Mira Sethi just tied the knot and the groom was wearing nailpolish to the wedding!

KARACHI: Does anybody remember the phrase “Thand tou nahi lag rahi?” It became a national meme overnight and it all started from a post shared on Instagram by Mira Sethi. This was the story of how she fell in love with her now husband, Bilal Siddiqi and for some reason, that one line, which he said to her while they were cycling, instantly resonated with everyone. It’s simple, thoughtful and extremely romantic.

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In the spring of 2017, a tall, funny, curly-haired dude walked into my life. I'd known this curly-haired dude all my life — in the way you know your parents' friends' kids — but we'd never sought each other out. (Weirdly enough, Bilal and I overlapped at Oxford in 2008—he was doing his PhD, I was spending my junior year abroad. But we never looked each other up, never bumped into each other in that tiny cobbled town.) ⁣ ⁣ Almost a decade later, we met in Lahore on a warm February evening. We vaguely agreed to meet for dinner sometime. ⁣ ⁣ A few days later we were at Spice Bazaar, and it was suddenly cold again. Bilal asked what I'd been upto: he nodded across the table and asked gentle, probing questions. Lots of questions. In between licking mutton kunna gravy from my fingers, I found myself answering his questions with an openness and ease I hadn't encountered in myself in a long time. Later, we sat in the garden of my house and played with Max. My brother joined us. The three of us talked. Bilal dug his hand inside Max's mouth and pulled out a sharp branch. Max was all over him.⁣ ⁣ A few days later Bilal lost his mother to pneumonia (she'd had Parkinsons for a decade), and it was a wrenching, difficult time. Bilal and I would text. Talk about light stuff. He used the heart emoji unselfconsciously, as a friend might. The conversations veered from TV shows to politics to "plan for the day?" The few times we met before he left for DC, he talked openly about his regrets and hopes and dreams. Sitting across from him in Cosa Nostra, this time not very hungry because my body was clenched with affection and interest, I listened. He was warm and funny and brilliant. That night, I curled up next to him and we watched a show on Netflix. ⁣ ⁣ The next year was a whirlwind. We travelled together to Lisbon, Brussels, Amsterdam, New York, Islamabad, Reno, San Francisco. We went to a festival in the desert and slept under the stars. We danced to really bad music. We biked across the desert at night, our cycles glowing with fairylights. Bilal biked ahead so I could follow him. *continued in comments* ⁣

A post shared by Mira Sethi (@mira.sethi) on Nov 20, 2018 at 12:50am PST

After being engaged for a while, the couple just tied the knot this weekend and Instagram has been flooded with images of the bride and groom, of the wedding and of Ali Sethi (who even performed for his sister’s big day).

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♥️ photos by @khaula28

A post shared by Mira Sethi (@mira.sethi) on Nov 17, 2019 at 10:48am PST

And there are several things that Mira Sethi did differently. Firstly, she had a minimal wedding ceremony in the US and then another event here in Pakistan. At all her events, she has kept her hair and makeup minimal and she looked like a very happy bride (keep in mind that brides are not supposed to laugh too loudly or look too happy on the big day in this part of the world.)

But the biggest defiance came in the shape of nailpolish on the groom’s nails. We first thought that we imagined the blue nailcolour, but then Mira wrote the story behind why Bilal had done that.

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I did my own makeup, scooped my hair into a ponytail, and married the love of my life. Two weeks before the wedding, at Burning Man, I painted love of life’s nails while love of life was asleep. Love of life woke up, looked at hand, smiled, and went on with his day. Two weeks later he strolled into wedding venue with these nails. I love him, and here are some photos of this crazily delightful day. 👗: @elanofficial

A post shared by Mira Sethi (@mira.sethi) on Nov 15, 2019 at 11:56pm PST

Apparently, a few weeks prior to the wedding, the couple had attended Burning Man Festival and Mira had applied paint to Bilal’s nails while he was asleep. When he woke up, he seemed unbothered by it. On the day of the wedding, he showed up at the venue with paint on his nails.