PHOTOS BY LAUREN RENEE PHOTOGRAPHY
Neil Carleton & Shohini Ghosh-ChoudharySeptember 3, 2023
It seemed like fate that Neil Carleton and Shohini Ghosh-Choudhary met at a group interview for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in November 2017 — they were the first two to arrive in the room.
“We just sat down next to each other and started talking,” says Shohini. “He had a nice blue suit on.”
They both happened to have undergraduate degrees in engineering, uncommon amongst other students in their M.D./Ph.D. program.
“I just remember Shohini being incredibly easy to talk to,” says Neil.
They talked on and off the whole day and sat next to each other at dinner with all the other program applicants. They would share many classes together in their first two years of med school, and Neil, after apartment-hunting with Shohini’s personal recommendations, eventually settled on living in her building, where he landed one floor apart from her.
She Said Yes
On a chilly night in November 2021 at the Point State Park fountain Downtown, Neil got down on one knee.
“As far as the proposal goes, I knew when it was going to happen because he was not good at keeping secrets,” says Shohini.
Inspired by “Song for Another Time” by Old Dominion, in which the lyrics consist of song titles, Neil’s proposal speech included lyrics from some of her favorite songs.
“When he first started talking, I was like, ‘What’s happening?’” Shohini laughs.
Much later, he did a second proposal at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in order to reiterate his commitment to her in a place she loved — it’s a city they have always enjoyed visiting and may move to someday.
Neil fondly recalls what it was like to look for and design the perfect ring for her. “I really do finally look back and really enjoy working on that process,” he says.
The Big Day
The couple married on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023, at an Indian-fusion wedding at the Omni William Penn Hotel, preceded by a Hindu ceremony and followed by a night of dancing with friends, family and even their two dogs, Otis and Stevie, clad in their own Indian outfits.
Shohini was born in Assam, India, and Neil’s maternal side of the family is from Mumbai. “So it was our goal to bring in some traditional elements with a modern spin,” says Neil.
Neil wore a plum tux, and Shohini’s ceremony outfit weighed 25 pounds and took a team of four people to get on. Her Mehndi (or wedding-day henna) took four hours to complete.
The couple had a sweetheart table, an Indian wedding swing and, at the welcome party, a “marketplace” table where guests could choose from Indian earrings, bracelets and purses to wear and keep. They served Indian food, were married under a traditional Indian mandap, and Shohini’s bridesmaids carried a chadar as they walked down the aisle to symbolize walking the bride into married life.
“Seeing her walk down the aisle,” says Neil, “I think was something I’ll never forget.”
Happily Ever After
Despite Neil and Shohini’s busy grad school schedules, they still find time for each other. They both expressed that having all of the wedding planning in the rearview is a relief.
“I feel like it’s been really easy,” says Shohini, of married life.
“It’s everything I hoped for and much, much more,” says Neil.
Their upcoming honeymoon awaits in Portugal and Spain.
