Pallabi and Francesco’s Happily-ever-after Amidst the COVID19 Pandemic

There are many reasons why one has to change plans. Either they change their minds, have a better option, wish to procrastinate further or don’t want to go ahead with the old plan. But what happens when everything is ready at the go, having been planned for ages, with every detail falling in place but unfortunately, the plan must then change! An absolute nightmare is what comes to my mind, and the couple in question here – Pallabi & Francesco would wholeheartedly agree! 

They say change is the only constant. And more often than nought, we all nod our agreement and move on. But for Pallabi and her fiancé Francesco it meant cancelling their dream wedding all thanks to COVID-19! Yes, the Coronavirus pandemic ensured a travel ban, a celebration ban and many heartbreaks for the couple. They had planned a beautiful Indo-Italian wedding in a palace in Bikaner on the 8th of March 2020. Guests were attending from different parts of the world.

“We’ve had a 14-month engagement period. Long, right?! But it was going to be totally worth the wait because we were planning this beautiful where we had invited guests from India, Italy, Peru, USA and all over the globe. Months of planning. Months of travel plans by all of our guests because who come to India just for a weekend,” says Pallabi. Unfortunately, the virus took over the world at the same time. But they thought they had a plan and so, they flew to India a week earlier to sought things out and make the most of the situation. “Five days before our wedding it was announced that no Italian Passport holders would be allowed to enter India which meant that Francesco’s parents and his brother wouldn’t be able to come either,”. Yet, the couple decided to carry on. They waited hoping things would change, but just a day later, while Pallabi awaited the final delivery of her bridal lehenga, they received more bad news.

“We received information from our hotel that the local officials have declared that anybody who is an Italian Passport holder would not be able to check-in into any hotel. So basically, I had NO GROOM!” says Pallabi. This was the last straw, and the wedding had to be cancelled.

But all was not
lost…

To get away from all the chaos, they flew to Thailand. As they arrived at their hotel, the first thing they noticed was a wedding décor set up for a wedding on the same evening. And this was just the silver lining the couple were looking for! “As I said, we don’t know how to give up, but this time, of course, we didn’t even tell our parents we were considering something as insane as this. So, what started off as a “Sorry Sir we are fully booked for tomorrow evening” soon turned into a YES! I mean, who can say no to two faces with swollen eyes and their story of the cancelled Dream Wedding in India!”

And folks,
that’s how these two tied the knot on 8.03.2020! Yes, they began their new journey
as man and wife on the day they had planned it all for!

They spent the entire morning on a serene beach and the wedding took place in the afternoon. And no, there were not alone when they said ‘I dos’! “

Our friends Luca and Livia were already backpacking in Thailand but little did we know that they would travel 10 hours by road to reach us for our wedding. Little did we know that Luca would marry us and Livia would walk me down the aisle.

And so, just like that, we became Mr. & Mrs Alivia!”

For her beach wedding, Pallabi wore a beautiful sage green organza saree by Sabyasachi and Francesco wore a sherwani from Manyavar. It was a simple, sweet and a very special ceremony. Thanks to this pandemic, many celebrations, especially have been cancelled. In fact, it seems the entire summer wedding season is cancelled. But where there is love and hope, there is a way.

We wish Pallabi and Francesco all the very best for their life ahead!