IT was far from a simple wedding. In fact, the ceremonies of Vikram Chatwal, a jet-setting hotelier and actor, and Priya Sachdev, a model and actress and former investment banker, lasted 10 days and was spread across three cities in India. It was a multimillion-dollar celebration, during which 600 guests from 26 countries were ferried around on chartered jets.

"A lot of my friends had never been there so I really wanted to show them the country," Mr. Chatwal, 34, said. "So we started in Bombay, which is called the gateway to India, and then we moved to Udaipur and then on to Delhi."

It was only fitting that Mr. Chatwal, a son of Sant Singh Chatwal who founded the Bombay Palace restaurants and the Hampshire Hotels and Resorts chain, would have a fabulous blowout, one that was attended by boldfaced American names like Bill Clinton , the model Patricia Velasquez and a coterie of Indian dignitaries and the spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

But that all changed three years ago when Mr. Chatwal met Ms. Sachdev, a graduate of the London School of Economics, at a dinner in India organized by Queenie Dhody, a socialite there. Ms. Dhody's husband, Raja Dhody, spotted her at a party and was convinced that Ms. Sachdev, who hails from a prominent family with holdings that include an automobile dealership and an apparel export company, and Mr. Chatwal would make a perfect couple.

It wasn't love at first sight, said Mr. Chatwal, who starred in a film called "One Dollar Curry," "but there was an instant chemical reaction that night. I was taken by her voice, which is very soft, and I love her laugh. When she laughs it just makes me laugh."

That evening the two exchanged numbers, and Mr. Chatwal invited Ms. Sachdev, who is the eldest of four and dabbles in painting and sculpture, out for dinner the following evening at Olives, a popular nouveau continental restaurant in Mumbai. She said yes. "There was definitely a spark at that dinner," she said, giggling.

Even though the two had been dating for only a few months, once their parents discovered the burgeoning relationship, the pressure began to mount, Mr. Chatwal said.

Despite their families' eagerness, the couple continued to move at their own pace. Then, in December 2004, Mr. Chatwal, who was in India for a film festival, asked Ms. Sachdev to marry him. "He proposed to me at a temple, so I couldn't go crazy," she said. "I couldn't scream or jump and hug him because I had to be composed. There were priests around."

The couple's multicity celebration finally took them to New Delhi, where on Feb. 18, Mr. Chatwal climbed on a white horse and led a half-mile procession to the Taj Palace Hotel. There he was greeted by the bride's family in a traditional welcoming ceremony.

The next day in New Delhi, they were married in a Sikh ceremony before a group of guests, that included India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.

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