When Shefali Aurora and Andy Magner got married in May, their dogs Rani, left, and Roo joined the festivities.
Writer: Mathany Ahmed
Photographer: Lara Wills
Marriage is all about blending — families, histories, routines, even the wedding day makeup. For Shefali Aurora and Andy Magner, they blended cultures, too.
The two met in law school and were friends for years before growing closer. In May 2024, they tied the knot in a wedding that celebrated both their Indian and Iowan roots.
“My husband is from Cedar Rapids, and my family is from India,” said Aurora, who moved around as a kid before settling in Des Moines. “The big thing for us was merging both of our cultures and our families.”
Their wedding provided plenty of opportunities to showcase the beauty of both cultures. As with most traditional Indian weddings, the couple participated in multiple ceremonies, including a mehndi, a haldi, a welcome party and two distinct wedding ceremonies, one Indian and one American.
The Indian ceremony, held on Saturday, followed Hindu traditions. The next day, the couple exchanged vows in a more laid-back American ceremony.
“In an Indian wedding, it really is about the families coming together. That was the thought we had when planning,” Aurora said. Both sets of parents and siblings were heavily involved in the planning, which was important to the couple. “It was really fun to see his family join in on all the Indian cultural aspects, the dancing to Indian music and dressing up in Indian clothes.”
The fashion
The couple’s wedding wardrobe featured multiple looks to reflect their cultural backgrounds. For the Indian ceremony, Aurora wore a stunning lehenga designed by Delhi-based designer Anita Dongre (above). All of the Indian clothing, from the bridal gown to the groomsmen’s pale pink and gold embroidered tunics, were purchased during a family trip to India in 2023.
For the American ceremony, Aurora and Magner wore classic Western attire (below). Magner enlisted the help of local jewelers at Anglo Diamond in Clive to design a custom engagement ring. “It has a little lotus band on the bottom of it, which is a significant flower in India,” Aurora said. “That was a really cool feature that he added.”
The mehndi
A mehndi ceremony is a pre-wedding event in which the bride and female family members and friends apply intricate henna designs on their hands and feet. For the bride’s mehndi party, her mother planned a high tea inspired by “Bridgerton,” complete with chai and sugar cookies (below) decorated with mehndi designs. Aurora’s henna design (below) was particularly special, featuring her husband’s name hidden in the patterns. Other personal elements, like a small Herky embedded in the design on her foot, nodded to the couple’s shared time at the University of Iowa law school. And of course, there were a few paw prints on her palm. “We have two dogs and had to include them somehow,” Aurora said.
The flowers
The wedding decor was equally thoughtful. The local boutique Something Chic Floral supplied fresh flowers, and the bride and her mother designed garlands of yellow and orange marigolds. The traditional Indian wedding ceremony took place in the flower-filled gardens of the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates and featured a floral canopy, known as a puloka chadar, which Aurora walked under with her close female relatives (below).
The music and dance
Music and dance played a crucial role in the celebration. During the groom’s wedding procession, known as the baraat, a drummer (below) performed alongside local DJ Raj, who played American Top 40 and Indian classics. “Growing up, we did a lot of Bollywood dances at different functions,” Aurora said. “My sister organized a lot of the choreography before we opened up the dance floor later in the evening.”
