Today millions around the world watched as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry became the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex at their royal wedding. Their nuptials were thoroughly modern and broke significantly with royal tradition: There was the bride’s off-the-shoulder gown; Bishop Michael Curry’s passionate sermon, which brought Oprah to tears; and the ceremony gospel choir’s rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” (and that’s just to start!). Most of us watched the extravagant affair from our couches (or, ahem, our beds), but what was it like to actually be right there in the chapel? Glamour.com spoke to Suhani Jalota, who met Markle two years ago and today, got the chance to have the surreal experience of seeing Prince Harry and Markle tie the knot.

Jalota is the founder of menstrual hygiene startup Myna Mahila Foundation, which employs women living in Mumbai slums to make their own menstrual pads. When she was honored as one of Glamour’s College Women of the Year in 2016, her work struck a chord with Markle at the awards luncheon in New York City. Five months later, Markle visited her and the women in the slum. Jalota was later invited to the royal wedding, along with a few of her employees (read the whole story here. Even more incredible? The newlyweds chose Jalota’s organization as one of seven that they’ll donate their wedding funds to.

“For my extended family and for my grandparents specifically, this is unbelievable,” Jalota says. “It’s the biggest deal in the world because they lived under British rule. I’ve had to take my invitation with me wherever I go so I can show it to them; both sets of my grandparents cried. My parents are kind of confused as to how and what is happening. For my mom, this is an opportunity for her to boast and go around telling everyone. And my papa has actually started to use Facebook now to track everything.”

So what was it actually like to attend the royal wedding? Here’s what Jalota has to say about everything from the vibe of the ceremony to what it was like rubbing shoulders with the A-listers there.

Yes, the mood inside the chapel was as joyous as it seemed on the livestream.

“People started being seated around 10, 10:30. After Oprah arrived, that’s when the seating started. The ceremony started around 11:45, so people were waiting for an hour or more than an hour.”

“The first time Prince Harry came in, and when Meghan came in [were big moments]. And then when they both said, “I will,” everybody outside was cheering. I was on the complete right side where I couldn’t see much. Inside the chapel there was another room where they were taking their vows, and that’s where only the Queen, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Meghan’s mom [and other special guests] could see that in progress. We could just take a glimpse of her when she was walking down the aisle. Everyone inside the chapel was pretty quiet the whole time, but from outside you’d hear all the cheers.”

“I expected it to be a lot more traditional and formal, but it seemed a lot more fun and friendly and all about love and friendship. During Bishop Michael Curry’s speech, he was talking about the importance of love, and I think a lot of the couples in the crowd felt it. Everybody really agreed with him and reacted to what he was saying.”

“The Myna women were out in the lawns where Meghan and Harry entered from. They actually had a much better view than I did inside the chapel. They said, ‘It was magical.’ I think one of them said, ‘I couldn’t believe it.’ This is a global wedding that everybody’s been looking out for, and we’re just here. It makes things seem so much more normal. And it’s not. I met Priyanka Chopra. It seemed too ordinary to be true. In the moment, you’re like, ‘Wow, it’s all accessible.'”

“After the ceremony, everyone was saying, ‘That was special. That was phenomenal. That was so great. That was wonderful.’ In general, everybody really enjoyed it. I think generally Harry and Meghan are unconventional, and they were really happy and amused by the whole thing. It was special for them.”

The luncheon reception was much more chill, and Prince Charles made some jokes about his son.

“Everybody was really looking forward to the reception, because the chapel was not a very conducive place to meet people and have a conversation. The reception was really where people had a lot of fun.”

“Prince Charles was joking a little about Harry not following a traditional path. I think he was basically saying [that Prince Harry] has how become a really noble gentleman and somebody that the world honors and looks up to. He doesn’t listen to everything he says, but now he listens to everything Meghan says. That he’s changed his diet, because Meghan’s really healthy.”

“In his speech, Harry was thanking everybody and thanking his wife for agreeing to this proposal, and he thanked Meghan’s mom for agreeing to marry off her daughter to him. He was very respectful toward her mom.”

“After the ceremony, everyone was saying, “That was special. That was phenomenal. That was so great. That was wonderful.”

“When Prince Harry was referring to Meghan for the first time as his wife, that’s when everybody was teasing him. He repeated that sentence like four times, and every time, people were cheering.”

“Elton John performed, and the only one song I recognized was ‘The Circle of Life.’ He sang like four songs, and everybody was dancing and enjoying and screaming, ‘Once more! Once more!’ He kept coming back to the stage after every song.”

“I ate almost nothing. There were some starters that were being passed around and some drinks, but that was it. When the Queen is there, and Prince Charles is there—I mean, I just didn’t pick up anything to eat.”

Meeting a celeb was not out of the question.

“I saw Victoria Beckham and George Clooney. I met Priyanka Chopra right after the ceremony in the chapel. I [actually] went up to her—this was a lifetime opportunity! I was looking everywhere for her. Everyone else was sitting chatting in groups, and I was literally just roaming around. We were all supposed to be lining up. But I knew that she was somewhere in the front, and I just went to the top of the line, and I was like, “Priyanka!”

I introduced myself, and told her I was a big fan and told her that every Indian girl grows up idolizing her. She thanked me, then we met again at the reception, and we spoke about her mother and how my mother and I sit together watching her movies. She said, “Say hi to your mom.” It was very brief, and I doubt she’ll ever remember me. But I’ll definitely remember that moment.”

Meghan Markle was just as elegant in person.

“I got to speak to Meghan during the reception, when she and Prince Harry were meeting everybody one by one. Even after she has become the Duchess of Sussex, she hasn’t changed. She’s still the same old Meghan I met in New York and after that in India. I gave her a hug, and I congratulated her and thanked her for this opportunity, and she thanked me for coming. We talked about her future work with Myna, and I invited her back to Mumbai again.”

“Meghan looked very simple and elegant and beautiful. She really maintains that in her personality as well. She looked gorgeous, and Harry mentioned that many times: ‘I’m standing next to this gorgeous woman;’ ‘I’m so lucky to call this beautiful woman my wife now.’ I think everybody thought she looked beautiful.”

The vibe in the U.K. right now is bonkers.

“It’s crazy in the U.K. People [were] lining up on the streets for days, tenting, and wearing British flags everywhere. I’ve seen everything with a British flag—from caps to goggles to costumes to shoes to capes. The whole town of Windsor looks like an amusement park with a Harry-and-Meghan theme. Every shop, every restaurant, everything in Windsor is twisted into Harry and Meghan. The vibe of the town itself is amazing. This is how I feel when India is playing in the Cricket World Cup. And people are still there on the streets in Windsor, even though [the wedding is over].”

“Meghan looked very simple and elegant and beautiful. She really maintains that in her personality as well. She looked gorgeous, and Harry mentioned that many times: ‘I’m standing next to this gorgeous woman;’ ‘I’m so lucky to call this beautiful woman my wife now.’ I think everybody thought she looked beautiful.”

Any parting thoughts on the royal nuptials?

“This was my first-ever Christian wedding . and first-ever wedding in a church—I didn’t know what the norm was. During the hour and a half or so of just being seated before everything started, I read through the whole [wedding program] and the vows. It was so much around love and friendship and being together. The whole conversation around the wedding was just around the couple’s love and how they’re perfect for each other, and complement each other. The whole theme of love was very, very special.”

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