LOVE IN FULL COLOUR: Amar & Millie’s day with incredible photos by Sidey Clark.

Welcome to the absolute masterpiece that is Amar and Millie’s wedding day, and the accompanying masterpiece that is Sidey Clark’s capture of the day! Amar and Millie attended Most Curious 22 and met Sidey there, as well as the brilliant Sarah of Avant Garde Cake Studio and the fab Jay Anderson who went on to create their cake, dessert able and gorgeous video of the day respectively the following summer! We’ve been sitting on this one for a few months and what better time to explode it in all its glory into the world than when we are showcasing the work of colour and love obsessive Sidey Clark Photography.

Every photo could be a work of art , the colours poppin’, the composition banging, the joy flowing! - as well as some really cool Martin Parr-esque intimate real documentary type portrait and people shots peppered through out as well. Really take your time to soak it all up, such a beautiful day of what humans do, traditions, cultures, ritual, care, dance, eat, hold, believe and love…. Thanks to all for sharing it with us!

Who are you both and what do you do?

We are Millie and Amar! Millie works in Recruitment for Financial services. Amar leads a tech team in the Advertising space. We have a little Shih Tzu called Winnie too! University of Surrey. We both lived on campus, in the same flat in our first year with 12 other students. Living down the hall from each other, we very quickly realised that we were spending all of our free time together!

Fave thing about each other?

We often joke that we are completely opposite personalities from each other but we both gave the same answer for this! We’re always kind and supportive to one another, so even if we disagree we still feel like we're on the same team.

Where and when did you get married?

We got married on a gorgeous summer’s day in June at Hylands House in Chelmsford. It was the perfect setting for our fusion wedding - rolling fields, pleasure gardens and lots of interesting spaces for our guests to explore. The house itself is a well-looked after mansion, located within Hylands Park - as a listed building, chances are that it’ll still be here when we’re old and grey, so maybe we’ll be able to pop back and relive the day!

Why did you get married?

We met at 18 so we’ve been together (and lived together) for a while now. We already felt like we were each other's family, so getting married meant making that official (with an excuse to throw a party!)

For the Hindu ceremony, Amar opted for an elegant, clean-cut look wearing a hand-crafted, ivory silk sherwani set from Anjali’s London.

Amar: “They really understood the assignment on what I was looking for - modern design and premium quality. It came with matching shoes (again, amazing quality) - these are by far the most comfortable Sherwani and shoes that I have ever owned! The turban was pre-wrapped by Desi Turbans which saved time on the day although they were kind enough to come to the venue to dress my groomsmen in the morning! Comfort is everything on your wedding day so getting all of our outfits tailored with the right materials made all the difference. We were able to add really personal touches, working with the amazing Jessie VE to design our rings and Millie's mangalsutra (wedding necklace) to include small creative details from Millie's dress and our invitations - they still bring back memories of the day and have become real treasures for us.”

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

Our main priority was a fun and relaxed atmosphere that blended both of our ideas about what a 'wedding' is, removing the expectation of doing things just because 'that’s what you do'! By choosing to combine traditions and values from both of our families and cultures, our wedding felt familiar but also non-traditional. Fun fact: The first Indian wedding that Millie attended was ours! Whilst this made planning one a bit more challenging, in the end, it meant that we learned a lot more about all the different elements that go into (both kinds of) weddings and could choose elements that worked for us. We asked ourselves two questions when making our decisions - “does it reflect our values?” and “does it sound like fun?”. We did the 'legal' bit a few days before at Woolwich Town Hall with close family and friends, before heading out to our favourite pub afterwards. This meant that we could enjoy a lovely, chilled day, freeing up time on the Hindu ceremony day for more time to party!

Millie: “For the Hindu ceremony I had fallen in love with a fuchsia lehenga which had beautiful blue peacocks embroidered around and again, full of sparkles - although it weighed an absolute ton and broke the hanger while I was getting ready!! I wore a jewellery set and bangles to set the whole thing off, and of course, during the ceremony, added my unique shooting-star mangalsutra.”

We wanted there to be plenty of food and drink so everyone could enjoy the day as much as we did without worrying when the next snack was coming! In the end we had a casual Gujarati/ continental breakfast on arrival, a post-ceremony snack and ice cream van, then a seated, family-style Gujarati dinner, with cake, a dessert table and a pizza van in the evening (if that wasn’t enough food!). Everyone was stuffed and it did us a favour of helping soak up drinks and cocktails all day too! Lots of our guests were vegan/vegetarian and Millie also has a really severe nut allergy. We found fantastic suppliers for catering, the cake and desserts and treats (Avant Garde Cake Studio), who we absolutely, completely trusted with these requirements. It sounds silly, but feeling safe enough to eat EVERYTHING all day long at a wedding without constantly checking ingredients was actually an amazing treat for both of us! Everything was so delicious, and we had countless compliments from guests. We’re still dreaming of the cookies on the dessert table!

Aesthetically, we wanted something fun and vibrant whilst keeping a relaxed feel. When choosing outfits, accessories and decorations, we just chose things that we loved the look of without worrying too much about aligning to a colour scheme and it all came together so beautifully in the end.

