Wedding | Ridhima & Nikhil

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Our story technically began all the way back in 2010, when I (Ridhima) started helping at the local Kumon centre—completely unaware that I was working for my future mother-in-law. Nikhil would wander in from time to time, and that’s where we had our first brief hellos, not knowing life had much bigger plans for us.

It wasn’t until a few years later that our paths crossed again through mutual friends. We’d bump into each other here and there, keeping in touch just enough for the universe to keep nudging us together.

Then came university: Nikhil headed to Manchester, and I went to Leeds. Whenever he had hockey matches in Leeds, we’d catch up, laugh, and somehow pick up exactly where we left off. Those small moments slowly turned into something unmistakably real.

Soon after, friendship became something deeper, and somewhere between train journeys, late-night conversations, and city-hopping between Leeds and Manchester, we fell into a relationship. We went from childhood acquaintances to university sweethearts—and now, we’re married.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We always knew we wanted a destination wedding—something that felt like a big holiday with all our favourite people in one place. Being born in Jaipur, I had always dreamed of a wedding in Rajasthan. Nikhil, on the other hand, imagined the Caribbean, a place filled with family memories and sunshine.

To meet in the middle (quite literally!), we started exploring Europe and narrowed it down to Italy or Spain. One day, while I was looking at Jaipur-inspired venues, I came across a stunning location with soft pink walls reminiscent of Rajasthan’s architecture—only to realise it wasn’t in India at all, but in Seville.

That moment changed everything. We found our planner, Dyana Dessar, through that venue search, visited Seville soon after, and instantly fell in love with the warmth, the colours, and the energy of the city. Seville felt like the perfect mix of beautiful architecture, constant sunshine, and a relaxed, easygoing lifestyle—echoing aspects of both India and the Caribbean. It blended both our dreams seamlessly and became the perfect place to start our forever.

How many guests did you have?

We had 200 guests in total, from across the world—including the UK, Australia, America, , India, Spain, Singapore, Turkey and Belgium.

Tell us about your outfits.

From the beginning, we both knew we didn’t want the typical red-and-white wedding palette. We wanted colours that felt personal, meaningful, and distinctly reflective of our backgrounds, our style, and the city where we were getting married.

I spent two weeks in India sourcing outfits, with my bridal lehenga at the top of the list. I knew I wanted something that honoured my Rajasthani roots, and I’d always had one designer in mind: Marwar Couture. With that decided, my family and I braved the busy streets of Chandni Chowk—and by day one, I’d found the lehenga. It originally came with a red net and velvet dupatta, but the look truly came alive when I swapped in a burnt-orange net dupatta. Against the pink walls of Hacienda Molinillos, it became exactly what I had always envisioned, fulfilling my Rajasthani dream bridal look.

For the mehndi, I wanted something as vibrant as the night itself—echoing Villa Luisa’s palm trees and Moorish architecture. Frontier Raas in Chandigarh had the perfect piece: a colourful ensemble woven with greens, oranges and pinks, anchored by a bold purple dupatta. The reception on the other hand called for quiet glamour. After two heavily embroidered, multi-toned looks, I chose a sleek, shimmering gold outfit from Monga’s in the UK—timeless, simple, and perfectly complementing my skin tone.

A few months later, Nikhil made his first trip to India for his wedding wardrobe. By then he knew most of my colours—except the bridal look (of course!). For the wedding day, Nikhil heavily leaned on Volvoreta’s creativity and eye for colour. She picked a velvet bottle-green sherwani from Shantanu and Nikhil for its structure and detailing, then recommended switching the green to a deep blue to tie into the subtle tones at the base of my lehenga. Once in India, his family worked closely with the designers to complement the velvet and embroidery to my outfit.

Coordinating with my colourful mehndi look was a tougher task—or so I’m told. With so many colours in play, finding harmony wasn’t easy. Shyamal and Bhumika in Ahmedabad, transformed a waistcoat into a custom Indo-Western jacket with intricate embroidery—echoing the greenery of Villa Luisa and perfectly complementing my outfit.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

For us, the most important aspects of planning our wedding were the things that truly brought out who we are as people—our personalities, our interests, and what brings us joy in our everyday lives. At the top of that list were photography and music.

We knew from the very beginning that we wanted a photographer who captured real, in-the-moment emotions rather than staged shots. When we first saw Volvoreta’s Instagram, we fell in love with her intimate, warm style and how she blends into the background, capturing moments that feel completely natural. After our first call with her, we were completely sure. We instantly clicked, felt so comfortable with her, and knew she was the person we wanted documenting our day.

By the end of the wedding, she knew every little detail about us, and she poured all of that understanding into the photoshoots she planned. Each one was crafted with such thoughtful intention, and you can see that attention to detail reflected in every single photograph. In addition, she teamed up with Graciela Vilagudín, an incredibly talented photographer in her own right, who embraced all the fun and chaos of her first Indian wedding with absolute grace.

