Vinita and Venja’s Real Life Wedding

Vinita and Venja

29/08/2004 – Marylebone Register Office, London
The Landmark Hotel, London
Indian wedding at home

photos by Mark Mather

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

Yes. We bought favours from confetti – small gold organza bags filled with chocolates. We also bought our civil wedding ceremony invitations from confetti.

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

My outfit was an indian outfit. It was a gold lehnga with a short blouse and a heavy shawl draped around my shoulders. I went to India before the wedding and bought it from a small boutique in Kolkata, India

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

No official brideamaids but lots of very close girlfriends some of whom wore saris!

Where did you hold your ceremony?

Marylebone Register Office. We had a civil ceremony a couple of months before the traditional Indian wedding.

Where did you hold your reception?

After the register office, we had a reception at The Landmark Hotel – we used the Gazebo.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

The Indian wedding was based at my parents house so there was need for special cars.

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

We had 150 for the ceremony and approximately 270 for the evening sit down dinner.

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

Yes – it was cream and gold with red and orange roses.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

The tables had cream tablecloths with a gold organza cloth over the top. In the centre of each table, we had a mirror covered with candles surrounding a square vase with red and orange roses. The chair covers were cream and gold and the carpet in the marquee was gold.

Did you give your guests favours?

Yes – as above.

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

Quite a simple and clean look. We had square glass vases with red roses, and one orange one placed in the centre of the red ones. We used a local village florist.

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

The menu was Indian and we used a local caterer.

What did you choose for your wedding cake?

A local bakery made our cake. It was a two tier square cake with red roses on the top.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

We had a string quartet during the champagne reception and a dj in the evening.

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

Yes it was with John Lewis.

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

Our honeymoon was in Thailand. We went to Bangkok and Kho Samui. It was totally amazing.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

The arrival of the barat (grooms party), the speeches and seeing all our family and friends in one room!

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

Enjoy, relax and drink lots of bubbles!