A dash of Denmark in Delhi: Inside the wedding of Malie founder Amalie Mikkelsen

Amalie Othilia Brandi Mikkelsen describes meeting her now-husband and Malie co-founder as a typical meet-cute moment, a serendipitous instance that is better suited to a Hollywood rom-com, not a classroom.

“I had my final presentation and during these exam times there was not much sleep, and I accidentally skipped a slide in my presentation,” says the co-creator of Delhi-based fashion label, Malie. “Karandeep [Singh Chadha] was sitting in the first row and helped me back on track, by asking me a question related to this… after that he invited me to a party and I had classes with a good friend of his as well, so this is how it all started for us,” she says.

When you know, you know.

Related: Meet the brand merging Danish minimalism with Indian design

Singh Chadha is originally from India, while Brandi Mikkelsen is from Denmark. Their worlds collided in that classroom in New York City, where they both studied at Parsons New School of Design. Brandi Mikkelsen was studying Design Management, and Singh Chadha, a Bachelor in Business Studies. They have since joined forces in their professional lives too, creating their fashion brand Malie just after their wedding in February 2020.

After dating for a month, the couple were dining out on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Singh Chadha knew that this was the moment he wanted to make the relationship official. “We had drinks planned with friends afterwards, and it was Amalie’s first time to meet these friends of mine – it was such an exciting, happy evening,” says Singh Chadha. “From then onwards, our relationship only grew stronger and stronger; our years together in London and the time we had to do long distance all led up to the moment I proposed in Florence.”

With Singh Chadha in India and Brandi Mikkelsen working in London, the couple planned a weekend rendezvous to Florence in November 2018. This would be Singh Chadha's first trip to the idyllic Italian city and one of Brandi Mikkelsen’s favourites. “We were very excited to explore the city together,” she says.

“Karandeep was very hands-on with this trip, he wanted to plan where to eat, what to see, and where to stay. Usually we plan together, but he was definitely taking the lead on this trip – I did take note of this, that he was so well planned all of a sudden! I didn’t think anything more about it before we walked into this beautiful wine cellar in a wonderful restaurant where they had decorated it beautifully with flowers and made the entire setting so romantic,” says Brandi Mikkelsen. “My heart suddenly started racing and he kept insisting that it was just to do a special dinner as we hadn’t seen each other for a while. I was convinced until he got down on one knee.”

While the couple have experienced a very well-travelled relationship – New York, Delhi, London, with romantic weekend catch ups in enviable locations thrown in for good measure – their four-day wedding was a true representation of both their Indian and Danish cultures.

“We merged our cultures in a way where the actual ceremony was leaning more towards Indian/Sikh and we included elements traditional to a Danish wedding,” says Singh Chadha. “Amalie’s cousin and family wrote a song, a very classic Danish tradition, and we even had a Danish artist, who is a dear friend of my parents, play a song as well. We also had our first dance in a traditional Danish way; there is a certain classical waltz music that all Danish people will know – the guests clap the couple closer and closer until the music changes and it becomes a party. We cut our wedding cake as well after the ceremony as it’s often done at Danish weddings.”

The wedding was held at Singh Chadha’s family farm in New Delhi – a very sentimental spot for them both. “It’s a beautiful lush green venue and a very calming space,” says Brandi Mikkelsen. “It was the perfect venue for us. It felt very personal, and it was also nice for the international guests to experience this serene area of Delhi.”

Finding outfits for an Indian wedding is like running a retail marathon and the stakes are even higher when you have to plan outfits for multiple days; months’ worth of embroidery and fittings need to also be taken into consideration.

“I wanted something that felt like ‘me’ in an Indian wedding attire setting, so I selected the actual wedding outfit – it’s called a lehenga, which is a long full skirt and top, with a dupatta which is kind of a shawl,” says Brandi Mikkelsen. “I selected it in ivory and decided to wear two dupattas, where one is worn as a drape around one shoulder and the other placed on the head as a type of veil.” Singh Chadha says they wanted their outfits to complement, not match each other’s so he opted for a long Indian jacket in ivory, and a turban for the Sikh ceremony and a decorative shawl.

Dancing at an Indian wedding is as serious as the speeches at a Danish wedding, and there were plenty of both. “The international guests arrived early so they also managed to get in some dance practice, and we also got to spend time with them in Delhi before the wedding,” says Brandi Mikkelsen. “The dances happened on the first night, which was our cocktail night, an evening where the dances are the most important, alongside drinks and great music.” Friends and family members on both sides had prepared dance routines to perform and there was also a traditional mehndi event where all the female guests had their hands painted with henna.

“At Indian weddings all of these events are quite common, but what made it very special was that all of the international guests could enjoy this too, and for many of them, it was the first time,” says Singh Chadha. “It brought such a nice energy to all of the events and made it overall so special for us.”