Turkish Delight

A global romance finds happily ever after in Istanbul.

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Khatidja married Anuj Kale in Istanbul, Turkey on 15th September 2014. She says: “Anuj and I met in New York. Our first date was at Veniero’s Bakery, a local East Village landmark on a Sunday afternoon. We ended up having an 8 hour first date, which was a blast!

After a whirlwind 18 month Manhattan romance, Anuj proposed in Barcelona’s Park Güell. He tried to time popping the question with the sunset, but it was an overcast afternoon. After an hour’s walk uphill, he ended up proposing immediately.

In a stunned daze I repeated “yes” over and over again. Since Anuj is from New Jersey and I’m from Kenya, we decided to have a destination wedding so it would be on ‘neutral’ ground. If we held it in the States, it would have been dominated by his family, and vice versa for mine in Kenya. We had a checklist for the perfect venue: it had to be easily accessible for both our families, lend itself well to Indian culture, and had a party vibe. My sister suggested Istanbul and after researching, it became our clear choice.”