All the pictures from inside Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj’s dreamy Hyderabad wedding

Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj’s picture-perfect wedding was a labour of love—and one hell of a party. When the 35-year-old actor wed the Hyderabad-based interior designer on August 8, 2020, the couple’s cross-cultural nuptials saw all attention to detail. For Bunty Bajaj, a renowned event designer, director of Krsala Jewels and the bride’s mother, planning her daughter’s big day in the face of a pandemic was very different from how she always envisioned it. “Everything was done digitally. We chose Miheeka’s bridal trousseau online, we booked the vendors online, and of course all coordination was done via phone, Whatsapp and video calls,” she reveals, asserting how the planning process conducted at home was not any less meticulous. “Sure, this may be a time of uncertainty, but it was also a time of lucid clarity for us,” she adds about how everything went without a hitch.

Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj love story

What began as a casual acquaintance for the south star turned into a life-long commitment. "I have known Miheeka for a long time. She is Ashrita's [Rana Daggubati’s cousin] classmate and her good friend. I knew her in that manner. Her house is also near to our house. When it comes to marriage, everyone thinks in a various manner and then take a decision after a lot of thinking. But when a person enters one's heart, all those calculations go away. I feel the same after I started loving Miheeka,” the actor revealed during an Instagram live session with Lakshmi Manchu recently. “Miheeka did some magic. Her smile, way of speaking, deeds all are similar to my thinking. I felt that she is my life. When I decided to propose to Miheeka, I did not take much time. I finished off in a simple manner. I thought about it for a day and after that spoke with Miheeka over the phone and later met her personally. I proposed my love for her in one word. Miheeka who was in a state of shock later agreed and then she became happy,” he added about how he popped the question to Bajaj in May 2020.

The roka

On May 22, 2020, the Baahubali actor and Miheeka Bajaj sealed the deal with an intimate roka ceremony at the Ramanaidu Film Studios in Hyderabad. Mindful of the coronavirus social distancing mandates, only their immediate family members, who lived in the vicinity, attended in person, including the groom’s cousin Naga Chaitanya and his wife Samantha Akkineni. Rana Daggubati wore a white shirt and dhoti for the occasion, and the bride chose a peach Kanjeevaram sari that came with a rani pink pallu. Given her family owns a fine jewellery brand, the young bride’s statement-making bridal ensembles were accompanied by an equally discerning eye for maximalist pieces that made a statement. 

The pre-wedding celebrations

North and south Indian traditions met at every wedding ceremony for Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj. First in line was the Bhaat Nyotana ceremony, a Marwari ritual (part of the bride’s Marwari culture), where the mother of the bride invites everyone in the family. There is deep emotion and personal history in the grey and red bandhini lehenga Miheeka chose for the occasion. “She wore my wedding lehenga. When I first saw her in the outfit, I burst out crying,” Bunty Bajaj recalls the special tribute to their intrinsic mother-daughter bond that made for one of the most special moments throughout the celebrations.

This was followed by a Telugu rendition of the same ceremony at the bride’s residence in June 2020. “It’s a ritual called lagna patrikalu, where the groom’s family visits the bride’s home and presents the wedding cards,” shared Suresh Babu, Rana Daggubati’s father in a statement. The bride-to-be chose a pistachio-hued lehenga by couturier Jayanti Reddy. The soothing hues of the ensemble were teamed with an exquisite jadau multi-layered necklace encrusted with polkis, rubies and pink tourmalines, and matching stud earrings and a bracelet.

The haldi

Held at the bride’s Hyderabad residence on August 6, the haldi was a vibrant affair to say the least. The family enlisted the help of Preet H Jain of Bling Mushrooms to execute the decor and design. “Bunty aunty curated the entire moodboard and was clear of what she wanted the house to look like. This was a very traditional event, but done differently with mixing elements like gota and jute both. We got huge murals hand-painted with inspiration from Madhubani and Mandela artworks. These were then accented with gota patti works,” says Jain. The space was then outfitted with yellow blooms. Against a festive backdrop of orange floral murals and bright yellow blooms, Miheeka Bajaj was seen posing with Rana Daggubati in the new post as dhol players went at it in the background. The bride-to-be picked a cheerful yellow lehenga by designer Anand Kabra complemented with cowrie shell jewellery.

The mehandi

For the mehandi festivities the next day, Bajaj found a winner in a raspberry-hued embroidered jacket and lehenga set from Arpita Mehta. Taking cues from the intricate silver detailing on the back-open outfit, earrings with Russian emeralds, pink tourmalines and polkis, along with a maang tikka encrusted with polkis and pearls served as the pièce de résistance of the look. “Miheeka as a person is all about minimalism so that's exactly what we wanted to reflect in the mehandi setup. Starting with the draping, we kept the look monotone, while the colourful backdrop created using ropes dyed in shades of light grape purple, lavender grey, blush pink and dark green. This was further enhanced with elements like custom chandeliers, gypsy runnings and jalli panel. For furniture, we got sofa chairs in blush pink and rose gold,” adds Jain.

The wedding

“The inspiration for the wedding decor came from a gorgeous Thota Vaikuntam painting, which was a gift to Rana and Miheeka by the artist. With the help of my events team, I recreated the enchanted forest depicted in the artwork. The result was a riot of colours, using different fresh flowers. There were banana trees and parrot motifs suspended from atop the mandap. For Miheeka’s ethereal bridal entry, we got a foggy-effect created on the floor,” reveals Bunty Bajaj. Flanked by her mother and sister-in-law Sasha Rawal Bajaj, the bride was a vision in off-white and gold.

Jewellery, however, was the starting point for Bajaj’s wedding look. Large polkis and emeralds, collected over the years in anticipation of Miheeka’s wedding, played a starring role in the pieces. “The necklace is made by assembling a number of different pieces, and took five-six months to craft. It includes a lotus design at its centre. She rounded off the look with rings and anklets that I wore to my wedding,” says her mother. Miheeka’s bespoke lehenga featured hand-done zardozi with the finest chikankari and gold metalwork, and was teamed with a woven gold dupatta. According to the couturier, the creation took close to 10,000 man hours to make. The bride wore a coral veil to round off the look and makeup in earthy tones. The groom complemented her in a pale gold dhoti-kurta set.

The main ceremony honoured both the bride and groom’s backgrounds. “Miheeka planned the entire flow of the wedding. It was a beautiful coming together of north and south Indian cultures. We had two pandits. There were fire pheras that were a nod to our Marwari traditions and Gauri puja which honoured Rana’s Telugu roots. Ramanaidu Studios played host to the wedding, with a limited guest-list of 30 including Venkatesh, Naga Chaitanya, Samantha Akkineni and other members of the family in attendance." Miheeka wrote a personalised thank you note for each and every family member who was at the wedding including a letter in Telugu to Rana’s grandma. 

The perfect evening came to a close with a fun-filled sangeet party, where the bride surprised her parents with a performance on the song ‘Dilbaaro’ followed by another dance for Rana. “There weren’t many dry eyes’ it was such a touching moment. But eventually, Rana lightened the emotional mood up by concluding ‘I told you don’t stress, everything will fall in place. Welcome to my family, Miheeka. And I love your family’,” Bunty concludes.

Scroll through to check out Rana Daggubati and Miheeka Bajaj’s wedding album

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