Sometimes I have to pinch myself and today I am doing just that at having the pleasure of sharing such a gorgeous affair on these pages :-)

WWW readers Helen and Arul tied the knot on the 28 ^th June 2014 at Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire. It was important to them that their wedding incorporated English and Indian cultures, with a traditional English setting they added colour, curry and Bollywood dancing.

I adore the glam gold and red colour scheme, with an abundance of fluffy peonies and personal touches.

Helen wore one of my all time favourite dresses; Eden by Jenny Packham with a red lip and plaited hair she looked beautiful. Arul wore a sharp grey suit while the bridesmaids sparkled in sequins. Oh so divine.

Thanks so much to Amy B Photography for sharing her wonderful photographs today.

THE PROPOSAL | Arul organised a treasure hunt proposal at our home in April last year. I came home from work one day and Arul answered the door wearing a suit and handed me 'The Rules' for the treasure hunt! He had made little handwritten cards with clues to where each 'treasure' was hidden; these included champagne, champagne glasses, a ceramic heart, a teddy bear, books and finally the engagement ring! He then whisked me off for a ten course meal (yes ten courses!) and wine tasting at a top Michelin-starred restaurant. Bliss!

THE VISION | We wanted to combine aspects of both English and Indian cultures into one wedding day. We knew from the outset we wanted lots of colour, curry and Bollywood dancing!

We chose a traditional English venue and civil ceremony and tried to incorporate Indian touches wherever we could; from a gold and red colour scheme to a map of India table plan.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We planned the wedding ourselves whereas in Indian culture it is customary for the parents to do all the wedding planning. This was a first for Arul's family so we felt some pressure to make it spectacular! At each stage of the planning we had our guests in mind, we wanted them to be relaxed, well fed and enjoying champagne in the sunshine.

BUDGET | £20k

THE VENUE | We fell immediately in love with Norwood Park at our first viewing. It has a very pretty Georgian house where we held our ceremony, beautiful gardens including an apple grove and a rustic courtyard tucked away in the heart of the venue.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I wore a Jenny Packham dress (Eden in Platinum) and headpiece by Elizabeth Bower Bridal and shoes by Lucy Choi London.

FINDING THE DRESS | I never went to any bridal shops during the wedding preparations. I bought my dress second-hand off a friend of a friend. I tried it on in my sister's bedroom and she cried when she saw me in it, and I knew it was the one!

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Arul hired a grey suit with platinum waistcoat. He chose a pink tie and matching pink socks!

THE READINGS & MUSIC | Music was an important part of our day because Arul is a musician. We had a harpist playing during the ceremony and drinks reception. Arul's sister sang 'Ave Maria' (the Beyonce version!) during our ceremony. Arul's friend played the guitar and sang a Bob Dylan medley just before our speeches. Our first dance was to 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train. We had a DJ in the evening and also a set of our favourite songs performed by Arul's sister towards the end of the night.

During the ceremony our friend read 'Soulmate' by Richard Bach.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I had five bridesmaids including my two sisters, one of whom was eight months pregnant. My bridesmaids wore beautiful sequinned, gold dresses by Monsoon and a gold Anastasia maternity dress by Tiffany Rose. They looked gorgeous.

THE FLOWERS | Our flowers were supplied by Mrs Umbels and they were amazing. I actually cried when I saw my bouquet as it was just so perfect! We had mixed bouquets of peonies, roses and jasmine. My bridesmaids wore fresh flowers in their hair. We also had an Indian elephant flower sculpture which was just brilliant, we named him Mr Yani (which means Elephant in Tamil).

THE CAKE | We bought a simple, ivory wedding cake from M&S and our florist decorated it with peonies and roses. We had custom-made dolls for our cake topper which looked identical to us on the day.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our photographer Amy B was absolutely incredible! We originally chose her because we were impressed by her colourful and creative style, but it turns out she is also one of the nicest people we've ever met and she made us laugh so much during the photo shoot. Our pictures are perfect and we will treasure them forever.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | My mum made miles of bunting in our wedding colours which we used to decorate the courtyard and bar area. We made a huge collage of old photographs, our guests loved finding their pictures on it. We had simple vases of peonies and roses as our centrepieces and decorated the tables with loose sequins.

THE CATERING | Our catering was supplied by The Cumin, they served an Indian banquet of Punjabi dishes. It seems to be what our guests loved the most about the wedding!

THE MAKE UP | I'm lucky enough to have a sister who is a celebrity make-up artist. I was very happy to have mine and my bridesmaids make up in her trusted hands.

THE HONEYMOON | We are going on honeymoon to Kerala, South India later this year.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | So hard to choose a favourite moment...the whole day was absolutely perfect. Having our dog, Enzo at the wedding made it really special for us.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Including some personal touches and DIY in your wedding décor is a really nice way to make the wedding unique. We included a hand written chalkboard of the timings for the day, DIY table plan, custom made cake toppers and a photo collage of our guests.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Amy B Photography

Venue | Norwood Park

Cake Toppers | Etsy

Caterers | The Cumin

Make-Up Artist | Holleigh Gallon [email protected]

Such a beautiful day, that dress has me totally swooning this morning :-)

Thanks so so much to Helen and Arul for sharing their wedding with us today XOXO Lou