For more than a decade, Bride Club ME has celebrated the creativity, ambition and innovation shaping the wedding industry in the UAE and beyond. Through our Get to Know the Wedding Pro series, we shine a spotlight on the inspiring individuals pushing the boundaries of what weddings can look like.

In this special feature, we sit down with visionary planner Gauri Chadha Rupani, co-founder of The Big Night Events, whose imagination has taken her to a place few wedding professionals have ever considered: space.

The idea may sound extraordinary, but for Gauri it is deeply personal. Her father once made history when his photography was displayed aboard the International Space Station after being sent via Star City in Russia. Growing up surrounded by that spirit of bold thinking and limitless possibility shaped the way she approaches creativity today.

In this conversation with Bride Club ME, Gauri shares the emotional story behind her father’s remarkable achievement, the moment she first imagined a wedding beyond Earth, and what the future of luxury weddings could look like as technology, travel and imagination continue to evolve.

Above: Gauri Chadha Rupani, co-founder of The Big Night Events

Interview with Gauri Chadha Rupani

Your father was one of the first photographers to have a photo exhibition displayed inside the International Space Station, with his work taken up via Star City in Russia. Can you share that story with us and what that moment meant to your family?

I can never forget the first time my dad shared this dream with us. I was a teenager studying in Switzerland at the time. Over a casual Saturday lunch, he walked in and said, “Kids, I am going to send my photographs to space.”

Over the next twenty years, we watched him push this idea everywhere he could. He never gave up. He never stopped. Not for a single second did he believe it could not happen. And then it did.

We watched the rocket launch into the zenith above Star City in Russia. Later, we saw photographs of the cosmonauts floating inside the International Space Station with his work drifting beside them. He chose to send images of flora and fauna because he believed the growth of life is what the cosmonauts would miss most.

It was not just a professional milestone. It was a lesson in persistence, imagination and belief.

What was it like emotionally, knowing that your father’s work was literally orbiting the Earth?

I still find it hard to fully digest. We feel incredibly proud of him. More than that, I am deeply grateful for the lesson he taught us. You can truly do anything you set your mind to.

I remember telling him,

Now that you have put your photographs in space, you have given me big shoes to fill. Now I have to screen the first movie in space.

Growing up in a home where imagination had no ceiling shaped everything about how I think. We were never taught to shrink our ideas. We were taught to expand them.

Growing up with that connection to space, do you think it shaped how you see ambition, possibility and what feels achievable in your own life and career?

Without a doubt. My dad subscribed us to The Planetary Society magazine when we were young. I used to wait eagerly for it to arrive each month. I would take it to school in Switzerland, and my geography teacher and I would get lost in its pages filled with wonder and curiosity.

If I had not pursued the arts, I would probably have become an environmentalist.

My dad is also an extraordinary landscape photographer who worked closely with global organisations like the WWF and other NGOs to help preserve our planet. My childhood was spent travelling the world with him, capturing the beauty of nature.

That shaped my ethos. It grounded me. It taught me reverence for the power of nature.

He used to say, “Whenever you are lost or hurting, go to Mother Nature. She will give you the answers.”

That upbringing made me feel deeply connected to something bigger, the planet, its orbit and the vastness beyond it. I think about space often. It reminds me how small we are and yet how limitless possibility can be.

Was there a particular moment when you connected your father’s space story with your own work in weddings and thought, why not take this industry somewhere completely new?

Yes. I was sitting at my office desk, honestly daydreaming. I was not working on anything creatively challenging at the time. My mind started wandering and I remember thinking, is this just it?

Then suddenly the idea arrived. It felt like a creative cloud taking over. My whole body felt electrified.

Sometimes ideas are so big they take time to digest. I told my husband and business partner. He paused, looked at me and said, “Let’s do it.”

I had been holding the idea quietly for a while. During our first podcast appearance, I finally said it out loud. That was the moment it became real.

There was no going back. Doing the first event in space became a new sense of purpose.

What does the idea of planning the first wedding in space represent to you on a personal level?

It is deeply personal. When you grow up watching art literally leave the planet, you do not learn to think small. You learn that creativity has no ceiling.

Space is not an abstract ambition for me. It is part of my family legacy. It represents pushing creative work beyond earthly limits.

When I talk about planning the first wedding in space, it is symbolic. It represents attempting what sounds impossible. It represents elevating moments and treating creativity as something worthy of orbiting beyond the ordinary.

In events, that translates into designing experiences that feel limitless. I do not believe in safe storytelling. I believe in legacy storytelling.

If my father could send art into space, why can we not send love there?

Do you see this as a visionary concept or a real ambition you believe could one day become technically possible?

It feels like both.

I grew up watching my father send his art into space. Something extraordinary leaving Earth never felt like science fiction. It felt brave and possible.

