There is so much joy in Marta May’s photographs of Shruthi and Sam’s wedding at Dewsall Court,. The couple married in April this year, bringing her Tamil heritage and his Scottish roots together in a colourful and intimate celebration in this quintessential English countryside setting.
Marta, one of our much loved and highly recommended directory members, photographed the day using both digital and analogue, capturing all the laughter, movement and gloriously imperfect moments along the way.
The bride wore a hand-tailored ivory lehenga, embroidered with pearls and gold, while Sam chose a kilt in his family’s Ferguson tartan.
The bridesmaids wore handmade lehengas in different shades of green, set against a rich palette of plum, aubergine and olive that continued through the stationery and tables.
Their celebrant-led ceremony included traditions honouring the bride’s Tamil heritage, followed by seasonal flowers, wonderful food and a dance floor filled with Indian and Western music.
Dewsall Court is also a recommended member of the Love My Dress directory and provided the beautiful house, gardens and relaxed country setting in which the couple could gather everyone together for the celebrations. Enjoy!
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The Venue & Location
We got married at Dewsall Court in Hereford – we couldn’t recommend Dewsall Court more.
I had seen Dewsall long before we got engaged, and had bookmarked it in my mind. I thought if we got married this was exactly the sort of place I would want, beautiful countryside, rustic and personal interiors, outside ceremony space, good food, a home away from home vibe.
Having our wedding there surpassed all our expectations. It was so special to be able to stay overnight in the venue before our wedding, so it just felt like we were getting married in our own back garden.
The team at Dewsall are so fantastic, organised, helpful, calm and happy for you to throw any ideas at them. They made our day feel so personal and special, we’ll never forget it.
When thinking of colours for our wedding we settled on an unusual combo of a rich plum/ aubergine with olive/earthy green tones. It’s such an underrated combination and let the scheme for our invites, welcome sign, table décor etc. It’s useful to have a palette you can lean on.
In terms of the rest of the feel for the day, Dewsall Court as a venue just led the way, with their beautiful gardens and house, we didn’t have to try too hard for a stunning backdrop.
The Lehenga
My white bridal lehenga was tailored by hand by Anjali Batavia. I couldn’t find anything in Indian bridal shops that fit what I was looking for, so went to the tailor with images in mind and she delivered more than I could have asked for.
I was looking for an ivory lehenga with pearl/ gold embroidery, not too heavy (which bridal lehengas tend to be).
I couldn’t recommend Anjali more, especially if you’re struggling to find what you want in stores!
It felt very me! I wanted my wedding outfit to feel luxurious and elegant but special, and most importantly wanted to be able to move around in it without it weighing a tonne. I’m sad that I’ll not get to wear it again, I felt so special in it!
I also had an outfit change into a lighter sequined white saree for the evening, it meant I could go hard on the dancefloor!
My shoes were bought in India. My hair and makeup were styled by artist Kaz Fernando.
Jewellery
My jewellery was from Amrapali Jewellery, which brought a touch of old Indian heritage and history to the look. I specifically wanted the high choker with bigger statement earrings, and a dainty nose ring on a chain, it’s I think a modern take on the traditional Indian bridal look.
The Wedding Party
My bridesmaids also wore handmade lehengas in different shades of green by Anjali, from India.
Sam wore a kilt with a Prince Charlie jacket and waistcoat. The tartan was from his mother’s maiden name, Ferguson. His kilt came from the Harris Kilt Company in Belfast.
The Ceremony
My mum and dad walked me down the aisle to the sound of ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys. It was an acoustic guitar only version, recorded specially by Sam, the groom.
The wedding was celebrant led, not religious and was officiated by Eleanor of The Full Stop Celebrant who is Somerset based.
Eleanor was so brilliant, immediately making us both feel so safe in her hands. We were nervous about finding the right person to lead our ceremony, but absolutely made the right decision with her. It was funny, heartwarming and brought people to tears. It really just felt like our pal was with us at the altar.
We read our vows and exchanged rings. In addition to this, there were elements to it that honoured my Tamil heritage, such as tying the Thali, and exchanging flower garlands.
Our rings were bought from a jewellery company in India called Tanishq.
Our photographer was Marta May. I’d seen Marta’s work very early on in our quest for suppliers and her style perfectly suited the vibe we wanted for our wedding.
I loved how she was able to capture how the day actually felt rather than anything very staged.
Looking back on the pictures I can almost feel every emotion I went through that day which is kind of amazing and shows you she knows exactly what she’s doing. The analogue pictures as well have such a special feel to them. We highly recommend Marta!
How They Met
We met in the first week of University during freshers. A drunken kiss somehow led to 10 years later and getting married.
We got engaged at a wonderful French restaurant in London where we had our first ever Valentine’s day dinner. A total surprise for me, but it was a perfect full circle memory.
We were engaged for about a year and a half before getting married. We kept saying it felt like we had loads of time, but it ended up passing by so quic
The Reception
Our flowers were arranged by Issy and Bella. I wanted the flowers to tie in with the beautiful countryside around us and not overpower too much. Opting for seasonal soft florals was the perfect decision for us, small bridal bouquets with bridesmaid bouquets to complement.
Catering was provided by Dewsall Court and our cake was made by Isabel’s Bakehouse. It was a two tier cake, chocolate with lemon and blueberry, so there was something for everyone.
Having tried the tasters we were sold, we got so many compliments on the cake, they were a fantastic local business, couldn’t recommend more.
I designed and printed the menus myself and for guest favours, we gave handmade palm leaf trinket baskets as our wedding favours. We sourced them from my Dad’s coastal hometown in India, Manapad.
Evening entertainment was DJ Max Galactic. Max was so brilliant with the evening entertainment, he kept everyone on the dancefloor for the whole night, playing a mixture of Indian and Western songs at our request.
Our first dance was to ‘Real Love Baby’ by Father John Misty. We felt it was romantic but upbeat, something to slow dance to as well as have a boogie to.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
There was a lot of researching that went into choosing all our suppliers, and I’m glad we spent that time. They’re all important decisions and you don’t want to put your wedding budget towards things that aren’t the right fit.
Wear blister plasters pre-emptively!
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