The Rumba, the Red Lehenga, and Rustic Elegance: Anushka & Nitin's Wedding at Penha Longa Resort, Sintra

Love Story

It was July 2021, a warm summer evening in New York City, and Anushka spilled her drink within minutes of arriving. Nitin swooped in to help. By the end of the night they'd uncovered two things that felt almost too neat to be real: they lived in the same building, and their birthdays were just one day apart.

"We started talking and bonded over some amazing coincidences," Anushka told us. They grew up nearly 8,000 miles apart — she in Mumbai, he in Kentucky — and their paths had converged, without warning, at a party neither had planned to attend.

What followed was four years of figuring out that this was, in fact, the person. Nitin's case was made early. It was his Southern charm that got her first — and then the gestures started. When Anushka left the country for a month-long trip, he casually convinced her to leave her apartment keys with him so he could "water her plants." The day before she returned, he placed a massive bouquet of flowers on her desk. The note read: "Welcome back, Anushka. Private helicopter at sunset this Sunday — see you soon." She was, as she puts it, officially wooed. He could snag impossible restaurant reservations. He had a backup plan for the backup plan. He did a shockingly good German accent at exactly the right moment to make her laugh. And when he made rooftop dinner plans, he didn't just have a plan B for rain — he had a plan C in case plan B wasn't good enough.

From Nitin's side, it was simpler to explain and harder to resist: Anushka's all-in energy. "When she set her mind on a mission, she was unstoppable," he says — whether that meant replacing the living room rug three times until it felt exactly right, or closing a deal with effortless confidence.

Then came New Zealand. Before they left for the trip in 2024, Nitin had casually mentioned he knew nothing about engagement rings — while her dream ring sat hidden beneath a pile of socks in his backpack. Over the course of the holiday they swam in underground caves, went skydiving on a whim, and jumped 400 feet from one of the highest bungee jumps in the world. Towards the end of the trip, Nitin insisted on a 7am drive to watch the sunrise from the hills. Anushka thought nothing of it — she was happily eating what she describes as the world's greatest jalapeño and cheese bagel when they reached the lookout and he dropped down on one knee. He had secretly hired a local photographer hiding 20 feet away in the bushes, who captured the whole thing.

Four years. Then Portugal.

About Your Wedding

Anushka is a strategy consultant advising banks and fintechs. Outside of work she ballroom dances, solves cryptic crosswords, and plans travel itineraries down to the last detail. Nitin is a quantitative researcher at a hedge fund who cooks, plays tennis and poker, and optimizes credit card points with what Anushka describes as quiet, engineering-level precision.

When it came to their wedding, both personalities showed up in full.
"With our closest family and friends traveling in from all over the world, we always knew we wanted to get married in an international destination that felt thoughtfully chosen — somewhere less traveled, and visually stunning," Anushka says. Their 150 guests came from the USA, UK, Latvia, India, Dubai, and Singapore. They needed a place that could hold all of that.

They found it in Sintra — a town folded between mountains and the Atlantic, where the streets are narrow and the palaces are not subtle. "Our shared love of pastéis de nata made the choice feel just right," Anushka adds, which tells you something about the kind of people they are.

Four of the five events took place at the Ritz Carlton – Penha Longa Resort, a property that was once a residence of Portuguese royalty. The fifth — the Reception — moved to Forte da Cruz in Estoril, a cliff-top castle above the ocean. Planning began just over a year in advance: engaged in April 2024, married in July 2025.

“Our vision was to create a celebration that mirrored who we are: unconventional, inspired by the patina of historic spaces, and creatively ambitious,” they share. Not a wedding that looked like a wedding. A celebration that looked like them.

"Our wedding celebrated a balance of raw beauty and understated luxury, with each event thoughtfully curated to reflect local Portuguese culture," Anushka explains. "We wanted every guest to feel immersed in the experience of a fun, sophisticated European summer — from the colors, cuisine, and music to the genuine warmth and hospitality shared by both our families." And that's exactly how it played out, one event at a time.

The weekend opened with an all-white soirée at Mercatto Restaurant — Italian food, Portuguese wine, henna applied to the sound of a live Fado band on the lawn. Azulejos-inspired blue lanterns, porcelain vases, flowing local wines. The following morning, the Haldi in Adens Garden went entirely the other direction: all yellow, flower showers, bursts of turmeric, a celebration that was, by design, as loud and joyful as the Welcome Party was elegant.

