Their Huntington Theatre wedding celebrated their culture, families, and the fine art of drag

Boston Globe

2 days ago

Sapan Shah was trying to spark conversation, but his date remained tight-lipped behind his K95 mask, eyes glued to the big screen. Sai Srujan Gudibandi resorted to 'non-verbal communication,' as the actor became 'The Batman.'
'He's the model movie watcher,' says Sapan of Sai Srujan. 'He would not talk to me. He would not look at me.'
The Covid-19 omicron variant had the public on alert at the time, but even while masked, Sapan wanted to make the most of their first date. Sai Srujan, however, is a cinema purist: 'What if people around me say s
hush
or something?'
They had matched on Tinder, and arrived minutes before showtime at Landmark Kendall Square Cinema in March 2022. They only exchanged pleasantries before the trailers started to roll.
Post-first date, Sapan (right) and Sai Srujan continued to bond as film buffs.
j.nichole captures
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'It was quite the struggle — the movie, infamously, is three hours long,' says Sapan.
On Tinder, they'd bonded over superhero films — 'Marvel, all the way,' says Sapan, 'but DC has its charming moments,' adds Sai Srujan — and their upbringings in India. Sai Srujan grew up in Vijayawada in coastal southeastern India, while Sapan was raised in Vadodara, out west. Both attended undergraduate engineering programs before moving to the States for graduate school.
Sai Srujan was 30 at the time. He had moved Boston in 2016 for work after graduate school at Texas A&M. Sapan was 28, in his second year at Harvard Business School, and, as his Tinder profile noted: a
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In addition to the communal cultural traditions and tributes in their wedding, the couple also used nods to their heritages to frame their vows.
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After the film, Sapan relayed his two-week-fresh coming out story on the walk to Lone Star Taco Bar in Inman Square.
'Basically, a lot of personal trauma dumping on the first date, which is, as we now understand, not really good practice,' Sapan says. 'But I didn't know anything.'
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It was Sapan's first date with a man and the masks were off.
'The butterflies and giddiness went up a few notches,' Sai Srujan says. 'Trauma dumping,' it was not: 'I felt special that he felt comfortable enough to share with me.'
Sai Srujan just remembers spicy margaritas and falling in love with Sapan's voice.
They later walked to Sai Srujan's apartment, where he served Sapan green tea in response to a joke about Indian chai's superiority. A 'courage cup,' remembers Sai Srujan. After a pep talk with himself in the bathroom mirror, Sapan returned to the kitchen for their first kiss.
Sapan (right) met RuAfza (center), a Tufts alum, through a mutual friend and had reached out via Instagram about officiating their wedding.
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On their second date at Alden and Harlow, they discussed past heartaches and Sapan reached across the table for Sai Srujan's hand. 'Up until that point I don't think I was publicly intimate with anyone, in any way, in the world,' remembers Sai Srujan. While 'a little bit uncomfortable' at first, he was glad he didn't pull away.
Soon, there were gatherings with Sapan's cohort, and puzzles and dinners at Sai Srujan's apartment. They embraced their opposite natures. Sai Srujan describes Sapan as the 'biggest extrovert I've ever met in my life.' While Sapan says of Sai Srujan, 'once he's comfortable with you, he is the life of the party.'
'Meeting a thousand people in a single day is never on my bingo card,' Sai Srujan says. 'I distinctly remember we were a team against the world. ... [Sapan would] make me feel comfortable within big social spaces. And whenever my social energy was completely down, he'd say, 'Let's go.''
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Sai Srujan — an intellectual property consultant by trade, and home chef — learned how to make Sapan's favorite Gujarati dishes.
Sapan told Sai Srujan that informing his parents about their relationship might be 'a challenging conversation, but I know for a fact, once my mom knows I am with someone who loves to cook and loves to feed me, she will be sold.' (Sai Srujan and Sapan's mother now exchange recipes.)
The wedding's primary festivities took place in the Huntington's Maso Studio, a black box event and performance space.
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In April, on an
'I am not a dancer at all,' says Sai Srujan. 'But I remember feeling not shy or awkward because I had a partner showing me the moves.'
Later that night, Sapan told Sai Srujan that he loved him.
'I was expecting a long line of kissing frogs before I found a prince,' says Sapan. 'But I started realizing that I had gotten really lucky.'
Sapan graduated in spring of 2023, and the couple moved in together in Boston, where they now reside, that August. They love to entertain, hosting frequent dinner parties with boardgames.
'He brings the dinner and I am the entertainment,' says Sapan, who now works as a management consultant.
Sai Srujan (left) and Sapan worked with London-based dance instructors Ayesha and Mansha Gupta via Zoom to choreograph their first Sangeet performance as husbands.
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They both wanted to propose — they discussed rings together, but planned for surprises. In December 2024, during a holiday visit to Sapan's sister's New Jersey home, he presented a ring to Sai Srujan.
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'I did my whole speech, and he's like, 'OK, wait, I'm gonna get my ring,' Sapan says. They both said 'yes.'
Sapan, 31, and Sai Srujan, 33, married on May 25 at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.
They had already tied the knot in a March civil ceremony at Cambridge City Hall. But the May wedding incorporated cultural traditions they wanted to share with the community they had built in Boston.
For their ceremony, the couple changed into sparkling suits by Barabas.
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The evening featured a sangeet ceremony with seven group performances by friends and family, culminating with the grooms. The couple are fans of drag performance and they tapped
They exchanged I do's before 84 guests. Sapan surprised his groom with two versions of his vows: one in English, another in Telugu for Sai Srujan's mother.
'[My mother] doesn't understand a lot of English or Gujarati,' says Sai Srujan, whose native language is Telugu. 'I was bawling, my mom was bawling, my dad was bawling.'
There was a Gujarati curry, Telugu food, and a macaron tower from Le Macaron. Dinner was by
The newlyweds had a 'really tight budget' and planned the wedding themselves. They worried the Etsy decor they bought might look 'makeshift," but 15 friends arrived that morning to hang billowing drapes and set out lanterns and flowers around
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Sai Srujan (left) and Sapan officially wed on the anniversary of their first date at Cambridge City Hall with a small group of close friends as witnesses, followed by brunch.
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'We were absolutely blown away by how beautiful and brilliant it looked,' says Sapan. 'I've come out of [our wedding] with so much gratitude for the people around us.'
In their three years together, Sai Srujan's parents came to embrace their son's partner and relationship. But he believes it was a shared belief that marriage is a lifelong union that helped them move forward as a family.
'The assurance of companionship is what made [my parents] feel much better and much happier for me,' says Sai Srujan. 'I would take that over anything else. ... my parents are everything to me. I am so happy that I got to share this moment with [Sapan], and my parents were witness to that.'
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, The Boston Globe's new weddings column.
Rachel Kim Raczka is a writer and editor in Boston. She can be reached at