5 Hidden Luxury Wedding Venues in India for a Private Affair

If a destination wedding is on the cards for you, these intimate and off-beat locations can make for a truly memorable wedding celebration. From a royal palace to a historical Bengali home, wilderness camp, Franco-Tamilian villa, and a stately Kashmiri chateau, we've curated a list with something for everyone. Take a look...

Offbeat Indian Locations For An Intimate Wedding

In the heart of the wilderness: Pench Jungle Camp and Rukhad Jungle Camp, Madhya Pradesh

Imagine the thrill of getting hitched inside a forest, where you may catch Mastani the tigress (her

partner Baji Rao, the 150-kg male tiger is also around), L-Mark, or Swastik.  “The daughter of tigress Badi Ma, was Collar Wali, a legendary tigress who lived for 17.5 years, and gave birth to 29 cubs,” says Prabir Patil, Chief Naturalist of Pench Jungle Camp.

“A tigress normally lives in a territory of 20 sq km, while the male tiger needs 50 sq km. There’s even one black leopard here, if you can spot it!”

Set amidst 50 acres of natural forested estate with an in-house eco-park, the 31-room Pench Jungle Camp truly brings you face-to-face with nature.

Pench Jungle Camp, the first lodge of boutique brand Jungle Camps India founded in 2002 by Gajendra Singh Rathore, and its sister property Rukhad Jungle Camp, in the heart of Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh, are surrounded by an untamed bird and animal-filled forest, which boasts around 180 tigers (if you include both the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra sides of the park). 

Of course, a celebration here is intimate by nature, ideal for small weddings with close ones. And the property adds to the feeling of familiarity — from the always-smiling face of the general manager to warm interiors, with a gazebo reception area, cottages woven around mango and lemon trees, and Gond art made by local artists.

The pièce de resistance is the open-air machan, a short walk inside a private forest, where you can host an intimate ceremony, literally surrounded by bird song, with an inky black sky, opening up to a galaxy of stars above. The fairy lights around this area will turn this place into a night forest wonderland.

For lunch or a small sangeet, the wedding party can head to the eight-room Rukhad Jungle Camp, with rooms overlooking a lily-covered lake, with birdsong so powerful you can immerse yourself in it, without the need for any music.

A covered machan is an ideal overlook, where chefs will tantalise you with local cuisine as well as small treats like homemade brownies, masala chai, and chilli pakoras.

The days leading up to the celebrations can find adventure, with a dawn safari (where we spotted jackals, wild dogs, wild buffaloes, wild boar, rhesus monkeys, and of course spotted deer — there are 46,000 in the park), 325 species of birds (hornbill, brown-headed barbet, common hawk-cuckoo, and of course Seven Sisters), an afternoon or night safari, where you can catch hares, owls, and even mongoose scurrying around the forest.

Or perhaps you’d welcome a few days unwinding post the events, in which case the bar, lounge, swimming pool, and farm-to-table food amid the untamed beauty of the wild.

Franco-Tamilian charm in a heritage villa: Gratitude Heritage, Puducherry

An intimate ceremony in one of the most beautiful heritage buildings in a city bursting with French history, with a distinctive Tamil flavour, from décor to food — this could be a reality if you held it here.

Located on a leafy street in White Quarter, some 100 m from the Promenade in Puducherry, the 200-year-old Gratitude Heritage has a long history steeped in this town’s French colonial past.

Originally built for the descendants of Swiss-born Abraham Guerre (who worked as a hospital administrator for the East India Company), the yellow and white building, built around verdant mango trees, and interspersed with fuchsia bougainvilleas, was then bought by a Franco-Tamilian family, whose family members all settled in France, before the matriarch sold it to the Saikias in 2004.

“It took a few years to restore,” says Siddharth Saikia, who now runs the place with his mother.

Keeping the original wooden windows and ceiling bannisters, columns, and doors, all the old paint was blasted off to reveal the wood beneath.

“We wanted to make it as historically accurate as possible and restore it to the original Franco-Tamilian architecture. The late Ajit Koujalgi, chief architect of INTACH, helped us with resources.”

With just eight double rooms and a single room (there’s even an ancient safe that’s built into the walls of one of the rooms, making for an interesting talking point), it’s not a traditional wedding space. “We’ve had low-key weddings, plus one that was quite large, in terms of décor,” says Siddharth.

“The theme was centred around  Van Gogh, where the wedding designer created a post-wedding brunch set with flowers coming out of the wall, in the main courtyard.”

