Charlie and Ashok are amazing. A gorgeous couple, perfectly matched and full of ideas and inspiration for a magical wedding day. Their celebrations fuse vibrant Indian colours with pretty English flowers and contemporary wedding design. It’s just so very beautiful.
Charlie’s a stunning bride, wearing a statement headpiece with her simple white dress; and rocking a gorgeous red sari for the Indian ceremony. Two dresses – both incredible - and all that wonderful henna looks out of this world.
The images from Ashok and Charlie’s day are by Paul Fuller Kent Photography. Paul said of their day, “The colour, the energy is all just so intense that you can’t help but be mesmerized by the beauty of it all. A Sikh ceremony followed by a church service and back to Charlie’s parents’ place for the food, drinks and dancing, it all sounded incredible, and so it proved to be!”
Do check out more of Paul’s real weddings and get in touch if you’re looking for a wedding photographer in Kent:
- http://www.paulfullerkentphotography.com
- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Fuller-Kent-Photography/205676569475163
- @paulfuller693
- https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Paulfullerkentphotography/posts
- http://english-wedding.com/tag/paul-fuller-kent-photography
Our wedding story: Ashok and Charlie
Wedding photographer’s website:
http://www.paulfullerkentphotography.com/
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer?
Our photographer Paul was an absolute joy to work with. I can be a little nervous of having my photo taken but he just made me feel so comfortable and at ease. A true professional. He was very discreet but when I look at the photos I realise that he must have been everywhere, he seems to have captured everything!
Wedding venue:
Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, St Mary’s Church in Stansted and my Mum and Dads back garden!
Wedding date:
2nd August 2014
Can you describe your wedding in a single sentence?
Not really, but I guess a fusion between an Indian wedding with an English garden party. There were Temples, Churches, Pimms and curry!
What was your reaction to seeing your wedding photos for the first time?
Lots of happy tears!
Your wedding style or theme:
Relaxed, lots of colour but otherwise there was no theme as such
How long did you spend planning your wedding?
I booked the venues shortly after our engagement in 2012 and then casually forgot to start any serious planning until around May 2014 – the last few months were a bit of a whirlwind, but we did it! (Thanks mostly to my amazing family and friends!)
Best bit of budget advice?
Shop around, attempt some DIY, look at non wedding alternatives and ask for help from talented friends and family!
Wedding invitations and on the day stationery:
Our wedding invitations were ordered from India, we did the printing, cutting and sticking ourselves. We incorporated the paisley design from the invite all over the wedding and it was added to the order of service, menu/table plans and the cake – we even spray painted it on the wall of the barn, where the party was held (Sorry Dad!). My very talented bridesmaid Eve designed and printed the order of service and table menus. We bound all of the cutlery, serviette and menus with Indian printed fabric which we cut and pinned together.
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
Absolutely. It was very simple, lace and not too structured. I loved that I could move and dance without feeling restricted.
My sari I found at a little shop in Green St, London. As soon as I tried it on, I just adored it! As it’s not super ‘bridal’ I have even worn it since, which is great.
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
David’s Bridal, Stratford Westfield.
A little shop in Green St, London. I can’t remember the name now!
Glitz and sparkle – the bride’s accessories:
As I had a very simple dress, I knew it was all about the accessories. I hunted high and low for a vintage shrug and ended up falling in love with this one from Phase Eight! Shoes: LK Bennett, The Head Jewellery was from an Indian accessories store in Southall, London
The accessories for the sari were from either Green St or Southall, both London. I had my Mehndi done by a wonderful lady called Michelle at Henna Vibes. I think it looked great with both outfits.
Suited and booted – the groom wore:
Ashok had a lovely navy blue suit custom made from ‘A suit that fits’. I didn’t get to see it until the day, but he looked amazing and the suit was gorgeous.
