Much of what we love about your days, is seeing how you blend all of the facets of who you are into one beautiful day. For Shehani & Teshan who worked with  Jack Chauvel blended their Sri Lankan tradition with Western culture and the result? It’s an utter feast for the sense. The pair dreaming of a day that in their worlds was all about a “Whimsical Wonderland, It was all about our past, present & future.” From traditional Sri Lankan wedding attire to modern touches, this is a story so worth sharing.

For a day that paid sp much home to past, present and future, it makes sense that family was the way these two met. Shehani & Teshan sharing “We met via our siblings a long time ago. Shehani danced with Teshans Sister and Teshan played cricket with Shehani’s brother. We then become friends in high school in year 9. Teshan actually told Shehani he liked her in year 9, which Shehani said she wanted to be friends. We then became closer and were best friends all the way up until the second year of Uni. Teshan then gave it another try and finally got out of the friendzone (as he likes to say haha) in 2012.”

Teshan popped the big question on the couple’s 6th anniversary. “It was our 6th Anniversary being together. We had a picnic together that morning, and Shehani had a booking for dinner. Tesh then mentioned he had changed the reservation and to get ready a bit earlier. We got in the car and Tesh drove towards the city, I was blindfolded and after about 40mins of driving. I was taken out of the car and revealed to tesh standing back at our land we were building our first house together on.

Tesh had an arch filled with photos of our memories and he got down on one knee asked me to marry him (using the quote that Chandler said to Monica when he proposed from the TV Show). As I’m a huge fan of Friends Tv Show. I was then also surprised by our loved ones meeting us after to congratulate and Tesh had organised a family dinner that night.”

Let’s talk about the bride’s ceremony gown, because yes, she wore two beauties on the day! “For the ceremony was a modern Sri Lankan Kandiyan Saree, inspired by Chiara Ferragni’s Dior wedding dress. Designer Gather & Stitch designed this Saree. The Lace is what brought the Design together, always wanting something different and super on-trend. High neck, Frill sleeves and open back, with hand, stitched names of Shehani’s father, mother and brother on the saree front. I am Sri Lankan, but I always loved the integration of modern styles blended with traditional, this is what I dreamt and Gather & Stitch pulled it off!”

Shehani and Teshan chose to hold their ceremony at The Mint. A place that held special significance to the bride. She says “The Mint was a part of my Past. I  studied this building during Uni and kept it as a place in heart for the wedding.”

The day began with plenty of tradition “We had a traditional Sri Lankan Drummer, dancers to bring us down. We both walked down with both our parents beside us.”

Lyn Mickan officiated the ceremony, the couple fusing both Sri Lankan and Western traditions. “We wanted it to be a blend of traditional & modern vibes throughout the day. It was a traditional Sri Lankan ceremony, which we had parts we provided gifts to our parents, paid our respects to our generations and tied a knot around our fingers as a representation of eternity.
We then followed this by a western civil ceremony, which we had added readings to thank our parents, families and friends who travelled from overseas. We said our vows with the following saying (from Winnie the Pooh) as we both fans of it. “As soon as I saw you, a grand adventure was about to happen…If you live to be hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you”.
It was all about our friendship and the journey we took together to get to this point. We then had the surprise of a gelato cart and a chef cooking paella to all, with a few traditional Sri Lankan sweets on the side.”

These two have nothing but praise for their photographer “He was nothing but an absolute legend, from our first meeting over a year ago before the wedding, till the very last photograph on the wedding night he put 110% in! We got to know him throughout the year, which made it so easy and comfortable on the day. He captured all our family, friends and us in a way that we will be able to cherish our memories and would highly recommend him to all!”

Then it was time for the newlyweds to change! Shehani donning a white and gold gown, also by Gather & Stitch. “For the Reception, Designer Gather & Stitch designed a figure-hugging dress, with a top inspired by a Vanessa Hudgens dress. The lace pulled together to form a stiff irregular top flowing down to a figure-hugging bottom and slit through the front. Next to the slit was then hand-stitched Teshan’s name. I love to dance and needed this dress to ensure that wouldn’t be stopped.
The experience of both outfits was exciting and thrilling, but the best part was seeing Tesh’s reaction to both of them.”  Teshan changed into a three-piece suit by Brent Wilson. “The sleeves had embroidered Initials (TW) and Shehani bought Teshan a gift at 1 year before the wedding day, cufflinks with T+S engraved on them.”

The blooms for the day were arranged by Styled by K.  Shehani & Teshan sharing “We wanted to have a warm colour scheme, which the burnt orange played a huge role in.

We had toffee coloured roses as a feature for the bouquets and within our decorations. Shehani’s bouquet also had orchids as a statement.
All other flower arrangements ranged from the toffee, beige, light pinks, peaches and whites with greenery and fill-ins. We wanted all flowers to be fresh and show our warmth to everyone.
This also worked into our neon sign at reception and also complimented the ceremony outfits, even the parents who matched our colour schemes.”

As dusk fell. the newlyweds and their guests gathered for the dinner reception at Doltone House at Jones Bay Wharf. The couple sharing “It was one of the only venues we found which had a great warehouse space that we could fill it with our visions.

We both have a love for sandstone and architecture, these two spaces blended well together for us.”

A custom neon sign hung over the head table.  “We made a custom neon sign which hung above our head table at the reception. This said ” Never let you go 07.03.2020″ – This saying is the song by Evermore which was the song playing in the background when Tesh proposed. The song was special to Shehani from when they first started dating.”

Memories of old and new were an important part. “We printed our parents and grandparents from both sides wedding photos and showed the generations love at the gift table.
We also had a photo book from our engagement shoot we did ourselves for a guest signing. We had a canvas printed from the shoot showing at the table too. The surprises for the families mentioned above were special to us, as our families were involved in the wedding but we wanted to surprise them with sentimental items that were special to us all (gelato cart, past loved one’s tags, framed photos).”

For guest favours “We created luggage tags with engraved names as the place card holder for the tables. We wanted to give our guests something they can remember us and our love for travel.”

Like much of Shehani & Teshan’s day their first dance choice was a mesh of two. “We blended two songs ” Tale as old as time” from Beauty & The Beast followed by “Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson. We choreographed the dance together and made sure it showed our love from the first song and transitioned to our life of laughter and happiness in the second song. We made sure we had a few big lifts to add a little fun!”

And then the dancing began, with help from Red Soda. “Absolute legends on the floor that brought the entire guest list to the dance floor” remark Shehani & Teshan.

The couple chose Hello Sweetheart to capture this beautiful film of their day.

A big congratulations to you both Shehani & Teshan and thank you for sharing your glorious wedding day with us! Thanks also to Jack Chauvel for sharing today’s beautiful celebration!