Nidhi Gupta
The youngest of three siblings on either side, Barreto and Cardoz agree they have had the privilege to do things their own way—they took their time with making things official and, when they did, they had the liberty to tailor a wedding entirely to their own desires. And, like so much in their relationship, they both knew instinctively that they wanted to keep their wedding intimate and hyper-local. “Goan weddings tend to be large, impersonal events with the whole world invited. You might not even meet many of the guests. My father alone has 35 first cousins, so you can imagine,” Barreto laughs.
“I also didn’t want our parents to pay for the wedding,” adds Cardoz. Because of who they are as individuals, they decided to go the DIY route. Barreto has an eye for detail and enthusiasm for designing weddings—something she professionally tried for a bit when she was grounded during Covid. Cardoz marshalled his ample local network and encyclopaedic knowledge of Goa. Together, they designed a week-long affair in January 2024, that expertly toed the line between the traditional and the unconventional, honoured their Goan roots and supported local businesses, and left their 150 guests with memories of a lifetime. “From the beginning, we knew we were both going to be very involved in this production,” says Barreto. Their starting point? The wedding venue. “I grew up in Panjim, but I’ve lately moved to this quiet, beautiful village called Salvador du Mondo in south Goa,” says Cardoz. “The local church, Penha de Franca, is one of the oldest in India and so well-maintained—the doors, the stained-glass windows, the laterite-rock bar at the adjoining outdoor space, the fact that it was located right next to the river… Anna fell in love with it at first sight too.”
Instead of the saturated pigments that accentuate most Goan wedding decor, they chose to paint theirs in hues of green, brown and white—earthy colours and materials that mirrored the topography of the land. Instead of hiring a wedding planner, they shortlisted and reached out to vendors for everything from the catering, which came from Jimsons (world-famous in south Goa for their sorpotel, rissois, roast and crab cakes), to the photographers at Flashbakc Studios, who Cardoz knew from college.