Nuzhah & Te Ahu

The day after celebrating a traditional Mendhi party, Nuzhaha and Te Ahu opted for a classic and stylish wedding reception that combined both of their cultures. Held at an inner-city hotel during winter, it was a romantic occasion full of spectacular details and unique touches. Nuzhah shares details from their celebration…

Photography by Feature Weddings

The Mehndi (henna) party is often held the day before the wedding—to beautify and bless the bride, and is a lively occasion full of fun with lots of food, music and dancing. The event often starts with a grand entrance by the couple, and guests present them with sweet treats and money to bless their marriage. Family and friends perform choreographed dances, and women often sing and play the dhol (a type of drum) surrounded by colourful pillows and décor. Later, everyone gets on the dance floor!

Our wedding morning was such a wonderful time surrounded by family. After a buffet breakfast before we went our seperate ways to get ready. Emotions were high, but the love, happiness and excitement was enough for a lifetime. We opted out of having a bridal party because that meant there was one less thing to worry about, but also how do you choose your nearest and dearest when you are surrounded by so many amazing people, who would stand by you regardless! 

My dress was made in India. I struggled to find something I loved, that would fit my long arms and legs, so we worked with Roop Darshan to create this. I tried on some dresses, I chose the design, then colour, and trusted the rest of process. Fortunately, it came back better than I could have ever imagined. It really was everything I envisioned, and more. I was able to represent my heritage, alongside my childhood vision of wearing a white dress. 

Alongside his suit, Te Ahu wore a customised Korowai, which was made with a subtle inclusion of yellow/gold and white feathers to incorporate and represent his Iwi and hapu heritage from Taranaki. We were able to get a sample of the Taniko band from Korowai by Hiria, which was replicated onto his tuxedo panels. It was beautiful and unique with enormous meaning. 

We went down an untraditional route when it came to our ceremony. We opted to have an intimate ceremony a few weeks before celebrating with a reception. It was perfect - just us, our celebrant, witnesses and some onlookers. We were able to be vulnerable and share such an intimate moment with one another. It was perfect, the elopement of my dreams! 

We wanted a very street-style photoshoot, and our photographers nailed it! We got some incredible photos and videos around the Auckland CBD, and were surprised by a double rainbow at the Museum!

For our reception we wanted a theme that was timeless and classic - something we wouldn’t ever get sick of looking back on. We wanted to make sure we incorporated green somewhere in our theme because it was our colour for many reasons - our birthstones are green, Te Ahu’s eyes are green, a running joke through our relationship has been Green Tea, and my favourite colour is green. We ultimately went with a beautiful colour palette of white, black, gold and forest green. 

We wanted to keep formalities limited, and focus on the fun, high energy to really set the scene for our celebration. We entered dancing to Cuff It by Beyoncé, and thought it would be awesome to have a Dhol Player to really amp our entrance up. Prashant played his dhol along side the Beyonce track, and it was amazing! There was fireworks, smoke canons, energy!

We followed with a very brief and to-the-point formalities, which mainly included speeches, a haka by Te Ahu’s family, cake, dinner, and our first dance. Then the dance floor opened! Prashant came back with his drums later in the evening, and it really just complimented the music, and added some fun to the dance floor! 

Having representation for both of our cultures and heritage was really important to us on our special day. We were able to represent my Indian heritage through our clothing, jewellery, henna the night before, and Te Ahu’s maori heritage through the details in his suit, as well as his korowai. His family performing a haka was the icing on the cake. It was a beautiful blend of both cultures through clothing, food, performance and music. 

Our wedding was incredible. We were speechless and in awe of how everything we worked hard on for months had finally transpired, our visions finally a reality, and everyone we loved finally all together.  

We wanted our loved ones to just enjoy the day, and be as stress-free as possible. Indian weddings are exhausting with a week-long of celebrations, so we tried our best to keep as much of it light-hearted to make sure everyone had time to just enjoy themselves, including ourselves! Our main objective was to have the time of our lives with our nearest and dearest, and we did. 

Photographer: Nayzel Sushil from Feature Weddings

Video: Feature Weddings

Bride's attire: Roop Darshan / Florist and Stylist: Stylish Wedding and Events / Cake: Sweet Bites / Grooming: The Groomsmen / Pullman Hotel / Al Sapha Australia / Merchant  / Azimun Nisha - Glamorous Makeup & Hair / JAISS / Korowai by Hiria / Cora-Allan Celebrant / Little Black Photo Booth / Datt Dhol Guy / DMD Entertainment / Rolls Royce Hire