Rachel Rose Rohatgi Weds Ford Rainey

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The newlyweds with their parents after the wedding. From left, Rakesh and Irma Rohatgi with their daughet Rachel Rose, Ford with his parents Jean and Hugh Rainey.
Photo: Jawahar Malhotra

By Jawahar Malhotra

SUGAR LAND: The skinny groomsman, Kevyn, caught the guests by surprise, as the opening notes of a pop tune engulfed the room, by jumping onstage to do some carefree dance moves. The rest of the groomsmen followed, bursting into an energetic dance line and the bridesmaids jumped followed in for a lively dance set. As the music blended into the current pop fav, “Happy” by Pheral Williams, several young flower girls walked down the aisle, strewing it with petals as the wedding couple’s parents and family walked to their seats. And the set was capped off with the bride and groom waving and walking in through the aisle, hand-in-hand, to the foot of the stage to “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey.

And this was just the beginning of what turned out to be the carefree, happy marriage ceremony of Rachel Rose Rohatgi and Ford Townsend Rainey, on a stage at the Marriott Hotel in Sugar Land’s Town Square on Saturday, October 11. It was bereft of the sort of stiff formality that is customary of many Indian weddings and done without too much fanfare.

The wedding was unique for its lack of religious symbolisms but even more so because the couple were married by the bride’s brother, Roger, an ordained minister who has performed a few other weddings before. Roger carried the couple through their wedding vows with a strong delivery as the bridesmaids and groomsmen stood on each side. Before the couple exchanged vows, they spoke of their love for each other from prepared notes and then gave each other a single rose bud as a symnol of that love. Kevyn Richmond, an aspiring actor from Los Angeles, wrapped up by singing “Everlasting Light” by the Black Keys, sans music.

Rachel (Rose is her maternal grandmother’s name), 31, is an attorney working in the area of workers compensation with Stockwell, Harris, Woolverton & Muehl in Los Angeles, California since 2002. She received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans and her law degree from California Western University in San Diego. She is the daughter of Rakesh Rohatgi, a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas industry who works with Technip. Her mother retired as a teacher at HISD and now is an Adjunct Professor with the University of Houston Downtown. Her brother Roger is a VP of Creative at YouToo Technologies in Dallas.

Ford, 34, was born in the Azores Islands where his family was stationed in the US Navy and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He went to the University of Texas, San Antonio for a degree in Computer Sciences and works as a software engineer for Raytheon in Los Angeles. His father Hugh retired as a Lt. Commander of a destroyer in the US Navy and his mother Jean is an early childhood teacher in San Antonio.

The couple has known each other since they met through the dating service okcupid.com and went on their first date on April 13, 2011, remembered Rachel. They newlyweds will honeymoon in Hawaii before making their home in the Westchester district of Los Angeles.