{Inspiration} The Queen's Jubilee and High Tea

2012 is most definitely an epic year for weddings. This year as well as this country, that'll be the United Kingdom, have several events that are paying homage to our culture and heritage of being British. These key events are the Queen's Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics.



Image Credit

Concentrating on being British, we honour Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 year reign in the UK. Whilst doing my research for Her Majesty, it cannot be reckoned that actually she is a pretty extraordinary monarch. Take a look at some of these mesmerising facts about the Lady herself.

♥ The Queen is currently patron of over 600 charities and organisations, over 400 of which she has held since 1952.

♥ Since 1952, The Queen has conferred over 404,500 honours and awards.

♥ The Queen has attended every opening of Parliament except those in 1959 and 1963, when she was expecting Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively.

♥ The Queen has answered around three and a half million items of correspondence.

♥ In 60 years, The Queen has undertaken 261 official overseas visits, including 96 State Visits, to 116 different countries.

♥ The Queen has sat for 129 portraits during her reign.

♥ The Queen learnt to drive in 1945.

♥ The Queen's real birthday is on 21st April, but it is celebrated officially in June.

♥ The wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh was the first and so far the only time in British history that the heir presumptive to the throne had been married.

♥ Queen Victoria was the last and to date the only British Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee. The Queen, who will be aged 85 on Accession Day in 2012, will be the oldest monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee. Queen Victoria was 77 when she celebrated hers in 1897.

60 Facts about the Queen

So in true British Tea Party Fashion, I have put together some brilliant 'High Tea' favourite desserts to astound your guests with. I actually showed this idea to one of my bride's the other day and she, much like myself has a great fondness of sweets and decadent desserts, almost fell forwards with the idea of a beautiful selection of 'Afternoon Tea-like' desserts on each table. Turning dessert into more of a social affair rather than a one moment and your out the door occurrence!!



Image Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Hoping that you enjoyed these delicious Diamond Jubilee - High Tea selection of desserts.

Keeping you inspired!

Rachyeta xxx

February Round Up ...

February has been quite the whirlwind, with wedding features, wedding planning advice and plenty of inspiration and suppliers to keep your brainwaves stimulated.

We heard the announcement of the Miss India Competition, eventhough we have already congratulated her, we must say another well done to Deana Uppal for her pretty honorary title. Valentine’s day was among the highlights of this month, where plenty of you treated your other halves out for dinner where roses were the symbolic gift of the night. Shaadi-Esque are troopers for spunking things up so we created an inspiration board of pretty peaches and lovely orange and pinks. It is our alternate vision of Love – everyone has one.

We featured two pretty amazing Weddings this month; M&R Photography shared with us the elaborate traditional Hindu Wedding of Shivani and Gurdeep. They blew me away with their beautiful attire, their lush Mandap and their striking decor. The atmosphere was light and traditional but there was most definitely a spark or two of fun and mischievousness.

M&R Photography also shared with us the wedding of Tina and James; their fusion wedding really sparked my interest as it is primarily this that Shaadi-Esque feels so strongly about. It was the intertwining two cultures and the adjoining of two separate roads as one. Tina’s peach infused gown with Indian-felt embroidery made my heart skip a beat. It was an elegant and completely unique gown that suited Tina from the start. This bride and groom really knew how to have a good party and it was this that gave their wedding the fun element.

I loved both of these weddings just as much as each other. There were elements of everything, fun, tradition, fusion, culture and all with their own little spunk!

As you might rightly know that Shaadi-Esque is an advocate for chic new wedding styling, it is this reason we bring you these pretty suave inspiration boards for you to admire and use. This week’s Navy Couture Inspiration board was a take on a royal and regal theme. The blue is a royal navy blue and it reflects a serious, proud theme, but don’t be afraid of this – you can down play or up this theme however way you want. ***But the important thing is that when you come across one of these theme’s – print it out, add it to your bookmarks – save them, add them to your wedding scrap book!***



You may want to refer back to something that you liked – so it’s good to keep it nearby or in a safe and easy to find place.

Along with this Navy Couture inspiration board, we also had another board this month which we called ‘Purrty in Pink Chic’, because it is exactly what it says it is. It is a super pretty, and chic wedding inspiration with just the right amount of pink to make it classy and not a Barbie’s fun house.

