Yes, I know it’s slightly late to be writing about Reena and Jon’s wedding day (they did get married in May last year) but it is kind of fitting as their main theme, apart from the ubiquitous Bollywood flavour, was LOVE and two interlinked hearts symbolising this perfectly. So, very Happy Valentine’s Day, campers!
After 16 months of organisation and planning Reena and Jon’s church ceremony was held at St Lawrence’s Church, West Wycombe. St Lawrence is a beautiful 18th century church, impressively perched on West Wycombe Hill, also the site of West Wycombe Park, West Wycombe Caves and a Mausoleum. It was reportedly constructed by the infamous Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the Dilettanti Society and co-founder of the notorious Hellfire Club. (Sorry, got carried away…I do like to get a bit of trivia in somewhere…)
It was also the church Jon’s parents were married in 35 years ago, so it had extra-special sentimental value to them. To incorporate the two cultures Reena had two wedding dresses for the day – one was a white (well, ivory) Sottero & Midgley dress with a sweetheart neckline, which she wore with a long diamond-edged veil, and the other, for the evening, was a unique couture design by Reena (with a little help from Mona Vora). It was flown in especially from India for the occasion and the pure silk skirt and bodice were decorated with the most intricate, beautiful gold embroidery. I have to say Reena looked absolutely stunning in both her outfits.
Jon also had two outfits, the second of which was a bespoke hand-made black and gold silk wedding suit. His special memento for the day was his great grandfather’s tie pin, which had been passed down through the generations. Reena’s four bridesmaids were in two-toned purple Adrianna Papell dresses, again a contemporary design. Reena chose the bright and vibrant colour scheme deliberately as for her, a wedding is such a happy occasion that she wanted this to shine through in the colours. Personally, I adore purple, in case you hadn’t noticed, purple is kind of my colour so I fitted right in.
After the church ceremony there was a bit of a potentially hairy moment as Reena and Jon’s designated method of transport to the reception venue was a helicopter – courtesy of Reena’s father and completely unbeknown to Reena, who had never been in a helicopter before. The first hairy bit was that it nearly didn’t happen at all as the weather wasn’t looking too good. Then, when we had the o.k. it nearly didn’t happen again as Reena was very nervous about the whole thing. Luckily, they did go and everyone was hugely hyped up and really enjoyed the experience. I had followed the bridal party to the airfield to film the departure while Chris was dispatched to the Crowne Plaza ahead of everyone to capture their grand arrival.
Their 200 guests enjoyed a reception of wonderful Indian flavours, champagne and canapés, while entertained by the music of violinist Lizz Lipscombe. Their cake was made by one of Reena’s bridesmaids, Bollywood Angel Dancers performed during the evening and when Reena and Jon had changed into their amazing Indian outfits they made a spectacular entrance led by Dhol drummers.
Their whole day was also captured by Lola Rose Photography and if you would like to see some of Kelly’s photography a selection is featured on Before The Big Day‘s blog. Well, LOVE was the theme and LOVE is what we all felt on the day – Jon’s emotional face as Reena is about to walk in gets me every time…nothing left for me but to present to you Reena and Jon’s wedding highlights…And if you enjoy them do leave us a comment, I get disproportionately excited…Thank you x
