THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

from Your West Midlands Wedding - August/September 2021 (Issue 75)

GROOMS’ NEWS

THE love OF MY lifeArusa and Ahkum had a beautiful wedding in a marquee in her parent’s garden

Images courtesy of Trilion Productions

Arusa and Ahkum met on a dating site. “I was the one who made the first move by swiping on his profile and sending a message,” says Arusa. “He responded, and we clicked straight away. It was as though we’d known each other forever. We had a lot of banter, but the conversation was cut short as he was getting to know someone else and was due to go on a date with her. I respected this and asked to be friends, however, we did not speak again. Half a month or so later, Ahkum sent me a message stating the date didn’t go well, and I was the first person he thought to message. He was attracted to my confidence, smile and how we could talk about anything and I was drawn to his physical appearance (of course), his honesty and the fact that he showed respect and integrity from the beginning, which is a rare quality to find.”

Ahkum popped the question on the 17th May, 2020, without a ring due to COVID-19. “It was during a picnic in Sunbury Park,” shares the bride. “The date wasn’t significant in any way, but it was a surprise. He decided he wanted to be with me forever and the distance between Birmingham and London was far more than the both of us were willing to handle especially given the pandemic, which didn’t allow us to be together for months on end. COVID-19 actually brought us together in a weird way, and we grew stronger and closer. He officially proposed on the 6th July, 2020, at Sunbury Park, but this time with a ring we’d bought together.”

Here she shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

Our wedding took place in a marquee in the back garden of my parent’s home. As my father is no longer with us getting married there felt like a great way to be close to him on such a special day. The decorative touchers were primarily personalised, however, Birmingham Marquees did the overall decoration. The theme was important to me. We opted for dusky pink, white, silver and gold as these were colours that I’d always wanted at my wedding.

We decorated the space with sequinned gold cloths, flowers and candles. The blooms were from Joanne’s Florist and were pink, purple and white to match our colour scheme. We handmade our favours. We purchased boxes and filled them with Lindt and Ferrero Rocher chocolates and decorated them with personalised stickers. These were cost-effective, personal to us and easy to source, especially given the pandemic, as it was difficult to get things delivered on time.

Ahkum and I chose a white chocolate fondant, vanilla and strawberry jam three-layered cake from SugarGlam. It was paid for by my sister and brother-inlaw, as they had SugarGlam make their cake on their wedding day, and it was beautiful.

The marquee backdrop was decorated with lights, colourful cloths and three standing centrepieces. MKB Catering provided Halal food for all the guests. We also had a dessert table, which included a variety of treats and some Dutch delicacies to incorporate Ahkum’s heritage.

I wore a white wedding dress with a cathedral-length train and veil. This was important as we wanted to incorporate Ahkum’s mother’s Catholic heritage, and it was something Ahkum wanted to see me in. I accessorised with pearls, which belonged to Ahkum’s grandmother, who is no longer with us, and simple silver earrings.

Ahkum chose a navy blue three-piece suit with a floral blue tie from Moss Bros.

I had seven bridesmaids and a flowergirl. The girls all wore an Asian outfit called a Lehenga, which was dusky pink, and my sister-in-law chose a jumpsuit as this was something she felt more comfortable in. My brother-in-law’s daughter was our flowergirl, and she wore a white dress with a pink bow.

It was a rather stressful day for both of us. To make it look the way we wanted, we had to do all the work ourselves before the event started in the evening. Ahkum was there for me and did everything I asked so that I wasn’t stressed and that everything looked the way we wanted it to. Unfortunately, given that there wasn’t a lot of space in the marquee, we weren’t able to have any entertainment. However we played some music and got everyone up to dance. The music was in English, Spanish and Hindi, which allowed all our guests to get involved.

Having Trilion Productions take our photos was a moment that stood out for us. He was very professional and lots of fun! Ahkum’s favourite moment was when I walked down the aisle, and we both loved dancing and the ceremony.

Our venue decorator, Birmingham Marquee, went above and beyond to make sure everything looked the way we wanted. The owner even came down on the day of the wedding to make some changes to ensure we were happy. Sadly we haven’t been able to go on our honeymoon due to the pandemic, however, we’re planning to go to Bali or the Maldives at some point. We did go for a staycation in Brighton and Plymouth after the wedding. It was a lot of fun, we went to the beach, out for food and enjoyed spending time together.

ARUSA AND AHKUM’S CONTACTS

Marquee, Birmingham Marquees, www.instagram.com/birminghammarqueeandtents | Photographer, Trilion Productions, www.trilionproductions.com | Hair stylist, Hair by Humera, www.instagram.com/hairbyhumera | Make-up artist, Anishas Artistry, www.instagram.com/anishas_artistry | Groom’s suit, Moss Bros, www.moss.co.uk | Cake, SugarGlam, www.instagram.com/sugarglam Flowers, Joanne’s Florist, www.joannesflowers.co.uk | Catering, MKB Catering, www.mkbcatering.co.uk