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
My beautiful bridesmaids all wore gorgeous tea length navy lace dresses from Warehouse, with metallic shoes from Next.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
I hired a professional make-up artist and hairdresser for the day, and they both did wonderfully. We had to start the hair and makeup at 5am in order to be at the temple on time, and they were both fantastic and happy even at the crack of dawn!
Wedding flowers:
DIY. My sister (who married the year before me), my Mum and I all joined a floristry course with the aim of doing our own flowers. Luckily my wonderful Aunties Sheila and Helen are both very talented at arranging flowers and came to the rescue when we realised we may have bitten off more than we could chew! I made my bouquet and it was a team effort with the bridesmaids/ church and reception flowers.
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
We had our reception at my parents’ house, so basically there was nothing there! We hired a marquee and filled it with homemade pompoms, my wonderful Mum made what felt like a few miles of bunting from an Indian print fabric, my brother and I made chalkboard signs, we begged, stole and borrowed flowers and garden furniture from pretty much the whole village! We had my whole family on board for the week before the wedding basically making it look pretty.
In my Dad’s barn we decided we wanted an Indian style tent feel, with vivid colours. So my Dad ordered hundreds of yards of cheap fabrics and we hung them like drapes from the ceiling – it really transformed the barn into something very unusual and fun.
DIY – tell us about any handcrafted elements of your wedding…
Most of our wedding had some element of DIY involved. We had a relatively small budget given the amount of people we had invited, so in order to keep things in check it was all hands on deck. I spray painted some glass bottles in gold to hold flowers, the bunting was homemade, the flowers were DIY, Order of service and table menu were homemade and so many Pompoms! My Mum drove me to the temple, Dad to the Church and my Uncle took the bridesmaids which saved a fortune on ‘Wedding cars’ and it was much more personal. Ashok and I driving away from the Church on our own was really special. Most of it was homemade to be honest!
The wedding cake: traditional or quirky?
We were very lucky here that our close friend Emma works as a cake maker and decorator in Australia and was coming over for the wedding. We spent a few weeks emailing ideas to each other and she pulled it all together. We wanted the Indian paisley print and feel with a traditional cake. She made this fabulous gold leaf tiers with the Indian paisley print. It was stunning and so tasty. The sponge was flavoured with vanilla and raspberry and another tier was caramel. We had so many compliments on the cake and Emma very kindly made this as our wedding gift.
Entertainment:
We really wanted a live band but knew that money was going to be tight, so we went to some local live gigs and asked ‘Long Way Down’ if they would play. They agreed to play for a fraction of the price of a ‘wedding band’. The band were incredible and had everyone up dancing to a mixture of current and classic tunes.
We also really wanted an acoustic set during the welcome drinks, which I planned and booked a year in advance. The day before the wedding the original singer pulled out – I was devastated. I spent the day on the phone and managed to get a couple of friends to play an hour set during the welcome drinks. They were amazing and I’m so pleased the original singer ended up pulling out!
My cousin and bridesmaid Shannon is a very talented singer so she sang an acoustic adaptation of the Foo Fighters ’Everlong’ whilst in the Church. My goodness, that was emotional…
On the day tips and advice:
Don’t stress the little things. I panicked about everything leading up to the big day, and when it arrived I couldn’t have cared less!
What’s the best thing about being married?
Living with my Husband 
Quick supplier list for other brides and grooms:
Photographer: http://www.paulfullerkentphotography.com/
Dress – http://www.davidsbridal.co.uk/
Shoes – http://www.lkbennett.com/
Cape – http://www.phase-eight.com/
Bridesmaid dresses – http://www.warehouse.co.uk/?lng=en&ctry=GB&
Sari and Accessories – http://www.green-st.co.uk/
Photographer – http://www.paulfullerkentphotography.com/
Wedding Band – https://www.facebook.com/#!/longwaydowninfo
The post Temples, churches, Pimms and curry! Charlie and Ashok’s Indian fusion wedding with Paul Fuller Kent Photography appeared first on The English Wedding Blog.