We Planned Our Dream Wedding in Portugal—We Planned Our Dream Wedding in Portugal—Now You Get The PlaybookNow You Get The Playbook

We’re Ariane and Karan, just a couple of regular 30-somethings from the East Coast. We met at the University of Maryland, now call Brooklyn home, and spend our days working corporate tech gigs. Pretty standard stuff. Then, in July 2023, we got engaged—cue the high of riding cloud 9. But once that wore off, reality hit: What kind of wedding do we want? Where do we even start? And how much is this whole thing going to set us back? Oh, and let’s not forget the big one—how do we blend two totally different cultures without losing what makes us, us?

Being your classic Type-A East Coasters, we went full DIY on this thing. We got scrappy, asked everyone we could for advice, and figured it out step by step. Along the way, we picked up some insights (and a few bruises) that we don’t think should stay locked up. If you’re in the same boat we were, don’t stress—we’ve got you. We’re ready to spill the tea.