Indian Scottish Fusion Wedding at Clover Cottage

What better wedding to kick off the Traditions Issue than today’s feature? From a wild party meet-cute to a wedding full of Scottish-Indian fusion, Kareena and Sam did things their way! Think: kilts and turbans, dancing processions, embroidered veils, and so many animals. Their day at Clover Cottage was filled with so much love and captured by the talented Greta Wolzak.

The day Kareena was invited as a plus one to one of Sam’s famous share-house parties was the day she fell in love with his Scottish charm. “It was a mad party and I think they had 60 noise complaints! But when two police officers showed up, I was completely in awe of how quickly Sam managed to charm them with his Scottish humour – they ended up having a (non-alcoholic) drink with us!” she explained. “Turns out Sam had found a loophole – the cops were well impressed by the fact that he had raised over $1000 by charging everyone an entry fee. The money was entirely donated to a children’s charity.”

At 14,000ft above sea level in the Himalayas, Kareena realised two things: 1. she was not in any way prepared for the level of cold and 2. just how sick she would feel from the altitude. Unfortunately for Sam, who was in cahoots with their two friends and the tour guide to propose to Kareena at the peak, there was absolutely no way Kareena was about to go any further. And at the height of her panic, Sam wanted to take a photo!

It took her a moment to process Sam on his knee as she turned around, sharing “I think I had just enough oxygen capacity left in me to sob “YES OKKKKK!!!” before I collapsed in his arms. Fast forward a few days, and we were in Goa, swimming in the sea, watching a beautiful Palolem beach sunset, me thriving in the humidity like I was born to do. I turned around and said Now THIS would have been the perfect spot. But it wouldn’t have been our story.”

Sam wore a traditional kilt from The House of Tartan paired with a red Indian turban. “My mum was very impressed by the fact that he never once took off the turban the entire night,” Kareena shared.

Instead of having a formal wedding party, Kareena and Sam just asked that their guests wear Scottish and / or Indian attire to participate in their fusion theme!

Making his way to the ceremony space, Sam and his family and friends were escorted in a procession called the Baarat. “It’s when the groom is joyfully escorted by his family and friends to the Mandap. It is a very lively procession led by a vibrant blend of music from both Scotland and India. We had a piper and a dhol baaja leading Sam, his family, and all of our guests dancing down the lake and the river towards the Mandap.”

Kareena made her own way down to the Mandap, with her entire family supporting the journey. She wore a stunning burnt orange Indian lehenga, with a custom veil featuring all three of her dogs running in a field of wildflowers embroidered along the bottom.

The ceremony was a traditional Hindu Mandap, rooted in the ancient Vedic scriptures. “The rituals not only unite the bride and groom but also forge a lasting bond between their families. The ceremony is conducted under a sacred altar known as the Mandap, a raised platform with four pillars symbolising the parents’ roles in nurturing their children. The ceremony embraces the five elements of nature: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Light,” she explained.

Zoe from Farmhouse Flowers grew all of these beautiful marigolds for the couple to be adorned with, as well as making the two stunning baby’s breath flower garlands they exchanged during their ceremony.

Clover Cottage in Manjimup was their beautiful venue for the day, owned by Paul and Perina and their entire menagerie of cute animals! “We instantly fell in love with Clover Cottage. Not only is it the most beautiful spot with its gorgeous lake surrounded by the stunning Manjimup bushland, and the sound of the river running through its length, but Paul and Petrina (the owners) are genuinely the most beautiful and homely people we were fortunate to meet. The only vision we had for our wedding was that it should be as homely as possible, and this was the perfect venue for it.”

A piece of advice Kareena wants to leave for future couples planning their own weddings is this: “Just enjoy the day and try to get a good night’s sleep before the day! And if possible, start the day early. Our ceremony started at 12:30 pm as per the Hindu requirements, but it meant that by the time we finished at midnight, it felt like a beautiful, long day with everyone we love celebrating with us. Not once did we think, Oh, that went by so quickly.”

Although they couldn’t be included in the actual ceremony, Sam and Kareena were able to include their three beautiful dogs and their chickens in their bushland photoshoot. They were all adorned in traditional wear – Joey in a sherwani, Sunny in a lehenga and Alfie in a kilt. And little Rosemary (our rescue chook) was wearing a traditional Indian scarf,” Shareena explained.

“So hard to choose one photograph as our favourite! But it has to be the one with Sam, me and our three doggies. Long story, but Joey and Alfie had a big fight many years ago, and since then, my labradors (who are my family dogs anyway) have been separated from Alfie. I spent much of the last 5 years living between the two houses so that I could be with all of them. I had only one request for Greta – to please capture the five of us one last time. We sadly lost Joey to cancer last month, so it remains my favourite memory from the wedding. I am so grateful he was here with us to celebrate it.”

Of all the beautiful fusion details and moments throughout their wedding, these are the top five things that stood out to Kareena and Sam:

“1. Our families – especially since all of Sam’s side had flown over from the UK to make it special.

2. The venue.

3. The people who made it all happen. And the animals who graced us with their presence, especially Holly & Honeysuckle (the donkey flower girls!).

4. The food.

5. The end – when everyone lifted Sam and me on their shoulders for the last ceilidh hoorah. I turned to him and exclaimed, “Sammy, we are SO loved!” because I truly felt it in my soul.”

Greta was the perfect photographer to capture Sam and Kareena’s day. “Oh Greta ! The kindest, most pure soul that we were so lucky to encounter. Not only is she just amazing at what she does, but her presence itself is so full of warmth and grace. She made us feel so comfortable, and we completely trusted her to capture the essence of the day,” Kareena gushed. “This is what makes her truly stand out. In some remarkable way, she just captures the feeling of the moment, and years down the line, when we are reminiscing through these photos, I know that her work will take us right back to the moment.”

The one element that Sam and Kareena were really proud of DIYing themselves was the beautiful table settings. “In fact, this is one of my favourite memories. It was 11 pm the night before the wedding and true to our style, we had left it quite late to set the tables. I think it was the first time in the entire chaos of wedding preparation that I was actually quite stressed (combined with tired and sleep-deprived). But then, as I entered the Orchard Barn, I saw all of our family and closest friends setting up the tables, having formed teams “Cutlery team, napkin team, candles team, etc”, and there was so much beauty in the coming together of the most dear people to make something beautiful happen for us.”

To cap off the night, Sam and Kareena danced to “Seaside” by The Kooks. “It was the song that was on as Sam was driving me along Cottesloe beach during one of our first dates.”