East meets West: A fusion wedding in Cambridgeshire
2014: a new year, bringing with it hope, good times ahead and inspiration especially for all those brides-to-be out there! So let's suspend our disbelief and imagine we're back in British summertime (yes, the actual summery bit, with sunshine and everything) and revisit another great wedding I shot last year.
Ravi and Gav found love in our multicultural capital and decided to tie the knot last summer. Their wedding was a vibrant fusion of culture, tradition and romance in a picturesque location: Anstey Hall in Cambridgeshire, a Grade 1 listed country house dating back to the 17th century. Embracing the variety of Indian and British culture, the couple celebrated their commitment to each other in this quintessentially English setting, juxtaposed by key traditions from Ravi's Indian heritage. As Ravi is an event planner she was keen to find a venue that she could hire as a blank canvas, in order to organise the wedding herself..with great success!
The civil ceremony took place in the main house, and while the bride was getting ready the guests tucked into an Indian-themed buffet – a veritable feast of samosas, bhajis and sweet foods. The bride was wearing a stunning Indian sari in cream and turquoise with accents of red, complimented by colourful bangles and a simple, elegant gold necklace. The groom looked dapper in a traditional three-piece suit in blue (with hints of red – note the socks!) and the attention to contrasting cultural detail even extended to hamburger cufflinks! The flowers were themed in elegant white and cream and looked stunning against the vivid colours of the bride's wedding outfit.
The gardens of the Hall offered a very English backdrop to the reception, with lots of brightly coloured saris providing wonderful visual contrast to the green lawn, as did the colourful parasols that gave shade and twinkled in the sunlight. The wedding breakfast was hosted in a marquee in the grounds and was stylishly decorated with simple white flowers and colourful bunting. The newlyweds danced into the marquee to loud, Indian music – the atmosphere was buzzing and set the tone for the party to really begin! In true Indian tradition the guests all gave gifts of money after lining up to congratulate the bride and groom. The wedding cake and cute cupcakes were displayed on tree-bark, a really effective idea which added a natural element to the decorations. When the cake-cutting moment arrived, the Indian tradition was also upheld with the happy couple feeding the cake to one another...very gracefully, hardly a crumb in sight!
This was a wedding that encapsulated a marriage of cultures, and above all told a beautiful love story for our times. I loved helping capture their story and hope you enjoy the pics below...
