Shubhika Sharma
How this fashion founder bride designed each ceremonial look with instinct, intimacy, and a deeply personal sense of style.
Married to: Harshil Karia
Date: October 2025
When a designer-bride is at the helm, expectations naturally lean towards spectacle. For Shubhika Sharma, the founder of Papa Don’t Preach, her wedding to creative entrepreneur Harshil Karia seemed poised to unfold as a high-voltage, maximalist affair. Yet, what emerged instead was a celebration defined by restraint, intention, and an unmistakable sense of personal style. Planned in under a month, with a resort in Karjat finalised just three weeks ahead of the date, the wedding was intimate by design. With a guest list of 75 close friends and family, the focus shifted away from scale and toward meaning, allowing the designer to approach her bridal wardrobe with instinct rather than expectation. Each look was thoughtfully chosen to reflect mood, moment, and memory, resulting in a wedding wardrobe that felt expressive yet grounded, and unmistakably hers.
Wedding Functions
Bhajan Sangeet
The celebrations opened with a Bhajan Sangeet that set the emotional tone for the days to follow. Rooted in Shubhika and Harshil’s shared love for spirituality, the evening reflected a bond forged through singing together, attending kirtans, and visiting spiritual spaces across India. Music, for them, became both a practice and a form of connection.
Dressed in a lavender Papa Don’t Preach ensemble, Shubhika leaned into softness with colour and craft. The outfit featured hand-embroidered appliqués of butterflies, hearts, and florals in layered hues of purple, green, pink, and gold. Pearl tassels and acrylic accents added movement and lightness, allowing the look to feel festive without excess. Completing the ensemble was a Russian emerald and polki jewellery set from the brand’s upcoming fine jewellery line.
Wedding
The bridal lehenga for the pheras came together just ten days before the wedding, following weeks of indecision around colour. The final choice, a sandstone orange, struck a balance between warmth and quiet strength. Luminous without being overpowering, the shade carried a sense of calm confidence, perfectly suited to the intimacy of the ceremony. Intricate embroidery inspired by Indian architecture ran across the lehenga panels, rendered in blush pink, apricot, and seafoam tones, and brought to life with glass beads, crystals, and metal accents. Each panel felt like a visual narrative, echoing monuments built to honour love. The look was completed with double dupattas: a sandstone orange tissue drape paired with a blush-pink scalloped organza, creating a gentle contrast to the richness of the lehenga.
In place of mehendi, Shubhika chose alta, a nod to her Bharatnatyam years, while her Papa Don’t Preach kaleeras, hand-embroidered in glass beads and detailed with the initials of both bride and groom, became a personal signature element of the look.
Wedding After Party
If the wedding look was about softness and serenity, the after-party embraced drama. Torn between the idea of a traditional red bride and a softer palette, Shubhika chose both. Following an unexpected shift that moved the pheras to early morning due to persistent monsoon showers, the deep red georgette pre-draped saree found its moment during the afternoon celebrations. Paired with a statement blouse and a playful veil bearing the phrase ‘But Papa, I love him,’ the look channelled confidence and irreverence in equal measure.
Paint and Sip
The wedding concluded with a ‘Paint and Sip’ event, bringing the celebration full circle from collective chanting to collective creativity. After two days of shared rituals and moments, guests gathered once more, this time with brushes in hand, to paint a keepsake together.
For the occasion, Shubhika wore a draped, hand-embellished set initially designed for the haldi, which was eventually cancelled due to schedule changes. The ensemble featured beaded skies, stars, moons, and suns colliding across the fabric. As laughter and colour filled the space, the event became a quiet reminder that the most memorable celebrations often lie in simplicity, intention, and shared experience.
The Wedding Makers
Venue: Oleander Farms Resort, Karjat
Photography: Karma Production
Décor: Amit Decor & Events
Bride’s Outfits: Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika
Jewellery: Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika (Bhajan Sangeet)
Accessories: Papa Don’t Preach by Shubhika (Kaleerein)
Makeup: Makeup by Ami Jethwa, Dhruvi Doshi
Entertainment: Kirtan Mumbai (Bhajan Sangeet)
DJ: Madoc
