Fashion Was the Focus at This Extravagant Four-Day Indian Wedding at the W South Beach in Miami, Florida
After cultivating a long-distance relationship, Aditya Patel was able to pull off a spectacular proposal to his girlfriend, Yamini Mada, in February 2020. They flew to Miami under the guise of celebrating a friend’s surprise birthday. “Adi hired an event planner to coordinate the most perfect proposal on a rooftop and I could not have been more surprised,” Yamini explains. “He always says he was the first person to have ever surprised me.”
With such an extravagant engagement story, the couple sought to match it with an equally lavish wedding. The four-day affair, traditional to South Indian couples, was also held in Miami. “I have always wanted a destination wedding near the water,” says the bride. The litany events allowed for tons of creativity, bold themes, fun locales and some absolutely stunning fashion choices from this very stylish couple.
First up, the haldi—a prewedding event centered around covering the bride and groom in turmeric, which signifies beauty, fertility and purity and starts married life off on the best foot.
Aditya and Yamini elected to host their haldi at a private villa. With a simply decorated outdoor space, the couple’s attire was the star of the show. The bride traveled to India with her mother months before the wedding to find the outfits and accessories for both herself and her groom. “I love fashion and planning our wedding looks was one of the most exciting parts of the wedding planning process,” she shares. “For our first event, the haldi, we wanted to be color coordinated in the traditional yellow color.”
Guests gathered at the same sprawling villa for the mehendi on the following day. The mehendi (or mehndi) is when the bride gets her hands and arms intricated painted with henna prior to the rest of the events. While this has traditionally been just for women, modern couples can elect to make the day co-ed. “For our mehendi, I wanted a very colorful outfit. I chose outfits for my husband and myself from an Indian designer I've always loved, Manish Malhotra,” Yamini reveals. As the mehendi often includes an entirely different color palette from the formal ceremony and reception, the bride and groom chose a soft theme of greens and pinks.
Later that evening, the lovebirds hosted their guests in an entirely new space for an evening of celebration. “I wanted to incorporate our destination in choosing venues for some of our events, therefore we chose a yacht for our welcome dinner,” the bride explains. “We went with a Hollywood theme for the night with everyone in black tie attire.” Yamini changed into a stunning custom, white gown dripping with beading while Aditya donned a sleek Tom Ford suit in deep blue.
Finally, the wedding day had arrived. Friends and family gathered at the W South Beach, finding their way to the alfresco ceremony space. The lawn location exuded a sweet garden aesthetic to match the bride’s love of roses. “The outdoor lawn gave a beautiful backdrop with lush palm trees surrounding us in the garden,” she tells. Each bloom complemented their champagne-and-blush-colored attire. “The flowers were a crucial part of the style for the wedding as they were based on our outfits and jewelry. I wanted our decor to be one extension of our outfits and wanted the colors to be very cohesive.” One aspect, in particular, stood out to Yamini: “My customized veil from the designer Kresha Bajaj was easily my favorite part of my whole wedding look.” The bride was carried into the ceremony in a custom palanquin all the way from India. The pair were married at a lush, colorful mandap (the altar) sporting the same light, romantic shades before heading into their final celebration.
“For the reception, I wanted to do a complete 180, I wanted something dark and sexy, therefore, I chose a red and black theme,” Yamini says. “Our floral coordinator brought my vision to life with various flowers in red and black draping around the entire ballroom.” Of course, the newlyweds matched the new scenery perfectly, selecting a sophisticated white outfit and a dapper black suit to close out the unforgettable night.