Pamela and Davesh were married in a beautiful Bollywood meets Ireland themed wedding day on May 26, 2012. Their Catholic ceremony was in Cratloe Church followed by a beautiful, colourful Hindu Ceremony in Dromoland Castle. Darren Kirwan photographed their gold and red, multi-cultural day!
Bride and Groom: Pamela Bentley, Actuary and Davesh Dubal, Investment Banker
Length of engagement: 1 year and 9 months | Wedding date: 26th May 2012
Wedding ceremony/reception: Catholic Ceremony, Cratloe Church, Hindu Ceremony & Reception, Dromoland Castle
Wedding photographer: Darren Kirwan Photography
Every time we feature a new real wedding on WeddingsOnline, we fall head over heels in love with the couple involved. Every. Time. But this time it all felt a little bit more special… magical even. Maybe it was because Pamela and Davesh had not one, but two weddings, and that meant there were two dresses for us to lust over! Their first ceremony was a traditional Catholic mass in Cratloe Church, this was followed with a vibrant red and gold themed Hindu ceremony in Dromoland Castle. Both were beautiful and the attention to every last detail was awe-inspiring.
We met… On New Year’s Eve in 2006 at a bar called Zebrano in London.
First impressions of your Davesh… I thought he was tall, dark and handsome!
Davesh’s first impressions of you… He was amused by my Irish wit! On our first date we laughed so much, we instantly clicked!
Our proposal… Davesh proposed to me in Dubai on a trip back from South Korea where we were visiting a friend, Maeve. He had booked us into a villa near the sea. On the night that he proposed he had arranged a private meal for us on the beach. After we had finished we walked down towards the shoreline, where he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
My dress… It was a Justin Alexander (available from McElhinneys Bridal Rooms) dress in ivory lace. It was so elegant and flattering, I didn’t want to take it off!
Our wedding theme/ colours… The wedding theme was Ireland meets Bollywood. We had gold coloured favours during our reception and influences of red during the Hindu ceremony. We wanted to draw upon both of our cultural differences – we hadn’t heard of many Irish/Indian weddings before!
Our ceremonies… We had two ceremonies on the day; a Catholic mass followed by a traditional Hindu ceremony. The mass was in Cratloe Church, a beautiful small church close to Dromoland. We had a fantastic church singer, Gemma Sugrue who was amazing and we also involved a lot of friends and family in the ceremony so guests felt part of the day. The Hindu ceremony followed in Dromoland Castle. The room was beautiful with ceiling to floor lights and lots of colour. We both changed into traditional Indian wedding attire. The ceremony itself was very symbolic and again involved lots of family and friends, which made it more intimate.
My favourite part of the wedding… It was seeing each other for the first time in our wedding outfits. We also had Irish dancers (Mystic Force) in the reception who choreographed some dancing to Bollywood music, which was excellent and helped express our different cultural backgrounds.
My advice for other brides… Relax and enjoy the day – it goes by so quick!
We chose our venue because… As soon as we drove into the entrance of Dromoland Castle we knew it was where we wanted to get married. The grounds were absolutely stunning and the views of the castle as you meander through the golf course are fantastic. As we also wanted to have an Irish/Indian fusion wedding, we wanted somewhere that would help accommodate our needs. When we met Dromoland’s wedding co-ordinator, Margaret Daly, we instantly felt in safe hands. She was a great help every step of the way. As we had a large number of guests attending the wedding the main reception room was large enough for our guests but at the same time felt intimate. The food and wine at the venue were also exceptional so we knew our guests would have a great time.
Our first dance song… ‘Better’ by Tom Baxter.
Our honeymoon… We took three weeks off in total and went to Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands and St.Lucia.
Article by Karen Birney