Sarika Tarsadia Patel describes her marriage to Mikhil Patel as a story written 70 years before they met. That is not a romantic exaggeration. Both sets of their grandparents lived in the same village in Zambia, their houses a few doors apart. Both fathers attended the same school. Both mothers lived in London before relocating to the United States. When Sarika and Mikhil finally crossed paths in Los Angeles in 2016 through a dating app — after her cousin sent a screenshot of his profile with the message that she had found Sarika's future husband — the decades of shared history that had run parallel to their own lives felt less like coincidence and more like a route that had been planned all along.

Their wedding weekend, held at Amanzoe resort in Kranidi, Greece, matched the scale of that backstory. Six events across three days. Hindu rituals staged against ancient Greek architecture. A bridal trousseau sourced across Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Los Angeles, and New York. An iridescent pool party, a beach reception, a groom arriving by white vintage Mercedes with dhol drummers, and a dance party that ended at 5 a.m. in the resort's pool. The whole weekend was a function of one clear decision Sarika made early in the planning process: she wanted every guest to feel like they were on a trip of a lifetime, not just attending a wedding.

The venue had been decided, in spirit at least, before the proposal. On a family trip to Europe in 2018, Sarika and her family stayed at Amanzoe and spent an evening having pre-dinner cocktails overlooking the Argolic Gulf. The conversation turned to how it would be the perfect place to get married. She did not yet know that Mikhil was about to propose — the following week, in San Sebastian — but the location had already been filed away. When it came time to actually plan the weekend, she came back to Amanzoe every time.

The Wedding That Chose Its Setting First

Amanzoe takes its name from two words: Aman, Sanskrit for peace, and Zoe, Greek for life. The resort sits above the Argolic Gulf in the Peloponnese, its architecture in direct conversation with ancient Greece's classical structures and the rugged landscape surrounding it. For Sarika, who had experienced the property as a guest before she ever considered it as a venue, the choice was not about logistics. It was about the feeling of the place — the sea breeze, the light, the simplicity of the design — and her desire to share that with every person she loved.

Planning a destination wedding from across the world required a vendor structure built on existing trust. Sarika led with Ajita Chopra Events, partnering with The Event Co. for production and Shawna Yamamoto Designs for the visual direction of each event. Photographer Sergio Sandoná — found through a top photographers list and chosen for his calm, his humor, and the quality of his work — was brought in to document the weekend alongside East West Productions for video.

A week before the weekend began, Sarika and her family arrived in Greece to finalize details and decompress before guests arrived. Mikhil and his family went first to Athens. The night before the first event, Sarika's parents hosted a private family dinner at their villa while Beauty by Lishma applied her bridal mehendi — an intricate process that took several hours and served as the quiet, private beginning of everything that followed.

The decision to host all six events on-property at Amanzoe was deliberate. It kept the weekend contained and the logistics manageable, but more than that, it meant each event could be designed with the specific locations of the resort as its starting point. The amphitheater for the Ganesh Pooja and Pithi. The Beach Club for the Mehendi. The main pool for the Sangeet. The firepit terrace for both the welcome dinner and the ceremony itself.

Amanzoe in Kranidi, Greece — its name combining the Sanskrit word for 'peace' with the Greek word for 'life' — provided the setting for all six events across the wedding weekend.

The Six Events — A Full Breakdown

The welcome dinner at Amanzoe's lobby bar and firepit terrace featured abalone shells, olive branches, coral, and candles against soft white linens — décor designed to complement rather than compete with the Aegean setting.

DAY ONE — WELCOME DINNER AT THE FIREPIT TERRACE

The welcome dinner opened the weekend at Amanzoe's lobby bar and firepit terrace, Sarika's favorite spot at the resort. The décor was intentionally minimal — abalone shells, olive branches, coral, and candles on white linens — chosen to highlight the natural blues of the Aegean rather than layer over them. Sarika wore a concept sari by Gaurav Gupta with a cream dupatta featuring shell and pearl accents: a piece she described as a modern, Grecian take on a traditional Indian garment. Mikhil wore linen from Club Monaco. Both looks set the tone for a weekend that would consistently balance cultural specificity with environmental sensitivity.

The Ganesh Pooja and Pithi in Amanzoe's amphitheater were followed by an iridescent Mehendi at the Beach Club and a colorful Sangeet at the main pool — four distinct events across a single day.

DAY TWO — GANESH POOJA, PITHI, MEHENDI, AND SANGEET

Day two was the weekend's most programmatically dense, covering four events across three locations. The Ganesh Pooja and Pithi — Hindu auspiciousness rituals typically performed separately — were shared between Sarika and Mikhil as a deliberate modernization, staged in the resort's amphitheater with marigold garlands and woven arrangements. The Mehendi at the Beach Club drew its visual inspiration from Sarika's shell collection, with a shimmering installation at the entrance and clear balloons in the pool. The Sangeet at the main pool was the most colorful event of the weekend, with locally sourced flowers, fruits, and vegetables in the arrangements, a Rajasthani dinner prepared by a chef Aman brought in from its Jaipur property, and seven dance performances across the evening.

The ceremony at the firepit terrace and the beach reception at the Beach Club — separated by a cocktail hour and a grand entrance by speedboat — completed the three-day wedding weekend.

DAY THREE — CEREMONY AND BEACH RECEPTION

The wedding day returned to the firepit terrace for the ceremony, with a pampas grass installation as a non-traditional mandap hung within a custom canopy large enough to cover all 160 guests. Clear chairs preserved the view over the Argolic Gulf. Mikhil arrived via white vintage Mercedes with dhol drummers — a substitution for the traditional horse Baraat that suited both the setting and, by the groom's own admission, his understated character. The evening reception at the Beach Club began with a speedboat arrival by the newlyweds, moved through a five-course dinner with Duo Violins performing during cocktail hour, and continued past midnight with fireworks, a birthday cake for Mikhil, and a dance party that ended at 5 a.m. in the pool.

The Ceremony Details That Set It Apart

“The view looking over the bay, feeling the sea breeze blowing through your hair, and the shape of the platform in a circle symbolizing totality and wholeness seemed like a perfect place to get married and join our souls.”

The ceremony's physical design was built around a single principle: keep the views unobstructed. Clear acrylic wedding invitations by Luxe Marie Custom Stationery had already established the visual language. Clear chairs carried it through to the ceremony itself. The aisle was constructed over the resort's reflection pool as a direct path to the center of the stage, flanked with billowing pampas grass arrangements. The mandap — a pampas grass installation hanging within the custom canopy — was non-traditional in material but precise in intention.

Mikhil's Baraat arrived differently than tradition prescribes. He drove up in a white vintage Mercedes while dhol drummers played and guests danced — a substitution for the conventional horse arrival that reflected both the setting and the groom's own character. Having 160 people dancing around him while friends lifted him onto their shoulders was, he said, a once-in-a-lifetime feeling for a man who describes himself as someone who shies away from the spotlight. The harpist who played for the bridal processional provided the contrast: understated, precise, and entirely suited to the moment.

The Reception Under the Stars

WRITTEN BYSerena Holloway

Serena Holloway covers bridal fashion, real-world celebrations, and everything in between — from intimate destination weddings to grand ballroom affairs. She believes every couple deserves a wedding story worth telling, and she brings warmth and precision to every piece she writes.