The guest list was kept under 200, with groups intentionally mixed. During the mehendi, guests participated in a facilitated exercise designed to encourage introductions. The couple were clear that conversation and connection mattered as much as the ceremony.
The mehendi took place poolside at Kumarakom Lake Resort. Bright pinks, yellows and greens played against water hyacinth blooming across Vembanad Lake. Block-print parasols shaded the space, marigolds were worked through the décor and a bangle bar ran along the pool’s edge. Styled by Akshay Tyagi, Sunil wore a Re_ceremonial ghaghra made from 48 individually plant-dyed panels that moved from chartreuse to turquoise, coloured using hibiscus and marigold flowers recycled from Siddhivinayak temple offerings and blended with natural indigo. The hem was finished with a vintage Kerala sari border, paired with a silk top inspired by the sari drape. Katz-Appel’s look reflected the same material language: handwoven brocade trousers in a plant-dyed palette made from post-consumer textile waste yarns and silk.
Two days later, the haldi was held in the presidential suite. Guests arrived dressed in white. Sunil wore an ivory silk sari and veshti by Re_ceremonial, edged with delicate gota and conceived as a blank canvas. The pieces were designed to be re-dyed later rather than archived. Jewellery here leaned Kerala-rooted, with rustic, tribal references and old-style lacha anklets, explains Sunil.
That evening moved into Kala Sandhya. The palette deepened into red. A central tree installation layered with chandeliers and marigolds dominated the space. Guests sat on straw mats and bolsters as dinner was served before performances began. Artists included Nakaloka, Shruthi Veena Vishwanath, Shruteendra Katagade and Babui, whose repertoire moved through Nirguni, Bhakti and Sufi traditions, alongside a Kathakali school from Fort Kochi. For the evening, Katz-Appel wore a charcoal Pathani in pure moonga silk by Divani Couture, detailed with Ek-Taar zardozi and finished with a signature embellished doshala. Sunil wore Divani’s Dapka-Chadi lehenga in silk tissue, layered with the Gulistan jacket embroidered with the Chand Anaar Boota, a Ratna-Topi embellished with rubies and emeralds and a parandi handcrafted by the brand’s in-house women karigars.
The ceremony took place the following morning and was conceived as a meeting of their worlds. Set against the backwaters, with a houseboat parked behind them and tropical foliage framing the space, the décor drew directly from its surroundings. Guests were dressed in a soft pastel palette, while the setting was filled with deep browns, brass, greens and whites. Florals remained classic, with white jasmine, rajnigandha and tuberose arranged around a traditional rectangular Chettinad-style mantap.
