Wedding of the Week: I'm Indian, he's Irish - we had a three-day event with Irish and Indian celebrations
Bhumika Gupta and Fergal McGovern. Pictures: Hugh Noonan
She was taken by his accent and he admired her picture-perfect poise when Bhumika Gupta and Fergal McGovern met as university students in London.
Bhumika, from New Delhi, India, and Fergal, from Newbridge, Co Kildare, became part of the same circle of friends as they were completing their master’s degrees.
A few short years later, those pals would converge on Ireland to celebrate their three-day nuptials with them, from March 24-26.
“I thought he had a very cute accent and well, he thought I was pretty and confident,” says Bhumika.
“We became a part of the same group of friends, and eventually started going out.
“Through the long distances between India, Ireland and London, we ended up making it work.”
The London-based couple exchanged vows in an Irish wedding ceremony in St Conleth's Parish Church, Newbridge, followed by a reception in Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge, and in an Indian wedding ceremony followed by a reception in Kinnitty Castle, Birr, Co Offaly.
“As I'm Indian and he's Irish we held a three-day event with an Irish wedding and an Indian wedding.
"One of our friends, Hugh Noonan, is a superb photographer, and he covered the occasion.”
Wishing the newlyweds well were the bride’s mother and father, Kalpana Gupta and Anil Kumar Gupta, and the groom’s parents, Stephanie and Jim McGovern.
Kalpana was also by Bhumika’s side as her bridesmaid, while the groom’s brother, Ronan, was his best man.
Fergal popped the question in November 2020, on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green.
“The proposal was in the middle of Covid, when we had flown to Dublin before things locked down in the UK,” says Bhumika.
“It was on the five-year anniversary of our being together, so I could sense something was coming up.
"Fergal proposed in St Stephen’s Green, and then we spent the night in Royal Marine Hotel, where we got a seaside room and great dinner.” They had originally planned to hold their wedding in India, in a palace in the city of Udaipur, followed by a reception in Ireland.
“But because of Covid and the travel/visa restrictions, we moved it all to Ireland, so we were looking for a venue equivalent to an Indian palace but with Irish character, so we chose Kinnitty Castle as the venue for the Indian wedding,” says Bhumika.
“The second day was reserved for Indian pre-wedding traditions, which also took place in Newbridge at Fergal’s house. We were very lucky with the weather and were able to have a nice setup in the garden. The ceremonies involved was the haldi (turmeric) ceremony and a mehndi (henna) ceremony.”
The Irish bridal dresses were Needle and Thread label, bought in London, while the Indian wedding dress was sourced in India.
The groom and the best man's tuxedos were from the French Connection wedding collection.
One of the highlights for the couple was the baraat procession. “It really made the day,” says the bride. “The baraat is the part of the Indian wedding where the groom and his family arrive to the wedding venue in a dancing, singing procession and the groom is on a white horse.
“Because the weather was so brilliant and sunny and we had Indian music through speakers, everyone loved it. I was watching through the window of my bridal suite in the castle along with my girlfriends, and it really gave us that fairytale moment where I was looking down at the prince coming for me!
"The photographer even captured us looking out from the window, while we thought we were being sneaky.”
Also behind the lens was their videographer, Michael Conlan, and Caitriona Carr looked after the floral arrangements.
The newlyweds will honeymoon in the Maldives this month.
The bride, who works in finance, and the groom, who works in energy trading, live in London.
- If you would like your wedding featured email eve.kelliher@examiner.ie
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