Soon their feelings became obvious, and in December, they went on their first official date at a ceramics studio. The mugs they painted “live in my mom’s kitchen to this day,” Mr. Thakker said. After the semester ended, they took a road trip to Disneyland and had such a good time that they decided to become exclusive when they returned.
Six years later, on Dec. 26, 2022, Mr. Thakker booked a spontaneous trip for him and Ms. Vijay to Maui and proposed at sunrise on the Ironwood Cliffs, a hiking area on the Hawaiian island.
The couple were legally married June 27 by Madeline Plasencia, an officiant at the New York City Clerk’s office, at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. A week and a half before that, they invited 200 friends and family members to a multiday wedding celebration outside Lisbon at four venues, including a 17th-century fort and a national palace. A Hindu ceremony, led by Madhu Shastri, a pandit, was held at the Palace of the Correio-Mor.
“We wanted people to feel like they’re sightseeing while they’re at the wedding,” Ms. Vijay said.
At the sangeet ceremony, they offered a tasting of Portuguese olive oil and ginja, a local cherry liqueur, and had a Portuguese gin bar. Musicians played fado, a traditional Portuguese style of music, during the cocktail hour. The bride’s father, Shyam Vijay, and a family friend sang a medley of her favorite songs from childhood.
Given the couple’s dance background, the sangeet, held at Forte da Cruz, was more advanced than usual. “A lot of time these sangeet dances have a lot of people who don’t really know how to dance,” Mr. Thakker said.
