ay 22, 2022 started out with overcast skies, but as Pia Sengupta and Matthew Mackey commenced their wedding on that spring day, the clouds opened up and the sun shined onto the couple.

It was by chance that the weather let up, just like it was by chance that the couple met on their first day of medical school about five years ago. They started dating soon after, and in April 2021, Matthew popped the question while they were vacationing in Clearwater, Fla.

They decided to slowly enter the wedding planning process. “We gave it about a month before we started even thinking about speaking to vendors or anything like that,” Pia says. “We did ease into it, and we definitely co-opted family to help with the planning as well.”

Enlisting family support helped take a portion of the work (and stress) out of planning. “We were very lucky to have our family to help,” Pia says. “For example, my mom would use her best judgment to speak with the florist. It streamlined the planning and made things easier.” Matthew’s family also used their talents to contribute to the wedding — his dad brewed a custom batch of beer as a gift for wedding guests, helping the couple check one more item off their list.

One takeaway from the process that Pia shares with couples planning their own weddings: have the big conversations before seeking out venues and vendors.

“[Matthew] and I had a conversation at the very beginning about the things that we really cared about — the non-negotiables,” Pia says. “For us, it ended up being the food, the Indian elements of the ceremony, and also having a really nice dance floor.”

The couple incorporated several different Indian traditions into their three-day celebration. On the first day, Pia and Matthew accepted small gifts from each of their parents that they would use in their married life. Day two was the Mehndi, which is a party for guests to mingle with one another, and typically, the bride and female guests will receive henna.

“It was at my parents’ house, so it was a little more casual,” Pia says. “You have friends and family from all different parts of your life walking through the house. You got to see Matt’s college friends talking to my uncle, and I’m like, ‘When will this ever happen again?’”

As an added surprise, Matthew had learned an entire song in Bengali and sang it to Pia at the Mehndi. “I was not expecting it,” she says. “It was very, very sweet and I was so impressed!”

The celebrations concluded on May 22, when Pia and Matthew were married at Shepherd’s Hollow Golf Club in Clarkston. “It was such a beautiful day,” Pia says. “It had been a little darker previously in the day, but as the ceremony was happening, it became sunny and I just thought it was really beautiful.”

The Indian traditions mostly ended once the reception began, but Matthew and Pia did have a surprise for their guests — a fully choreographed routine for their first dance.

“I think this was my favorite thing in the entire wedding,” Pia says. “Matt and I both love dancing, and we spent almost our entire engagement coming up with a first dance. We had a dance instructor and it was so fun getting to do that in front of our whole family.”

While Pia and Matthew are temporarily living apart as they work through their medical school residency programs, they are enjoying married life and reflecting on their vibrant three-day celebration.

“It is a little challenging to live in different places, but being married is great,” she says. “That part of it is my favorite.”

Hair Brittney Ounanian, Pop + COH
Makeup Jahura Hobby, JHobby Makeup Studio
Music + Entertainment DJ Love
Florist Brandy Bradley, B. Blooming
Stationery Handwritten and Minted
Mehndi Henna Beauty by Krupa
To see more from Pia and Matt’s wedding visit nearlywed.com