Gratitude’s first wedding was for a Bengali couple that had met at Gratitude; they’ve also had a traditional Tamilian, Christian, and non-denominational, more spiritual wedding for a couple from Auroville.

At Gratitude, the home-cooked food is distinctively Tamilian, with dishes specially prepared for guests and served in their rooms (there is no restaurant per se, as they wanted a sense of peace and quiet at the property).

For weddings, their cook Shanti can prepare anything from Continental dishes to Chettinad and South Indian dishes, including traditional fare served on a banana leaf. Signature dishes include vatha kuzhambhu, a tamarind-based curry with basil seeds traditionally served at Tamilian weddings.

Another favourite is the Creole mutton stew, so called due to the French marrying local Tamilian women (their offspring were Creoles), with lots of Indian spices, served with appam.

Old family photographs and portraits from Puducherry’s French colonial past hang on the walls of this hotel, with its airy spaces, antique furniture, and wooden four-poster beds in most rooms.

You can also unwind with a traditional oil massage from their masseuse, yoga sessions, and seating and lounging.

Gratitude Heritage, with the Saikias’ deep connections to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the Mother in particular, has a feeling of peace and serenity, a perfect place to celebrate a couple’s union.

A grand residence with the flavour of a bygone Bengal: Bari Kothi, Murshidabad

This 300-year-old grand family kothi of Jain businessman Rai Bahadur Budh Singh Dudhoria is in Murshidabad, around 240 km from Kolkata, home to the Nawab of Bengal, and one of the most important trading cities for the British, French, and Dutch East India Companies, which witnessed the Battle of Plassey, and at one time contributed over five per cent of the GDP of the world.

That’s when businessmen began flocking to the city in the 1700s, such as Rai Bahadur Budh Singh Dudhoria, who built his grand ‘Bari Kothi’ or House of Elders on the banks of the Ganges,

a great status symbol for his community which became known as the Sheherwalis (city dwellers), only to see it abandoned for the last 60 years.

“After my elder daughter was born, I would visit Bari Kothi once a year,” says Darshan Dudhoria, scion of the family, who, along with his sister Lipika, restored the haveli to its original grandeur, in one of the most ambitious restoration projects the area has ever seen.

“I wanted my daughter to see who our forefathers were, make the stories come alive, and pass on the heritage.” With the help of Canadian architect Samar Chandra, restoration started one portion at a time.

“We were featured in National Geographic for the restoration of the central courtyard,” says Darshan, of the black and white chequered space. Spread over an acre, the property holds a durbar hall, a gaddi ghar, a sheesh mahal, a library, and even a music room.

With 15 suites laden with antique furniture rescued from demolition-bound homes in Kolkata, stained glass windows, fourposter beds, renovated railings, and chandeliers, the past comes alive at Bari Kothi, also a UNESCO heritage site.

All the furnishings have been developed and created by the local ladies of Bari Kothi. 

“The textile designers in our core team teach them to develop every single piece of furnishing,” says Darshan, whose family has one of the largest silk businesses in eastern India.

The property has held a number of weddings post-COVID, from wedding vow renewals to traditional Bengali weddings, complete with the paan patta ceremony, the groom wearing the sholar topa.

“We had a couple from Amsterdam who wanted to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a Bengali wedding,” says Darshan. Their family foundation has also arranged for the nuptials of over 80 women attached to their projects, across caste, creed, and age.

The large open-to-sky Amtala (where pineapple-flavoured mangoes once grew) central courtyard and a recessed courtyard are key venues. The open-air mandap makes for a stunning backdrop for photos, with family members standing on four sides, on connecting bridges.

“We also have two gardens overlooking the river,” says Darshan. “We’ve had the bride and groom at one level, with family and friends showering petals from the courtyard above.”

The food here is another story, since the cuisine imbibes flavours from Rajasthani, Afghani, Bengali, and Mughal, with some British, French, and even Danish influences. “We made sure that our old family chefs, trained local chefs, and Sehwag, who was taught by my grandmother, who is the head chef,” says Darshan.

A jewel-like mini palace, perched above a lake: The Jaipur House, Mount Abu

Built in the 1800s by Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur, this mini palace, perched above a hill in Rajasthan’s only hill station, Mount Abu, offers stunning views of the Aravalli mountain range, Toad Rock on one side, and the picturesque, visitor-filled Nakki Lake below.

A mixture of European and Indian architecture, this hilly palace was the residence of Jaipur’s royal family until 2002, when it was converted into a hotel by Maharaja Brigadier Bhawani Singh of Jaipur, MVC and his wife Maharani Padmini Devi.

