The following evening, the sangeet took its cues from a Rajasthani courtyard. The couple skipped a programme of choreographed family dances in favour of the Punjabi customs they knew from home. Their mothers and aunts sang boliyan, followed by a Jaggo procession with live dhol.
Singh knew she would not wear bridal red for the Anand Karaj, choosing burgundy for the sangeet instead. Her Marwar Couture lehenga featured Indian animal motifs and heritage-inspired patterns, while Gill wore a navy sherwani that picked up the darker tones in her outfit.
For the Maiyan the next morning, the couple wanted all guests to participate rather than watch from the edges. Their families prepared the traditional haldi mixture and slathered them in it before Singh and Gill ran into the ocean with cheering from the beach. The decor drew on an Italian summer, with citrus arrangements, sunflowers and a build-your-own pizza station.
The Anand Karaj took place the following morning in a garden bordered by canals. Guests received wooden fans engraved with the couple’s names and wedding date, along with ceremony guides explaining the Anand Karaj and the meaning of each of the four Laavaan. A memorial display honoured their late grandparents, with Singh’s nani present for the ceremony.
Singh had begun getting ready at 4am before meeting Gill for a private first look. “I was already physically exhausted from the week and completely overwhelmed,” she says. “The moment I turned around and saw him, everything became calm. I knew I was about to marry the love of my life and nothing else mattered.”
For the ceremony, Singh wore a custom JJ Valaya ensemble that paired a blouse from one design with a skirt from another and a sage-green dupatta. Gill had found his JJ Valaya sherwani online, but no boutique near him carried it. He ordered it without trying it on and wore it with an emerald ring and matching kalgi, which his sisters fastened, while his sister-in-law had performed the surma ceremony. After the ceremony, the bridesmaids delayed the doli with a series of challenges for Gill and his groomsmen. They negotiated, performed push-ups and put lipstick and false eyelashes on one another before agreeing to let him leave with the bride.
Singh’s outfit for the Reception the next evening combined elements from two separate Dolly J designs. The bodice and boa came from one, while the skirt came from another, reworked into a white two-piece ensemble with silver embroidery. Gill wore a custom velvet dinner jacket from Harry Rosen, whose lining illustrated the love story of a boy and girl and carried the couple’s wedding date. At each seat, guests found a handwritten note from the couple thanking them for making the journey to their wedding in the Dominican Republic.
After the final dance, the newlyweds returned to their room for pizza, wine and Netflix. On their first date, they had fallen asleep before a dinner reservation and ordered a heart-shaped pizza instead. Five days of celebrations ended much the same.
