Reena & Nishil's Desi Fusion Wedding at The Symes
The best way to tell Reena & Nishil’s story is to let them tell you themselves…
Because really we would ramble on and on and on talking about how wonderful they are, how wonderful their families how, and how amazing their day was. And we’d probably repeat the same phrases over and over because we’d run out of adjectives haha. So here’s a little about them and their wedding, as shared by Reena:
“(We) were together for 13 years before getting married, and we grew a lot in those years as we went through the whole of our 20s together. But we came together with our own histories and baggage, and found great comfort in each other. Were really lucky we were able to grow together, giving each other space to become who we wanted to be into our 30s.
I’ve heard about and attended lots of stressful weddings and wanted no part of that so I did everything in my power to ensure that nothing other than hair and makeup was happening the day-of. my bridesmaids, my immediate family and I were all getting ready in one house but I made sure to be in a separate room from everyone for hair and make-up, so I could stay as zen as possible, complete with a Bon Iver/indie folk playlist to calm any nerves!
I don't think there's much you can do about the fact that the day flies by - everyone warned me about that so I tried my best to take it all in and enjoy the day, eat the food, try the cake and all, but it still went by way too fast.”
See a few photos from the morning of down below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through…
This studio session and Barat (wedding procession) has to be our all time favourite
The great part about their venue being The Symes (other than, you know it being a beautiful west end venue) is that OBJX (pronounced objects) is quite literally right next door! This made for the perfect spot to have Reena & Nishil’s first look, couple portraits, and to take some group photos! They rented out the main studio space so we were able to play around and give photos a variety of backgrounds.
I really wanted to go against the aesthetic that I've seen at basically every Indian wedding I've been to which has been really bright, loud colours. Instead, I wanted to find something closer to Nishil and my personalities. We wanted to keep it simple, with some pops of colour to suit our very grey-scale style. That meant a lot of neutral decor elements, mostly white with green flowers and pops of gold. For outfits, that was a bit different. We opted for two very different looks for the day - the first, a traditional Gujarati look of white, red and gold. Nishil and I didn’t want our outfits to match exactly but we wanted some complementary elements so his was more gold/beige with pops of red. I LOVED them both! I had a relatively big group of bridesmaids - 8 in total, comprised of 3 cousins and 5 girlfriends, and opted for matching saris in two shades of blue to differentiate the two and love how it turned out. Picking the colour was easy - I asked Nishil what he wanted and he picked blue, so that’s what we did. We then matched Nishil's groomsmen with traditional indian outfits, "kurtas" to the blue sari colour we went with. To reflect our Canadian upbringing, we changed looks after the Hindu ceremony and went for a classic western look - mine, a comfy boho-esque flowy dress from BHLDN, and Nishil’s, a custom blue three-piece suit. Our theme itself was very much a fusion of cultures, with elements reflecting our upbringing but also where we call home - we're both east african gujarati but Nishil's hindu and I'm muslim, and we both grew up in Toronto.
When the Baraat happened, Hannah and I didn’t know exactly what to expect so to say we were surprised is an understatement. Feeling the deep beat of the drum, the energy of everyone dancing, and eventually the families blending in as one was such a beautiful- and most certainly one of our favourite- wedding experience!
See more down below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through…
Reena’s top 3 favourite moments of her wedding day were all from the ceremony…
1. Walking down the aisle to Frank Ocean’s cover of Moon River. The song means a lot to me, and not just because I love Frank Ocean. I work at TIFF and am a lifelong movie lover so I wanted something to represent that side of my life while also being about us, so that's what I wanted to hear as I walked towards Nishil.
2. Infusing my Ismaili Muslim cultural elements into the ceremony. My cousin did a beautiful reading about marriage in the Muslim faith and we did a traditional “sapatia” ceremony at the reception where the bride and groom stand on pedestals, and a set of covered clay plates are put in front of the couple. Each contains lentils (symbolizing nature’s bounty), silver (symbolizing material wealth), sugar (for sweetness and harmony) and turmeric (for good health). The couple then step on the plates and try to break them to release the gift. Tradition says that the first person to break the sapatia, rules the household! Finding those moments to fuse our cultures was important to our families and to us.
3. In a Hindu wedding, the bride’s parents first bring the groom in for a ceremony, after which the bride is walked down the aisle by her uncles (her mom’s brothers). When this is happening, the grooms brothers hold a sheet up so he can’t see her as she makes her way to the mandap (altar). The moment when the sheet/veil was dropped and we saw each other on the marriage altar for the first time, that was amazing. That, along with a very real moment where we bumped heads on our way to sit down... just a good reminder that things can’t and shouldn't be perfect!
See photos from the ceremony down below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through…
While the ceremony happened upstairs the Dash Events & Co. team prepped downstairs for the reception
And what a beautiful reception it was! Adored with string lights on the ceiling, hints of greenery on the ables, and packages of tea as a thank you gift for guests, the overall #mood very much fit the theme of their rustic and modern wedding.
Before they made their grand entrance we took a few moments with just Reena & Nishil outside on the patio for a few late night photos. We absolutely lucked out with this because as soon as we took photo number 5 or 6 it began pouring rain! One of our favourite moments was after we dried off and made our way downstairs via the back elevator was when we walked and out their bridal party and groomsmen were there waiting for them, and everyone shouted with so much joy and excitement!
I’m most comfortable wrapped in a leather jacket so I created a custom version to wear over my wedding dress, which I DIY’ed with a Mrs. Joshi decal as a surprise to Nishil and his family. My wedding party had no idea so when I came out wearing the jacket, everyone went crazy and it was a magical moment.
The rest of the evening continued on with a small traditional ceremony before dinner, a surprise cover of In The Shallow, and even another surprise performance by Shadow Entertainment.
As per our favourite part of the night things ended with a late night dance party with the best playlist!
Our reception DJ (DJ Vicious, 808 Entertainment) understood that music is such an important part of our lives and our relationship so each selection was delicately made - we even provided him with a carefully curated list that was 6 pages long and met with him twice before the big day. Nishil and I spent our early twenties in clubs every weekend and wanted to ensure our reception was reflective of an R&B/hip hop/reggae jam in Toronto that we would've found ourselves at back then. So we insisted on a mainly 90s-themed reception, so our friends and family could dance the night away, with some dance and pop hits thrown in.
See more photos from the evening down below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through…
PHOTOGRAPHED ON TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF THE MISSISSAUGAS OF THE CREDIT FIRST NATION, ANISHNABEG, CHIPPEWA, HAUDENOSAUNEE, AND WENDAT FIRST NATION
We can’t tell you how much fun we had at this wedding, the lead up to this wedding, and even all of the editing afterwards! Thank you so much for having us R&N, it was a dreeeeaaammm!
Vendors
Month of Coordinator: Dash Events & Co.
Wedding Venue: The Symes
Studio: OBJX
Traditional Clothing: Chandan Fashion
Reena’s Reception Dress: BHLDN
Hair & Make Up: Jayni Chana Beauty
Florals: Rose Events and Floral
Wedding Cake: St. Phillips Bakery
Catering: Toben Food By Design
Rings: Bobby L
DJ: DJ Vicious
Dancers: Shadow Entertainment