A Poem Became Their Wedding Blueprint: Aditi Gopalan And Abhinav Koppu’s Bali Celebration

Most couples start their wedding planning with a mood board or a family tradition. For Aditi Gopalan and Abhinav Koppu, the journey began with a poem.

Years before they were married, Koppu had written "The Sapling" for Gopalan's birthday. The poem described the journey of a young tree through seasons of growth and change, using it as a metaphor for all she had been through. When the couple got engaged, they returned to the poem and discovered something unexpected: it already held the blueprint for their wedding. “What originally described Aditi's journey was reinterpreted to highlight our journey as a couple,” said Koppu. The poem was broken down into chapters, which became wedding events. The first stanza was an ode to their roots, while the second highlighted periods of turbulence and transformation as well as the people who stayed through it all. The third celebrated the union of a blossoming tree and a bee, while the final section explored how their story was sustained by love and stood the test of time.

Bali, with its lush greenery and strong sense of ritual, felt like the right setting for the story to unfold. The couple had considered destinations from Goa and Kerala to Thailand and Kenya, before finally zeroing in on the Indonesian island.

“Abhinav and I both grew up around water (me in San Francisco and him in Miami), so having a location by the water was non-negotiable,” shared Gopalan. “We wanted a place with spiritual energy that would bring our poem alive.”

The celebrations began with a welcome event called Adomania that honoured the land they were on. Guests were treated to Balinese and Indonesian cuisine, while traditional fire dancers offered a glimpse into the country's rich cultural heritage. The focus then shifted to the couple's own story at the haldi. A five-metre sapling installation stood at the centre of the venue, surrounded by terracotta textures, marigolds and kalamkari textiles. The event celebrated the people and experiences that had shaped the couple long before they met. Fittingly, Gopalan and Koppu, both trained classical dancers, performed a Bharatanatyam-inspired piece that reflected their companionship.

The wedding ceremony at Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua returned to the poem’s central theme. Inspired by the stone-carved temples of Mahabalipuram, the mandap featured sand-hued pillars, banana plants and a towering purple wisteria, with bee motifs woven through the décor in tribute to the stanza where a bee finally visits the grown tree.

The most personal detail was the antarpat (a sacred, auspicious cloth held between the bride and groom). Painted by Gopalan’s aunt, it depicted the flowering tree and golden bee, bordered by the handprints of all 220 guests, collected during the haldi. Conducted in English and Sanskrit by US-based officiant Dr Raja Gopal Bhattar, the ceremony blended traditional rituals with feminist and queer perspectives. For the reception, the ballroom was transformed into a dreamlike forest of crystal installations and cascading wisteria, bringing to life the poem that had evolved from a birthday gift into the foundation of the couple's wedding story.

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