Highland Fling

The picture-perfect Scottish coast was the ideal backdrop for Nikisha and Harish’s rustic wedding

WEDDING DETAILS

Bride: Nikisha Nakum (Sondhi)
Groom: Harish Nakum
Date of Wedding: May 8th 2022
Venue: Kinkell Byre
Photography: Karolina Kotkiewicz Photography

The Proposal

This isn’t how the fairytale usually goes but Harish and I like to do things differently – we chose our wedding before we’d even got engaged! We’d spent a year living together during lockdown and knew we wanted to get married. Neither of us had yet popped the question but that didn’t stop us from looking at venues. We did a virtual tour of Kinkell and then as soon as we could travel up to Scotland we booked a visit. While looking around the gardens, Harish dropped down on one knee, pulled out a ring and even had a bottle of Prosecco ready on the bench to mark the occasion! It was wonderful to get engaged and get married in the same place.

The Inspiration

Our starting point was the venue. Getting married in a Scottish barn was a theme in itself. Located on the coast it has spectacular sea views with a backdrop of the highlands so we let nature lead our theming and rustic décor. The only thing we needed to bring in was the mandap. I wanted a design that matched the venue – a simple wooden frame decorated with flowers. Trying to find this turned out to be more difficult than anticipated and in the end, we hired a local joiner to build the frame and then our florists decorated it on the day.

The Big Day

The festivities got underway at 10am with the baraat. Harish arrived in a vintage VW van with his family led by colourful flares. When they reached the entrance, my family were awaiting to greet them.

There was tea and light breakfast for guests before the ceremony and lunch. Afterwards, we took a break, had our photos, got changed and let the guests enjoy the setting.

I wore a traditional blouse for the ceremony and for the reception changed into a second blouse which was off the shoulder. I chose a sage green colour with peach and I loved how it complimented the flowers in the venue. I also loved how the change in blouse made it feel like a completely different outfit. Harish wore a traditional outfit with a peach-coloured safa – from Monga’s. He then changed into a black tux for the reception.

From 7pm we hosted a cocktail reception with canapés and entered to the sounds of Dhol drums and bagpipes; fitting for an Indian wedding in Scotland. After dinner, it was time for speeches from the best man, brother-of-groom, father-of-bride and finally Harish. We cut the cake and enjoyed our First Dance, I did a father-daughter dance and then we all celebrated with a party where our DJ played until 1am.

The Memories

Looking at the photos it feels surreal at how quickly time has flown and how much effort was put into planning the wedding, but it makes us feel happy. Two of the most memorable moments were when we first saw each other at the mandap when the Antarpaat was dropped followed by the father-of-the-bride’s speech which brought tears to the whole room. The weather was perfect, the venue looked amazing and all our friends and family had a great time – we couldn’t have asked for a more magical day.