An East-Meets-West Wedding at the Ford Family Home in Seal Harbor, Maine

The wedding weekend began on Friday with the couple’s Hindu ceremony. A small platform overlooking the ocean was set up in the backyard, and it was decorated with flowers from Afterglow Florals that had an organic, modern feel. Guests were seated on the lawn facing the Atlantic Ocean as well as on the upper deck of the home. “Robby and I walked down the aisle together, which eased both of our nerves and allowed for a private moment alone together before walking out,” Anisha remembers. “We sat on the platform with our parents on either side, and it was so nice to feel their presence and support.”

To prepare for this ceremony, Anisha and Robby traveled with her parents to Mumbai to purchase looks for the entire family. “The trip was special as it was Robby’s first time in India, so we made sure to fit in a bit of sightseeing amidst the wedding shopping festivities,” Anisha remembers. “I knew I wanted a traditional red lehenga. I love the drama of a red lehenga and felt it was a nice contrast to my more traditional white dress for our Saturday ceremony.”

The bride and her mother were instantly drawn to Anita Dongre’s designs, a prominent Indian designer who draws a lot of inspiration from Jaipur, the city where Anisha’s mother is from. They ended up purchasing all of the outfits for the women in the family from Dongre. “Traditionally, Southeast Asian brides go for a very bold and dramatic beauty look that is in line with the gorgeous clothing and jewelry,” Anisha explains. “However, I don’t feel the most comfortable in a bold makeup look, so Caitlyn of Caitlyn Meyer Pro created a glamorous yet natural look where I still felt like myself.”

During the ceremony, the bride and groom wore two pieces of cloth draped over their shoulders, tied together by their sisters as a symbol of unity between their families. “A significant part of the ceremony was the pheras, a Hindu ritual where we walked around a fire seven times,” Anisha says. “Each lap represented our journey together and the vows we made to one another.” For Robby, the Hindu ceremony served as an important symbol of the union of their two families. “I knew I wanted to marry Anisha when I saw how effortlessly she connected with my family,” he says. “We were deeply touched by the emotional and literal support of our parents, who sat on either side of us.”

The ceremony ended with the couple feeding each other Indian sweets, and guests threw flower petals as they exited the lawn. From there, guests boarded private boats from Mount Desert Island and were shuttled to Islesford Dock Restaurant for the welcome dinner. During cocktail hour, everyone enjoyed passed hors d’oeuvres, a raw bar, and watching the sunset over the mountains. The bride and her guests of honor took a moment away to practice their sangeet dance one last time, and everyone enjoyed a family-style dinner.

After dinner, dances were performed—and the boys went first. “They were incredible,” Anisha says. “Robby and his friends put in a lot of practice in the morning on Friday and put on quite a show for some very confused tourists in the middle of Bar Harbor.” The girls’ performance was equally impressive, however. “We couldn’t be more grateful to all of our friends who stepped out of their comfort zones to learn the dances and perform them,” Anisha says. “It really made the evening so much fun and tied together the theme of an East Meets West wedding.” Afterwards, guests took boats back to Mount Desert Island.

The next day, the weather went from bright and sunny on Friday to a much more dramatic coastal Maine day with overcast skies, a turbulent ocean, and the sounds of large waves crashing over the rocks that surround the house. The ceremony on Saturday was in the same place as the one on Friday, but felt completely different. The platform had been removed, and in its place, there was a beautiful arch of grounded flowers designed by Honeysuckle Way surrounding the ceremony space.

For her own look, the bride turned to Phillipa Lepley. “I would frequently pass the Phillipa Lepley shop and conservatory on my way to the tube station from our house in London and always admired the beautiful dresses in the window,” Anisha remembers. “The Phillipa Lepley team created such a beautiful dress for me for our Saturday ceremony. It was incredible to see the dress come together from the very first fitting.” The bride’s veil, also from Phillipa Lepley, featured a pattern of starbursts to represent the hours the couple spent stargazing on their front lawn in Maine during COVID—the same place where their reception tent was ultimately placed.

Anisha walked down the aisle with her father to an acoustic rendition of “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens performed by the Jason Anick Trio. “Robby and I wrote our own vows,” Anisha says. “As we shared them, the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds which made the day that much more beautiful.”

After the ceremony, the newlyweds took a moment alone before moving into the reception tent for cocktail hour. “When we walked in, we were stunned by the incredible floral cloud installation by our fantastic florist, Andrea from Honeysuckle Way,” Anisha says. “The sky had cleared, and we could admire the beautiful pink clouds at sunset with our guests before dinner.”

The dinner side of the tent was just as curated as the cocktail tent. Rachel designed the shelves where the guests’ escort cards were displayed with personal touches: an aerial photo of the house from the ’80s, a model of the Typhoon—the boat owned by Anisha’s great-grandfather Edsel that he used to commute from the Ford factory to his home—and photos of the couple in their house in London with their dog Naga, whom they got together only six months into dating.

After dinner, fireworks lit up the entire harbor, and a brass parade led by Hudson Horns led guests onto the dancefloor where Sounds Buono provided additional music for the evening. Finally, the bride and groom had their first dance to “Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightingale. “It was the perfect song to showcase Robby’s signature dance moves—lots of continuous spins and dips,” Anisha says. “The last song of the night was ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis—a favorite of ours—and all of our guests linked arms to create one large circle and belted their hearts out!”