As a team of wedding planners we aim to help our readers with all and every wedding planning situation out there,  last month we gave you a breakdown of all the Hindu Wedding Ceremonies, which we got some great reviews so we thank you for taking the time to let us know your kind thoughts. So we thought we would bring you the equivalent Sikh Wedding Ceremony breakdown and you guys loved it just the same.

Attending and planning weddings, we have put together some Bridal Etiquette faux pas for your consideration and at the request of a reader we have prepared some questions you should ask your venue coordinator. It’s all so handy when your wedding planner is writing your inspiration blogs!

*** REQUEST FOR GUEST BLOGGER ***

We are a ground-breaking, modern bridal inspiration hub for the changing face of British Asian Weddings. With our continued growth and need for fresh zesty new blood, we are calling upon your own experiences or expertise. If this sounds interesting to you, then take a look here (Guest Blogger Lookout) for further details on how you can get involved.

I hope you enjoyed February's coverage and I look forward to the rest of the year!! Don't forget that if you want to speak to a wedding planner in regards to your wedding, drop us an email at mail@rsweddingconsultants.co.uk.

Keeping you inspired!!! Have a lovely weekend!!!

Rachyeta xxx

January Round up ...

January saw the start of a fresh new year and a truly awakening spring in The RS Bridal Group’s step. Not only can we welcome some fabulous Brides and Grooms to our Wedding Planners Books, but some more clients destined for great weddings who have booked themselves with rs Weddings’ Theme Design Packages.

But what you really want to know and what I really want to tell you about is how phenomenal Shaadi-Esque has been doing just this past month. Designers, Charitable activities, Wedding features, Chinese New Year, Musical Talent and our very first lifestyle feature. It has been a very busy month for Shaadi-Esque and indeed the RS Group.

We celebrated alongside Charmi Mandavia, designer and owner of Charmi Creations at the launch of her fabulous chic new Boutique in Pinner. We showcased Raishma’s designs and took a little look at how she has evolved as a designer and above all made her brand individual and highly regarded. The final designer showcased this month was Sati Takhar, whose couture pieces really made a mark with Shaadi-Esque and we really look forward to seeing what is in stall for all the designers and suppliers who feature with us.



Most recently we witnessed the Chinese New Year which was highly regarded as the Year of the Dragon.  Auspicious and longevity are symbolised by the Dragon, so this was one year we didn't want to miss out on. We featured three bright and beautiful rouge Dragon inspired boards which blew our readers away, they were fusion, individual and outright spunky!



Shaadi-Esque joined The RS Bridal Group in some rather selfless acts this January. We joined forces to bake some delicious yumminesses for the homeless shelter in the London Borough. For dessert that evening they enjoyed 'Lilac Cupcakes and Ordo Brownies'. Making me drool thinking about it. (Oh boy!)

We went so far as to feature a talented duo as they debuted their new track 'Lohri' which took the iTunes download charts by storm. Shaadi-Esque's little nugget of showbiz-nes!!

Let's not forget our new Lifestyle feature, of which Dishoom in London got their first serving. It was all about the bollybelini's. And then some! :)



We have featured some amazing weddings and some even more fabulous bride's and groom's. We love sharing special weddings, unique ideas or just special moments. A picture does say a thousand words, and Shaadi-Esque readers know it!



Specially for January we were fortunate to attend an engagement party for which we were thoroughly impressed with, we observed, thoroughly enjoyed, and blogged at our hearts content.

So What a busy and pretty phantasmal month January has been. Quite the start to the year and there has been some fond, memorable posts that we wish to continue with.

If you are a photographer/ Bride or Groom / Wedding Supplier and you would like to feature your weddings or services then just visit our submissions page or get in touch on blog@rsbridalgroup.co.uk.

If on the other hand you are a bride and groom and you would like a write up of your wedding or engagement,  much like our Attended Wedding, on Shaadi-Esque or to keep in your album - get in touch also. Words can be valuable even without pictures.

Looking forward to February and all 2012 has to offer. Best of luck to all of our suppliers and features for 2012 is the one to watch!

Keeping you inspired!

Rachyeta Singh (Wedding Designer and Founder of RS Bridal Group)

xxx