The Bride Wore a 30-Foot Veil to Marry in an Ancient Basilica at This Catholic-Sikh Wedding in Rome
Some say that when you meet the person you’re meant to be with, it feels like you’ve known them forever. This was the case for marketing executive Elisa Crutchfield and filmmaker Angad Aulakh, who first met in Los Angeles through a mutual friend in 2017. “As soon as I met Angad, I was immediately drawn in by his intellect, how well spoken he was, and, of course, his looks,” shares Elisa. “There was instant chemistry, and we ended up spending hours talking that night. It felt like talking to someone I had known for years—it was all so natural and organic. We immediately started dating, and the rest is history.”
As the couple s relationship evolved, they loved to travel the world together. “No matter how busy life gets, we always prioritize exploring new places, and mutually believe that experiencing other cultures and broadening your worldview is absolutely essential,” says Elisa. Early in their partnership the pair took a trip to Japan, a place they loved enough to revisit four years later in March 2023. “I was relatively certain that Angad was planning to ask me to marry him on that trip, but I didn’t know when and where it would happen,” Elisa shares. “He asked me underneath the blossoms of a beautiful cherry tree, as we had made it to Japan just in time for the cherry blossoms to be in bloom near the end of March. My sister Francesca had been carrying the ring around in her jacket, and hid nearby to snap some photos. The whole thing was beautifully low-key and perfect. That night, we all celebrated together with Champagne and desserts at our ryokan.”
For her engagement ring, Elisa had previously told Angad she wanted three stones as a nod to her late maternal grandmother’s ring. “Before she passed, she told me the three stones on her ring resembled ‘ieri, oggi e domani’ which means ‘yesterday, today, and tomorrow’ in Italian. It still makes me cry thinking about it,” she says. Angad remembered this significance and chose a ring inspired by Grace Kelly with an emerald-cut diamond and tapered baguette side stones.
When it came time to figure out the location of their wedding, Rome was an easy choice for the to-be-weds. The bride grew up spending summers visiting her family farm in Italy—the couple even took their first trip abroad there—and it was a relatively central location for the groom’s multi-continental family to travel to. “But most importantly, we love the history and timeless beauty of the eternal city,” says Elisa. “Welcoming all our closest friends and family to Rome—one of the world’s most beautiful and historic cities—to celebrate this new chapter of our lives was an experience we’ll never forget.”
It wouldn’t be a small ceremony, either. The couple decided to highlight their two cultural backgrounds by hosting both a hybrid Sikh and Roman-Catholic wedding with 300 guests and four days of events. The celebrations included a mehndi, a sangeet, a tholi ceremony, a baraat, an anand karaj ceremony, and a Catholic wedding ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, a church built in the third century B.C. With such an extensive itinerary, the couple decided to take almost two years to bring the September 2025 celebrations to life, with the help of wedding planner Emma Docwra of Love Italy Weddings.
“There is a lot that goes into planning a multicultural destination wedding, and we felt that having meticulous planners was crucial. We took several trips to Rome and India for meetings with our vendors and venue tasting and planning trips,” Elisa explains. “We went the extra mile to make sure that everything was organized smoothly and that everyone had an amazing time celebrating. The memories we made together with our families were priceless throughout the whole process, as both of our families were very involved in helping to make the weekend happen.”
The sangeet night took place on September 21 at Palazzo Brancaccio, a historic residence in the city center with lush gardens and opulent interiors. The evening also included a tholi ceremony, a tradition in Sikh weddings marking the bride’s departure from her family home and entry into her new life with her husband. “We made our first entrance into the gardens to kick off the weekend and greet all of our guests for the first time to Frank Sinatra’s ‘All or Nothing at All.’ After the tholi processional, we had a surprise private performance once all the guests entered the venue from Jaz Dhami, i.e. ‘the pioneer of Punjabi R&B,’ who we flew in from London,” the couple says. “The energy and surprise in the room when he came out was insane, and we’ll never forget the dancing.”
The bride wanted to wear a more contemporary Indian sharara set for the sangeet. “This was the event where I wanted to have fun, express myself, and show a bit more skin—in a tasteful way,” Elisa says. “I found an off-shoulder embroidered white, silver sequin, and crystal set from Indian couture designer Seema Gujral and fell in love with how it draped. I felt so glamorous and comfortable, and it was the perfect look to compliment the ornate interiors of Palazzo Brancaccio.” She paired the set with embroidered Mach Mach and jewelry borrowed from Angad’s family. “It meant so much to me to be able to wear pieces that had such special, sentimental value to the both of us throughout the weekend, and especially to honor those who could no longer be with us to celebrate,” she says. For his look, Angad decided to wear a custom-tailored black Canali suit, an Hermès tie and pocket square, and Tom Ford shoes. “He also got to wear my late grandfather’s tie clip, who gave it to Angad before he passed away,” says the bride.
The following day began with the baraat processional, where the groom arrives with a parade of his family and friends to the ceremony where they are greeted by the bride s circle. “Traditionally this happens on horseback, but Angad picked a vintage Bentley S2 Cabrio from the 1950s as his arrival vehicle,” says Elisa. The anand karaj ceremony then took place in the floral-filled ballroom of the Hotel A.Roma Lifestyle, followed by a luncheon for all the guests. To select her looks for the Indian wedding day, Elisa flew to New Delhi with her mother, sister, and Angad’s mother and aunt. “I knew going into it I wanted to embrace tradition for the Anand Karaj and wear red,” says the bride. “I ended up falling in love with my look from Rimple and Harpreet, a made-to-order scarlet red lehenga set with peacock and paisley motifs. There were two dupattas—one of them had the most gorgeous, ornate embroidery that draped so beautifully down the back.”