Then came the Sangeet — a shimmery night in the Monastery Cloisters, which was once a summer palace for Portuguese royalty. Jewel tones against burgundy and lilac, baroque architecture, iconic blue-frescoed walls, a live saxophone weaving through electric DJ sets until late. "We showed off our dance moves in the 14th-century courtyard," Anushka says, and the photographs confirm that nobody held back.

The Wedding Ceremony brought everything down to something quieter: soft pastels, greens, whites, a floating platform above water in a stone garden nestled within the ruins of a 16th-century meditation sanctuary. And then the Reception at Forte da Cruz — black-tie, grand, long tables flickering with candlelight beneath suspended chandeliers, live violin across the oceanfront terraces, and, closing out the night, an LED robot on stilts.

When we asked what moment they'll carry longest from the weekend, neither of them hesitated. "The Sangeet after-party was the undeniable highlight," they told us. "We will never forget dancing under the stars with our closest friends as the intoxicating sound of a live saxophone wove through our favorite DJ sets. It was pure magic."

Morning Details

Anushka and her mother share a passion for designing jewelry — so across the five events, every piece was considered, and most were made together. For the Welcome Party, long diamond earrings with a diamond bracelet, paired with the ivory gown. For the Haldi, floral jewelry from India crafted from dried sola wood flowers. For the Sangeet, a diamond set accented with sapphires and pearls against the mauve lehenga. For the ceremony, a traditional Kundan set alongside a mangalsutra designed with her mother-in-law: bezel-set diamonds on a delicate gold chain, traditional in meaning, entirely their own in form. For the Reception, a diamond necklace with emerald stones, matching earrings, and an emerald family ring. "The emeralds' rich green complemented my maroon sari perfectly," she says.

The wedding rings followed the same thinking: individual without being mismatched, timeless without being predictable. "We custom designed our rings to reflect our individual styles while staying timeless," Anushka says. Her band features emerald-cut eternity diamonds on a thicker band, sitting alongside her princess-cut solitaire on a delicate pavé yellow-gold setting. Nitin's is a classic gold band — perfectly suited, as Anushka notes, for everyday wear.

The stationery across the weekend was designed by a London-based custom stationer and worked less as signage and more as part of the visual story itself: welcome boards, engraved mirrors, cloth runners, itinerary fans, bespoke tile seating charts, marble bar menus, framed table numbers. "My vision was brought to life through varied materials, textures, and depth," Anushka says.

Bride Getting Ready

Anushka got ready in her bridal suite at the resort, the room full of soft morning light. She'd asked for quiet and candid — no posed, performative moments. Her mother and sister sat with her and hand-fed her breakfast before the day began.

Her looks across the five events were months in the making, each one chosen with a specific intention. "I always knew I would be married in red," she says of the wedding ceremony lehenga. "It is a long-standing tradition in my family, and I never pictured myself in anything else." She worked with Kiasa Couture, a Mumbai-based label, to co-design the piece with her father: custom raw silk, a scalloped pattern, intricate gold embroidery, a sweetheart neckline, a deep back, angular cap sleeves, and a beaded strand framing the waist. The net veil was designed to trail just enough for the entrance she'd always imagined. Over eight months, they flew to India multiple times for fittings, adjusting the silhouette until it was exactly right.

For the Welcome Party, a high-neck, open-back ivory satin gown from Anthropologie's wedding collection. For the Haldi, a butter-yellow halter sharara by Mumbai-based designer Gopi Vaid — colorful tassels, gold lace-up heels. The Sangeet called for something more dramatic: a mauve lehenga by Kiasa Couture, geometric artwork embellished with Swarovski crystals, glass beads, and sequins on an organza base, worn with a cape over a V-neck blouse. For the Reception, she closed the weekend in a maroon sari by Prémya — red beading, ostrich feathers, sculpted into a mermaid silhouette.

The bridal bouquet was a tight cluster of white calla lilies. Her bridesmaids each carried a single long-stemmed calla lily — the same flower, a different weight. The bridesmaids themselves were not put in matching dresses. "Rather than conforming to traditional uniforms, I encouraged my bridesmaids to express their own style," she says — a mismatched pastel lineup that brought more color and personality to the photographs than a uniform ever could.

