We’re kicking off Tuesday with a story (and imagery that is beautiful to match, thanks to Bhargav Boppa) with the tale of how Arman and Nadia tied the knot A beautiful blend of traditional and modern elements and a three-part celebration that honoured their Bengali, Islamic heritage. “Arman and I are born in Australia but our parents are from Bangladesh” explains Nadia. “We wanted to make sure that we tied in both our Bengali/Islamic and Australian cultures/traditions into our wedding events.”

From the intricate henna designs adorning Nadia’s hands to the colourful silk sarees they chose (just perfect for The Pastel Issue of course), every aspect of the wedding was a celebration of their cultural identity. But the couple also incorporated contemporary touches, like a bubble tea station to honour their first date and a reception overlooking the city they adore.  This is a story that has it all, and with three celebrations, you’d hope so!

Celebrations kicked off with the Haldi, then the Nikah which included a traditional Islamic ceremony and finally, a western-style reception at an inner city restaurant with killer views.

After meeting at a friend’s wedding “Arman slid into my DMs and we fell for each other!” admits Nadia, the couple became engaged over a special “birthday lunch”. Tells Nadia “Arman planned and executed the proposal beautifully. He had asked two of my girlfriends to pretend that we were going out for a birthday lunch and that we should all dress up/get our nails/hair done and just look our best. I didn’t think much of it and so did as my friends requested. My friends offered to drive me to the fake ‘birthday lunch’.

We arrived at a beautiful venue called Olinda Tea House set in the Dandenong Ranges. And there stood Arman, in front of a backdrop that said “it was always you” and a cello player in the corner. After he proposed, he arranged for Bhargav to take some beautiful photos of us and treated our closest friends and family to a high tea lunch.”

Ferndara Creative was invited along to capture every part of the three-day celebration in motion.

First up! The Haldi! The couple chose a family backyard to kick off the celebration. Remembers Nadia  “My beautiful sister-in-law and brother generously gifted the Haldi event to Arman and me. We were able to afford this event and have absolutely everything we wanted (including a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream truck! and authentic Bengali catering) because of their generosity. We loved having close friends and family do absolutely everything in their power to make us feel special and help us make the events happen.”

The Haldi included traditional and somewhat sentimental attire. “I (the bride) wore a silk saree for my haldi that belonged to my mum and was passed down to her from my late grandmother” remembers Nadia. “It was lovely to wear something that represented my mum’s family.”

  

The Nikah was held at event venue Whitestone Events but the couple’s journey to their wedding not entirely smooth sailing. “As a result of COVID, many of our vendors (caterer, makeup./hair, etc) cancelled the day before our nikah” remembers Nadia. “Arman was my rock during this time and just handled everything gracefully and made the day perfect without me having to do a single thing.”

In beautiful pastel tones, Nadia’s lehenga was a design made by Seema Gujral. “My lehenga was designed by Seema Gujral,” she tells,  “the blue dupatta draped across was made exclusively for my outfit as I wanted to have two dupattas. Additionally, this blue shade became a way for my family and me to match our outfits. (My side of the family wore blue while Arman’s wore white/cream to match with each of us. “). My style is quite feminine and I love unique designs. So I immediately fell in love with my lehenga when I saw it on the Seema Gujral website.

The groom’s sherwani for the nikah was purchased from Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop. We decided to go with a neutral colour that would complement the base colour of my lehenga.”

Arman’s favourite memory of the day? “The most memorable part of the wedding was seeing my beautiful bride walk down the aisle. She was stunning and it felt like I was in a dream.” Adds Nadia “As my dad passed away when I was very young, my older brother has been like a father figure, therefore he walked me down the aisle. I walked down to “All of me” played on the violin by Sage Rogan.”

The ceremony was traditional in the Islamic faith. ” The Imam provided a short speech around the Islamic values of marriage and also said a prayer. Most of our friends haven’t been to an Islamic wedding so it was great to share this moment with them.”

One of the couple’s cherished memories is drinking bubble tea together on their first date, so they included a bubble tea station at their wedding to share the experience with their guests.

With three days of photographs to choose from, these two could not have been more thrilled with their choice of photographer for their big day. “Bhargav was Amazing!!! We’re in love with every single photo. We have multiple favourites! That’s how much we loved Bhargav’s photos!”

The guests gathered for a sit-down reception, each plate adorned with a very special favour says Nadia. “It was very important to us both that we remembered my late father during the wedding. My dad had passed away from pancreatic cancer. Consequently, our wedding favours were ribbons from Pancare, which is a charity dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer.”

“We played a few Bengali wedding games at the nikah. The ring finding game; one where the bride and groom look at each other through a mirror and say loving words to one another; and throwing garlands.”

Nadia chose a sparkling silver evening gown for the reception, purchased at  Duchess Boutique. She tells “Another dress which I immediately fell in love with when I saw it on the mannequin. I was set on wearing a traditional white dress, however, when I tried this evening gown on, I knew it was the one and it went perfectly with our venue as well. My jewellery for the reception was kept simple and was from Cartier and Temelli Jewellery. Arman’s suit and accessories for the reception were from Calibre (suit), Gucci (shoes) and Rado (watch).

To honour the most western style of wedding, the third and final celebration was a sit-down reception, held at restaurant Vue De Monde.

The first dance took place overlooking the city skyline. “We danced to a song called “Ms Seductive” by Jeff Bernat” explains Nadia. “We chose this song as Arman used to listen to it on repeat when we first started dating and he would daydream about me. Once he told me that story, it very quickly became my favourite song too .”

A big beautiful congratulations to the newlyweds. Thank you for taking the time to share all the details of your day with us. Thank you also to the amazing Bhargav Boppa for sharing with us every beautiful moment he captured!