Colourful & Eco-Conscious Indian Lithuanian Fusion Wedding

Welcome to WWW readers Arti and Jonas’ gorgeous Indian Lithuanian fusion wedding held at The Barns at Lodge Farm in Essex.

Their day was a fantastic combination of bright colours, eco-friendly choices and a lot of laughter. They had hand-written vows, a stunning Hindu ceremony beneath a floral adorned mandap and a strikingly decorated barn reception. From the divine outfits to the sentimental choices and the opulent flowers, you’ll be in love.

Thanks ever so much to Ellie Gillard for sharing these vibrant and joy-filled images with us today.

Arti and Jonas on WWW

We loved the inspiration we found looking at the other couples on WWW! When I was knee deep in the throes of wedding planning, I came across the page and found it hugely helpful in picking up ideas!

Indian Lithuanian Fusion Wedding

The Proposal

(Arti) Jonas proposed to me on a cloudy Saturday morning on top of Arthur’s Seat.

He had set up a tripod for us to take some silly posed photos in front of the Edinburgh skyline, and as I got ready to strike a pose, I turned and saw Jonas on one knee, fiddling/trembling with nerves at what looked like a lip balm tin.

Instead, it contained a small silver ring with the number 36 on it (our lucky number). Our memory of it is foggy but I recall saying yes with 0 hesitation and Jonas’ face lighting up, it was a truly euphoric moment!

The Vision

I’m Indian and Jonas is Lithuanian. We wanted to have a day that encompassed not only our cultures but the things that we both love. We agreed that we wanted a wedding that was as eco-conscious as we could manage, that was rustic and that was centred around food!

We went with Veg Chennai Srilalitha Veg Restaurant for Mehndi night catering and SNK catering for the big day- we still dream of the food eaten on both days and our guests have said the same!

We started off the week with a Mehndi party where we chose Indian street food for catering, an ice cream van, games (including the limbo) and plenty of opportunity for some of Jonas’ family to meet mine!

We then had three events in one day on the big day. Jonas’ family were flying in from Lithuania and had limited time that they could spend in the UK. As such we began the day with the Hindu ceremony, taking place in a field at our farm venue. We then had a commitment ceremony (that my uncle officiated) and finally, a drinks reception in the evening. It was a chaotic happy blur in the best way possible.

The Venue

The civil ceremony – Hendon Town Hall – a lovely venue and close by!

The big day: The Barns at Lodge Farm in Epping Forest.

We had our Hindu ceremony in the field which had the most stunning backdrop, the commitment ceremony in the granary barn, the yard hosted street food canapes and we had our reception in grain store. Though most of the spaces were used by the guests throughout the day!

Your Outfits

My civil ceremony outfit was a white saree worn with a blouse that I had made from talented female designer Deepak Couture. Her work is truly beautiful and I really wanted to support small businesses where possible whilst also wearing pieces I know I will be able to wear again and again.

The big day outfits: The traditional colours of a Hindu ceremony are red, white and green. I wanted to pay homage to that on the day.

My red Hindu ceremony outfit was from a store called Frontieraas, and Jonas’ outfit was from Venisons. I wore trainers (I’m a big trainer fan) that my cousin had designed specially with this outfit, comfort was key as it weighed more than your average wedding outfit!

Jonas had his suit tailor-made for both the commitment ceremony and reception.

My white dress was from Reformation, I was keen to wear something I knew I could wear again and I was absolutely in love with the simplicity of the dress.

My green reception outfit was made by Shenena Sethi, who is another incredibly talented female designer. It was a fusion outfit, light to wear but stunning in the embroidery work.

The Ceremony & Music

Music played a huge part of the day.

The Hindu ceremony was performed by hindu priest, Vijesh Khetia who I cannot recommend enough for his efforts to ensure he explained the ceremony step by step so that everyone attending could understand and follow along (including us admittedly!). His daughter was in charge of music, and included our favourite songs, for each stage of the ceremony.

The commitment ceremony was officiated by my uncle which was so special. Our civil ceremony had been done a month before but we’d only had our immediate family present there. We wanted to exchange vows with everyone on the big day, and wanted to have a ceremony that would be familiar to Jonas’ family too. I walked into the barn to the song “Sea Of Love” by Cat Power and we exchanged our own specially written vows. It was one of the most beautiful memories of the day!

For the evening we had DJ Sachy provide the music, and my best friend sang our first dance song.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our superstar photographer and videographer were…

Photographer – Ellie Gillard. Who made us feel incredibly comfortable. We were keen to have candid, natural shots, just capturing what was actually happening on the day rather than having really posed photos.

Videographer – sugar8, we first came across sugar8 (Eileen) at my cousin’s wedding a year before, and similarly to our rationale with the photographer, fell in love with her style of videography. It was natural, it captured the moments that would be otherwise easily forgotten.

Both teams were absolutely instrumental in how enjoyable the day was and we were so glad to have them there sharing the best day of our lives with us!

The Styling & Decor

Starry Eyed Weddings – Hayley and her incredible team surpassed all of our expectations and gave us the most stunning day! We had many chats about incorporating a fusion of our two cultures, with bright colours that reminded me of my heritage for the Hindu ceremony, and Jonas’ favourite colours for the commitment ceremony.

The reception then incorporated both of these, we reused flowers from both ceremonies and moved them to our reception barn, reducing waste. We were keen to use chalkboards and bottles to display table plans and order of timings.

Walking around the venue and seeing what Hayley and her team had managed for us, Jonas and I were in absolute awe, it really was so thoughtfully done, and just so gorgeous. The pictures speak for themselves!

Cake – We had tree cakes on every table (this is a Lithuanian tradition), it’s like a tear-and-share cake. They are beautiful AND delicious (win-win). Our three-flavour mega wedding cake was made by my dear friend Bhavna @blossom.bakehouse, who’s cake skills are so mega, we chose to not have dessert on our menu and instead had her cake cut up and distributed. Guests are still raving about the cake today!

The Honeymoon

Crete, Greece. Greece was where we went on our first ever holiday so we thought it fitting to head there for a 6-day mini-moon.

We are now planning our honeymoon in Vietnam and the Philippines later this year!

Memorable Moments

Laughing down the walkway to the mandap with my brother and sister helping to hold up my Indian lengha skirt.

My uncle officiating our ceremony and us hearing each other’s vows for the first time in front of our loved ones. Watching the confetti dancing up in the sky after we exited the barn was pretty magical.

Our joint thank you speech to our friends and family. Opportunities to say thank you to everyone that has had a hand in loving, raising and supporting us are rare, and we wanted to scoop up the opportunity!

The 360 camera we used in our reception was super fun, seeing everyone gather to have a go on it and seeing the video footage afterwards was a great laugh and a wonderful memory!

Advice For Other Couples

On the day, find some time to just be the both of you. To take in the day and how wild it is that you’re getting married surrounded by people that love you!

If you need a planner for the day, get in touch with Occasion Queens – Nina was our lifeline on the day, and it wouldn’t have gone as smoothly without her!

Also, pre-plan some of the photos you’d want to have. Somewhere in the happy blur of the day, I forgot to take pictures with my best friends and you don’t get to have the day back!