A Vibrant Indian Wedding in the Mountains of Beaver Creek, Colorado

For their wedding, Megha Agrawal and Rohan Sood wanted to marry the beauty of the Colorado mountains with Indian traditions. The pair, who live in Boulder, adore the outdoor lifestyle, and made a point to showcase that with their 215 friends and family during their wedding weekend. “We moved here not just for our jobs, but also to be closer to nature,” says Megha, who works in film production. “It was our dream to gather our family and friends in the mountains—and our wedding was a perfect excuse to make it come true.” 

Using tumbleweeds, pampas grass, and marigolds, the florals help bridge the gap between the American West and India. The couple also put plenty of spins on the traditional Hindu wedding, starting with the number of events. Everything took place over a weekend, rather than seven to 10 days. Despite hundreds of guests, their wedding was considered “intimate," which allowed the couple to focus more on the guest experience and even host a family-only Haldi ceremony. What resulted was a seamless experience that felt more like a vacation than a wedding. “Being able to see our guests’ expressions and hear their reactions to the different rituals really made it feel like they were all a part of the ceremony with us,” Megha says of the celebration. “I think the priest was also enjoying the mountain air and outside vibes, [because] he started to make jokes throughout the ceremony!” 

Read on for all the details of Megha and Rohan’s vibrant wedding, as planned by Kara Delay of Love This Day Events and photographed by James x Schulze. 

As a small nod to their commitment to a sustainable lifestyle, the couple skipped traditional invitations in favor of a custom website with all the wedding details. They also gifted guests reusable water bottles with tags noting the weekend’s activities. “It was so fun to see photos of our guests going on outdoor adventures and using our water bottles,” Megha says.

Rohan donned a traditional sherwani jacket by Karan and Moin.

Megha traveled to Delhi, India, to shop for outfits, but luckily found her yellow and red Anju Modi lehenga in the first 36 hours. But that wasn’t all: She also scored her Raw Mango sangeet outfit and her blue Anita Dongre reception look during the same day and a half!

Megha accented her bridal look with pieces from her mother’s jewelry collection. “It was really special to wear the jewelry that I’ve seen her wear all my life,” she says. Megha also had elaborate mehendi designs done on her arms and legs. The process took close to eight hours, so her family stuck by her even though many guests had departed. “It ended up being a really fun and intimate night, sharing old stories and truly feeling like a family before all the formal festivities began,” she adds.

The couple chose to have a first look before the festivities began on their wedding day. “We both didn’t feel the need to adhere to the traditions or to wait for more of a ‘grand reveal’ entrance,” the bride adds.

Megha and Rohan actually met at a charity picnic when they were teenagers in Sugarland, Texas. Rohan claims he asked Megha for her AIM screen name, though, Megha has no recollection. They do, however, have proof of their meet-cute: Rohan’s father has a photograph of the pair.

The couple reconnected a decade later when they ran into each other in the church for a mutual friend’s wedding. “We’ve been together ever since,” Megha says.

Rohan’s family danced and sang as he made his entrance in a traditional baraat on an untraditional vessel: a pedicab.

Megha and Rohan did put their own spin on the baraat. Knowing Megha’s family wouldn’t be able to sit still watching Rohan’s side party in the street, they invited everyone to the procession. Then, Megha decided to crash the baraat with her female cousins in a huge surprise to the guests. “We thought it would be so much more fun to dance together before we went down the aisle,” Megha says, admitting she and Rohan discussed the plan ahead of time. 

The entrance to the ceremony space included a floral-covered arch featuring pampas grass and colorful quicksand roses, playa blanca roses, and marigolds. They also included three dancing Ganesh figurine bells, which Rohan rang before he entered the ceremony site.   

Megha and Rohan’s mandap was framed by massive pampas grass arrangements and the Beaver Creek ski slope in the distance. Despite the wedding day being 70 degrees outside, it had snowed just days before so pockets of white powder dotted the hillside. 

Rohan made his entrance to the “Lord of the Rings” theme song, alongside his parents.  

Megha’s brothers and male cousins escorted her down the aisle to a Bollywood song, “O Re Piya,” by Salim-Sulaiman.

“We wanted to celebrate the natural angles and shapes of the floral pieces we were using,” Megha says of the decor. They also placed the seats in a semi-circle to create more intimacy for their 215 guests.

The couple commenced the ceremony by exchanging floral garlands, traditional for Hindu weddings.  

Megha and Rohan circled the sacred fire seven times, with each rotation signifying a different vow to one another.  

“We wanted all of our guests to feel as if they were a part of the ceremony and that we could feel their presence and love too,” Megha says of placing bells on each guest’s seat. They could ring the bells during the designated time noted in the program. “Though we were sitting at the mandap, it was amazing to hear the ringing of bells.”

Father John Misty’s “Real Love” played as the newlyweds recessed down the aisle.

Knowing that Hindu wedding ceremonies can go long—sometimes hours!—the couple cleverly included a custom crossword puzzle in the program for their guests. “It ended up being a fun way for guests to meet one another as they tried to figure out various clues,” the bride says. 

Since sustainability is an important part of her life, Megha knew that her wedding outfit designer should think about sustainability too. That’s why she donned a blue look from Anita Dongre. Instead of pairing the embroidered jacket with a skirt, Megha decided to wear tailored pants. “It felt very aligned with my personal style,” Megha says. “Not only is [Anita Dongre] an incredible female designer, she has truly integrated sustainability into her business and incorporated a lot of nature-inspired elements into her embroidery.”   

Megha and Rohan took their first spin on the dance floor to Leon Bridges’ “Coming Home.” 

“Our family members created their Bollywood-inspired skit of our love story that included a few raps, dances, and a flash mob with all of our friends,” Megha says of the entertainment at the reception. 

“Unexpected things are always going to happen,” Megha says, adding that she placed a lot of trust in her wedding pros. “As long as you have a great team, everything will get figured out. It will end up being magical.”