Been There, Done That : Sarah and Rushendra
Currently working at Emirates in the UAE, Sarah and Rushendra’s marriage is a result of a 6 year old relationship. Sarah is the only child of the family and having attended Musaeus College now has a master’s degree in Business Psychology. Rushendra is the youngest from a family of 5 and has studied in St. Benedict’s College and the University of Colombo for a Masters in Computer Science. They spoke to us about their special wedding theme - a ‘Teddy Bear’ wedding.
How did you meet?
Sarah : 6 years ago, two days before my birthday Rush visited my home with his mother since our parents were teachers and colleagues who worked together. It was love at first sight and that’s how it all started. Rush sent me poems and surprised me by bringing me a bunch of flowers on the day after my birthday. I fell in love with Rush and I loved the way he loves me.
Rushendra : I saw her for the first time 16 years ago when she came for classes at my home yet I spoke to her after 10 years when my mother insisted on visiting her place after an almsgiving.
You did a ‘Teddy Bear’ themed wedding - what’s the story behind that?
Sarah: As a kid I loved teddy bears and my hobby was collecting teddy bears. Even as a grown up I didn’t stop collecting. When I met Rush, for his first Christmas with me I thought of gifting him a teddy bear. I collected money and I bought him a really cute teddy bear which I gifted to him along with a wallet which bore the brand name ‘Raphael’ – so he named the teddy bear Raphael! Until now, all the teddies we exchanged got names.
Rushendra : The teddy bear was my first Christmas gift by Sarah back in 2009. She gave me a nice card, wallet and a teddy which looked so cuddly. We were consulting about names and all of a sudden it just came to me to name it Raphael. We consider him our first child! And coincidentally, something we never knew is that the Raphael angel was sent to find a groom for Sarah! I gave her a teddy bear and she named him William and the red and brown teddy bears go by the names of ‘Raphael and William’.
What made you decide to incorporate teddy bears into your wedding theme?
Sarah : It was initially my idea to incorporate teddies into our wedding because of how Raphael played a major role in our life and how they brought value for us. Rush didn’t want to give up on that idea and that’s how we made it real on our wedding.
Rushendra : They’ve always been a part of our lives and we make stories for them, jokes, make silly actions and when speak in tones and sometimes when we want to say something indirectly we use the teddy. More than anything whenever we have a problem in our lives they are the ones who would heal them.
How did you include it into your wedding?
Sarah : We wanted to include the cutest teddy bear in the world so we chose the Tatty Bear (blue nosed teddy bear) in our theme. So I give special thanks to Fine Arts who encouraged me to use the Tatty Bear theme in our wedding card and cake box. Instead of giving a flower bouquet to our wedding party we gave them cute personalized Tatty Bears. The table decors had teddy bears and I drew Tatty Bear wedding couples in big boards to decorate the entrance and the settee back.
Rushendra : They were always a part of our life. They were a part of the cake, the table décor, cake box, wedding card and they were even displayed by hand paintings everywhere.
Was it difficult getting people to agree for you to do a different kind of wedding?
Sarah : It was not difficult to get people to agree to our teddy bear concept. We did not have a wedding planner, we both planned everything and we sketched and presented it to our vendors and they agreed on us mainly because it was different, unique and it was easy for everyone to understand our plan when we presented our drawing and sketches. We proudly thank Marji Flora who did a great job matching flowers to the colours in the theme.
What was the most memorable part of the wedding?
Sarah : The moment I saw tears in Rush’s eyes when we exchanged rings in the church! Apart from that, seeing the whole event as we dreamt it still remains memorable in my mind.
Rushendra : At the church when I saw her for the first time as my bride and when we exchanged rings. Most importantly when I saw her - I was thrilled and so excited.
Any advice for someone planning a different themed wedding? What to expect and what to sort out as priorities?
Sarah : My advice is do not just go for a common theme like crystals, pearls, stones, butterflies etc. and do not go with no ideas to a vendor or even to your beautician. Try to find something that represents your love, your relationship and a memorable scene or object that replicates your identity and from that you can create your own wedding theme. It’s not about how much you can spend or how much vendors can demand - it’s your own spirit, your own potential, how you can develop your idea in to a piece of art. Plan plan plan.. Sketch and draw your wedding. Use pastels, crayons to make it colourful so it is much easier to understand your expectations and then it’s just a matter of making those sketches / drawings real.
Rushendra : Always, go with your own story. It could be music, art, teddies, photography - your own creations. That would make your wedding day most memorable. This will make you and others remember your wedding for a lifetime. Always think out of the box, and try to do something controversial.
Interviewed by Panchali Illankoon
Photographs courtesy Native Tribe Studios
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