Long before we even know who we’ll be marrying, the idea of how we’ll get married is often already fully storyboarded—from the destination to the diamonds. But anyone who’s ever cracked open a wedding binder (or been buried in a Pinterest board) knows it’s one thing to dream up a wedding and a whole other to curate one that actually feels like you.
For Priyanka Parkash, Jewellery Editor at The Right Side, blending her dream-like Pinterest vision with her down-to-earth reality meant curating a wedding that was personal, intimate, and just a bit over the top. She knew what she wanted down to her diamond engagement ring, but more importantly, she knew how she wanted it to feel—authentic and nostalgia-invoking.
“I wanted our wedding to feel like us. No fuss, no drama, not one extra person, just us amid people who are part of our story,” she recalls. What began as a million ideas eventually distilled into a beautifully curated, deeply personal experience—uniquely hers, with heart, elegance, and just the right amount of glam.
From a decade of friendship to finding forever love
It wasn’t love at first sight for Parkash and her now-husband, Ashish Sachdeva. More like an annual tradition—meeting through mutual friends every year when he flew in from Dubai to Mumbai. But, there was always a constant familiarity, a thrill at the thought of seeing each other. “There was always a soft spot, even if I couldn’t quite name it back then,” Parkash recalls. It wasn’t until a friend’s wedding in Goa that they spent nearly every moment together, solidifying a spark that had always been there under the surface—a shared realisation that finally, after over a decade of friendship, it was meant to be something more. When asked about her favourite memory, she doesn’t hesitate. “Watching Ashish interact with his nieces,” she smiles. “That’s when I knew he was the one. It was like a glimpse into the future.”
The dream diamond that almost wasn’t
Parkash has always adored the theatrics of weddings, but curiously enough, hadn’t really thought much about her own proposal. “I’d left it up to him,” she muses, reflecting on her choice not to drop any hints. “I thought it would be something special, but I didn’t have anything specific in mind.”
What came, though, was a proposal for the books in the Maldives—complete with a little comedic twist, for the first attempt at proposing went humorously awry. “I don’t know how to cycle, and he tried teaching me. I got so annoyed that I stormed off,” she laughs. Unfazed, Sachdeva recreated the proposal the next day. But when they reached the beach, Parkash—still blissfully unaware—saw coconuts arranged in 6ft-tall letters spelling ‘Will you marry me?’ But she didn’t notice the words; she just quipped, “Oh look, the hotel lied about having no coconuts!” Because the first day when she’d asked for coconut water, the hotel staff had said they didn’t have any coconuts. It wasn’t until she stepped back and finally read what the coconuts spelled out that the surprise hit her. It was the quintessential proposal—unexpected, perfectly them, complete with humour baked in.
And then, the pièce de résistance: the ring. The thing was, this jewellery editor, a self-professed “classic solitaire girl”, had actually purchased one herself just months before the proposal. “When I told Ashish, he seemed oddly disappointed,” she recalls. “How would have I known that he’d already commissioned a ring almost exactly like it, only with a more brilliant stone?” The result? A gorgeous 3-carat, round brilliant cut natural diamond ring with a halo setting that felt like it was meant to be hers all along—just a tad more perfect than she could’ve chosen for herself. It would go on to be her most treasured piece. “I still wear it every day, even when I had pregnancy-induced swollen fingers and all,” Parkash shares. Her original solitaire, now a fun footnote in their engagement story, lives tucked away, while her real engagement ring remains a permanent part of her—one that she hopes to pass on to her child.
A special moment steeped in simplicity and sentiment, it set the tone for what would become a journey of intentionality. “Our proposal was all about connection, so I knew the wedding had to be the same,” she notes. “It had to be real.”
Making of the big day
“From the beginning, I wanted this sense of magic—something timeless,” shares Parkash. “I love, love, love putting looks together and I love Indian clothes. I knew I wanted my wedding wardrobe to be dynamic, no-holds-barred on colours and couture.” As for the décor? “Fairy lights. My first call right after I started planning the wedding was to my mother to let her know that she was in charge of the aesthetics and the only request I had was for the events to have fairy lights. They were on every mood board, even the invitation!” she shares.
While the curation of her ensemble for the pheras—from the lehenga to the jewellery and even the size of the bindi—was tasked to Sabyasachi, it was Falguni and Shane Peacock she called for her reception look. “I’d seen a gorgeous rose-gold lehenga that they’d designed and thought, ‘If I got married, I’d wear that,’” she recalls. However, when she visited the designers, an ivory version of the lehenga captured her heart. From that moment, her vision shifted to a pristine palette of white, silver, and diamonds. “I just envisioned this all-white, very contemporary, chic look in my head.”
From mood board to aisle
Countless decisions later, the mood board came to life. Reflecting on her reception day, she talks about how her vision was translated—not just in the décor, but in the feeling of the day itself. “It was everything I wanted and more. I wanted it to feel natural, to let the details speak for themselves. Every corner had the warmth of a thousand little lights, and every element was laced with meaning.”
And her jewellery? It played its part beautifully. The diamond choker was the hero piece—a choice that felt both rooted in tradition and entirely personal. “I wore colour for most of the events, from rich reds and deep oranges to intricate golds,” she recalls. But for her first look as a newlywed, she wanted something different—a serene vision of ivory in custom Falguni Shane Peacock, paired exclusively with natural diamonds. “Other brides layer rubies or emeralds with their ivory looks, but I just wanted the realness and rarity of natural diamonds coming through. It’s that sparkle that’s both pure and forever.”
“Diamonds have this quiet beauty,” she further shares, “and on my first outing as a wife, that’s exactly how I felt—like myself, but just a little more brilliant. She didn’t just want sparkle; she wanted sentiment, jewellery that would echo her story every time she wore it. “I chose pieces that I could see myself wearing well beyond the wedding, jewellery that will forever hold meaning.” Her diamond choker, selected from Goenka Jewels, was a fitting choice. “I know that when I look at those photos after 50 years, I will still say this was a great look.”
In the end, the wedding was about neither perfection nor extravagance. It was a day imbued with love and personal touches, a blend of inspiration and reality where each detail fit seamlessly into her story. Every choice, every look, every spur-of-the-moment charm felt like her own—a piece of a dream that will remain timeless, sparkling a little brighter with every memory.