Space travel is becoming more accessible. What once belonged exclusively to astronauts is slowly opening to civilians.

Celebrating love beyond Earth may sound radical, but when you look at the trajectory of innovation, it feels like a natural extension of human curiosity.

For me, it has never been just about space. It has always been about refusing to think small.

If you were designing the very first wedding in space, how would you imagine the experience for the couple?

This would be the purest form of luxury. True luxury is not excess. It is access. It is attaining something no one else has.

The first wedding in space would not require theatrical spectacle. Being suspended above Earth, witnessing the planet from that perspective, is already extraordinary.

The view becomes the décor.
The silence becomes the soundtrack.
The vastness becomes the symbolism.

I would design it to be intimate and intentional, almost sacred.

How might vows, rituals or even exchanging rings change in zero gravity?

Zero gravity would transform even the simplest gestures.

Imagine exchanging rings and letting them float gently between you before placing them on each other’s hands. It becomes symbolic, not just ritual but choice.

Vows could be spoken while drifting slowly toward one another, framed by panoramic windows or infinite darkness scattered with stars.

Instead of petals falling, delicate flowers could be released to orbit around them, moving slowly like living constellations.

In zero gravity, everything becomes intentional. Stripped back. Pure.

What parts of a traditional wedding would translate beautifully to space?

Traditions are not bound by geography or planet.

The emotional core of a wedding, vows, commitment and witnessing, translates anywhere. Love does not rely on gravity. It relies on intention.

My father’s favourite photograph was Earthrise. Imagine that as your wedding frame, two people suspended together with the curve of the planet glowing behind them.

That photograph becomes more than a wedding image. It becomes art. It becomes history.

From a planning perspective, what are the biggest logistical challenges of a wedding in space?

Commercial space travel is still in its early stages and remains highly regulated.

Any wedding physically taking place in space would need to operate within strict aerospace protocols, including life support systems, payload limits, mission windows and safety clearance.

Every design element would need to be reconsidered, from attire and florals to filming equipment and even the rings themselves.

The couple would also require training not only for launch but for functioning safely in microgravity.

However, space integration does not necessarily require the couple to leave Earth.

A wedding could take place on Earth while being transmitted live to space, with symbolic elements activated in orbit, creating a dual location celebration connecting Earth and space simultaneously.

What kinds of collaborations would be required to make this possible?

It would require true cross industry collaboration. Aerospace agencies and private space travel companies for mission integration. Engineers and life support specialists. Luxury hospitality brands to rethink service in microgravity. Designers to reimagine attire and spatial aesthetics.

Even cake designers would need to rethink what a wedding cake looks like in space. It would not just be an event. It would be a collective evolution.

Would space weddings remain ultra exclusive or eventually become more accessible?

I believe it would begin and perhaps remain an ultra-exclusive experience. Space is not a venue. It is an environment that must be protected. Accessibility may increase over time, but that does not mean volume should. Some experiences are powerful precisely because they are rare.

Do you think the future of weddings lies in bold personalisation?

Personalisation has always been part of weddings. What is evolving is the scale of expression. Couples today want experiences that reflect who they are rather than simply following tradition.

Space would never be for every couple. It would be for the few who share that same curiosity and reverence for the unknown. Bold personalisation is not about spectacle. It is about authenticity.

What can couples planning weddings today take from this idea of dreaming bigger?

Dreaming bigger is not about extravagance. It is about courage. It is about asking yourselves what actually feels like you. For some couples, that might be an intimate ceremony under the stars. For others, it might be rewriting traditions that do not resonate.

When a wedding reflects who you truly are, your values, your journey and your quirks, it becomes unforgettable.

For creatives and entrepreneurs sitting on a bold idea they are afraid to share, what advice would you give?

There is a moment before every great story begins when the idea feels too big to belong to you. That is the moment most people step back.

If it does not scare you, it is not stretching you. If it does not feel a little impossible, it is not transforming you. So, if you are holding an idea that feels too ambitious or unrealistic, lean into it. Say it out loud. Let it echo.

The dreams that unsettle you are often the ones that rewrite your story.

At Bride Club ME, we have always believed that the wedding industry thrives on imagination, innovation and bold ideas. While a wedding in space may sound like something from the future, conversations like this remind us that the most exciting shifts in weddings often begin with one person daring to think differently.

As technology evolves and couples continue to seek deeply meaningful, once in a lifetime experiences, the possibilities for weddings are expanding far beyond traditional boundaries. Whether it is an intimate desert ceremony in the UAE, a destination wedding abroad, or one day even a celebration orbiting the Earth, the heart of a wedding remains the same: love, commitment and storytelling.

Gauri Chadha Rupani’s vision reminds us that creativity in weddings should never feel limited. Sometimes the most powerful ideas begin as dreams that seem slightly impossible.

And who knows. One day, “I do” might truly echo beyond Earth.