Against all the advice I’d been given to not make life more difficult, I set about painting and printing fan-programmes detailing the Hindu ceremony, Anjli Mohindra recalls, her voice filled with pride and amusement. It’s the kind of claim to encapsulate in entirety the spirit of her wedding to co-actor Sacha Dhawan a celebration as intimate as it was dazzling.
The couple’s journey to the altar began over a decade ago at a meet-up to talk about a script. Instead, it was an unscripted spark. “Sacha was late,” she reminisces. He apologised profusely as I rolled my eyes, and then proceeded to talk about the film for mere minutes before offering me a beer. Her mother’s “run” advice went unheard, and the pair went on to build a life together that ultimately led to an engagement in Peru. The 2024 proposal at Machu Picchu followed on from Anjli already having overheard his plans over a Menorcan celebration a secret she held until the moment was right.
The venue choice was the clear Italian wedding destination, in reference to their break up in 2014. Sacha’s return to Rome for production had them begin venue hunting with planner Alice Bracciali of Unique Events. It wasn’t until days of searching that Alice’s “wild card” suggestion of Bagno Vignoni, a serene Tuscan village, provided that elusive “feeling” they had been searching for. The location offered intimacy and beauty in equal proportions, the local council consenting to a Hindu ceremony within a medieval pergola on the edge of a lake, followed by a Western ceremony at the UNESCO-protected La Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta.
Anjli’s commitment to personal touches extended to the wedding stationery, which she crafted herself despite a packed acting schedule that included West End performances and filming commitments. Using a second-hand Cricut machine and Etsy tassels, she hand-painted and printed fan-programmes for the Hindu ceremony and created place cards with hidden personalised notes. The joy on guests’ faces when they discovered the messages made the long hours worthwhile.
Fashion was also a well-thought-out element. Anjli had, with stylist Krishan Parmar, wanted to celebrate her Indian heritage, British upbringing, and Tuscan surroundings. They scoured and a small shop on Ealing Road was their destination, where a vintage pastel-colored threadwork lehenga was neatly bundled up in a plastic bag. “As soon as the shopkeeper opened the bag we knew we’d struck gold,” she says. The unstitched garment was re-fashioned by dressmaker Vasilica Daineanu into a custom dress that belonged to her entirely.
Her accessories were also of the same importance. She accessorized the lehenga with second-hand Jimmy Choos, following the growing trend of incorporating second-hand designer pieces in weddings. Not only did this bring a personal story to her look, but also with eco-friendly fashion, joining the other multicultural Tuscan brides who have incorporated vintage and family heirloom pieces into their attire.
The actual wedding was like a tapestry of scenery and culture Indian rituals woven into medieval walls, Western vows exchanged under the skies of Tuscany. Such diversity of traditions has become increasingly popular with couples who’ve been married in Italy, where properties are used to have distinct spaces for distinct ceremonies so that every cultural highlight may shine through. With Anjli and Sacha, the shift from their idyllic lakeside Hindu ceremonies to their sophisticated buildings of Western matrimony provided a cadence that was both found memorable and moving by their guests.
Their union joined the roster of other high-profile multicultural weddings in Tuscany, where brides and grooms find ways to blend personal heritage with the region’s country charm. From Amalfi-inspired Mehndi festivals to quiet Hindu weddings, these weddings show that destination weddings can be cosmopolitan-influenced yet endlessly personal. For Anjli and Sacha, each choice from the unpretentious village to the hand-painted stationery–reflected their shared values: authenticity, whimsy, and connection.
