Alex & Anesh

My favourite part of my own wedding day was saying my vows during the ceremony, so I am a little jealous that bride & groom Alex & Anesh got to say their vows twice during their beautiful humanist and Hindu ceremonies, not to mention double the gorgeous outfits. Northbrook Park was the host for this wonderful celebration and fusion of cultures and was a truly beautiful location for Claudia Rose Carter Photography to capture all those precious memories.

Dress

Alex The Bride: I wanted a fitted gown with a short train and had only tried on a few dresses before I tried on the one that I knew I wanted to get married in. I love the beading amongst the lace and the two different colours of lace. My hindu wedding outfit was equally beautiful. It was chosen from Satoshi Haute Couture in Southall and is a one-off design. The blouse was hand made in India to my measurements and red is an auspicious colour. I chose a pale gold skirt to complement it with gold shoes.

Grooms Attire

Anesh wanted a double breasted check waistcoat and a slim fit lounge suit. He has used Suit Supply before and this was one of their made to measure suits in a birds eye blue fabric. His Hindu wedding outfit was made to measure by a tailor in North London.

Venue

We loved Northbrook Park because it was a large versatile venue where we could set up the two ceremonies side by side and fit in all our guests. It is also incredibly beautiful and only a hour from where we live so it was an ideal choice.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We have been to many weddings over the years and I have known for a while that I always wanted peacock blues and greens as my colour scheme. The presence of the peacocks at Northbrook Park was honestly a total coincidence! We also wanted lots of fairy lights hence the lanterns in the trees and the lights on the roof of the Orangery.

Flowers/Florist

The mantlepiece, lanterns, flower curtain, buttonholes and bouquets were done by Anna at Buds Floristry. We wanted the flowers to be chic but not too formal, hence the greenery and the hydrangeas. We loved the fairy lights entwined in the flowers to the mantlepiece and the top table. A lot of flowers were personal favourites of the bride: sweet peas, alstroemeria, lilies of the valley and gyspsophilia for the bridesmaids.

Wedding Party Fashion

The bridesmaids were the my sisters and Anesh's sister. The dresses were by Damsel in a Dress in John Lewis and were the perfect colour and texture for the daytime ceremony and the reception later on. The groomsmen wore summery biscuit jackets from Reiss.

Ceremony

One of our readings was entitled an Indian Wedding Blessing which fit very well into the coming together of two families on our wedding day. Our ring bearer for the civil ceremony was the my six month old nephew and godson, Henry, but he fell asleep at the crucial moment so needed some help from his father, an usher and one of the best men.

Entertainment

Mr Vish was our DJ throughout and provided music for both the ceremonies- chamber and classical music for the civil ceremony and beautiful Indian music for the Hindu wedding. He also did a great job with the floor-fillers in the reception

Food

Our cake was a 4 tier sponge cake made by Jeannettes Great Cakes with blue butterflies flying up the side. They were carrot cake and vanilla sponge layers. The canapés, main menu and desserts were all Indian food made by Masala Creations. The best part was the apple and cinnamon samosas.

Photographer

We saw Claudia's work online and loved it straight away! She put us totally at ease and was happy to take the formal photographs that we needed as well as more relaxed shots. We couldn't have hired anyone better on the day. We love how the photos have turned out.