The quintessentially Cotswold country wedding venue Cripps Barn was the chosen location for Pam and Prem on their wedding day.
Travelling from London for their big day, this lovely couple opted for two wedding ceremonies. The civil ceremony in the barn and their Hindu ceremony in the stunning outdoor surroundings.
And yes, being the UK it rained! But that didn’t stop this lovely couple from having the most wonderful intimate wedding day, surrounded by close family.
I was thrilled to receive Bronze awards from the Guild of Photographers for all four of the images I entered into their national competition for this wedding. And to have Pam and Prem’s wedding featured in Your Glos & Wilts Wedding Magazine!
We wanted to have a ceremony with only our closest family and we loved the rustic nature of a barn venue.
Cripps Barn provided the perfect intimate setting with a real earthiness which we loved, and the location amongst the blossoming rapeseed and verdant green fields was perfect.
Being May and the end of spring, we were amid nature’s blooms – everything was lush, green and full of life. A perfect setting to be immersed in nature.
We also chose this Cripps Barn because one year earlier we took a day trip to the nearby town of Bibury and simply fell in love with the area.
Traditional Indian groom outfit called a sherwani, which was designed in beige/gold with gold embroidery and completed with red trousers to complement the bride.
A red traditional Indian embroidered Indian dress with stitched-in flower detail through the bottom. Designed in the traditional red colours of an Indian wedding, it was adorned in gold embroidery across the blouse, and had flowers embroidered into the lower part of the dress to make it a unique piece representative of Pam.
Red symbolises marriage in Indian culture. Traditionally a red saree or dress is worn and the bride is adorned with (real or imitation) gold jewellery to evoke the Goddess Lakshmi who symbolises the bride, this union of love.
My dress was an Anarkali style dress (one full piece) and embroidered with flowers along the bottom of the dress. It was a perfect find as I wanted to infuse a touch of nature into the design of what I was wearing. The flower and leaf design really brought together a beautiful symmetry with our surroundings and reminded me, for sure, of all that mother nature brings to us each day.
Pam’s two and a half year-old niece, Kaia, was our adorable flower girl in her gorgeous dress and flower hair band.
Engagement ring – 1.2 carat ruby ethically sourced directly from Mozambique to the jeweller (Ingle & Rhode) in a fairtrade 18 carat yellow gold setting designed in the shape of a simple vine twisting organically into petals.
Wedding rings – Groom’s is a recycled platinum plain band ring and the bride’s is shaped to match the twisted vines of the engagement ring in fairtrade 18 carat yellow gold.
It was important to us that we had a documentary photographer to capture human emotion in its raw, organic form. Finding someone who had local knowledge was also something that we knew would enhance the day and on top of that you had wonderful reviews.
From the first communication with you by phone, we knew that we had not only found the perfect person to capture such special memories, but the perfect person to be a part of them.
You immediately embraced our aim to donate 10% of our wedding budget to charity and we were genuinely grateful.
A pure delight to speak to, and when we met face to face you took the pressure of us completely.
We knew we could trust you to coordinate everything and so it transpired on the day. You seamlessly blended into the day, captured the real emotions of all the guests on the day and also the poignant moments.
The outcome we are truly ecstatic with, the photos are just perfect and they really tell the story of the day.
There honestly could not have been a better person for our big day, let alone a photographer.
Inside the mandap (the four traditional pillars within which the Hindu ceremony took place, each representing one parent) there was a picture of my ancestors. Pam and I were also both wearing mala beads – made from the seeds of a Rudraksha tree that is considered auspicious. Traditionally there are 108 beads each representing a God in Hindu mythology.
It is generally understood that one receives mala beads through a gift. I like to think that this symbolises infinite love. I received mine in Bali from a group I spent one month with training in yoga. I gifted Prem’s mala beads to that I sourced from the same place one year later.
All of it!
Hindu ceremony conducted by family friend Piyush Mehta.
Pam: I am British through and through and liked this novelty though I have no idea why it exists.
Old – You can’t see them, but the clips I was wearing in my hair to keep it together were classic’s of mine.
New – My whole attire
Borrowed – my sister borrowed her pearl earring cuff’s to me, the same that she had worn for her wedding
Blue – Underwear 😊 … I couldn’t really think of anything else.
We actually planned the wedding in probably three weeks, from the conception of the idea to do an intimate wedding to selecting and booking the date, venue, caterer and most importantly the photographer. All this before I had the chance to propose. (Prem)
There was no particular theme, this was naturally provided by the Hindu ceremony and the organic setting.
Prem: I proposed to Pam in a part of Regent’s Park that is close to both of our hearts, Queen Mary Gardens.
It was February 25th 2019 and the hottest February day on record. I remember wearing my Winter coat as it was the only garment with pockets large enough to hide the ring box. Not suspicious at all.
It could not have gone more perfectly, even the rain is often thought of as an auspicious sign. Rain is a blessing, we had both sunshine and showers.
Prem: “We worked together at EY for three weeks in March 2012, before losing touch until February 2018 when I messaged Pam on the only platform I could reach her on – Linked In – to inform her that I was moving to Australia so we should catch up…”
Pam: “…and the rest is history. Now we are both moving to Australia for the next year or so.”
Definitely – less is more. Which can be achieved by – remembering what’s important, focusing on that which you cherish and keep reverting back to your principles of what you believe in.
Our aim was really to keep the wedding as intimate as possible and make it as special as possible for our family and us attending. It was however equally important for us to share our gratitude, and so we aimed to give 10% of our wedding budget to charity.
Whilst on our honeymoon in Ethiopia, we had the opportunity to speak with some people first hand and one cause that really spoke to us is education. One of the organisations that we plan to give to is therefore Children in the Cloud – which is building a school in the Simien Mountains to provide a better future for the young children that grow up in this vast mountainous region.
The other cause that we love, and tried to personify through elements of our big day, from the design of the ring, to holding the Hindu ceremony outside, to the garden party two days later, is the environment. Therefore we wanted to focus the other part of our donation on a tree-planting initiative, specifically in Kenya, via the Trillion Trees Campaign.
The wedding breakfast was held at Prithvi in Cheltenham. Pam and Prem kindly invited me to attend their wedding breakfast as their guest.
No photographs; I just had to join them and celebrate – although I did manage to sneak in this one of them cutting their wedding cake!
A flower-adorned round pistachio cake from Heriot’s Cake, which has been in business since 1917 and it feels like has been having us as customers since that date. Prem introduced me to this bakery that the family has been a keen customer of for years – I love it. The rose petal decoration added a sophisticated, elegant touch.
All images are ©Nikki Kirk Photography 2019