Aakriti Rana And Rohan Kalra’s Manali Wedding Had Snowy Peaks, Sheep, And Trotting Horses

Imagine marrying your high school sweetheart against the backdrop of snow-clad mountains, with a flock of sheep accompanying the baarat and a band of horses trotting past as you take your vows.

These are not dreamy film sequences but scenes from influencer and content creator Aakriti Rana’s wedding ceremony in Manali. As Rana recounted the funniest incident from her wedding day, she laughed, “During our pheras, between chants, we also heard the horses fart.”

Rana is a travel influencer and enjoys a following of over 1.2 million across her social media platforms. She married her beau Rohan Kalra, a merchant navy officer, in April 2023.

When I asked her how they planned and timed the entry of the sheep and horses, she said, “I count it among the virtues of hosting a wedding so close to nature.”

She mentioned that the sheep's entry was accidental during the baarat, whereas the horse's arrival was well planned and executed. “A day before the wedding, we saw a local grazing his horses. We requested him to bring them during our ceremony the next day, and he very happily agreed,” recalled Rana.

The next day, the horses bore witness to the ceremony, completing the scene, one that the couple had not even dreamt of when they were planning the ceremony.

Rana and Kalra met through their fathers, both of whom are Indian Army officers. “My dad got posted to Pune, and he was taking over from his father. On our first night there, they invited us for dinner, and that is where Ro and I first met,” said Rana. They soon fell in love and started dating.

College made them choose different paths, and the distance broke them apart.

Seven years later, the two met again at a school reunion. “It felt as if we had never moved away and everything fell in place,” said Rana. Finally, Kalra proposed to her in 2022.

They had over a year to plan their wedding celebrations. As travel and adventure lovers, the couple wanted to avoid hotels and resorts and celebrate closer to nature. They discovered a piece of land amidst the hills of Manali, spoke to the owner, and organised their dream wedding in an untapped location with their family members and friends.

But the road to Manali was not easy. A major roadblock was convincing vendors to execute a wedding in the middle of nowhere, making choices fewer and things more expensive. Since the setting was so untouched, they spent hours removing boulders and making space for the mandap.

Convincing the families was another task. “They thought it would be difficult for guests to make it to Manali, but we made the required provisions and strongly advised them to wear sneakers instead of heels.”

What could have been a hiccup was the weather. “Till the day before our wedding ceremony, it rained incessantly. The stars, however, aligned, and on the D day, the sun was bright,” said Rana.

For anyone planning their wedding in the hills, she recommends reaching out to locals who own vacant land to discuss hosting their celebrations there. “Some of them agree to a fees much cheaper than what you would pay at a hotel,” Rana claimed. Added to that are the limited space in hotels and resorts and the exorbitant room prices.

Despite the odds, they were certain of the location. Why, I asked. “A visit to Manali marked my first trip to the mountains. It was here that I fell in love with travelling so much that I ended up becoming a travel creator,” said Rana.

​I also asked her why she chose a smaller and more intimate wedding. In response, she mentioned that the pressure of curating and spending on a big fat Indian wedding seemed daunting to her. “We wanted to get married among our closest family and friends rather than involving people who don’t care. More so, we wanted the wedding to represent who we truly are,” said Rana.

Saving up, the couple escaped to Iceland for two weeks before the wedding to take their vows alone. “Instead of spending on elaborate décor and a lavish wedding, we chose a dream trip and began our journey with promises that were only ours,” said Rana.

The Wedding Coordinates

Pin Drop

Manali, Himachal Pradesh

The Clincher

A wedding amidst the snow-clad Himalayas, grazing sheep, and trotting horses

Destination Advantage

An untouched & untapped location in the middle of the mountains

Local Touch

Natural landscape and the unexpected arrival of a flock of sheep and a band of horses

Main-Character Moment

Taking their pheras against the backdrop of mountains with horses trotting past and their dearest ones around

Take-Us-Back-For

The serene Himalayan setting and the joy of celebrating with loved ones

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