It’s not every day a cultural beauty like this comes our way. But this morning, m’dears, we’re diving into one completely bespoke, impeccably planned affair celebrating what the joining of two families is truly all about. One part Jewish and one part Hindu, it’s a beautiful nod to both the bride and groom’s heritage, and you can see the love affair unfold through Aneta MAK’s lens right over here.
From the Bride & Groom… I think most couples want their wedding to be a true reflection of themselves. Dan and I were no different in this respect, we wanted our wedding to showcase our passion for food and how we love to throw a good party, whilst also reflecting both our Indian and Jewish heritages.
Coordinating the religious ceremony was the most difficult aspect for us. We decided we wanted to have a joint religious ceremony rather than two separate Indian and Jewish weddings as we felt this would not be a true reflection of our future HinJew household, where both religions would be intertwined.
Our first task of finding a Hindu priest and a Rabbi who would be happy to work together was very difficult in itself. We then had to build our own wedding ceremony from Jewish and Hindu rituals. This was a political minefield to navigate: pleasing families, the priests as well as ourselves sometimes seemed impossible! We got there in the end however, and the result was a ceremony which incorporated both our cultures, families, and was completely bespoke to us.
Style wise I wanted to keep it simple, the Mandarin Oriental is a beautiful venue and so I opted for classic white, cream and buttermilk flowers. The table decorations had cascading orchids to add another dimension and soften the overall look. I didn’t have a colour scheme as I wanted the overall appearance to be natural and not too over stylised. Plus I had heard horror stories of brides being up all night ordering chair cover samples from China to ensure they were the same shade of duck egg blue as their bridesmaids dresses! I wanted to avoid slipping into this kind of bridezilla stress! The result was green bridesmaids dresses (they chose colour and outfits themselves), pink and grey straws, and neutral flowers.
My favourite detail or touch were the personalised flags we had commissioned. These were life size photos of us hanging over Knightsbridge at the entrance to our wedding. In the future if we buy a house it must have two flag poles so we can hang them once more!
TIP: Make freezable favours so they can be made well in advance and so are not a last minute chore. We made Florentines, white chocolate with lemon and lime and a dark chocolate and peanut variety. By all accounts they were yummy but having made 300+ I am now thoroughly sick of them.
Best part of the day was the party, Indian and Jewish dancing followed by some old school classics and of course a garage set! It was crazy! At the end of the night we were on such a high, we went to our room and ordered whiskey and room service and reflected on the day together.
My advice for anyone planning a wedding is to try and not get too bogged down in the details and to focus on what really matters to you. We had a brilliant day but we acknowledge it’s hard to take it all in at the time. As my husband says, the prominence of that one day increases with every day that passes. It was the best day of our lives, we know it now but we will know it even more in 50yrs time.
Photographer: Aneta Mak | Videographer: Kissing Gate Films | Florals: Wildabout | Cake: Le Papillon Patisserie | Stationery: Hello!Lucky | Ceremony: Mandarin Oriental Hotel | Reception Venue: Mandarin Oriental Hotel | Makeup: Roopa Chudasama | Hair: Daniel Galvin | DJ: Sliding Vinyl DJs | Bespoke Flags: Mandarin Oriental Hotel | Bride Indian Wedding Dress: Bibi London | Bride Jewellery: Mother Of The Bride's Own | Bride Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Bride White Dress:: Pronovias | Cocktail Hour Band: Wandering Hands | Favours: Bespoke / By Bride & Groom | Groom Cufflinks: Lanvin | Groom Shoes: Prada | Groom Suit: Dress 2 Kill | Indian Jewellery: Kyles Collection | Jeweller: Keglim Laufer | Personalised Straws: The French Etiquette Via Etsy