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THE OCCASION:
Kailash and Stephen’s wedding
THE VENUE:
The Bingham Hotel, Richmond
THE BRIEF:
An East West fusion Summer wedding
THE KEY CHALLENGE:
To incorporate the groom in the decor scheme
Kailash is from India while Stephen, he won’t mind me saying, is a pasty white Englishman so the main challenge was how to reflect both Kailash and Stephen in the wedding decor at their fabulous West London venue, The Bingham.
Bringing Indian styling into a wedding is not hard; Indian weddings are colourful, lavish affairs and Kailash and Stephen wanted to bring traditional ceremonies and colours like gold and red to their wedding day. But Kailash was also keen to avoid a brash, OTT look. The Bingham is a beautiful boutique hotel overlooking the Thames the decor needed to respect those lovely surroundings.
The Bingham’s main wedding room is a smart, blank canvas divided into three so I wanted to unify the spaces, however with a low ceiling, bunting was out. So we wanted to achieve sophisticated wedding decor that would reflect Stephen as well as Kailash and bring a touch of Bollywood glamour to Richmond.
What we did
Stephen is a keen gardener, proud of his allotment and all its bounty. So I suggested that for just one year he replace his carrots with dahlias and fill his flower beds with marigolds. This he did, so the flower arrangements and Kailash’s bouquet included dahlias grown by Stephen and his parents. You can’t get much more personal than including the groom’s home grown flowers in the bride’s bouquet and it s a perfect example of how to creatively reflect both of you in your wedding surroundings.
Behind the registry table where the official marriage ceremony took place I created a display of cascading ribbons and bright coloured fans to create a focal point and backdrop for the whole day. I made napkin rings from richly embroidered Indian ribbons and we scattered Stephen’s home grown marigold petals on the steps for the garland-exchanging ceremony. I also made 100 metres of gold circle garlands which we hung to follow lines of fairy lights that criss-crossed the room and unified the three spaces. The diminutive golden circles worked perfectly with the low ceiling and bounced twinkling light everywhere.
Top Tips
Choose your decor wisely taking into account the venue’s attributes and its limitations. The Bingham’s main wedding room is beautiful but it has a low ceiling so bunting, a common wedding decor choice, really wouldn’t work well in this space. My gold circle garlands are a simpler and beautiful choice that enhance the surroundings and reflect the light of a truly special day.
The Verdict
Overall I think we created a sophisticated and yet colourful scheme that reflected the bride and groom’s personalities and cultures perfectly. Glamorous Bollywood with a London twist.
The attention to detail was phenomenal from lighting, to wall decorations, to keeping the toddlers happy with a wigwam, to creating beautiful backdrops in the garden. The colours, oh the wonderful colours! Subtle Bollywood glamour fused with English sophistication. There are not enough superlatives, she thought of absolutely everything.
– Kailash and Stephen
