Tara writes about her look for her Temple and Church Wedding

Our wedding was held on two very hot summer days- the Hindu ceremony on July 31st, 2009, was at Shree Mahalakshmi Temple in Vancouver, BC, and the Christian ceremony was on August 1st, 2009, at St. David's United Church in West Vancouver. Coming from two cultures, we really wanted to honour both sides, hence the two traditional weddings, culminating in a spectacular reception at the Riverside Grand Ballroom, in Richmond, BC- a gorgeous, fully-catered location that took care of every detail! Since my family is Hindu from the West Indies, we also had cultural elements from the West Indies throughout the wedding days, including a tassa (drum) band that had everybody dancing!

For the mehndi night, I wore a sky-blue satin churidhar suit with zardosi embroidery, from Frontier Cloth House in Vancouver, BC. My Hindu wedding outfit was a gorgeous red and gold lehenga, with red, crystal, and gold stones and intricate resham embroidery. I bought it at Sunny's Bridal in Vancouver, BC. My wedding jewellery- ruby and gold, reminiscent of Jodha-Akbar styles, was also bought at Sunny's Bridal. My husband's dress for the Hindu wedding was a rich cream, red and gold sherwani, custom made by Frontier Cloth House to match the detail and shade of my wedding lehenga.

For the Christian wedding, I wore a beautiful white gown from Bello Wedding World in Vancouver, BC. It had a strapless sweetheart neckline and cascading layers of tulle and lace, covered in crystal flowers, with a semi-cathedral train, seed-pearl tiara (a gift from my mom) and white lace veil. My earrings and necklace were crystal cascading circles, also bought from Bello Wedding World. My husband wore a formal wedding tuxedo from Tip Top Tailors in Burnaby, BC, with a vest and tie in my favourite colour- pink! For the reception, I changed into a one-shouldered purple satin gown with Swarovski crystal beading, from Riviera in Burnaby, BC. My makeup and hair for both days was done by the absolutely amazing Thuy Dinh of Studio 26, in Surrey, BC.

Our delicious wedding cake (iced with delicate neon green icing!) was created by our friends at Yan's Bakery in Vancouver, BC. Our entire wedding was captured on photo by our amazing photographer, Amish Solanki, and on film by our awesome team of videographers-- Realistically Fictional Productions.

We live in beautiful Burnaby, BC, Canada. I work as a Concurrent Disorders Counsellor in Mental Health and Addictions, and my husband works as a Territory Sales Manager for an Organic Food Company.

Photographs Courtesy
Amish Solanki Photography
Asphoto.ca/blog