Bright & Beautiful Indian Wedding
The Proposal
On a wet and windy day (following Hurricane Katrina), a chilly walk half way up Scafell Pike in the Lake District turned out to be the most unexpected romantic proposal! Luke wanted to be at the highest point in England.
The Wedding Day
How were you feeling?
Shamila – Giddy! Also anxious about the time, excited about what people would think about what we had done to the venues. I made quite a lot of the decorations by hand.
Luke – Not quite as nervous as I thought I might be. There was quite a lot to do ourselves on the days leading up to the wedding, I was very relieved the day had finally arrived and everything was in place ready. Time to get a wife!
“I was very relieved the day had finally arrived and everything was in place ready. Time to get a wife!”
The Wedding Dress
I had two outfits on the day, the first for the wedding ceremony was a lovely twist on a traditionally British wedding dress, a 1950’s style white wedding dress from the Little Bridal Company in Yorkshire. It fitted me perfectly and was just my style.
I chose a sash in a lovely blue floral fabric to match the bridesmaids dresses.
“Shamila looked absolutely stunning in both dresses. I even predicted what the first one would look like, as it was just her style.“
The second dress was a stunning red Indian wedding dress which I wore to the reception and party. I wanted it to be as traditional as possible, and I think it was absolutely perfect.
The Groom’s attire
I didn’t want myself and my groom’s men wearing the ill fitted suits I see a lot of at weddings.
After much searching I decided to hire from a tailors; Jack Bunney’s in London.
The suit was just what I had been looking for. I told the lads to wear any type of suits they felt comfortable in. Surprisingly, without any mention of it, they all wore blue ties and looked superb, whilst I switched last minute to red.
The Bridal Party
The bridesmaids all looked stunning in their mismatching blue dresses and red shoes, I knew that choosing slightly different dresses for each bridesmaid would look so much better than putting them all in exactly the same dress.
The Wedding Venue
Shamila – We first discovered our evening reception venue (Crown Inn, in Roecliffe) when on our way past we saw 2 mannequins sat outside the pub on a cold winters day. We just had to go in and see what it was like inside. That is when we fell in love with the place.
Luke – A few years later we were in the Crown Inn having lunch and planning our wedding, when unbelievably the waiter mentioned they did do weddings in the attached barn. That was that, the venue was booked almost straight away.
The Wedding Theme
We had two themes; a vintage tea party held at a local villiage hall with tea and cakes, old typewriters and lots of dancing. Then we moved onto our unique Arabian Nights themed party at The Crown In; the barn was beautifully decorated, transformed with venue draping, the beautiful Raj lining and lighting which made the venue feel like a tent. It was really intimate.
The inspiration was the mix of both our cultures, with my love of vintage thrown in for good measure!
The Party
The guests were amazed at how the day flowed. We thought maybe we had taken on too much having three venues to manage. We just wanted everyone to have a fun time and judging by the feedback we have had, we know they did!
The decoration of the venue definitely got everyone in the mood to party, and the home made touches to the wedding decor made it feel so personal and relaxed.
We had belly dancers to go with our Arabian Nights theme who were fabulous, everyone had a really incredible time, we didn’t want it to end!
The Food
The food was another mixture of our favourite things from both our cultures, we had Indian canapes, followed by a roast beef dinner, finished off with India tea.
And two beautiful wedding cakes!!
Wedding Photographer
Joe Dodsworth took all our wedding photos, including a pre-wedding shoot and a Mehendi shoot. We booked him after seeing his lovely style at a friends wedding.
He did a wonderful job, we’ll treasure our photos forever.
All in all the day was perfect, we wouldn’t change a thing.
xxx
