The wedding that shut down Fifth Avenue — and got…
When most NYC {couples} get married, their wedding doesn’t shut down Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue.
Neither does it span 5 venues, six DJs, eight caterers, 10 choreographers, 16 fashion/jewellery designers, 400 visitors and 8,000 flowers. There are no content creation groups; no swag-filled goodie baggage; no off-Broadway theatrical productions to thrust the couple’s love into the literal highlight — full with 25 songs and dance numbers.
But Pankti Doshi and Avish Jain — a South Asian power-duo who call the Big Apple home and wished their five-day wedding extravaganza, held from April 21-25, to double as “a love letter to Manhattan” — may hardly be called an extraordinary couple.
The April 24 wedding parade of Pankti Doshi and Avish Jain traversed 51st Street from Madison Avenue west to 51st and Sixth Avenue before continuing to Radio City Music Hall at fiftieth and Sixth. P.Taufiq Photography
Raised in San Francisco, Doshi, 33, is a genetic counselor by day and artistic director/event coordinator by night time, having spent short stints in LA, Chicago, London and Singapore before settling down in NYC in 2020 to start an event company. She is best recognized for co-founding Masala Mixtape, town’s largest South Asian music competition.
Jain, 30, grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey, a third-generation, classically educated Bollywood singer and dancer who performs recurrently with top stars in the industry. Somehow, he also finds the time to examine as an endocrinology fellow at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and will graduate in two months as a licensed endocrinologist.
While Jain and Doshi ran in related social circles and knew vaguely of the other, they didn’t meet until November 2023, when Doshi’s company employed Jain to carry out for an event they hosted at the Chelsea nightclub Somewhere Nowhere NYC. The pair saved it “purely professional” at first, but a mutual buddy noticed sparks fly and rapidly put them in an Instagram group chat.
The relaxation, as they are saying, is historical past.
After assembly Doshi in November 2023, Jain told her he would finally marry her on their second date. P.Taufiq Photography
So when the time got here for Doshi and Jain to tie the knot (after Jain told his bride he was going to marry her on the second date, proposing a half-year later), it only made sense that the couple — who both contemplate their South Asian heritage to be a large half of their id — ought to host an all-inclusive affair, expressing their love for town that introduced them together and the group that’s made them who they’re.
“Both of us grew independently as people — as creatives, as business entrepreneurs, as artists — in New York City,” Doshi told The Post. “When we got together, we were able to expand on that … We wanted (this wedding) to be not just about us, but everyone who cared for us, worked with us and believed in our bigger vision. That’s why we wanted to host everything in NYC — to give everybody the true New York City experience.”
Doshi and Jain loved their time on the baraat parade float with both of their households, pictured right here. P.Taufiq Photography
Below is The Post’s exclusive look at the five-day marathon fête that took over one of Manhattan’s most historic locales — and got metropolis dwellers dancing in the streets.
ACTS 1 – 3
The first wedding event – which Doshi and Jain cheekily refer to as “Act 1” — kicked off with a bang at Somewhere Nowhere NYC, the membership where the pair first laid eyes on each other two years prior.
“Act 1” of the wedding festivities befell at Somewhere Nowehere NYC — the nightclub where the couple had met.
Against the backdrop of the Empire skyline, practically 150 visitors had been invited for an official “welcome to the concrete jungle,” where they had been inspired to combine, mingle and get pleasure from a dance efficiency put on by the couple — the first of a number of that Jain had choreographed for the five-day stretch of soireés.
“We thought it would be such a fantastic way to kickstart each event by choreographing a short Bollywood dance,” Jain told The Post, having grown up training in the artwork type and performing with his collegiate group on the national degree. “Just setting the tone for a very dramatic, energetic week.”
An NYC nightlife professional who beforehand promoted occasions at Somewhere Nowhere told The Post that the associated fee to rent out the venue, as effectively as related ones, “depends on the day,” but normally runs around $30,000 ($10,000 to $15,000 for the placement itself, with further prices dependent on staffing).
Along with live songs carried out by Jain and a smorgasburg of Indofusion/Asian Indofusion canapés, the couple’s household and pals had been handled to mehndi — the standard Indian artwork of adorning one’s arms with henna, an act meant to signify pleasure, magnificence and, in the case of impending nuptials, bridal blessings.
Jain and Doshi spent the second night time of their marathon wedding partaking in a Haldi ceremony, adopted by people dancing. P.Taufiq Photography
Next got here the immersive LED expertise, which featured a 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling artwork set up proper in the guts of Rockefeller Center.
There, the couple partook in a Haldi ceremony — a pre-wedding ritual where the bride and groom are painted with a turmeric paste, symbolizing religious safety and effectively needs — adopted by Garba, a people dance originating from Gujarat, the Indian state Doshi’s household hails from. A Dandiya dance served as the finale, where visitors grooved the night time away.
While most may really feel exhausted by this level, maybe selecting to sit down to a quiet rehearsal dinner before the big day, that was not so for Doshi and Jain, who had been decided to flip their Sangeet (the Indian pre-wedding ceremony where family members carry out people songs, dance and feast) into a full-fledged off-Broadway musical.
The pair’s family members rehearsed and carried out for the bride and groom to be’s Sangeet, which was held at the Theatre for a New Audience at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (an Off-Broadway venue). P.Taufiq Photography
The left-field concept — which the pair imagine they’re the first to have efficiently pulled off in NYC — got here to fruition after they noticed “Moulin Rouge” on Broadway for their first-date anniversary.
“We thought, let’s rent an off-Broadway theater and put on our own musical theatrical production that tells our love story,” Doshi recalled. “That way, everyone who has been part of our journey can be a part of it.”
