Former Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar is coming up on his 11th anniversary with his wife, ex-Miss India Neha Kapur.
What’s even more memorable than their time together is how long their wedding festivities lasted; a whole 6 days, to be exact, with over 1,000 people in attendance.
It Was Not Love At First Sight For Neha Kapur
Kunal Nayyar was visiting India with his friends and family when he got invited to a new bar opening in December 2008. At the bar, his cousin told him that there was someone that he needed to meet.
In an article posted by People Magazine, when Nayyar’s cousin introduced him to Neha Kapur, she was mentioned as the former Miss India. This prompted Nayyar to joke, “Ex. Can you introduce me to the current one?” Kapur, who had never seen or even heard of the popular TV show The Big Bang Theory, wasn’t exactly impressed by Nayyar either.
She immediately took note of his “Hollywood” appearance.
"The first time I saw Kunal, he was wearing a trucker hat, cutoff gloves, hipster glasses, and a scarf… It took me a while to find him among all that.”
Kunal Nayyar Was Head Over Heels For Neha Kapur
However, when Nayyar finally set his eyes on Kapur, he was completely smitten. “My first thought was, ‘This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen’. My second thought was, ‘She’s way out of my league.”
The pair seem to hit it off after a round of drinks, as they relayed their shared experiences living in New Delhi. After that night, Nayyar invited Kapur to visit him back in the states.
3 weeks later, she was on a plane to Los Angeles to spend more time with him. Kapur spoke in depth about her first visit with Glamour. She was quoted saying, "I can spend hours talking to Kunal, and it just felt like I had always known him, so when I came to visit him in L.A., it just seemed so right… I think I was always ready to marry him."
The Wedding Festivities Lasted Six Whole Days
Their wedding was set in December 2011 in their childhood city of New Delhi. During the 6-day-long celebration, the pair treated themselves and their guests to cultural festivities. Nayyar recalled the day that all the women got henna tattoos, as is customary during a traditional Indian wedding.
He was quoted saying, “All of the women get henna and all the men drink Bloody Marys. The men feed the women because they have to wait for the henna to dry." Another part of the traditional festivities was the part where Nayyar rode in on a white horse as his family danced around him while they played the drums. On an episode of Late Night With Conan O’Brien, he explained this part of the ceremony as the scariest part of the entire ceremony.
“The thing, though, is when you’re sitting on this horse, or when you’re getting on this horse, there’s a horse handler… but this horse handler was 13-years-old. A 13-year-old boy, and he’s handling the horse, and my family, my cousins and all, are dancing around this horse as the drums are playing, and they have to feed the horse as a blessing. But the kid is not letting my family feed the horse because he wants payment before… So the drums are playing, my friends are dancing, [the horse] is freaking out!... And I’m thinking, ‘How sad is this? This is the day I’m going to die.’”
On a lighter note, in the February 2013 edition of Vogue India, when Nayyar was asked about his favorite moment during the celebrations, his answer was simple; seeing his bride-to-be on the actual wedding day.
"My favorite moment was seeing Neha for the first time that day. It still gives me the shivers to think of how beautiful she looked. I mean, I obviously know my wife is beautiful, the whole world knows she's beautiful. But there was something more than physical beauty at play when she was walking. It was spiritual, she was a vision. I'll never forget that till the day I die."
Last year, Nayyar created an anniversary post on his Instagram for Kapur. The post is a short video clip of Kapur dancing with the caption reading, “'We may be unconventional, but I remembered how we promised to not live our lives according to someone else's version of it. Cheers to you, champion, partner, best friend. Whatever is to come, I am lucky we have tomorrow. Happy 10th.”
In response, Kapur posted 2 photos of herself and Nayyar with the caption, "Like rivers.. we chose our own paths and come back to merge as one,' adding, 'Happy 10 my love." Big Bang Theory fans hope to see these two experience many more happy years to come.
