Romantic Garden Wedding at Beaumont House

In the height of spring, with flowers in full bloom and sweet-smelling air, Dharshana and Muneeb brought their nearest and dearest together to celebrate their marriage. They tied the knot with a romantic garden wedding at Beaumont House in Adelaide. With Lifesketch Weddings capturing their day alongside them, they experienced their dream wedding surrounded by loved ones.

Dharshana and Muneeb went to school together but didn’t talk at the time. But their friendship blossomed when they met again in 2016 through a mutual friend. That friendship was fostered through bad movies and lots of laughter and eventually grew into the beautiful relationship and life they’ve built together.

Their engagement was, as Dharshana would say, simple and perfect! “We had planned a weekend getaway to a little town called Denmark in Western Australia. We spent the day exploring and went to a couple of wineries, after which we decided to go to the beach for a walk. Muneeb proposed while we were taking a little walk on the beach. We both like to keep things low-key and private, so this was absolutely perfect. We relaxed on the beach afterwards and enjoyed the sunset together!”

In the two days leading up to their wedding, there were some pre-wedding events to enjoy. Since Dharshana and Muneed had decided to have a non-traditional wedding, they wanted to incorporate as much of their culture as possible. The first event was a Mehendi two days before, where Dharshana got her bridal mehendi done. Guests were welcome to join and get their own mehendi done while they enjoyed plenty of food and music.

The second event was a haldi ceremony the day before the wedding, where close family and friends came together to apply haldi on Dharshana and Muneeb’s face and body to bless them. “This ceremony was filled with a lot of fun and laughter as our friends just wanted to smear it all over us.”

Muneeb planned two outfits for the big day. For the ceremony, he chose a traditional ivory Sherwani to represent his culture. He later changed into a grey suit for the reception.

Neither Muneeb nor Dharshana had a traditional wedding party, but some of her friends wanted to join in on the cultural elements, so they had their own traditional clothes made in India.

Like Muneeb, Dharshana wanted to nod to her culture with her attire, so she chose a gorgeous champagne lehenga that was embroidered with pearls made by Seema Gujral. “We wanted to make sure we were still incorporating our cultures into the wedding. Hence why I chose a traditional outfit. The lehenga was absolutely beautiful and covered in crystals and pearls. I also had a lot of other jewellery on, and everything just complimented the outfit even more.”

One of the most special pieces of jewellery she wore was a wedding gift from Muneeb. The gold locket opened up to photos of their dog Pluto and cat Pepper, who they had to leave behind in Perth for the wedding. “I chose to wear it along with all my other jewellery, but it was definitely my favourite detail.”

They chose Beaumont House in Adelaide as the venue for the day. The rolling gardens and historic house built in 1849 created the perfect backdrop for their garden wedding. “Having the wedding here during spring was perfect to see all the flowers and butterflies in the garden. The venue was a blank canvas, which was great as we had a lot of freedom to be creative and make sure it was a day for ourselves and our guests to remember,” said Dharshana, “As we were having a relatively small wedding (especially by South Asian standards), the venue was spacious enough to accommodate our guest list while also feeling very intimate.”

Set outside in this romantic garden, the ceremony was decorated with these beautiful burgundy and pink florals by Fleur de Lys Flowers. “The florist absolutely nailed it, and it all worked so well with the already stunning venue.”

Muneeb and his friends left later for the ceremony than they wanted and ended up stuck in traffic – but luckily, once they arrived, everything ran smoothly. Dharshana walked down the aisle with her father to “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley, which was sung live by Behind the Veil Music.

Their goal for the ceremony was for it to be lighthearted, fun and full of love. “Our celebrant Rosie, crafted the most amazing ceremony, and it was everything we wished for. I was very nervous before the ceremony had started. As soon as I started walking down the aisle and saw Muneeb waiting, the nerves disappeared. Rosie started off the ceremony with our love story and we read our vows to each other. Our ceremony was filled with love and also a few jokes here and there as we wanted it to be fun.”

One of Dharshana’s favourite photos is this one here of her and Muneeb standing at the altar holding hands with the incredible flowers and garden views surrounding them.

To include their fur babies Pluto and Pepper, Dharshana and Muneeb created this bar menu sign with cocktails named after them! They also included them as these adorable mini figurines on the cake. “We wish we could’ve brought them from Perth, but it wasn’t possible. Having little things that reminded us of them on the day was very special to us.”

They chose Lifesketch Weddings as their photographer and videographer for the day, and thank god they did because they captured the day beautifully. “They were lovely and easygoing and made us feel comfortable the entire time. All the photos and videos exceeded our expectations, and we are so thankful for everything they have done,” Dharshana explained. “All we wanted was for them to capture the day, along with the vibe and the special moments. Every time we look at the photos, it feels like we are reliving the day again.”

Planning a wedding wasn’t what Dharshana had imagined; it was stressful and hard work. But she loved seeing all that hard work pay off, and with Candance from Envision Event Management by her side, it was much easier to plan the wedding interstate. “She was an absolute lifesaver, and the day couldn’t have happened without her. We were trying to plan the wedding in Adelaide while living in Perth, and she made everything so smooth and easy for us. She was always helpful and always had solutions when we would stress out about an issue. She kept me sane throughout the whole wedding planning process and ensured we had the best day imaginable.”

With many beautiful moments across three days, it was hard for Dharshana to pick her top five moments, but here’s what she decided.

“1. Getting married

2. Being surrounded by our loved ones who were there to celebrate us

3. We were able to have the wedding of our dreams

4. When the DJ played some classic Indian songs on the dance floor, everyone danced along

5. We also made the wedding favours – everyone got a jar of masala chai with a tea strainer.”

Muneeb remembers this moment from their wedding the most: “I remember the end of the night when everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves. It suddenly hit me that I was now married, and we had a beautiful wedding that Dharshana worked so hard for. All I could see was smiling and laughing, and it made me emotional thinking about how much everyone cared for us, our happiness and the fact that they came to celebrate our love together. It was possible because of my wife.”