Across four cities and three days, this couple planned a wedding along Portugal’s rugged coastline

The wedding day was set against the soft pink facade of the Palácio do Correío-Mor in Loures. The morning started with the traditional Tamil oonjal ceremony, which involved the couple being blessed by the married women of the family, in the estate’s French gardens. “We requested Raj’s family to sing their traditional wedding bhajans too,” says Vijay.

The bride chose a striking emerald green Banarasi sari by Anita Dongre for this event. “I’ve always been drawn to emerald green, as emerald is my birthstone. And the monotone allows the richness of the hue to stand out,” she adds. Vijay roped in the bridal stylist Suzaina Puri, with whom she worked for almost a year to produce six custom looks for her wedding events. A classic guttapusalu necklace and pieces of temple jewellery accentuated her ensemble. “Suzaina and I worked with a jeweller based in Delhi to customise the necklace to have an antique gold finish, so it would complement my sari better.” A stack of chunky gold cuffs, an antique choker, jhumkas and a nath completed the look.

Sitting at the wedding mandap, the bride created a core memory when the clouds cleared post-storm and the sun shone down upon them all. “Our guests opened their garden umbrellas and hand fans in unison, looking towards us with wide smiles,” she says. “Our pheras and saptapadi, or seven steps, were a blend of Gujarati and Tamilian ceremonies,” Vijay recalls. “We did four pheras (common in Gujarati ceremonies) and saptapadi, which is common to both.”

The couple also chose to have two mangal sutras to honour each other’s cultures: one sporting classic black beads on a gold chain while the other was a Tamilian thaal or gold pendant. For the wedding, Vijay pulled off another custom creation, this time by Anamika Khanna. The whimsical, ivory lehenga featured clusters of pearls, delicate rose gold zardozi embroidery and stone work, paired with an embroidered organza dupatta. A 10-foot embroidered veil added a theatrical element too.

After a whirlwind two days, the final stop was the romantic city of Sintra for the wedding reception. “Raj and I did the rumba to ‘Sway’ by Dean Martin, which is one of our favourite songs,” Vijay reminisces. The sweetest surprise, though, was an impromptu speech by her beau. “I decided to go off the cuff, aided by a bit of wine, and started my vows from where it all began,” he shares, referring to his speech: “It’s not every day a guy meets a girl that’s way out of his league, and eight years later is reading wedding vows to her in Portugal.”