The Grooms Combined Elements of Mumbai and New Orleans at Their Beachside Wedding
When Adam Shapiro and Gautam Rajani, the cofounders of men’s resort brand SMR Days, decided to get married in Ibiza, it seemed a long way from their respective hometowns of New Orleans and Mumbai, but it chimed with their brand ethos—“effortless menswear for long summer days”—perfectly. Based in London, the couple wanted their distinct cultures to meet in the Balearics, uniting 150 friends and family somewhere between Bayou and Bombay in spirit. “India is super important to us, as is New Orleans,” says Adam. “We really enjoy spending time in each other’s homes.”
Ibiza was a regular destination they both felt connected to: “It s a big enough island that you can sort of do anything you want, incredible nature, wellness. The restaurants are second to none; the best day is spent on a long beach-side lunch. You can be as social as you want, because of course we’ve got plenty of friends there,” says Adam. Serena Cook’s Deliciously Sorted Ibiza and Johanna Carlsson would help the couple manage the entire wedding on the island.
The couple’s mood board featured a palette of salted pinks and marigold sunsets, bringing together the flats of the Balearics, the French Quarter of New Orleans and Indian architectural stone. “We wanted to keep the bohemian vibe that Ibiza offers underlying everything we did,” says Gautam. The celebrations started with welcome drinks at Cala Codolar, a cove-side chiringuito. The venue was given an SMR Days “beach Bohemia” overhaul with upcycled fabrics from their first season, creating laid-back blankets and tie-dye cushions. An unpretentious tapas menu was served, including Jamón Iberico with pan con tomates, Spanish cheeses and cod croquettes. “We wanted it easy, nothing too fussy. And then we served killer pitchers of margaritas,” says Adam. Guests were gifted SMR Days Beach bags (a collaboration with Maison Bengal, a woman’s collective in Bangladesh), and many of the fashion crowd wore them immediately cove-side with Margiela mermaid sequins and Johanna Ortiz prints, mingling until sunset.
Adam’s close friend from New York, Nicky Balestrieri of The Gathery, designed all of the events and artwork. This expertise was particularly evident at the second evening’s event: Bollywood night, held at their favorite Italian restaurant on the island called Can Domingo. “Funnily enough, when we went to them, we said, ‘Do you do Indian food?’ And the Italian chef said he spends every winter in India,” Adam remembers. “And so then we did a tasting with them and his Indian food was second to none, so from our little Italian olive grove restaurant came an incredible Indian feast: palak paneer, mughlai gosht…”
Adam wore a custom sherwani (traditional wedding coat) by Gaurav Gupta, and meaningful heirloom jewelry from Gautam’s family. “I am fortunate to have dressed these grooms, who define and redefine culture with so much grace and ease. Everyone at the wedding was in constant euphoria of freedom and love,” says Gaurav. “We picked out a classic sherwani silhouette, the one that traditionally an Indian groom wears, for both of them to twin. Gautam chose a beige gold sherwani with birds and foliage intricately embroidered in pearls and zardozi. For Adam we wanted pink, and we custom-made an intricate forest-inspired embroidery.” Gautam also wore a cascading raw diamond necklace from his mother. “It s a long-standing tradition in India where parents start making and collecting jewelry for the day their children get married. She had this one made for me a long time ago. Wearing it on our Friday night was quite magical—it was like she was hugging me and holding me all throughout. And she of course turned up with her even more glamorous one,” laughs Gautam.
Aurea Floral Studio on all the celebration’s events, with Velvet Circus on creative décor. For these festivities, flamingo peonies were opened up by hand and trees were wrapped in a mix of fresh and paper flowers that had traveled in from India with the guests. After dinner, the lighting changed and an MC took to the stage for the dancing to commence. “I’ve taught dance to people of all ages from 4 to 74 and strongly believe we can all dance,” says Gautam, who was a Bollywood choreographer and dancer until he was 20 years old. Producers and dancers from the industry joined them on the island, but it was not just the professionals reveling in the theme: Five different groups of friends and family choreographed their own routines to perform. “It’s what you do at a sangeet, which is the typical sort of rehearsal dinner for Indian wedding,” Gautam explains. The grooms switched into hand-embroidered Rahul Mishra bandhgalas with sequin kurtas underneath. “It really brought people together, building all of these fun relationships pre-wedding. So everyone got there and was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been on zoom choreography with you for the past month,’ ” says Adam of their global dance party.