Becky and Sachin’s Real Life Wedding

 

Becky and Sachin

06/10/2005 – Leez Priory, Great Dunmow, near Chelmsford

   

How and when did you meet?

6 and a half years ago at a really awful club in Ealing.

How old are you both?

I am 26, Sach is 28.

Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?

It was October 13th 2003; he told me he was taking me away for a romantic weekend, but didn’t say where. I had my suspicions but went along with it. We spent the day in Stratford-upon-Avon and in the afternoon drove out to the mystery location which was up in Coventry, Coombe Abbey. It was amazing, such a special, romantic place. When we got into our room there were boxes of chocolates, a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Champagne chilling. He then said "Sit down, I have a little present for you," So I closed my eyes, held out my hands and he gave me a gift bag. I opened it and found a pink beanie baby cat, my heart sank for a moment, and he then said "The gift comes in two parts"… He turned the cat around and tied to the collar was a platinum diamond ring! Before he could say anything I was crying uncontrollably, he then got down on one knee and asked "Will you marry me?" Of course my answer was "Yes!"

Did you have hen and stag celebrations?

I had my hen night at the Coppid Beech Hotel in Bracknell; they have everything under one roof. ‘The girls weekend package’: spa, bier keller for dinner with a band and a club. Sach went to Amsterdam with the boys.

Did your groom help you with the wedding planning?

We did most of it together, from designing the invitations, table plan, menus and colour theme and most of all the budget!

Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?

Yes, we used Confetti for inspiration for the colour theme and table decorations and also used the planning tool you provide.

Do you have a confetti web page?

Yes.

Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?

We purchased a number of items from your London store.

Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it.

My Dress was not what I expected to wear, I originally said no veil, no tiara, and a big but plain dress. We saw a wedding show in Dorking with one of the local shops, The bridal room in Reigate, so we went along just to have a look and I fell in love with the first dress I tried on. It was very girly, pretty yet sexy, which is the one we ended up buying, along with a floor-length veil and tiara. It just happened that it was the last one in the sale, so I got an amazing dress at a great price!

Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?

We had one bridesmaid, my best friend Vickie. As our theme was black tie and colour scheme was black and silver we wanted her to wear a black strapless evening dress which my mum found in the BHS wedding section, again this just happened to be in the sale. She also wore silver shoes and a silver stole.

Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?

We chose Graham, Vickie’s husband, to be our best man. He wore a tuxedo with a silver waistcoat and cravat to match Vickie’s stole.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

We had a civil ceremony.

Where did you hold your ceremony?

Our ceremony was in the tower at Leez Priory in Great Dunmow near Chelmsford.

Where did you hold your reception?

We had our reception at Leez Priory, and we had exclusive use of the venue all day and night.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

No transport was needed as we all got ready at the venue.

How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?

We invited 60 guests to our wedding, and had no additional evening guests.

Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?

The theme for our wedding was black tie and the colours were black, ivory and silver.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

We used silver and black stars sprinkled on the tables, with balloon trees that consisted of black latex balloons with cream stars all over, mixed with silver latex balloons. The place settings were cream cars with black writing, with a diamante for the ladies and a silver star the guys.

Did you give your guests favours?

Each guest had miniature vodka as a favour with a little poem attached and tied with silver ribbon (this was for the vodka luge in the evening.)

Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?

I really didn’t want a bouquet so went for a wrist corsage for me, the mums, nanny and bridesmaid which consisted of two ivory vandella roses with diamantes on wire. They looked very delicate. The guys had a single vandella rose with diamante on wire. We used Knights of Betchworth.

What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?

Leez Priory provide a varied menu to choose from. For the vegetarians (me!) we had tomato and mozzarella salad, followed by wild mushroom and asparagus croustade in a white wine tarragon and dijon cream sauce. For everyone else the starter was pesto roasted salmon on a bed of rocket leaves, olive and parmesan and dessert was yummy dark chocolate torte with an orange sauce.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

I wanted to do my own thing with the cake so we decided to go with a Marks & Spencer 3-tier, chocolate, sponge and fruit all covered in ivory icing. On the morning I took the top two off the cake boards and stacked them on top of one another. I dusted them in edible iridescent glitter, wrapped a black organza ribbon around each one and sprinkled diamantes on the cakes and the table around it. Then an ivory vandella rose was placed on the top cake. It really was very different and I got loads of compliments on my ideas.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

We decided while the photos were being taken that we would have a magician. We had seen Magin Lee at a wedding fayre in Dorking and he was excellent, I would recommend him! Leez Priory also recommend the in-house DJ Eddie who played music to our specific requests throughout the evening.

Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?

We had our gift list with John Lewis who were great.

Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?

We spent our first night in the bridal suite at Leez Priory, which was very romantic. We flew off for two weeks to The Body Holiday @ Le Sport in St Lucia 3 days after the wedding and it was amazing. We booked the honeymoon through Tropic Breeze.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

There were so many amazing moments on the day. My most memorable moment was saying our vows which we wrote ourselves and, of course, becoming Mrs. Bhambri!

Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?

No major problems, except I was a nightmare – the excitement and nerves all got to me and I cried a lot, in fact most of the weekend before the wedding. On the day everyone was saying Becky you are so calm, are you ok?

Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?

I would not do a single thing differently! Our wedding day was more amazing than either of us could ever have imagined. I remember everything, even the smallest detail. To any bride who is about to get married I would just say make sure you enjoy every moment, anytime you feel stressed about how much you have to do or anything that has gone wrong, just chill for a minute. And make sure you take time to have a few moments to yourselves on the day, just so you can take it all in, and good luck!