Known in the 1950s and 1960s for the extravagant après polo parties thrown by the dapper Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur and his wife Maharani Gayatri Devi, the Jaipur House was for a few years one of the liveliest spots in this sleepy mountain town.

When it became a hotel, it would be the go-to place for local residents and foreign guests to enjoy a spot of high tea, complete with the tastiest pakoras and French fries, and the ideal place to hold a celebration, on its famous terrace.

Today, post a massive renovation led by Rajasthan Deputy CM Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur and her son, Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur, the Jaipur House sparkles like a polished jewel in a town only now waking up to the boutique House sparkles like a polished jewel in a town only now waking up to the boutique property craze.

It’s the ideal place to host a small wedding, with 29 rooms at the wedding party’s disposal, with the old terrace turned into a rooftop bar and lounge offering breathtaking views of Nakki Lake.

The renovations have included a modern, elongated swimming pool and tennis court on the premises, and colour-coordinated furnishings, and wallpaper by renowned interior architect Marie-Anne Oudejans, whose previous works in Jaipur include the Bar Palladio and the works in Jaipur include the Bar Palladio and the Villa Palladio.

Known for her use of bold, colourful stripes, and monochrome designs, she transformed the drawing room into a teal and red space, with shields, swords, and other royal arms on the wall, and old family photos of maharajas and maharanis past in silver frames strewn across antique wooden furniture on the wall.

The wedding retinue can be chosen from superior rooms with vibrant colour schemes.

The dual Cottage Villa rooms with their lawns and showers, and the Royal Suite for the newlyweds.

Wedding venues include expansive gardens, where guests can enjoy scenic views while participating in the wedding festivities.

The cuisine of the Jaipur House has always been its forte. Today, wedding guests can enjoy a typical Rajasthani thali, dishes curated by the Jaipur royal family’s chefs, with everything from laal maas and dal baati to Continental favourites and pasta.

Their bakery is also perfect to whip up desserts and cakes on order.

And if guests have time away from the nuptials, there are nature walks and jungle safari's to be experienced at Mount Abu famous for its flora and fauna.

A historical chateau in paradisiacal: Karan Mahal, Srinagar

Built like, at the foot of Shankaracharya Hill, surrounded by 40 acres of cedar-filled forest and facing the Dal Lake, Karan Mahal (named after Maharaja Dr Karan Singh of Jammu & Kashmir, and built in the 1920s), is the ultimate wedding venue for those who love cool climes and pristine air, and a touch of royal Dogra hospitality.

With just 10 suites, Karan Mahal is perhaps not large enough to accommodate an entire wedding suite, but it can serve as the primary venue, with guests at nearby five-star properties that are just 5-15 minutes away by car.

“We had hosted a small private wedding for a family from Mumbai, with the family members staying at Karan Mahal,” says Prince Martand Singh of Jammu & Kashmir, whose parents Yuvraj Vikramaditya Singh and Yuvrani Chitrangada Rajye live in a private portion of the chateau for eight months of the year.

 Yuvrani Chitrangada is also the brains behind the restoration of this property, which took a decade. “My great-grandfather Maharaja Hari Singhji was a huge patron of French and English art, décor, and furniture,” says Prince Martand, “We have Osler chandeliers, a lot of heritage woodwork, all restored in Art Deco designs, some originally from England, most made in Kashmir by local craftsmen.

All the carpets, wooden ceilings, doors, and windows are Kashmiri.” In the beautifully manicured front lawns adjoining the private orchard of the estate, surrounded by restorative chinar, apple, and walnut trees, and large tents can be put up, depending on the season of the wedding (the best time to visit or hold a wedding would be between April and October).

“By November, it’s freezing,” says Prince Martand, “But Kashmir is the only part of India where you have four seasons, and in autumn the leaves turn red and gold.”

The royal family of Kashmir offer their age-old recipes at Karan Mahal, zealously guarded by their chefs, with traditional Dogra, Kashmiri, and Nepalese dishes (since there were a lot of marriages between the Nepalese royals and the Kashmiri royals). Dishes include gushtaba, guchhi pulao, haak (saag with curry) from Kashmir; khatta meat from Jammu; and til anda from Nepal. There’s also a chef from Delhi who churns out Italian and pan-Asian dishes.

If you really want a wedding with all the trappings of royalty mixed with stately grandeur, then Karan Mahal, with its imperial dining room that once hosted Lord Mountbatten, is the place for you.

This has been adapted for the web from an article published in Manifest’s December 2024-January 2025 issue that is now on stands. For more stories like this, subscribe here!