. Apart from the bride's father Anil Kapoor and sister Rhea Kapoor, in attendance were her cousins Janhvi Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. Other influential names from Bollywood included Abhishek Bachchan, Shweta Bachchan Nanda, Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Rani Mukerji and Aamir Khan among many others celebrating with the Kapoor family.

The bridal lehenga

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s sartorial legacy is anything but predictable. But when it came to choosing the most important outfit she would ever wear; tradition trumped trends. Dressed in a red and gold Anuradha Vakil lehenga, she was everything a traditional bride would personify. “I don’t know anyone who understands Indian garments, textiles and embroidery as Anuradha does. I’d always tell her, ‘You are going to make my wedding lehenga. When—and if—I get married, you will.’ And I didn’t forget that,” she remembered.

The bridal lehenga took the couturier six months to craft. The bride told the designer she loved lotuses, so Vakil translated them into motifs. “The embroidery was created using the kalabattu technique with real gold and silver threads, and the entire piece was centred around a stylised pattern of the flower,” the couturier said. A Rajputana aad necklace layered with a guttapusalu necklace, matching earrings and a multi-stranded matha patti rounded off her look. Anand Ahuja chose an ivory sherwani for the occasion. To commemorate the big day, he got a wedding ring tattoo on his finger: a lotus motif.

The emotional moments

Some of the most heartfelt moments from the couple’s Anand Karaj ceremony include the bride’s walk to the palki on her big day, her emotional bidaai ceremony, and the duo’s very first cake cutting as a married couple. You’ll also spot an emotional Sonam Kapoor Ahuja seeking blessings from grandmother Nirmal Kapoor, and brothers Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor singing ‘Masakali’ from the bride's 2009 drama film Delhi-6. 

Take a look back at Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Anand Ahuja's wedding through these pictures and videos 

Also read: 

Sonam K Ahuja and Anand S Ahuja’s sweetest wedding moments in pictures

Sonam K Ahuja’s emotional moment at her Anand Karaj wedding ceremony

Sonam K Ahuja on Anand S Ahuja: “I knew he was the love of my life”