How Purab Kohli and Lucy Payton Hit All The Right Notes At Their Wedding

“Music is a big part of our lives. And our interest in music is quite broad. Lucy prefers to dance to minimal house and drum ’n’ bass, whereas my choice can range from Motown to even hardcore trance. But there are genres we really enjoy listening to, together. Like hip-hop, Western classical, and Sufi. Jazz is another common favourite. Our wedding music was a blend of it all.”

The Wedding Band(s)

“We were very clear on the music we wanted—and how we wanted it. So, we didn’t have any ‘playlists’ per se, for our wedding—for each of the functions we hosted, we had live musicians performing. Our main endeavour was, of course, to make sure the guests stayed engaged and had a great time. But we also wanted them to create a happy, positive vibration, to transfer on to us for our life ahead. In that sense, we were quite mindful of the energy we wanted flowing through the festivities. It had to be a mix of calm and serene, to joyous and elated, and leave everyone on a high note. We had carefully selected everything we made part of the wedding—the venue, the food, the decor, and of course, the music. It all had to add value.”

Wedding Day 1

“We hosted the first function in the UK, and for this, we wanted something light playing in the background. Many of the guests here weren’t joining us in the Indian leg of the wedding, so we wanted this to be a close-knit, cosy evening. Hence, we chose jazz. We hired a jazz trio, comprising a saxophonist, a bassist, and a drummer, who played some of their own originals, but we especially enjoyed how they just free-styled most of the time. It was beautiful.”

Wedding Day 2

“The next three events were in India. Our first one here was the haldi lunch, which we planned as a calm, peaceful afternoon, with just about 60 guests. We didn’t do the usual song-dance routine for this day. Instead, we hired a choreographer who taught the guests some fun Bollywood dance moves and bhangra. Everyone grooved to songs like Dil Le Gaye Kudi Gujarat Ki and London Thumakhda all day long!”

Wedding Day 3

“This was the main day. Lucy and I didn’t have any religious ceremony for our wedding—we wanted something spiritual. So we organised a guided meditation session. For Lucy’s entry, we specifically chose a track by Niranjan Kaur, Mathew Schoening, and Ram Dass, called Narayan. It is such a riveting, magical song (the only one we played on tape, in our entire wedding), it gave everyone gooseflesh. 

Later in the evening, we had Hari & Sukhmani come in and perform for the guests. The duo playing live was just the vibe we had hoped for… I feel they’re connected to this surreal energy. I had seen them in concert once earlier. I remember taking a video of them playing then and sending it to Lucy. She loved them, too. So, we decided to get them for our wedding as well.

Hari and Sukhmani recreated some beautiful Punjabi folk songs for us, you know, all the classic wedding numbers. Even now, every time they have a new single out, I keep playing it—listening to them brings back such great memories of our wedding day.

Some of the renditions that we both absolutely loved that day were Kala Sha Kala, Laung Gawacha, Gur Naal Ishq Mitha, Baari Barsi Khatn Gaya Si.”

Wedding Day 4

“This was the big party night, with about 300 guests. For this, we got the MIDIval Punditz. The DJs, Gaurav [Raina] and Tapan [Raj], are also very dear friends. It was a mix of English and Indian family members and friends, and people of all ages—but Gaurav and Tapan made sure they played something for everyone! In the beginning, it was the older folks on the dance floor, and then it moved on to just young people banging it out. The pair also played some dance-y, drum ’n’ bass stuff for Lucy, and trance and electronic for me. It was mad fun. We started at seven in the evening and continued to party till five in the morning, so much so that we had to shift the celebrations indoors, to a soundproof room late.”

Purab and Lucy’s Advice

“Music plays such a pivotal role at weddings, so do give it some thought. Consider all the songs you’d like to be part of your wedding—and be mindful of the guests who’d be attending. I like to think of it as a journey—what journey is your music or the band/DJ you chose taking you on? What kind of journey do you want your guests to go through? Then choose the music and songs accordingly. That’s what we did.”