Elizabeth Gillott and Pinak Ray were married on the 2nd September 2017 in central London at Stationer’s Hall and Garden in a truly unique Indian and English fusion wedding. The day was captured by Douglas Fry, Wedding Photographer.
Stationer’s Hall and Garden
Both the wedding ceremony and reception were held in the 17th century Stationer’s Hall and Garden in the heart of London, close to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Elizabeth told us, “We wanted it to be central so that planes, trains and coaches could all get there as people were coming from all over.
Douglas Fry photographed the wedding and was very professional, friendly and engaging. He kept my guests entertained with humour for the formal photographs and blended in unobtrusively for the rest of the event. We hired him because he doesn’t use a flash and uses a reportage style. We also had the wedding filmed by Adrian at Douglas Fry Photography.
Indian and English Fusion Wedding
Our colour theme was white, silver and Cadbury’s purple. We wanted a wedding that reflected both our heritages, and we therefore had Indian and English (Yorkshire) elements. Our cake was a saree cake stood on an elephant and we had an elephant vodka luge. I made silver table runners that had an Indian feel, and we had silver elephant favours on the tables for every guest. We had a henna corner at the evening reception and bangles, Rakhi and Bindi available at night. I had white roses as the main flower to reflect the Yorkshire rose, with the Yorkshire rose on the table plans and Yorkshire puddings at the evening reception.
The weather was perfect, it was an amazing day and everyone had a great time. We surprised our guests with a mash-up for our first dance, but also as part of the Indian element, one of our guests prepared his own Bollywood dance routine and involved me, and I surprised everyone as my hens and I prepared a Bollywood dance routine that no-one was expecting.
What made the wedding extra special was the fusion of two cultures that reflected both our personalities and heritages. I spent a long time planning the wedding and made some aspects myself. People noticed the small details including the flip-flops by the dance floor and the toiletries in the bathroom. We had birds of prey for the photographs and I made waving wands. We had sparklers at the end of the night as we couldn’t have fireworks, a caricaturist and henna designs. Everyone loved the live band for the evening and we had a string duo during the day.
Wedding Breakfast
Stationer’s Hall have an approved list of caterers, and we chose their in-house caterers, Chester Boyd; whose food was excellent. We had a canapé and prosecco reception straight after the ceremony. Pinak eats anything but I am pescatarian so we opted for a vegetarian starter, followed by a main course of lamb, and negotiated to have a similar meal with sea bass for the pescatarians, with a lentil and spinach pithivier for the vegetarians. As I am from Yorkshire the dessert had to be Yorkshire rhubarb and almond tart, served with roasted orange purée and rhubarb sorbet. We then served more food in the evening to cater for the additional evening reception guests.
Wedding Cake
Our cake was from Designer Cakes of London. As we had wanted a cake to reflect India, we fell in love with the idea of a saree cake. We got them to make the cake using our theme colours and stood it on an elephant table which gave it more height and a real wow factor. We also hired a Ferrero Rocher pyramid, a sweet table, that I bought glassware and the sweets for, and a vodka luge in the shape of an elephant.
Wedding Favours
I really went to town with the favours. I had been searching bridal websites and Pinterest for over a year and got carried away. I did the usual 5 sugared almonds in an organza bag, but also added a personalised chocolate and love hearts for each guests, but then I also made up a favour box for each couple. I placed little signs on the table saying “What’s in the box?” so that people knew to open them. The boxes were a shiny silver and inside each was a salt & pepper set, lipstick case, heart bottle stopper, purple handbag holder, two wine glass charms, a cartoon bottle opener/magnet/keyring, a compass for watch straps, two personalised golf tees (to reflect Pinak’s love of golf), a personalised biro, novelty pen, purple nail file, personalised souvenir sixpence, purple rose-shaped soap and we had some evening drinks tokens printed to allow guests some “free drinks”. 
Find out more about Stationer’s Hall and Garden and Douglas Fry, Wedding Photographer
