Like most modern couples, Bhavin Sachania and Paul Hunt met the good new-age old fashioned way—on a dating app. “We met in 2015 via a dating app, we actually decided to meet up for a drink after only a few days of chatting and before we knew it, we found ourselves wanting to see much more of each other. We moved in together 6 months later, 18 months later we had our little puppy Oscar (our first born) and the following year we moved into our house,” reveal the couple.
Three years into the relationship in August 2018, Bhavin proposed to Paul in Ibiza. “Buying a ring for a man who doesn’t wear any form of jewellery is not easy, so I went for a classic platinum band from Cartier’s Love collection with a very discreet diamond. We had discussed that when we get married then it would have to a destination wedding. Since I was going to propose, I had booked viewings for a couple of potential wedding venues in Ibiza. Eventually, we landed in Spain on beautiful Nerja. The proposal itself wasn’t as nerve wrecking as one would imagine, the week leading up to it was the stressful part, when our dog decided to get his teeth into Paul’s passport.”
The Planning
“The wedding had been 4 years in the making if you consider the number of times it had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic. There were numerous periods of stress and anxiety sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for some relaxation of the rules. Within this period, we did put our wedding planning on the back burner as we awaited the birth of our daughter – for this reason we decided to take the small window of opportunity the government allowed to have our civil wedding. Two weeks later, we welcomed our beautiful daughter Saffron into the world and wedding planning dropped completely to the bottom of the priority list.” But when the duo finally kicked off the celebrations, they made up for the lost time with a five-day destination affair. Bhavin took charge of the planning. “For the rest of the events, we had Perfect Spanish Weddings.” From personalised details to heart-warming moments, these grooms had their dream wedding celebration in Spain surrounded by friends and family.
The Pre-Wedding Functions
After a civil ceremony in October 2020, their multi-cultural wedding celebrations kicked off in June 2022. First in line was pithi and mehndi, followed by Indian wedding and reception. “We hosted welcome drinks at the Iberostar Hotel, where the majority of guests were staying at.”
The Hindu Wedding
The wedding vision was “a relaxed day full of sunshine, plenty of food and lots of dancing but mostly we wanted a fusion celebrating both cultures.”
“The venue was the La Roca Rara villa. It was perfect for the intimate ceremony and house party vibe for reception. For décor, we went with florals and pastels. Everything was light and cultural rather than overly religious. The UK’s first female priestess performed our ceremony, while explaining the significance of every part of the ceremony.”
The English Wedding
Larger-than-life Casa de Los Bates in Motril, which was on the opposite end of the scale from the Indian wedding venue, was the location for the English ceremony. For the English wedding, the couple kept the venue a secret so guests could be pleasantly surprised.
“We had lemon as an accent colour, with flowers and birdcages on each table. We had gold rimmed frames with airport codes as our table names of everywhere we have been as a couple, as everybody knows how much we love traveling.”
The Wedding Wardrobe
“We both wore a sherwani from Venisons in London. The idea for our look started out when I saw the dupatta by Vanshik Menswear‘s at Anjali London. For shoes, Paul wore mojris and I rounded my sherwani with Western tan-coloured boat shoes. The evening outfit was bought from Kora Menswear in Mumbai for our original date in 2020 when in India, until the pandemic struck. I showed them photos for inspiration and they designed and made the outfits for us.”
Wow Elements
“One of our favourite moments was our surprise Bollywood medley dance by our siblings. It was so well planned and completely unexpected. It made us quite emotional. It was also a treat for our guests and our daughter who had the time of her life watching it.” Another highlight was the saxophonist who “went down a treat, especially when paired up with the drummer, violinist and DJ playing modern dance tracks that really got the party going.”
The favours were national lottery scratch cards with a coin in each envelope with the couple’s wedding logo on there. The pouch it was contained in also doubled up as a name place for each guest. “The reason for the scratch card is that Paul’s family loves them, we have always given/received them in greeting cards, and I also used a scratch card to propose so it seemed fitting.”
Wise Words
“You can meticulously plan your wedding for as long as you like (4 years in our case) but anything could happen on the day of. But you will deal with it and still have the best time. Above all, Respect and embrace each other’s family traditions and cultural identities.”
The Groom’s Checklist
Photography: Pedro Bellido and Parrot & Pineapple
The Venues: La Roca Rara in Nerja and Casa de los Bates in Motril
Wedding Planner: Perfect Spanish Weddings
Groom’s Outfits: Venisons, Vanshik Menswear, Kora Menswear
Entertainment: DJ MK Roadshow and Priestess Chanda Vyas
