Jaipur Perfect
Jolene & Pat
A shared love for travel, a fascination with India, and dreams of an intimate wedding lead Jolene and Pat to their perfect Jaipur elopment, held in the city's stunning Villa Palladio. Read on as Jolene shares the story behind her ceremony, complete with a bespoke gown and four pairs of Camellia heels.
Photography by Emma Quinn
"I fell in love with the rhinestone-studded Camellia heels the moment I saw them. I felt like they were classic but with a fun twist that didn’t clash or compete with my heavily embellished dress. The block heel made them so insanely comfortable to wear all day, I actually packed them in four colorways for this trip — I swapped my pearl pair for Camellia in Champagne after the ceremony. I’m a little obsessed with them as they look perfect with EVERY dress. They added a perfect feminine touch to all my wedding week looks!"
"The two of us didn’t have a location in mind when we initially started thinking through our wedding, but travel is a big part of our life, so we knew we would get married abroad. We spent a year looking at rental houses in some of our favorite countries, but ultimately concluded that to pull of an intimate the way we wanted it, we would need to give up some of our travel wish list for the upcoming year. That’s when we started chatting through the possibility of eloping and to both of our surprise, we were on board."
"India has been at the top of my bucket list for SUCH a long time, so I pitched the idea to my fiancé who humored me and agreed to let me have my crazy destination elopement. Neither of us had ever been to India nor did we have any connection to the country, but I had a deep fascination with its culture, architecture, and we share a love for Indian food. The unknown made it feel like more of an adventure and once-in-a-lifetime experience which is exactly how we wanted the day to feel. I have followed the owner and interior designer of Villa Palladio on social media for a handful of years as they have worked together on other stunning projects. When Villa Palladio opened in August of 2022, I immediately jotted it down in my notes of places to visit someday — little did I know that we would elope there a year and a half later. Villa Palladio is a 9-room boutique hotel located 30 minutes outside of Jaipur. There is truly no place in the world like it with its candy-striped corridors and Mughal inspired hand painted walls. The garden, filled with palm trees and canopied day beds, leads to a chevron striped pool house where we spent the day relaxing post wedding."
"I’d never had a hard vision on what I wanted my wedding dress to look like. My personal style is all over the place, so I went into my dress appointments with an open mind. After four sessions, when I still hadn’t found the one, I started looking into having a bespoke dress made. From a young age I have loved art and drawing, specifically when it came to fashion. I kept a notebook with me where I’d sketch pieces of clothing that came to mind, including their colors and the fabric. I felt like dreaming up my own sketch for a dress would be a fun way to fulfill this childhood dream of designing clothing, so I started sketching!
"We truly got to make the day about us, soak up every moment, and enjoy each other’s company."
"I love sprinkling sentiment and meaning into anything I can, so I really wanted to incorporate nods to our wedding location in the dress. Scalloped archways are signature to Indian architecture, so I went with a scalloped design throughout the skirt and hem of the dress. My wedding band is a scalloped edge gold band with an engraving, so I loved having the dress tied to that as well.
"After reaching out to several seamstresses I landed on someone in South Africa whose work I really loved and who was able to make the dress within my budget. My fiancé and I had a trip planned here for November 2023 so it felt like a sign. I still can’t believe she pulled it off. I am SO happy that I took the chance on a bespoke gown."
"My favorite part of our day has to be our vow exchange. In the months leading up to our wedding, I made hand-embroidered books from Italian marbled paper (we took our engagement photos in Sicily so this was another nod to our relationship) where we would write our vows. I designed a crest with our wedding venue’s name and embroidered it onto paper along with our names, which I then turned into the covers. I loved writing our own vows as it made our ceremony feel so much more intimate and special. Now we have these keepsakes that we can hold onto forever, which I love."
"We are both so happy with our decision to elope. Going this route relieved us of so much of the pressure over having a ‘perfect’ day. We truly got to make the day about us, soak up every moment, and enjoy each other’s company. The fact that we didn’t have any guests made it easier to laugh off the unexpected hiccups that came that day — boy were there several! My biggest advice to anyone planning a wedding would be to think about what’s meaningful to you and your significant other. It’s very difficult to make ALL of it perfect without driving yourself crazy and creating lots of stress. Choose 4-5 things that are non-negotiables, things that you really want to pour your heart into and focus on those. I would rather look back and say I nailed the important things and didn’t waste time and energy on the details that didn’t truly matter. Along the same lines — this is your day, and it should be exactly what you want it to be. Do what feels right to both of you and don’t do anything for the sake of pleasing others."