Music has always been a huge part of our lives in the UK, so we knew it had to play a central role in our wedding. Again, similar to Volvoreta, we knew exactly who we wanted - DJ Rugrat, the owner of Musical Movements. Nikhil had seen him perform live at Notting Hill Carnival and knew he could effortlessly blend our favourite tracks with our parents’ classics. We wanted our reception to feel like a night out with our family & friends—a proper party until 4 a.m. the morning —and DJ Rugrat delivered exactly that, so much so the last 2 buses back to the hotel at 4 a.m. were packed. It felt fitting to have someone who understood our sound so well, keeping the energy high and the dancefloor packed through all the events.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

No Indian wedding feels complete without incredible food, and we knew this had to be one of the standout parts of our celebration. Our parents played a huge role in helping us shape this aspect of the planning, with numerous trips back and forth to Seville to get everything spot on. Since we were getting married in Seville, it was important to us that the menu reflected both our Indian heritage and the local Spanish flavours—something that wasn’t exactly easy to find!

Even so, Anton Bort exceeded every expectation and truly deserves a special mention—we would recommend him to anyone getting married in Seville. He crafted a menu that blended both cultures beautifully, offering everything from ibérico ham to tuna–squid ink crackers, from chocolate foie gras to tandoori chicken wings, and even a full Indian thali at the reception. Every dish was exceptional in both flavour and presentation, and the food quickly became one of the most talked-about parts of the wedding—especially the incredible variety of canapés that our guests are still raving about.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Absolutely-here are the top 3 things we’d tell any couple:

1. If you have even the slightest inclination toward a destination wedding—do it. There is nothing quite like having all of your favourite people on holiday together in one place. The atmosphere, the togetherness, the shared memories—it’s a truly special feeling that you can’t recreate elsewhere.

2. Don’t take everything on yourselves. Delegate. Lean on your family and friends and make use of their skills, creativity, and willingness to help. People genuinely love feeling involved, and looking back, we wish we had embraced this even earlier. It not only lightens the load but makes the journey more meaningful for everyone.

3. Choose vendors who align with your personality and vision. It might seem obvious, but your vendors are such a big part of your wedding experience—so take your time and choose people who truly understand you, your relationship, and your vision. When they connect with you, they become just as invested in the day as you are. We were so lucky to work with vendors who felt more like friends—and with some, we’ve even continued our friendships beyond the wedding.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

We were incredibly lucky with our vendors, and on top of the ones mentioned previously a few of them truly went above and beyond.

My hair and makeup artist, Meera Shah, was incredible from start to finish. She effortlessly got me ready within an hour each day, flawlessly working around our packed three-day schedule and making the whole experience feel completely stress-free.

Wedding Art matched Volvereta’s understated style perfectly — never overwhelming us with requests and fitting seamlessly into our schedule. They were accommodating with photoshoots and delivered an engaging wedding trailer that beautifully captured our best moments.

Dyana Dessar and her team’s connections with venues and suppliers, built over years of experience, made it easy for us to meet vendors and handle bookings effortlessly, especially since we had no prior connection to Spain. On the days of our events, everything ran perfectly—neither we nor our families had to lift a finger or worry about a thing, allowing us to fully enjoy the celebrations and make lasting memories with our guests in Seville.

Through Dyana Dessar, we were introduced to Roberto and Berta from Unique Flowers by Roberto Silvosa, who handled all the flowers and décor for our events. With just a few phone calls and screenshots, they completely understood my vision for the reception and created a candlelit, greenery-filled sit-down dinner that felt magical and intimate, just how we both wanted.

And lastly, a special shoutout to Toby and Conor—Toby, one of Nikhil’s friends from the UK, teamed up with Conor, a talented guitarist. They set the perfect tone with a live set during the sunset cocktail canapés and then delivered a stunning performance of our favourite song for our first dance.

Photographer: Volvoreta @volvoreta | Second Shooter: Graciela Vilagudín @gracielavilagudin| Planning: 

Dyana Dessar Luxury Wedding & Celebrations @ddweddings_celebrations | Flora & Décor: Unique Flowers By Roberto Silvosa @uniquebyrobertosilvosa | Videographer: Wedding Art  @weddingsart | Ceremony Location: Hacienda Los Molinillos @hmolinillos | Mehndi Night Location: Villa Luisa

@villaluisaeventos | Haldi Location: Melia Seville | HMUA: Meera Shah @meeramua | DJ: DJ Rugrat

 @djrugratofficial from Musical Movements @musicalmovements | Catering & Beverages: Antonio Bort

Catering @cateringantoniobort | Live Singers: Toby @t.vocalz & Conor @conor.thomas | Bride Mehndi Artist: Mehndi by Disha @mehndibydisha | Guest Mendhi Artist: Henna Sevilla @hennasevilla_ | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Dimond London @dimondlondon | Bride's Mehndi Outfit: Frontier Raas

@frontierraas | Bride Wedding Outfit: Marwar Couture @marwarcouture | Bride's Reception Outfit:  Mongas UK @mongasuk | Bride Jewellery: Red Dot Jewels @reddotjewels | Groom's Mehndi Outfit:

Shyamal & Bhumika @shyamalbhumika | Groom's Wedding Outfit: Shantanu & Nikhil @shantanunikhil | Groom's Reception Outfit: Hawes & Curtis @hawesandcurtisglobal