Did you miss us?! We’ve been having some downtime due to a mega server upgrade, meaning we can continue to bring you allllll the gorgeous weddings in laser sharp technicolor, whilst maintaining our inspo archives!
We’re back with a bang with the gorgeous fusion wedding of Louise & Zain, at the stunning Whirlobrook Hall in Sheffield, with images shot by one of our fave photographers, UNVEILED Network Member, Ryan Browne Photography.
Images by Ryan Browne Photography
Proposal
We got engaged in Gili Meno, Indonesia in June 2018. Zain proposed at sunset as we walked along the beach. He chose the ring by himself the day before we flew and I had no idea.
Setting
Both the ceremony and reception was at Whirlowbrook Hall, Sheffield. We wanted to get married in an old manor that wasn’t too pretentious, near the Peak District, had a body of water, grounds for the guests to wander around and allowed external caterers.
Whirlowbrook is a great location with good facilities. The team at Whirlowbrook were quick to answer queries and flexible with plans. The venue is beautiful left blank but also a great canvas to make your own. I really like the upstairs rooms – a bridal get ready room and a quiet room for children or grandparents.
Theme
Our wedding was a fusion wedding between western and South Asian traditions. We opted for a monochrome colour scheme.
Dress
I had a off white, off the shoulder custom made dress from Mongas, London. It was embroidered with pearls and crystals.
I wanted a dress that looked like a white wedding dress but would fit the fusion theme. It kept my mother & mother in law happy!
Groom
Zain wore a navy and gold heavy embroidered Shawani from The Desi Groom, London.
The 5 groomsmen wore navy blue shawanis with gold needlework from a selection of stores in Green Street and Ilford.
Bridesmaids
My six bridesmaids wore green/grey salwar kameez from Nees London with Fizzy Goblet shoes.
Beauty
My mehndi was done by Preet Panesar 2 days before at home, prior to our joint Mehndi party. My bridesmaids had small designs on their hands.
My hair and make-up was done by Alona Dmytrenko.
Photographer
Our photographer was Ryan Browne Photography. Ryan was very professional on the day and delivered excellent posed and natural photos.
Videographer
Dan Aleks was our videographer. He was non intrusive and captured all the important parts of the day. I really enjoy watching the wedding, especially the speeches.
Styling
The flowers were by Cromwell Flowers who did the bouquets, pin holes and top table centrepiece.
The venue was decorated with fairy lights and love letters by Pretty Chairs. On every surface were candles. I drew the welcome sign and made the order of the day pallet and seating plan.
The centre pieces were plants my mother grew with photographs taken by Zain of the places we had travelled.
The letterbox was from Ikea with a personalised transfer sticker from Etsy. My dad made an arch, which we decorated with curtains from Ikea and a garland from Country Baskets.
The place names and menus were from Printed.com.
The confetti was made from petals my mother had dried out from flowers in her garden and our favours were herbs my mother had grown from seed in little metal pots.
Cake
My mother made our cake. It was a semi-naked 3 tier cake of victoria sponge, lemon and chocolate.
Catering
Our caterers for the sit down breakfast were MyLahore.
After the ceremony we served canapes (vegetable samosa, chicken satay and seekh kebab). Welcome drinks included a selection of mocktails by MyLahore as well as prosecco and beers.
We had all our favourite starters (samosa – again, grilled lamb chops and tandoori chicken), followed by curries (lamb karahi, paneer palak and achari chicken) with a range of sides followed by asian desserts (gajar ka halva, ras malai) and a massive western dessert parlour.
For the wedding breakfast drinks we had a white and red wine, but since half of our guests were not drinking alcohol, we had a selection of Fentimans bottles of soft drinks. Fentimans is Zain’s favourite soft drink company.
In the evening reception Whirlowbrook made street food (buttermilk chicken with spicy slaw, chickpea falafels and beef nacho chilis). We had an open bar and I think a lot of tequila was drunk!
Food was a very important part of our day.
Entertainment
During the drinks receptions after the ceremony we had a string quartet (River Quartet @BandsforHire) playing a mix of punk, classical and bollywood songs.
For the evening reception we had a DJ and campervan photobooth (Busography).
Best Bit
I couldn’t pick, I loved every moment of it. The food was particularly good, since I hadn’t eaten much that week due to wedding nerves/stress. Zain’s favourite part were the sparklers outside after the first dance.
Honeymoon
We booked our honeymoon 3 days after our wedding and 2 days before we went, due to uncertainties with the pandemic.
We spent 3 weeks travelling around Greece and 1 week in the Maldives.
First, we flew to Oia, Santorini, where we went diving and had a romantic time; Oia is such a pretty place. After, we went to Naxos, where we learned to kite surf, then Paros to recover from learning to kite surf. After, we went to Athens sightseeing. From Athens we flew to Maldives and went diving for our last week. It was a perfect grownup backpacking holiday to welcome us into married life.
Top Tip
Decide which parts of the wedding are important and communicate that. Be organised and book suppliers early!
