This Couple Held Their East-Meets-West Wedding at an “Enchanted Garden” in Marrakech
Shivani Tarsadia and Viman Singh’s courtship began at a dive bar in New York City in the lead up to the Fourth of July. “It was 2019, and the city was buzzing with energy ahead of the holiday, and I was out with my brother and some friends,” Shivani remembers. “We ended up at a bar we honestly had no genuine desire to be at. I was wearing a walking boot from a recent foot injury and probably shouldn’t have even been out.” That boot served as the perfect icebreaker for Viman, who walked up to Shivani with a line about how he’d once worn a boot just like it. “When we started talking, I felt completely at ease with him,” Shivani says. “After a while, we decided to leave the bar and spent the rest of the night walking around the city and getting late-night food. It was one of those magical New York nights.”
The couple got engaged on July 6, 2023, in St. Tropez. “I didn’t see it coming,” Shivani admits. “We had always talked about having both of our families present for our engagement, so when we planned this trip to the South of France with just my family, I figured there was no way it would happen then. I was convinced he’d wait for everyone to be together. But, of course, I was wrong—in the best way.” The day started with plans for the couple to visit a winery. Once they arrived and settled in, Viman suddenly said he wasn’t feeling well and asked Shivani to go outside with him for some air. “I followed him outside, and heard faint music playing in the distance,” Shivani remembers. “I had no idea what was happening until we saw a man nearby who suddenly turned to us and started singing ‘Marry You’ by Bruno Mars. That’s when it hit me—this was the moment. I’d always joked that someone would have to sing that song for me to say yes, so even though Viman didn’t sing it himself, I still said yes!”
In the lead up to the proposal, Viman led Shivani down a path lined with white flowers, which opened up to a floral arch and a dinner table for 30 guests. “When we got to the end of the path, Viman told me how much he loved me and how I was his perfect match before getting down on one knee,” Shivani remembers. “I was so excited that I put the ring on before even explicitly saying, ‘Yes!’” Afterward, the couple spent a few private moments together before Shivani’s family came out, cheering and tearing up. And, just when Shivani thought the surprises were over, Viman’s family appeared too. “I was in complete shock,” she says. “They had secretly flown in for the proposal, turning off the Find My Friends feature on their phones to avoid giving anything away!”
The couple got married in Marrakech, Morocco, a little over a year later. “We chose Marrakech because it perfectly blended our Eastern and Western wedding traditions,” says Shivani. For their wedding ceremony and lunch, the couple chose the courtyard of The Oberoi, Marrakech, while guests stayed at—and all other wedding activities took place—the Royal Mansour. Surrounded by 30-to 50-foot-high walls, water features, and expansive balconies, they say it made them feel like they’d been transported to a royal palace in Jaipur. “The planning process was an absolute dream, thanks to Marcy Blum and her incredible team,” Shivani says. “Their creativity and expertise were so impressive that I trusted them entirely, which says a lot because I’m the type who likes to have my hands on everything.”
When Shivani and Viman started planning, they envisioned their own unique version of an Indian wedding—blending Eastern and Western cultures. “Beyond that, we didn’t have a clear idea of what that meant,” Shivani says. “Marcy and Rishi Patel from HMR Designs helped us bring that vision to life in ways we never imagined.” One of the couple’s main goals was to make every single event drastically different from the others. “I didn’t want any flowers until the wedding day itself, so we used unique design elements like metals, fruits, vegetables, plants, spices, and food items to create a distinct atmosphere for each event,” Shivani says. “Marcy and her team’s creativity blew us away.”
When it came to her wedding wardrobe, Shivani wanted to create a look that reflected both her Indian heritage and her personal style. “Growing up in the United States with a family from India, it was essential to me that my outfits represented both sides of my identity,” she says. “I wanted to honor my roots while embracing the modernity of my life today.” To bring this vision to life, she worked with two stylists: Tanya Vohra, the founder of CLAD, and Tara Maietta. “Together, they helped me blend my Indian heritage with my personal style in a way that felt authentic and effortless,” Shivani explains. “Each outfit wasn’t just a piece of clothing, but a reflection of my story—a celebration of who I am and where I come from, all wrapped up in the most beautiful fabrics and designs.”
Tanya helped design Shivani’s traditional Indian outfits for the sangeet, haldi, and wedding ceremony. Traditionally, Indian brides wear red for the main ceremony, but Shivani felt inspired to break the mold. She chose an ethereal pastel pink tulle net lehenga embroidered with multicolored florals for the wedding day custom-designed by Tarun Tahiliani, and paired it with delicate diamond and emerald jewelry for a softer look. In contrast, for the sangeet, she went for a dramatic red waterfall mermaid lehenga set by Gaurav Gupta, styled with diamond jewelry.
For her Western looks, Shivani turned to Tara. For the welcome party and reception, Shivani and Tara enlisted the talents of Patricia Voto from One/Of to create a vibrant bespoke look. The embroidery they hand-selected was a mix of metal sequins with twisted beadwork intertwined in a copper bronze mix with an organic lattice pattern. The styling was elevated with custom-made jewelry by Roopa Vohra that pays homage to the rich tapestry of Moroccan culture. For the reception, Tara introduced Shivani to J’Aton. “The fact that I was unfamiliar with this designer made the experience even more exhilarating, as I wanted a unique, one-of-a-kind piece for the event,” Shivani says. “My bespoke gown took upwards of 2,100 hours to hand sew. The process was seamless from start to finish, working remotely with the designers.”
Before the mandap ceremony began, the bride and groom had their first look. “I was wearing my kaleeras—the intricate metal jewelry adorning my lehenga—and as I approached him from behind, the jingling sound of them grew louder with each step,” she remembers. “When I tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. He had tears in his eyes—a rare sight for Viman, who never cries.”
