The Bride Wore 6 Custom Looks by Indian Designers for Her Wedding Weekend in Arizona
Kajal Patel and Raj Kiran were set up during the pandemic through a family connection—her aunt and his sister-in-law were introduced, and both had relatives who were “interested” in meeting someone new. After some well-intentioned scheming, the women swapped Kajal’s and Raj’s numbers and passed them on. Raj messaged Kajal first, saying: “Hi, it’s Raj.” “When I first read the message, I had a gut feeling it was the start of something special,” Kajal, who is a pharmacist, remembers.
“Kajal was in Chicago, and I, who normally live in Chicago, was in Twentynine Palms, California, where I grew up, taking advantage of work from home,” Raj explains. “Things really started fast the first two weeks over texts and video calls.” After a couple of weeks, in January 2021, Raj flew back to Chicago to meet Kajal for the first time at his condo. “The plan was for me to make Kajal a cocktail before we went for a walk,” Raj says. “I had been talking up my cocktail-making abilities over Zoom and thought this would be my best chance of impressing her.” Things didn’t go according to plan, however. “I ended up getting so nervous once I saw Kajal for the first time and completely fumbled the drink,” he remembers. “My bright and green kiwi mojito somehow turned out tart and brown. Luckily for me, Kajal still pretended to like it.” Adds Kajal, “Raj definitely has improved his cocktail-making abilities since then!”
The two got engaged in 2022 while on a two-week surprise “graduation trip” to celebrate Kajal finishing pharmacy school. She knew they were going to London first, but had no idea where they were headed next—until the captain announced that the plane was headed to Jordan. “On the morning of our engagement, I awkwardly made eye contact with a secret photographer, before we started the 40-minute walk to the Treasury in Petra,” Raj remembers. “When the time came for me to propose, I, who normally pride myself on my preparedness, of course stumbled on my words. It didn’t matter, though—Kajal was filled with emotion and remained stunned by the scenery around her. I was finally able to relax, and we enjoyed the rest of the evening, individually calling all of our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.”
“[The ring was] just the way I had imagined it,” Kajal says. “I remember sneaking away and looking through his suitcase when we were in London, thinking I was going to get proposed to there, but to my luck, I didn’t find it. So I assumed I wasn’t getting engaged on this trip, but he had just done a good job at hiding the ring!”
The wedding took place March 9 to 11, 2024, in Scottsdale, Arizona. “When we were initially looking at where to have the wedding, we weren’t sure about the location, but we wanted to get away from the cold Chicago winter,” Kajal says. They visited a few venues in Scottsdale and the Los Angeles areas, and ultimately fell in love with the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort Spa at Gainey Ranch. The couple worked with Rupal Patel from Malenia Events to plan everything—and their families were closely involved too. “Raj and I both value family and wanted to include them in the process,” Kajal says. “We are grateful to have wonderful sets of parents who stopped at nothing to make our wedding perfect, from dealing with our catering completely to helping with minor decor for gifting and making everything just the way we like it!”
One of the most important elements of the planning for Kajal was decor. “I wanted not only my guests and family to be blown away, but for Raj and I to be amazed,” she admits. “With that being said, Prashe Wedding Decor went above and beyond what we could have asked for.” For the wedding itself, the bride knew she wanted a clean white look. “They were able to make this dream of mine a reality on our wedding day!” Kajal says. “The fresh white florals and clean-looking mandap were beyond my wildest dream.”
The design directive for the bride’s wedding-weekend wardrobe was much less minimal, and the entire project was a true labor of love. “I started by looking at a few designs and options before going to India in November just to get an idea of what I was liking and help narrow down some choices,” Kajal explains.
Kajal began with her haldi outfit—and had already seen a few designs by the Indian designer Label Anushree that she liked. She went to the designer’s store and immediately fell in love with a yellow blouse with handwork detail, and paired it with a knee-length skirt that worked well when friends and family applied the haldi on her. “It was the perfect length, and the whole look was different from what I wore to the other events,” she explains. “Luckily, they were able to make Raj’s attire as well. We used the same handwork embroidery on his vest and a similar plain marigold color for his undergarment pieces.” Kajal was also able to find her sangeet look at Label Anushree: a long, flowing dress. “I love dancing and so I knew I would be dancing the night away at this event,” she says.
Indian designers Shyamal and Bhumika created a look for the satak. “Green is one of my favorite colors, so I was excited when I saw the perfect shades of green in this outfit,” Kajal explains. “I had to make some customizations to the outfit and had to trust them to pull it all together, as I wasn’t able to try this on until they shipped it to me a couple of weeks before the wedding. Luckily, it fit like a glove, and I absolutely loved it!”
Kajal was most nervous about finding her perfect wedding dress. “I [knew I wanted red but] didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted going into shopping in India,” she remembers. “And, as a result, this was one of the last looks I found.” After going to a couple of stores and feeling disheartened when she didn’t find exactly what she was looking for, she walked into the final shop of the day. “I had worked with Indian designer Chamee and Palak before to make my engagement look and knew the quality of the work was phenomenal,” Kajal explains. “I initially walked into the store thinking I was just going to buy some small pieces but ended up with my dream dress.” As with her satak look, the bride wasn’t able to go to India for a final fitting. Because of this, the dress had to be shipped sight unseen. “Right after opening the package, I couldn’t wait to try it on and was truly blown away,” she remembers.
