Real Wedding: Galaxy & Husmik

Elegant and emotional Indian wedding

Galaxy and Husmik's wedding was a breathtaking display of elegance and emotions, showcasing the rich cultural traditions of an Indian marriage. The ceremony took place in a magnificent outdoor venue, with elaborate floral arrangements and ornate decorations adorning every corner. As the ceremony culminated, a sense of profound joy and unity filled the air, underscoring the extraordinary love that Galaxy and Husmik shared. Immerse yourself in Indian wedding traditions and see incredible photos taken by our memeber Parkers Pictures.

Tell us a little about yourselves. How did you meet? What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies?

Husmik and I met in 2016 in college. I recall my counselor telling me I had to take CIS 102 as an elective this semester because it was mandatory for everyone. I was really upset because I thought it was going to be a complete waste of time since my major was Biology. I'd always sit upfront in all of my classes, but I remember walking in on my first day and going straight to the back because I was mad about having to take this class. Husmik was late that day and he ended up sitting in the back right next to me. The professor made us do group work and told us we had to work with the people sitting next to us. When we were finished with the group work, Husmik started writing everyone's names and he asked me what my last name was and I said Gill, and he's like that's my last name! We ended up becoming friends and then we took all of our other electives together. And now we're married :)

Where was your wedding? Why did you choose this venue?

Our ceremony was on a horse farm called Harford Hill. Harford Hill is a Georgian estate that is located on approximately 250 acres in Harford County's countryside. This venue couldn't have been more perfect for our wedding day. Ultimately, we chose this venue because it checked all the boxes. This venue was simply breathtaking with the views and everyone was just so accommodating. Husmik and I started looking for venues in 2021 and it feels like we have looked at every venue in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. None of the venues that we looked at fit the criteria. There were some absolutely beautiful venues that we looked at, but we wanted somewhere that was flexible with our needs because our ceremony had to take place in the early morning hours and we really wanted to bring our own caterer. We definitely were feeling a little hopeless after looking at so many venues and not finding anything. But one day I remember just typing in google "venues near me" and Harford Hill came up. They had just opened and luckily enough it was only 20-30 minutes away from where Husmik and I live. We toured the venue and absolutely fell in love with it. It was honestly just meant to be.

What was the concept behind your wedding and how did you find your inspiration?

When I was explaining the overall vibe of our wedding to our vendors I kept using the phrase "european wedding." To me that means timeless, airy, organic, historical architecture, and just absorbing nature. Our venue in itself embodied all of those characteristics. In terms of the decor, I absolutely love fresh florals, the smell of fresh florals and the look of fresh florals just elevates any event. We wanted to keep everything else pretty minimal and just let the beauty of the venue have its moment. I definitely used Pinterest for inspiration and created moodboards for each of our events.

Can you elaborate more on the national and religious traditions at your wedding and how you implemented them?

Generally punjabi weddings are approximately a week long. We had 6 events all together. Day one, My mehndi day, this is basically just a day where all my friends and family get together and we have a henna artist come in and put henna on everyone's hands. Day two, Husmik's jaggo, Jaggo means “wake-up." In the olden days, people didn't send invitations to invite people to their wedding. Instead, relatives of the bride or groom would go around the village on the night before the wedding day with pots on their head that were decorated with oil candles and they would sing and dance and that would be an open invitation for guests to attend the wedding. The candles were used for light because they didn't really have electricity back then and they’d sing the traditional folk song “jaago”, so they would essentially encourage people to wake-up and join in on the wedding festivities. Day three — My Jaggo. Traditionally, the bride and groom both have a separate Jaggo and they dont attend each other's jaggo, but Husmik and I did attend each other's jaggo. Day four, mine and Husmik's Maiyan, the bride and groom each have a seperate maiyan ceremony and we did decide to keep this ceremony traditional and did not attend each other's maiyan. A maiyan ceremony is usually the night before the wedding. This involves the bride and groom's friends and family getting together and rubbing a haldi (turmeric) paste on the bride and groom. Essentially back in the day this was done to help clean the bride and groom's skin and just give it a glow. Day five, Anand Karaj, Sikh wedding ceremony. Day six — our reception.

How long did it take to plan your wedding? Did you encounter any challenges during the planning process?

I'd say the planning process was definitely all over the place for me, it definitely took about over a year to plan. The first thing I knew I wanted to book was photography because at the end of the day, all we have left to look back at are the photos. I had booked our initial photographer in July 2022 - over a year prior to our wedding date; however, due to personal reasons she could no longer make it and we found Parker 3 months prior to our wedding. Parker quite literally saved our wedding. Wedding planning wasn't as challenging because we had worked with almost all of our vendors for our engagement party and they were all so wonderful. I'm extremely type A and actually enjoyed the wedding planning process because I'm a firm believer of "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

How many guests did you have? And what was the seating arrangement at the wedding like?

We had about 300 guests and that may seem like a lot but that's actually pretty intimate for a Sikh Wedding. We had 2 rows of rectangle tables straight across set up in the backyard of the estate. We wanted the tablescape to be really minimal and delicate, so we had bud vases across the tables and the tables overlooked the rolling hills and horses.

Tell us about your outfits. How many different styles have you tried?