After 65 “no’s” from theatrical venues across city citing logistical considerations, the Theatre for a New Audience at Polonsky Shakespeare Center finally said “yes.” Family, pals, Jain’s collegiate Bollywood dance group and even the couple themselves carried out skits, songs and dance numbers throughout the night time on stage, all under a lit-up signal that read “Now Premiering Avish & Pankti.”
The duo’s official wedding hashtag, which visitors used to share pictures from each event, was #PanktisAvishCameTrue. P.Taufiq Photography
Underneath that was splashed #PanktisAvishCameTrue — the couple’s official nuptials hashtag.
“(Our) friends and family became performers, and our love became the storyline,” said Doshi. “We transformed a theater through music, dance, food and community. It truly was our wish come true.”
ACT 4: The parade that shut down Fifth Avenue
The big day, which had temperatures in the mid-50s with the “perfect breeze,” started at the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue — a major filming location for the hit early aughts show “Gossip Girl.”
Aided by her 18-member bridal celebration, Doshi stepped out for the first portion of her wedding day in a silk, turquoise-blue lehenga embroidered in gold and rose beading that was custom-made by Lajpat Nagar Market, a hub in South East Delhi recognized for showcasing up-and-coming designers and rising manufacturers.
At around 2:30 p.m., the bride ascended the 55-foot-by-3-foot parade float that had been rented for the baraat — a joyous wedding procession customary in South Asian cultures — where she stood beside her husband-to-be, who wore a crimson sherwani with a matching turban for the event.
Dhol drummers contributed to the celebratory nature of the procession through Fifth Avenue. P.Taufiq Photography
While the baraat procession is often reserved for the groom, his household and pals as they have a good time on their method to meet the bride, Jain and Doshi had been set on updating the age-old custom “with a modern touch” to symbolize the fusion of both households and their unity as companions.
And of course, there was the communal heat and unity the couple aimed to share with their fellow Manhattanites on their in the future as New York royalty.
Having acquired a parade allow with the NYPD six months in advance for a one-hour Fifth Avenue shutdown —traversing 51st Street from Madison Avenue west to 51st and Sixth Avenue before continuing to Radio City Music Hall at fiftieth and Sixth — Doshi and Jain’s boisterous pre-wedding parade included dhol drummers, dancing and 400 accompanying visitors. Jain belted out Bollywood hits from the 2000s, serenading his love and the remaining of NYC on their method to the altar.
Doshi and Jain had been significantly delighted to see the wealth of strangers who stopped what they had been doing to cheer, dance and have a good time with the couple — many of whom have since posted footage of the magical second on social media.
Manhattanites stopped to dance in the road, have a good time and share phrases of congratulations with Doshi and Jain. P.Taufiq Photography
“It was just one of our most memorable moments of the entire wedding,” said Jain. “We got to share so much joy and celebration, especially in a time and world like today. I think for a good half hour at least, everyone forgot all their struggles, all their woes, and just got to just dance on the streets.”
ACT 4.5 – 5: Actual wedding ceremony. Last event. What now? (Sleep)
The wedding itself — which was held at Radio Park, the rarely-used rooftop of Radio City Music Hall that begins at $35,000 for eight hours, including setup — went off without a hitch.
The wedding ceremony was held for 400 visitors at Radio Park, the event space on top of Radio City Music Hall. P.Taufiq Photography
Having modified into the crimson saree her mom wore on her twenty fifth wedding anniversary to renew her own vows — and paired with a shirt and veil by Delhi-based designer Samant Chauhan — Doshi walked down the aisle before her lots of of visitors to meet her new husband, who had organized for his bride to be accompanied by a recorded re-working of the tune he had written for her when he proposed. A feminine Jain priest — the couple’s shared religion — presided, conducting the bulk of the Milni ceremony in English, with some Sanskrit, Gujarati and Hindi interspersed for particular rituals.
“I personally remember the wedding ceremony vividly,” said Doshi. “From how Avish was looking at me with immense love and emotion, to how I felt marrying my companion for life, to observing all the love that was surrounding us from our friends and family.”
“(It) was perfect — everyone was tearing up at various moments, including myself seeing Pankti walk down the aisle to my song,” added Jain. “It doesn’t feel real that we took our seven vows together around the fire. It’s something we’ve seen in movies or for other people, but to have done that ourselves feels surreal.”
Doshi walked down the aisle carrying her mom’s saree. Here, she is seen carrying Raabta by Rahul jewellery and a shirt by Samant Chauhan. P.Taufiq Photography
Now, practically a week after the last of the 5 acts — a sultry speakeasy held at Sony Hall, plus an intimate housewarming post-ceremony (called Grah Pravesh) for quick household at Jain’s household home in Freehold, New Jersey, the next morning — Doshi and Jain finally have a second to sit back, chill out and toast each other to a job effectively finished. (Still on the newlyweds’ exhaustive agenda: a couple of weeks in France at the end of the month.)
The couple, who didn’t disclose just how a lot they spent on the shindig but shared how grateful they had been to their households for their help, now get to sit back, chill out and start their married life — and toast each other to a job effectively finished.
The newlyweds and their family members capped off the five-day extravaganza with a speakeasy at Sony Hall. P.Taufiq Photography
Doshi shared that she and her new husband are “exhausted” after the marathon affair, but “in a good way.” P.Taufiq Photography
“We’re exhausted, but in a good way,” Doshi said. “When you spend six months on a project, it wasn’t just a wedding — it was our love letter to Manhattan, and a cultural motion for us. Everything we did was so intentional, and we labored with everybody who’s been half of our journey for the last decade.
“We’re just so filled with love.”
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