A Northumberland castle hotel has staged a lavish Asian wedding what may be a first within its long history.
Langley castle, built in 1350, hosted a wedding, for a couple wishing to enjoy a 'traditional Indian marital event within its authentic medieval English castle setting'.
The couple Aashna Jain and Matthew Ronalds from Newcastle, fell in love with the fairy-tale castle the minute they saw it.
The celebrations spanned two days of exclusive use of the castle and its extensive lawned and wooded grounds, to treat guests to all elements of Indian wedding tradition.
In the late afternoon on the Friday close family and friends arrived to enjoy vegetarian canapés and attend a traditional Haldi ceremony.
This event was staged in the contemporary Langley Castle Pavilion, where special flooring was laid, to ensure all could enjoy proceedings free from worry about mess.
This began the trend to use as many of the different options available at Langley Castle, where there are a variety of locations in which to stage wedding day components.
The traditional bride’s henna party was held in the Langley Castle tipi, whilst other guests were entertained by a magician performing in the 2AA Rosette Josephine Restaurant.
That evening, a menu of Indian traditional food, comprising pav bhaji, tomato-based curry, vegetable biryani and chana masala, was served in the more formal setting of the Stuart Suite.
Following the food, entertainment was also provided in the Stuart Suite.
On the wedding day itself, the castle catered for 160 guests, with over 50 staying inside the castle or castle grounds and the rest transported by shuttle bus from nearby accommodation.
The groom’s family and groomsmen danced their way to the ceremony, held in a specially erected marquee.
There, an hour-long traditional service was conducted by one of the guests, wholly in Indian. Following this, a half-hour civil ceremony, to legally seal the marriage under English law, was conducted by local registrars.
Wedding guests enjoyed canapés such as samosas, paneer tikka skewers and mushroom vol au vent, before sitting down to their main meal. This was a feast of tomato soup with tadka focaccia, followed by shahi paneer curry with dal makhani and peshwari naan.
Dessert was a rose-infused cheesecake with gulab jamun, a much cherished Indian festival dish of fried dumplings in rose and saffron syrup.
A little nod to British tradition was incorporated into the evening’s catering, albeit with an Indian twist.
Guests indulged in an ‘Indian chip butty’ – spiced, cubed potato served within a naan bread. An ice cream van also catered for those with a sweet tooth.
The vegetarian menu was very personal to the couple and Langley Castle’s chefs, particularly Gary Robinson, worked to get everything spot-on and truly authentic.
This involved numerous meetings and taste tests with the couple, resulting in tweaks to menus, to deliver Indian culinary perfection and sourcing of speciality items, where required for true authenticity.
The entire two-day wedding event, which concluded with fireworks, was seamlessly delivered, bringing much joy to both the happy couple and their guests.
All was played out inside, or in front of, the traditional English medieval backdrop.
New executive general manager, Mohamed Serag, said: “The chefs, in particular, deserve much credit for the dedication they showed and their willingness to continually test dishes, until they were worthy of any wedding in India.
I think this conveys just how far Langley Castle’s entire team will go, to ensure couples and their guests can revel in all the little touches that make their wedding day so memorable and so personal to them and their story. I am truly proud of what the team did to make this Indian wedding such a superb event.”
"Langley Castle hopes this is the first of many Indian weddings that will be staged within its magnificent medieval setting and is also looking to leverage Mohamed Serag’s expertise in the Middle Eastern wedding market."
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