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indian summer. a pretty fusion wedding in East Yorkshire – hannah & arul

Julia Smith

Hannah and Arul - English Indian Fusion Wedding - Sarah Beth Photography-26

This morning we join Hannah and Arul for a wedding celebration that was a true celebration of their different cultures.  This couple mixed morris dancers and high tea alongside goat curries and Indian dress, without batting an eyelid. And you know what?

It

just fits

.

The result? A fresh and fabulous day, with meaningful touches, an heirloom wedding dress and a whole lot of love.

With images by Brides Up North Sponsor, Sarah Beth Photography.

Hannah and Arul - English Indian Fusion Wedding - Sarah Beth Photography-1

hannah says:

 We got engaged on my birthday (28th February 2013). We were on holiday in the North Yorkshire Moors and we went to The Lion Inn pub in the middle of nowhere (my granddad’s ashes are spread there) it’s a pub loved by all the family and we went every Christmas.

We went on a walk along the moors and we walked for miles (turned out Arul was looking for the perfect spot where all the classical elements: earth, wind, water and fire were present).

We sat down for a tea break Arul said he had another present for me. Out came the ring! It was perfect: we were alone with beautiful views and it was the best walk back to the pub where we had lunch by the roaring fire next to the piano.

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We were married on 26th August 2014 at Bilton Church. We chose this as at midnight it would have been my Granddad’s birthday (27th August). Therefore he would still be part of the day. The wedding was in the village where I grew up and the church that my grandparents were married at, and the reception was at The Haven Arms, Hedon.

Our wedding saw the joining of two different cultures – English and Srilankan. The wedding was celebrated in both cultures over Day and Night. We did vintage high tea for the day celebration. I chose to wear my grandma’s dress and we collected tea cups, side plates and tea pots all year, the venue provided the bunting and Morris Dancers entertained the guests.

The night theme was Indian with lots of coloured lighting, Indian food, Indian music and the guest in Indian clothes (sarees for women and kurta’s for men). This reflected Arul’s country of birth Sri Lanka with his mum and brother travelling from Sri Lanka for the wedding.

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I wore my grandma’s wedding dress. She offered to buy my wedding dress and I asked to look at hers.It was important to me to make my grandma a big part of the wedding as she has been a huge part of my life.

I got my two adult bridesmaids sage green dresses from House of Fraser and my flower girl’s dress was made especially for her.

Arul wore dark grey tails with a sage green cravat to match the bridesmaids.

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I carried sweet peas which all the family grew, these where the flowers my granddad grew on his allotment so it was important to include them. I also had roses (Aruls mum’s favourite) and peonies. The flowers and arrangements were by Evergreen Garden Centre in Bilton.

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My friend Francesca picked Arul up in her Audi and I had a vintage car by Alternative Wedding Cars.

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Hannah and Arul - English Indian Fusion Wedding - Sarah Beth Photography-18

We had the flowers clustered on the pew ends and wrapped in lace to match my dress and had love heart shaped bird cages hanging outside the church.

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Hannah and Arul - English Indian Fusion Wedding - Sarah Beth Photography-27

The Haven Arms were so accommodating. We went to two tasting sessions and the chef sourced special ingredients for the evening curries based on Arul’s feedback. They also sourced all the bunting, chair covers, lighting and led lighting to match our theme. The owners even dresses up in Indian clothes on the night!

This place is brilliant for people wanting a themed wedding as they are so adaptive.

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Hannah and Arul - English Indian Fusion Wedding - Sarah Beth Photography-41

My auntie Di made our fruit cake. She makes all our family cakes and gave us this as our wedding gift. My bridesmaid Sarah made all the cupcakes and we bought a cake stand from Ebay to display them both.

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During the day we were entertained by the Makara Morris Dancers. They were fantastic and invited us to practice with them prior to the wedding and let us choose all their dances on the day. They kept the guests busy while we were having pictures and filled a gap between food and speeches (getting everyone to join in) which everyone said was brilliant.

As a special touch for later in the evening, my friends and I spent a year learning an Indian dance in order to surprise Arul and the guests.

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We went on a Log House Holidays honeymoon in the Cotswolds. We were in a log cabin on a lake with our own hot tub and rowing boat!

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to make your wedding a reflection of who you are, it’s a lot of hard work but totally worth it.

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