Uma & Dee

This is one of the loveliest Hindu weddings I've had the pleasure of sharing, Uma looks absolutely beautiful in her rose gold sari, set off with a gorgeous kohl eye and lots of gold jewellery. In true RMW style, Uma and Dee did things their way, keeping their ceremony and reception to just one day, rather than over several days as per tradition. And what a day it was! Every moment has been captured perfectly by Matt Penberthy.

Our Wedding

Uma The Bride: When our respective parents handed us a guest list totalling 600 people for our wedding, Dee and I were slightly nervous to say the least. My attempts to try and quell the number down was met with, “this isn’t just your wedding, it’s our daughter’s wedding!” to which I had no response and decided to keep calm and carry on. Luckily I had a very organised aunty, some extraordinary bridesmaids, and not to mention the ever-searching-for a-good deal fiancé, Dee on hand. We had some ideas of what we wanted and didn’t want, mainly that it should all done and dusted in one day – the civil marriage, the Hindu ceremony, and a boozy reception to top it all off!

The Venue

We had seen a few venues up to this point, but both Dee and I loved the huge grounds and greenery of Syon Park. After seeing the House, we were sold as it was the perfect venue to hold the civil ceremony. We had some glitches with the Hindu wedding because the marquee is subjected to a noise restriction in the afternoon between 3-5pm so beware other couples hoping to have a loud noisy Indian wedding in the afternoon, your microphones and Dhol players will be cut so timings are crucial!

The Food

Once the venue was chosen a list of recommended suppliers were provided which is where we came across Greenleaf. We were instantly impressed with the friendly and non-pushy manner of their manager, Sunny and it is the caterers who really organise the whole event so kudos to them. The food was a big hit with all our guests. We had live dosa stations in the morning for our civil guests, which went down a treat and even more compliments at the reception for the exceptional canapes including pani puri, Indian-style fish and chips and lamb kebabs to name a few.

The Flowers

A lovely little florist in North London, Scarlet and Violet was recommended to me by my maid of honour who used them for her amazing wedding. They were so friendly and accommodating, arranging beautiful displays, bouquets and buttonholes which gave that extra touch to the civil service.

The Decor

For the evening reception, I wanted a fairytale look with a hint of pink to match my outfit. Having met with a few other decorating companies and had had our minds blown with pricing and quotes, Shagun provided us everything we asked for at a decent cost. The team were extremely professional and dressed the venue to pink perfection!

The Photography

Dee and I looked through a good few photographers before choosing Matt and we are so glad that we did! Having photographed Indian weddings before so he was well aware of the colour and the chaos that comes with it and he provided much calm and good laughs on the photo shoots on the day! We love Matt's style of photography, capturing the day as a story unfolded and we will treasure the pictures he has taken for the rest of our lives.

The Videography

We were recommended Eternal Weddings from a friend and watching their trailers I realised that they would be a good fit for us and something that our parents would also enjoy watching and showing to family. The team had actually shot several weddings at Syon Park so knew the best locations for the various photo/video shoots that we had on the day. We are yet to see the finished product as editing takes up to four months after the wedding so fingers crossed!

The Entertainment

We chose a company who could provide DJ, Dhol players, extra lighting and entertainment if wanted. The DJ, Amit and Dhol player, Harvey certainly knew how to get the party going and even accommodated Dee’s request for an hour of solid drum and base and jungle at the end.

The Hair & Make Up

Sam was such a pleasure to work with and can make anyone look stunning. At the trial we went through several different looks before deciding on what worked best. She arrived bright and early at 6am with her assistant to start on the bridesmaids before moving onto me. Sam has a huge repertoire to work besides weddings so do check out her website.

The Car

We wanted a classic car and when Dee came across this website and saw the Hindustan ambassador, a classic Indian taxi car, we were sold! And it matched all my outfits ;)

The Wedding Party

Why not utilise the opportunity for wedding shopping than with a little trip to India. Luckily my mum and I packed lightly as we had a lot of luggage on the way back! For lengha shopping it had to be Mumbai, a city that is designed to entice brides looking for gorgeous outfits. We had no trouble finding what we wanted here and even picked up a Sabyasachi (famous Indian designer) lengha which I wore in the morning. The beautiful silk saris were bought from Calcutta, the majority of the credit has to go to my mum who bought all the bridesmaids saris on her own whilst I was struck down with Delhi belly! Dee also got his Indian outfit from India, this time from Gujrat where his family are from, and a special mention for the turban material which actually belonged to his great grandfather and was worn on his wedding and passed down through the generations!

Advice

Finally just a note to say that weddings can be very stressful so don’t do everything alone, use your minions! Luckily I had six amazing minions (bridesmaids) who deserve a special thank you for all the hours they spent putting together the wedding favours and making the seating plans and mainly for keeping me sane on the big day. We had a few little glitches but it was a day we will never forget and Dee and I were so lucky to have so many people sharing our joy and wishing us well. Luckily for Dee I would not do it again though, once is more than enough!