Sri Lankan Elephants meet Canadian Maple Leafs

One of the best things about being a wedding coordinator in London is working with International couples and learning about their customs and traditions.   One of our recent couple's flew in from Canada to get married at the Royal College of Greenwich in London.  The bride had been living in Canada for the past few years but grew up in London so decided the best place for her nuptials would be in her home city.  



The couple met in Cuba so they jazzed up the cocktail reception with a hot shot Cuban Band, Tony Danger, and continued with the Cuban theme by surprising the guests with a sexy Cuban dance for their first dance as husband and wife.   The ceremony started with traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist steel drummers dancing down the aisle, followed by the groom, bridesmaids, father of the bride and bride.   During the signing of the Registrar, the groom had the song Brown Eyed Girl playing on the speakers, but rather than playing the traditional vocals, "Brown Eyed Girl" he had dubbed it to sing,  "Brown Eyed Amanda" which is the bride's first name.   Guests were crying and laughing.



After the swanky Cuban cocktail reception, 190 guests made way to the dining room where they found a hand carved wooden elephant with a maple leaf tied to the foot.  The elephant is a symbol of good luck in Sri Lanka, and the Maple Leaf is the national symbol in Canada.  It was the first time I'd seen every single guest take their wedding favour home.  The after party was moved to the undercroft where there was an open bar, a video booth and a 12 piece band all the way from Sri Lanka!  The venue closed at midnight and many of the guests hopped on the Thames Clipper to take a midnight cruise down London's River Thames.  It was a magical evening.

Photographer: Peter Darvin