They called the welcome party The Como Club by N&A, imagining an Italian private members’ club for the evening. Each guest received a name tag marked “Member”, along with local snacks and a Lake Como candle. The itinerary tucked into the welcome bag disclosed the ceremony venue, Villa Erba, which could be seen across the water from Lido di Cernobbio. Cocktails were named for cities connected to the couple’s lives, and guests could take home hand-illustrated watercolour postcards.
The next day’s Haldi Social began as a poolside party where Rau wore a bright-pink Banarasi silk lehenga her mother had designed with Adhya Label, with Suhani Pittie earrings and arm cuffs by Kavya Potluri. Pannu chose an embroidered light-green silk kurta by Rahul Mishra. A live tabla player performed alongside the DJ, while friends and family took turns dancing.
For the haldi ritual, they changed into outfits honouring Rau’s Maharashtrian heritage. She wore a yellow sari draped in the Marathi style with a nath; Pannu wore a yellow chikankari kurta and dhoti with Kolhapuri sandals. The jaggo followed, and Pannu’s family drew everyone back into dancing. Some friends had got into the pool and watched from the water, miming the dhol beats as they went. Between dances, guests ate at Indian street-food counters and tried spritzes named for the families, including the Balle Balle Spritz and the Bombay Fizz.
Rau and Pannu had chosen to skip a late-night sangeet because the Anand Karaj required an early start the following morning. They put performances into the haldi and reception instead, leaving everyone time to sleep before the ceremony.
Pannu’s baraat approached Villa Erba, with Rau’s immediate family waiting at the front to receive him. Her friends attempted to steal his shoes before the milni, then realised he still needed them to get to the ceremony. A cousin had better timing and took them just before Pannu walked down the aisle.
Earlier that morning, Rau and Pannu had shared a first look while the villa was still theirs for a little while. By the ceremony, the outdoor mandap faced a gathering of their families beside the lake. White and green flowers surrounded it, with paper parasols and sage-green programmes that doubled as fans for guests. Most sat on the floor, while rattan chairs were provided for elders.
Rau married in the red Sabyasachi lehenga she had long pictured wearing. Lotus flowers ran through its embroidery, a motif she loves. Her choker and jhumkas had been made by a family friend who is a jeweller in Udaipur, but reached the family so close to their departure that Rau first tried them on that morning. Pannu wore a fawn JJ Valaya sherwani with a red patterned turban and stole. His antique-gold kirpan had a tiger-head detail that matched Rau’s Sabyasachi belt.
Rau’s family has Marathi, Konkani and Telugu roots; Pannu’s are Punjabi and Sikh. They chose an Anand Karaj and included Hindu rituals important to her family. Rau’s mother performed an aarti for Pannu during the milni, and the ceremony included the jai mala, mangalsutra and sindoor alongside the four lavaan. For the palla, the cloth linking them during the Anand Karaj, Rau and Pannu chose a Paithani. “A Marathi textile woven into the heart of a Sikh ceremony,” the couple say.
