Foreigner not residing in India marrying an Indian citizen

My fiancé and I met while I was doing my masters in London. He’s a Bulgarian national who is living and working in London, and I have returned to Bangalore, India post my studies. We got engaged before I left and are planning to get married in my hometown Bangalore and have done extensive research regarding the Special Marriage Act and the legalities behind it. We also have all necessary documents (ID and address proofs, NOC certificate and translated docs) for submission and were initially told that one party (me) was enough to submit on both our behalves and make an application. But our lawyer is now saying that my fiancé needs to be present for both the submission of application and the registration (this we understand), thirty days later. As you can imagine, it would be difficult for a non-resident to abandon work and travel twice for this. Our family is planning on hosting him for the period of registration and marriage, but he’s in no position to make it twice. Can I submit for the both of us? Can anybody please help with the legality of this? Thank you in advance for your time.