Our florist I Think that You Are Magic was spectacular, designing a beautiful, organic feel to the arrangements - think bright, warm, summer colours. The mandap dressing was a real colourful showstopper that looked as if it had just grown there.

Our priest ( @hindupriest108 ) conducted a really beautiful, interactive ceremony that everyone could follow and explained the significance of every step in the ceremony. He kept everyone’s attention for the whole two+ hours

We wanted a great relaxed party atmosphere and we were so pleased to have achieved that, after the longer ceremony and had a fantastic band that kept everyone dancing all night, food and drinks flowing, and it was so nice to see our families and friends joining and having fun together.

Millie: “Our Photographer Sidey Clark and videographer Jay Anderson were amazing and were chosen (at Most Curious!) because we are not big photo/poses people, they made us really comfortable and just captured the natural joy of the day, without separating us from our guests for too long to pose for a photo shoot.”

What was your main priority, what took up the most energy, what was the most challenging and rewarding?

Our priority was that the day was stress-free, full of joy and not overly formal. Everything took up energy! Frankly, with over 200 guests, a full day’s schedule and lots of elements to manage, we underestimated how much time and work goes into pulling off a day like this. We had heard it before and not taken the advice seriously enough... but if we were to do it over again we probably would have hired a wedding planner / coordinator once we had chosen our suppliers. In the end, the most rewarding thing was that we made it happen! We were happy, our guests were happy and everyone loved the wedding.

The magnificent cake and desert was by Avant Garde Cake Studio - chosen because of an amazing understanding of allergies, and dietary requirements, also absolutely stunning designs and above all, completely delicious!

Favourite or most special part of the day?

The party was the best part of our day! Once the day’s plans had played out, speeches finished and the music started, we could really relax, and enjoy celebrating with each other and our loved ones. Our band was incredible and went above and beyond to make our wedding day special. They learned our first dance and played a medley of songs from all eras, keeping the dance floor packed all night long. At one point, we almost forgot it was our wedding, as it felt more like a gig! The rest of the evening was a blur of food, drink, and merriment. It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Millie chose a white wedding dress for the legal ceremony (and changed into a white 3 piece suit to go to the pub after!), and wore the same dress for the post-Hindu ceremony party. “Since I knew it's moment to shine was the reception, I wanted a fun party dress, so I went with something super sparkly, starry and twinkly, which I hadn't imagined ever choosing but it was so fun to wear. Blackburn Bridal helped to redesign the bodice/sleeves to something I felt really comfortable and confident in. I treated myself to some silver Miu Miu heels to wear with it. I also wore some sentimental jewellery pieces from both of my grandmothers, as well as beautiful celestial constellation rings from Jessie VE.”

Amar wore a bespoke, 3-piece cobalt suit for the evening reception set off by a blush pink tie and matching pocket square. “Dress2Kill guided me through the experience, offering advice, helping me experiment with colour combinations and adding in little touches (like stitched wedding dates). I splurged on a pair of Crockett and Jones which have been my go-to shoes for all the weddings that I attend now!”

We were so lucky that all of our suppliers really understood our traditional-but-non-traditional plan and really helped the day go smoothly for us. We had an amazing wedding day and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it possible.

SO MANY Congrats Amar and Millie! Check out their FULL! list of suppliers below:

SUPPLIERS:

@hylandsestateweddings (venue)

@jessieve_ldn (jewellery - engagement / wedding rings / mangalsutra): chosen because we love what she does! Jessie makes timeless but unique pieces and we were able to create something personalised and special to us that we can wear forever!

@avantgardecakestudio (cake and dessert table): chosen because of an amazing understanding of allergies, and dietary requirements, also absolutely stunning designs and above all, completely delicious!

@ajanta_caterers (caterers)

@ithinkthatyouaremagic (florist): chosen for her beautiful organic style and showstopping installations

@sideyclarkphoto (photographer)

@jayandersonweddings (videographer)

@ntrp (logistics and lighting)

@coloursoundexperiment

@gt_film_transport

@blackburnbirdal (Millie's dress): they completely customised the dress and it was absolutely perfect @mongasuk (Millie’s lehenga)

@shopbees (Millie’s Indian jewellery set and bangles)

@dress2killuk (Amar's suit)

@anjalilondonuk (Amar's sherwani) and @anjlasaris @desiturbans (Amar’s Turban)

@worbonku (Chloe Worboyes - invitations)

@gold_functionband (band): the best party band! We have seen them perform several times, they are so talented and they always create a great party atmosphere!

@foxandbraces (DJ)

@hindupriest108 (priest): conducted a really beautiful, interactive ceremony that everyone could follow and explained the significance of every step in the ceremony. He kept everyone’s attention for the whole two+ hours

@funkasiadjs (Ceremony DJ)

@thedrummersdelight (Dhol drummers)

@starcarhire (car hire)

@thetidybar (bar company)

@themobpizzabar (pizza van)

@rolloutthebunting (ice cream van)

@smokegrenades (Enola Gaye smoke)