My Anand Karaj lehenga was designed by Sabyasachi. The whole process was done online and I couldn't be happier with the way the final product turned out, it genuinely fit like a glove. I have always been in complete awe when it comes to Sabyasachi's designs. His designs are all truly so iconic and I knew one day when I got married my lehenga would be designed by Sabyasachi. I thought it would be hard for me to pick the perfect lehenga, but honestly, I immediately knew it was the one when I saw it. I absolutely love white, ivory, beige and more neutral earthy tones. I've always known that I infact want to incorporate those colors in my lehenga for my wedding day. In March 2021, I saw a post on the Sabyasachi instagram page and it featured my lehenga. I fell in love with it and knew that when I get married, this is it. I contacted my sales person at Sabyasachi and inquired about it. I knew I wasn't getting married anytime soon, but I also knew this outfit would no longer be in production when it was time. So, I took a chance and purchased it then and there. It wasn't until 2023 that I connected back with the Sabyasachi team to start the process of my wedding lehenga.

Husmik's sherwani was from The New Delhi Company. Within 5 minutes of walking into the showroom, we both fell in love with his sherwani. It was on display in the front and we were in absolute awe. It definitely matched my lehenga perfectly and it just seemed like it was made specifically for Husmik. Both Navi and Zeel at The New Delhi Company were the kindest to work with, they made this experience so memorable.

For Husmik's Jaggo, he decided he wanted to wear navy blue and to complement that, I wore a lighter powder blue. My outfit was designed by Karan Torani, who owns the bridal clothing brand Torani. I have worked with Torani in the past for my engagement lehenga and the experience was nothing but positive. I knew I wanted to work with Torani again for my wedding. Torani will fully customize an outfit and is super flexible with changing any elements of an existing outfit. I wanted to add more hand embroidery to my outfit but keep the overall essence of his original design and it was done without any questions. What drew me to the lehenga initially was the block print and that each panel on the skirt had a different print but it was all cohesive.

For my Jaggo I wore a Marwar Couture lehenga. Marwar Couture is known for their Rajasthani aesthetic and typically brides opt for this designer for their wedding day. I didn't intend on wearing this designer for my Jaggo, but when I saw the design, I completely fell in love with it. The craftsmanship of the lehenga was impeccable. The lehenga was so incredibly intricate and each detail was well designed.

My reception outfit was designed by Payal Keyal. I definitely was going back and forth with my reception outfit. The trend recently for brides on their reception day that I've been seeing is to wear a monochromatic sequined gold outfit. I definitely wanted to do something different but didn't know what. At one point, I wanted to wear a red Sabyasachi saree since I did not wear red on my wedding day. But I let everyone influence my decision, as they said it would be difficult to dance in. I ended up wearing a burnt orange Payal Keyal lehenga and I couldn't be happier.

I designed Husmik's reception outfit, but my mom sourced all of the textiles and was present in India for the production process. Husmik didn't want to wear a basic tuxedo like every other groom for their reception. So I proposed the idea of wearing a sherwani. I had already purchased my reception lehenga at this point, so I sat down and brainstormed ideas for his outfit. I wanted our outfits to be cohesive so I took a swatch of my lehenga and used that as reference for Husmik's shawl color — it matched perfectly in the end. I absolutely love zardosi embroidery and I knew I wanted zardosi elements on his shawl. Everything came together slowly but surely.

What was your first dance song? Did you choreograph or improvise?

Our first dance song was 'Mi Amor' by Sharn, 40K, and The Paul. This song is definitely not a classic whatsoever, but everyone that knows us basically says this is our song. This was my entrance song for our engagement party and I literally chose it moments before the actual event because it was stuck in my head. After our engagement party whenever this song came on, not only did it remind us of the sweet moments of that day, but it just became our song. We definitely didn't choreograph anything, just swayed and took in the moment.

Did you have any special performances or entertainment?

Jagemeet Saini performed at both my jaggo and Husmik's jaggo. He was absolutely incredible. The way that he engages the guests is truly special.

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

My most memorable moment was during the ceremony, the backdrop was so scenic and I remember just being in the moment and watching the birds fly across the lake in the back and they were coming down and running across the water in the lake, it was truly so beautiful.
I asked Husmik what his most memorable moment was, and he said "when you walked down the aisle and sat next to me and I saw you for the first time" — we didn't do a first look :)

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

Our photographer Parker is not only the most talented photographer, but she is the kindest. She made us feel so at ease and genuinely captured all of our events so authentically. When we saw the previews that she sent us, we were truly in tears because each moment was captured so thoughtfully. I truly believe Parker was godsent and she was meant to capture our wedding. No one else could have captured it with such grace. Our videographer Kathleen was also such a dream to work with. We had worked with Kathleen in the past for our engagement party and were beyond excited to work with her again for our wedding. Kathleen is also so incredibly talented and kind. She is a genius at capturing the candid in between moments along with the more editorial moments and she perfectly balances the two and creates magic with her films. Words cannot explain how special both Parker and Kathleen are.

What advice would you give to couples who are currently planning their wedding?

Enjoy the process. Things will happen the way that they are meant to be. Just remember this day is about you guys, so do what feels right for you. I think in terms of hair, makeup, and outfits, a lot of South Asian brides feel like they have to do "more" because that's the norm, there is nothing wrong with that, but it's also okay to just be you and want to look like yourself. Less is more.