Kiran Dosanjh had always imagined herself as a pastel bride. Yet after trying on one pale lehenga after another, none made her feel ready for the Anand Karaj. She ultimately chose a Rimple & Harpreet ensemble in yellow, red and deep berry crimson, paired with layered jewellery and a traditional Punjabi plait. When she stepped out of the fitting room, her parents and siblings looked at one another and nodded–this was the one.
Beside her, Rav Kahlar wore a choga that referenced his family’s history in Kapurthala, where his relatives had served as equerries to the Maharaja of Kapurthala. During the Anand Karaj in Dubai, a member of the sangat who did not know the couple was overheard remarking that they looked like a Maharaja and Maharani from Punjab.
“Our everyday style is pastel and subtle, so no one expected these outfits from us,” Dosanjh says. “But if there’s one day to dress as Punjabi royalty, it’s your Anand Karaj.”
Dosanjh and Kahlar met when they were 20, after mutual friends had spent nearly a year insisting they would make a great pair. Their first dinner date turned into dessert, then coffee as the sun came up. Thirteen hours had passed by the time they said goodbye.
When Kahlar proposed during a holiday in the Maldives, a trail of rose petals led Dosanjh through their villa to a projector screening an animated film based on their relationship. He read her a handwritten letter before getting down on one knee with the yellow diamond she had always wanted. “My name means ray of sunshine and his means the sun, so a yellow diamond felt like ours in a way no other stone could,” she says.
Their civil ceremony took place on their 10th anniversary, but the couple always regarded the Anand Karaj as the wedding. It followed a year later in Dubai, one of the first destinations they had visited together and a city they continued returning to with their families.
Before the ceremonies began, Dosanjh hosted a Pilates and meditation morning while Kahlar organised a football match between the two families. Her session drew on her work as a pharmacist specialising in dermatology and women’s health, with skincare products and high-protein snacks included in the wellness bags. Elsewhere, guests received practical provisions for the week, including electrolytes for the Dubai heat, mints, hairpins and handheld fans. Personalised key cards listed every event, time and location.
The next morning, the Palace Courtyard filled with blush-pink florals for the Maiyan. “My Haldi was calm and gentle, with the paste delicately applied, while Rav’s family and friends quickly descended into mischief, covering him in haldi from head to toe,” says Dosanjh. Musical chairs, a scavenger hunt and a Punjabi translation game followed, giving the two families an excuse to playfully compete before the evening celebrations.
That evening opened with live Qawwali in the amphitheatre. After dinner, both maternal families entered for the Jaggo carrying the traditional pots and sticks. Any inkling of formality fell away once guests left their seats and joined the celebrations.