Groom Getting Ready

Nitin's looks were built to complement Anushka's — a deliberate choreography of color and texture across the weekend. For the Welcome Party: a classic cream tuxedo with black trousers. For the Haldi: a butter-yellow mirrored kurta with Patiala pants, fully committed to the celebration's palette. For the Sangeet: a raw silk burgundy sherwani by Seema Gujral, open jacket, mirrorwork on the sleeves — matched to Anushka's mauve. For the Wedding Ceremony: a raw silk ivory sherwani by Seema Gujral with rose-gold embroidery, a beige safa, and raw silk mojaris. For the Reception: a suede black Jodhpuri suit with subtle black embellishments.

Haldi

Photoshoot Before The Ceremony

For the pre-wedding shoot, Anushka and Nitin chose the Salão Nobre — the Nobel Room — inside Penha Longa's 14th-century Monastery palace. It's a small, contained space: traditional Portuguese azulejos tiled paintings on the walls, ornate gilded ceilings overhead, the kind of room that has been waiting a long time to be photographed in.

"We wanted a photoshoot that evoked a sense of heritage influenced by regal motifs," Anushka says. From the Nobel Room they moved to the Monastery Cloisters, capturing moments beneath geometric arches and Renaissance stonework — the same cloisters where their Sangeet had taken place the night before, quieter now in the morning light. The bridesmaids joined them in the Nobel Room. The groomsmen took a different register entirely: out on the resort terrace, candid shots, the hills of Sintra rolling out behind them.

Photographer Ivo Moreira and videographer Diogo Jervis were with them throughout. "They captured candid moments with an incredibly artistic lens," Anushka says.

Ceremony

Before the ceremony began, Nitin had already arrived on a white horse.

The baraat — his celebratory procession — came first, with live dhol music setting the energy for everything that followed. Then the garden settled, instrumental music drifted through the stone space, and guests took their seats facing a ceremony platform floating above still water.

The venue was Nuncio Garden, a rustic space made of stone nestled within the ruins of a 16th-century meditation sanctuary. "Beyond its stunning uniqueness and visual beauty, the venue resonated with us for its original purpose," Anushka says. "A space once dedicated to meditation, lending a tranquil, peaceful aura that perfectly underscored the intimacy of our ceremony."

Anushka entered with four of her brothers, walking beneath a Phoolon Ki Chadar — a canopy of flowers symbolizing lifelong protection. She walked down the aisle to an instrumental rendition of Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai. "I love the violin, percussion, and sitar notes prevalent in these instrumentals," she says.

The rituals that followed were the ones that have held for generations: the Jai Mala, an exchange of garlands. The Agni Puja, a fire ceremony. The Saptapadi — seven circles around the sacred fire, each representing a lifetime together. And the Joota Chupai, in which Anushka's sisters stole Nitin's shoes and negotiated a ransom with the seriousness of people who had been planning this for some time.

At the very end, as the couple walked back down the aisle together for the first time as husband and wife, red and green smoke bombs erupted behind them. Kygo's For Life filled the garden when they threw their hands up in celebration.

Photoshoot After The Ceremony

After the ceremony, the couple moved to the garden stairs — still in the Nuncio Garden, still surrounded by ancient stone — for photographs in the outdoor light. Their custom signage provided a backdrop. “The lush greenery of the golf course and Sintra’s rolling hills framed the scene, creating a naturally breathtaking setting for photographs.”

It was intentionally unhurried. The particular kind of photoshoot that's possible only after the ceremony is over and the exhale has happened — when two people are simply standing in the afternoon and happened to get married an hour ago.

Wedding Venue & Decor

"Our aesthetic was intentional storytelling through décor, personality, and emotion," Anushka says. That's the clearest way to describe what the weekend looked like — five events, five distinct visual worlds, each one built to mean something.

