Love can strike in a lightning flash or it can languidly stroll down a long, winding road before getting you to your destination. Rebecca Krishnan Ayer, a Texan lawyer born to Indian parents from Kerala, and Mårten Jonsson, a Swedish investment manager, consider themselves blessed to be counted among the former. “Everything during the pandemic moved at such an accelerated pace and the world seemed to operate in extremes—total isolation or complete cuffing,” she reminisces of their initial encounter.
During a chance visit to Stockholm during the pandemic—since the city’s restaurants and other attractions were operating on business as usual—Ayer recalls bumping into a Swedish guy on a dating app who promised her a tennis lesson in exchange for a first date. Despite feeling the sniffles coming on, she chose not to cancel and ended up on a seven-hour date that ended with panoramic views of the Stockholm skyline. That would have, perhaps, been that and they would have perhaps headed their own separate ways, but she soon tested positive for COVID-19. As luck would have it, Jonsson texted her with his own positive report as a consequence of their date. “All my friends in Amsterdam thought he was making it up to get me to stay,” she giggles. They ended up quarantining together and the rest was history.
While the duo knew that they had found a soulmate in each other, Ayer never envisioned herself as the type to pine away after a grand proposal. In a fitting homage to the tranquil nature of their relationship, Jonsson eschewed gimmicky venues in favour of popping the question at home after their two-year anniversary dinner. Since Swedish winters are intense, the happy couple hurried home after dinner to exchange gifts. With comfy pyjamas on, makeup off and candles lit, Ayer believed they were ready for bed until she turned around and found him on one knee with a yellow emerald-cut diamond ring in his hand to which she responded with a joyful yes.
On paper, a family-only event at city hall made sense given the duality of their cultures. “There is no getting around the stress of putting on a giant production for guests from all over the world. When guests fly in from abroad, the pressure to deliver a full weekend of perfectly executed experiences can be daunting,” she intones. But Jonsson would end up convincing her otherwise. Having travelled to Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, he found himself drawn to the centrality of weddings in Indian culture and wanted to honour the tradition with their nuptials.“One of the most challenging aspects of making our vision come to life was that there was no playbook for what a Swedish-American-Indian wedding should or could look like,” she says. The couple chose the picture-perfect Skåne for the wedding since the idyllic backdrop of the Swedish countryside didn’t require much by way of artificial décor for enhancement. Instead, they turned their focus on allowing Indian cultural elements to sing, such as the vibrant pops of marigold in the flower arrangements, bindis for the after-party as well as some Bollywood chartbusters spinning on the Danish DJ’s set.
