Wedding Planning with India Cardona

I had a classic English countryside wedding in May in picturesque Bradford-on-Avon, near Bath. We got married on a perfect Spring day at a beautiful Georgian property called Belcombe Court that does just a handful of weddings each year.

We were keen to make it totally our own with many touches throughout the day - my bridesmaids and I started the day off with a swim followed by a women's circle where they each shared an intention with me for the day ahead. During our ceremony, my sister led a moment of reflection inviting guests to take a pause and be present, we also had a gospel choir who sang our favourite songs. Our flower girls wore dresses made by me and my bridesmaids and embroidered with motifs that were also on my veil. At the dinner we popped little mantra cards under each guests' plate to spread some extra positivity. Above the dancefloor we suspended a giant disco ball and at one point we took to the mic to rap together..! As our late night food we had pots of fried chicken, which featured stickers with the KFC logo, except instead of the colonel's face, it was my husbands! It was a lot of fun and full of surprises for our guests. 

As a fashion-lover I wore a number of dresses on the day, all from the London-based bridal atelier, OWN Studio. I designed my dresses with them, with the first and third being totally bespoke. I wanted my first dress to mirror the romance of the venue with flowing organza sleeves and a long embroidered veil. My second dress was more sleek, giving Old Hollywood vibes complete with a dropped-waist, neck-tie and feather boa. My final dress was my disco dress - a one shoulder sequin mini. As I left our wedding, I changed into the same sari my mother left her wedding in, a nod to my Fathers' Indian heritage. 

For the decor, I really leant into a Spring palette. I wanted it to feel considered and chic, whilst also being relaxed. It was quite feminine, without being overly cutesy in a muted earthy palette. I love single stem bunches so each bridesmaid had a different single variety bouquet in a soft palette - one had white sweet peas, another had peach poppies, buttery ranunculus and so on. My bouquet featured creamy tones with a trailing silk ribbon. In the month before the wedding I'd been on a yoga retreat in Ibiza and was surrounded by olive trees which are a favourite of mine. I spoke with our florist and she constructed the most incredible olive branch installation for our ceremony.  

 
We love that you held your wedding in two of our favourite venues (Babington House for the rehearsal dinner and Belcombe Court for the main event). Did you always know you wanted to have your wedding here, and how did you decide upon your venues?

Over the last few years we've spent a lot of time in Somerset and we always love visiting Babington House so once we finalised our venue not too far away, we were keen to make it part of the wedding events. We settled on hosting our Rehearsal Dinner there, with drinks in the Walled Garden which ended up being the most dreamy evening. We were so lucky to have a gorgeous golden evening and there was such a joyful buzz, it was magic. We stayed in the Bridal suite across the weekend, which is where I got ready with all my bridesmaids. It was the most incredible room with such beautiful light and will always be such a special place to us. 

I'd seen Belcombe Court on Instagram a few years ago, and had earmarked it for our one-day wedding. I'm so grateful that it worked out and my dreams came true! It's the most breathtaking place and we couldn't have had a better day for it. I'm just sad I no longer get to visit regularly! 

 
Did you style your own tables for your wedding breakfast and other celebratory meals? What was your inspiration for the tables?

I did! I've always loved creating tablescapes so I was excited to think up how ours would look, although it was quite a lot of pressure too! I actually found finding chairs I liked so tricky, but I settled on some simple white bistro chairs paired with flowing white linen, which I adored the end result of. Again, leaning into Spring I wanted to keep everything light and airy. I worked with a stationer to design the menus and designed vases with Bias Editions for the tables, which was so fun. Our florist filled the vases with single stem bunches to mirror the bridesmaid bouquets. We had colourful Italian food like melon and prosciutto, a radicchio and grape salad and Burrata and focaccia, which all became part of the tablescape. 

 
How long did it take to plan your wedding, and what parts of the planning did you enjoy the most?
 

We pretty much planned it from when we got engaged, so 15 months, which felt like a good amount of time. We had such fun choosing music for the dancefloor, doing the food tasting and I loved working with the OWN Studio on my dresses. 

What were your favourite moments from your wedding day?

During one of the gospel choir songs a couple of our flower girls came and sat on our laps, which just felt like such a pure and loving moment. We loved entering the dinner tent to Punjabi MC with all our guests dancing. I made a speech during dinner, which was a definite highlight for me, I had such fun doing it. Nothing will ever beat the dancefloor though, I've never been happier, more full of energy or had a better time in my life! 

Shop India's Wedding Gift Edit.

Photos by Benjamin Wheeler and Carrie Santana da Silva