THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Aida and Jason's relaxed and joyful, local-supplier triple part wedding

Well, apologies that this blog post comes with a Happy 1st Anniversary message to go with it, as it’s taken us a while! But today we are so happy finally blog Aida and Jason’s glorious triple wedding in Kent! It all started from seeing the incredible images of the Nikah ceremony - all in lockdown wedding restrictions no less (remember them?!) on Brides by Aina M’s insta. As she is the magician responsible for Aina’s THREE knockout hair and make up looks for the Nikah Muslim marriage Ceremony, English Wedding Ceremony and separate wedding reception party! We actually love revisiting the intimate and home made DIY and home spun and deeply personal feels that the weddings of 2020 and 2021 created.. thanks for sharing Aida and Jason, hope your first year has been a banger!

Thanks to the brilliant Brides by Aina M too and of course the fab A Joyful Wedding photography for the imagery. Over to Aida and Jason now:

Who are and what do you do?

We are Jason and Aida. Jason is an actuary and Aida is a teacher.

How did you meet?

We met on a night out with friends at Katzenjammer near London Bridge. Which Jason loves as it means that we met the old fashioned way. No swiping right here! We were both out celebrating our friends' birthdays and happened to be sat next to each other.

Fave thing about each other?

Jason is very thoughtful. For me it's the little things that he does every day to make me happy! Aida has equanimity about her. She is fun to be around!

Do you have a Corona rollercoaster (!) back story to this, if so what is it? What was your main priority, what took up the most energy, what was the most challenging and rewarding?

We were not affected by Corona, other than having to move our wedding day as our Banns could not be read due to our church being closed. That worked out in our best interest as it meant we could take our time with things.

We are quite decisive people. Our main priority was getting married and we planned 3 celebrations; nikkah, wedding ceremony and then a separate wedding reception. As we didn't have a colour scheme and most of the planning was done by us and we were flexible; it meant that we were not restricted. We were also lucky as this day was very intimate with a limited amount of people due to COVID. I think if all our events were to have taken place on the same day, we would have been more stressed. The most rewarding thing has been seeing how helpful and supportive our family and friends have been with the execution of certain things on the day.

What was the inspirations references/ aesthetic / feel you wanted for your day?

Our priority was always for our guests to be fed and merry. We wanted a stress free day where people were there to celebrate our union.

Favourite or most special part of the day?

My favourite part of the day was walking down the aisle towards my husband and seeing his happy face!

Let us know about your suppliers and why you loved working with them?

Hair & Make Up: Brides by Aina.M With Aina it was love at first Zoom call! I loved her vibe, her personality and I also loved her philosophy on brides wearing their natural hair and wearing make up that is natural. Being a woman on colour who has embraced her natural hair, it was very important for me to find someone that would allow me to be myself during my wedding day! I knew I made the right choice when I saw the magic that she created for my nikkah and I looked even more beautiful on my wedding ceremony at St Giles and AMAZING for the wedding reception in August.

Dress and veil: Victoria Bridal-Crofton Lane, Orpington I chose the Bridal shop because Vicky was very helpful in calming my nerves during lockdown when non-essential shops were still closed. She took her time in answering all of my questions and even delivered dresses to my house so that I could have an idea of what I was looking for when the shop finally opened in April.

Flowers: Green on the Green, Green Street Green, Orpingtonanother local business! They were recommended by a friend. Natasha took the time to talk me through the look I was looking for (a bouquet that looked like I had just picked them out of my garden). The bouquets turned out better than I had anticipated and looked even better on camera!

Photography: A Joyful Wedding Nina was the photographer at our friend's wedding. Looking at her portfolio, we liked the candid pictures and we felt that her photos told a story.

Rings: Beverly Hills Jewellers, Hatton Gardens

Venue: St Giles Church, Farnborough

Any advice for couples planning their weddings right now?

Relax, remember it's you and your husband's day. The day goes by so fast, make sure to check in on each other at some point in the day to share your special day together!

What have you learnt about married life so far?

Thankfully, it's the same as when we were dating! Our status is the only thing that has changed.