The Welcome Party was rooted in the iconography of Portuguese azulejos: an all-white dress code, blue hydrangeas, porcelain vases, and a canopy of lanterns in varying shades of cerulean above the wine bar. The table featured a lavish charcuterie display, locally sourced scallops, and port wine-poached pears — each detail chosen to root the evening firmly in its Portuguese setting. Guests arrived to Lisbon-inspired tote bags — azulejos coasters, port wine, champagne truffles, a key-card holder engraved with "A&N," a handwritten thank-you note. Custom betting slips circulated through the evening, each one featuring playful questions about events that would unfold across the weekend, with a prize for the winner at the end — a nod to Nitin's love of sports betting that had guests invested from night one. Women were gifted silk shawls with peacock motifs as the evening wound down.

The Haldi went all yellow: marigolds, canary striped lounge umbrellas, the bridesmaids in matching yellow maang tikkas crafted from dried flowers. The afternoon featured live Portuguese olive oil tastings and ginjinha tastings — interactive, local, the kind of detail guests were still talking about the next morning.

The Sangeet was the visual peak of the weekend. Guests came in bold, shimmering tones that caught the light against pale pink stone walls and lilac orchids on burgundy tablescapes. The immediate families coordinated in mauve and purple. "My favorite addition to the Sangeet was probably the fairy light dance floor, which was a showstopper," Anushka says. A live watercolor artist worked through the night, and every guest left holding a portrait of themselves.

The Wedding Ceremony pulled back to something quieter: soft pastels, greens, whites, and neutrals. Every man received a green bandhani dupatta for the baraat. Every guest found a custom paper fan at their seat — ceremony steps on one side, a watercolor of the pond garden on the other — and a small bell tucked beneath their chair, ready to be rung. "White hydrangeas and roses, green bells of Ireland, and cascading moss-green amaranthus contrasted perfectly with my red lehenga," Anushka says. The palette was designed around that contrast from the start.

The Reception at Forte da Cruz was black tie from the first moment: floor-length gowns, classic tuxedos, long tables lined with antique candelabras and terracotta blush dahlias, ivory drapes and gold chandeliers overhead. Guests found their seats by collecting Portuguese tiles engraved with their names — designed to complement the décor and leave with them at the end of the night. During cake cutting, sparklers were handed to every guest, and the castle lit up around them as the sky went dark.

The Ritz Carlton – Penha Longa Resort was the first venue they considered in Sintra, and it set a standard that held for everything that followed. "What captivated us most was the history and grandeur of the resort," Anushka says. "Baroque architecture, tiled monasteries, ancient ruins, and magnificent castles. What more could we want." The idea of hosting each event in a different space with distinct character, while keeping all guests together under one roof for the entire weekend, was central to the vision from the start.

Reception

The food across the weekend was built as its own kind of journey. "The cuisine was designed to be an immersive journey in itself," Anushka says. "With Portugal renowned for its beloved desserts and culinary tradition, we wanted the menus to celebrate local delicacies while weaving in Indian classics and our childhood favorites." Every event had its own menu, its own logic, its own small surprises.

The Reception cocktail hour ran three signature drinks on the Forte da Cruz terraces: the Sintra Sunset (spicy mango margarita), the Moorish Mocha (hazelnut espresso martini), and the Castle Colada (piña colada). Wines from the Douro Valley accompanied the speeches. The after-party dessert buffet brought arroz doce, pastel de nata, and travesseiros de Sintra.

For the first dance, Anushka had known for a long time what she wanted. She's a dedicated ballroom dancer, and she'd always planned to dance the rumba at her wedding. They danced to a medley of two songs: Work Song by Hozier and Sway by Michael Bublé. "Work Song was the first song that Nitin ever played for me, and I've loved it ever since," she says. "Sway is my favorite song from childhood ballroom lessons. Being able to combine both chapters of my life into a single dance felt like a full-circle moment."

The vendors who made the weekend possible approached it, as Anushka describes it, with genuine investment. "Every single vendor played a pivotal role in bringing our vision to life," she says. Planner Diana Julião and décor director João Nuno ran five events across two venues without a visible seam. Photographer Ivo Moreira and videographer Diogo Jervis "captured candid moments with an incredibly artistic lens." DJs Ambition and Yash kept the energy high every night. Hair stylist Tânia de Sousa and makeup artist Cláudia Água, she says, "effortlessly transformed my looks while keeping me calm and hydrated."

"All our partners approached the weekend with deep professionalism and passion to help us shape a story that will stay with us for a lifetime."