When most NYC couples get married, their wedding does not shut down Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue.
Neither does it span five venues, six DJs, eight caterers, 10 choreographers, 16 fashion/jewelry designers, 400 guests and 8,000 flowers. There are no content creation teams; no swag-filled goodie bags; no off-Broadway theatrical productions to thrust the couple’s love into the literal spotlight — complete with 25 songs and dance numbers.
But Pankti Doshi and Avish Jain — a South Asian power-duo who call the Big Apple home and wanted their five-day wedding extravaganza, held from April 21-25, to double as “a love letter to Manhattan” — could hardly be called an ordinary couple.
Raised in San Francisco, Doshi, 33, is a genetic counselor by day and creative director/event coordinator by night, 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 known for co-founding Masala Mixtape, the city’s largest South Asian music festival.
Jain, 30, grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey, a third-generation, classically trained Bollywood singer and dancer who performs regularly with top stars in the industry. Somehow, he also finds the time to study as an endocrinology fellow at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and will graduate in two months as a certified endocrinologist.
While Jain and Doshi ran in similar social circles and knew vaguely of the other, they did not meet until November 2023, when Doshi’s company hired Jain to perform for an event they hosted at the Chelsea nightclub Somewhere Nowhere NYC. The pair kept it “purely professional” at first, but a mutual friend saw sparks fly and quickly put them in an Instagram group chat.
The rest, as they say, is history.
So when the time came 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 consider their South Asian heritage to be a large part of their identity — should host an all-inclusive affair, expressing their love for the city that brought them together and the community that’s made them who they are.
“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.”
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 city 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 club where the pair first laid eyes on each other two years prior.
Against the backdrop of the Empire skyline, nearly 150 guests were invited for an official “welcome to the concrete jungle,” where they were encouraged to mix, mingle and enjoy a dance performance put on by the couple — the first of several 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 art form and performing with his collegiate team on the national level. “Just setting the tone for a very dramatic, energetic week.”
An NYC nightlife expert who previously promoted events at Somewhere Nowhere told The Post that the cost to rent out the venue, as well as similar ones, “depends on the day,” but usually runs around $30,000 ($10,000 to $15,000 for the location itself, with additional costs dependent on staffing).
Along with live songs performed by Jain and a smorgasburg of Indofusion/Asian Indofusion canapés, the couple’s family and friends were treated to mehndi — the traditional Indian art of decorating one’s hands with henna, an act meant to signify joy, beauty and, in the case of impending nuptials, bridal blessings.
Next came the immersive LED experience, which featured a 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling art installation right in the heart 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 spiritual protection and well wishes — followed by Garba, a folk dance originating from Gujarat, the Indian state Doshi’s family hails from. A Dandiya dance served as the finale, where guests grooved the night away.
While most might feel exhausted by this point, perhaps choosing to sit down to a quiet rehearsal dinner before the big day, that was not so for Doshi and Jain, who were determined to turn their Sangeet (the Indian pre-wedding ceremony where loved ones perform folk songs, dance and feast) into a full-fledged off-Broadway musical.
The left-field idea — which the pair believe they are the first to have successfully pulled off in NYC — came to fruition after they saw “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 town citing logistical concerns, the Theatre for a New Audience at Polonsky Shakespeare Center finally said “yes.” Family, friends, Jain’s collegiate Bollywood dance team and even the couple themselves performed skits, songs and dance numbers throughout the night on stage, all under a lit-up sign that read “Now Premiering Avish & Pankti.”
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,” began at the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue — a primary filming location for the hit early aughts show “Gossip Girl.”
Aided by her 18-member bridal party, 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 known for showcasing up-and-coming designers and emerging brands.
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 red sherwani with a matching turban for the occasion.
While the baraat procession is typically reserved for the groom, his family and friends as they celebrate on their way to meet the bride, Jain and Doshi were set on updating the age-old tradition “with a modern touch” to symbolize the fusion of both families and their unity as partners.
And of course, there was the communal warmth and unity the couple aimed to share with their fellow Manhattanites on their one day as New York royalty.
Having acquired a parade permit 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 proceeding to Radio City Music Hall at 50th and Sixth — Doshi and Jain’s boisterous pre-wedding parade included dhol drummers, dancing and 400 accompanying guests. Jain belted out Bollywood hits from the 2000s, serenading his love and the rest of NYC on their way to the altar.
Doshi and Jain were particularly delighted to see the wealth of strangers who stopped what they were doing to cheer, dance and celebrate with the couple — many of whom have since posted pictures of the magical moment on social media.
“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 starts at $35,000 for eight hours, including setup — went off without a hitch.
Having changed into the red saree her mother wore on her 25th wedding anniversary to renew her own vows — and paired with a blouse and veil by Delhi-based designer Samant Chauhan — Doshi walked down the aisle before her hundreds of guests to meet her new husband, who had arranged for his bride to be accompanied by a recorded re-working of the song he had written for her when he proposed. A female Jain priest — the couple’s shared religion — presided, conducting the majority of the Milni ceremony in English, with some Sanskrit, Gujarati and Hindi interspersed for specific 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.”
Now, nearly a week after the last of the five acts — a sultry speakeasy held at Sony Hall, plus an intimate housewarming post-ceremony (called Grah Pravesh) for immediate family at Jain’s family home in Freehold, New Jersey, the following morning — Doshi and Jain finally have a moment to sit back, relax and toast each other to a job well done. (Still on the newlyweds’ exhaustive agenda: a couple of weeks in France at the end of the month.)
The couple, who did not disclose just how much they spent on the shindig but shared how grateful they were to their families for their support, now get to sit back, relax and start their married life — and toast each other to a job well done.
“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 movement for us. Everything we did was so intentional, and we worked with everyone who’s been part of our journey for the last decade.
“We’re just so filled with love.”
