Original wedding ideas and quirky details are what you need for a truly memorable wedding. But what if you're stumped for inspiration? Wedding blogs can provide tonnes of wedding ideas, but if you're looking for a wedding theme that's unique, then you need to have a really good think about what's important to you as a couple. What hobbies do you do together? Where did you meet? What's your favourite food? Have a think and you're sure to come to the perfect wedding theme. The gorgeous couple in this wedding, Reena and Jon created a fabulous wedding surprise for their guests, all thanks to Reena's cultural heritage. After a traditional church wedding, plus a helicopter ride to the reception venue {cue some seriously dramatic pictures}, they changed into Indian costumes, and arranged for a performance by Bollywood dancers! Such a fantastic idea, and I'm loving all of Reena's other wedding details, including the vibrant purple theme, and stunning floral displays. The beautiful cake was DIY'd by one of her bridesmaids! Reena's kindly filled in the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire, so do take a look at her answers for hints and tips on how she put together her wedding. She thought of every detail! Huge thanks to Kelly Green from
Lola Rose Photography for her gorgeous pictures.
The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Reena was kind enough to fill in our bridal questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!
Where and when did you get married?
We got married at St. Lawrence Church in West Wycombe on 29th May 2011, and hosted our reception at the Crowne Plaza in Marlow
What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
The Church had sentimental value to us as Jon’s parents were married there over 35 years ago which made the wedding service feel extra special. We had just over 200 guests at our wedding, so we needed a reception venue that was large enough to cater for everyone. We really liked the contemporary feel of the Crowne Plaza, with its beautiful grounds and picturesque lake.
Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
The theme of the wedding was LOVE with a symbol of interlinked hearts. Our tables were named ‘LOVE’ but spelt in all different languages.We also had heart shaped confetti on the tables and even our cake topper was heart shaped! The interlinked hearts also appeared on all our wedding stationery. I wanted to use a bright and vibrant colour theme for our day as I feel weddings are such a happy occasion and bright colours reflect this perfectly. I used bright purple organza chair sashes and lisianthus in our HUGE table centre pieces contrasting with the classic white table linen and white roses which really worked well.
Who made your wedding outfit (dress, veil, shoes and accessories), and how did you come to that decision?
I was very lucky and had two amazing wedding dresses as I felt that it was still important to reflect my Indian heritage on our day. My white wedding dress was an ivory Maggie Midgley dress which had a sweet heart neck line and a swarovski crystal bodice and a long cathedral train. I wore this with a long veil that had a subtle diamond edging. I wore elegant ivory earrings and matching bracelet and my bridal shoes were from Dune.
My Indian wedding dress was flown in from India was a contemporary couture outfit that I designed myself with help from the Mona Vora design team. The stunning outfit was made from pure silk and had amazing detailed embroidery on the red skirt and ivory bodice top. I wore gold accessories which complimented the look. It was so much fun designing this wedding outfit and knowing that there isn't another one like it anywhere!
What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
My husband also had two wedding outfits. His classic grey morning suite was hired from Moss Bros, with ivory waist coat and matching cravat. He also wore his great grandfather’s tie pin which has been passed down through the family. Jon also had a bespoke contemporary Indian wedding suit hand made from black and gold silk which he couldn't wait to put on.
And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
I had 4 bridesmaids who all wore (two-toned purple) Adrianna Papell dresses. I went for contemporary bridesmaid dresses and the girls all looked stunning. They all wore the same gold and purple sparkling hair grip, gold earrings, gold bracelets and gold shoes. My 3 flower girls wore ivory dresses with ivory ballet pumps.
And your ushers?
The 7 ushers all wore morning suites hired from Moss Bros with their waist coats and cravats all complimenting the purple colour theme. The 2 page boys aged 2 and 4 years old had mini versions of Jon’s morning suit and looked so cute.
What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
One of my bridesmaids made our wedding cake, which was absolutely superb. She made us a huge 5 tier fruit cake with white icing and purple and gold ribbon tied around each tier.
Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
For our favours we had lilac and white heart shaped chocolate dragees and placed 5 of them in bright purple organza favour bags. We hand tied each bag with a personalized ivory and gold ribbon which had our names and wedding date printed on it. This was a team operation as we had over 200 favours = 1000 dragees! We also got bubbles for the kids which kept them entertained.
Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
We used Eden Floral Design in Marlow – they were brilliant. My bridal bouquet was a large tear-drop shape of ivory calla lily, purple lisianthus, ivory roses and sweet peas with tasteful looped gold bear-grass with just a touch of light summer foliage.
Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
We chose Lola Rose Photography as we had a personal recommendation and were delighted with the pictures Kelly took of our special day. We also chose Visa-a-video to film our Wedding and between both they have managed to capture such amazing memories!
Did you enjoy planning your Wedding?
Our wedding took 16 months to organise and it was so much fun. St Lawrence Church was absolutely beautiful and we hired a 1949 Rolls Royce Silver Wreath which took me and my father to the church. Our surprise journey, courtesy of my father, to our reception venue was truly spectacular as we arrived by helicopter and landed on the lawn in front of our stunned guests. We wanted to incorporate both cultures equally into our special day, whilst keeping our ‘Love’ theme throughout.
Lizz Lipscombe our amazing violinist performed various sets at our canapé and champagne reception. Our Wedding breakfast consisted of modern Asian fusion cuisine. We had Bollywood dancers for our evening entertainment along with Dhol Drummers and a confetti cannon for our first dance.
What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
I would advise all brides to savour every single moment of their big day as it goes so quickly!
