Fran & Ronit’s High-Energy

Fusion Wedding at Ragley Hall

Fran & Ronit’s wedding at Ragley Hall was one of those days that just had everything and somehow it all ran with zero faff, just pure fun from start to finish. It was a full-on summer fusion wedding with two ceremonies (a beautiful Hindu ceremony followed by a classic English ceremony), an endless amount of incredible food (genuinely… it just didn’t stop), and the kind of energy you could feel in every room you walked into. The day was completely jam-packed, and we were basically capturing something non-stop from morning to night, but in the best way you could imagine. It genuinely felt like we were part of the party, surrounded by such a welcoming crowd that was fully up for it.

A few standout moments for us… Ronit’s Baraat was unreal (pure hype from the start), the Hindu ceremony was honestly so beautiful to capture, cocktail hour was exactly the vibe you want at a wedding like this, and then the evening party just went off, proper energy, proper fun, no holding back. We’d been buzzing to capture this one for ages, and Fran & Ronit absolutely smashed it. We also got to spend the day alongside the legends at Baker Avenue on video, which made it even more of a laugh.

And because they’ll explain their wedding day better than we ever could, here’s what Fran & Ronit had to say…

Briefly, how did you guys meet?

We met on Hinge! Our first conversation was about our favourite meal deal and kitchen utensils hah!

When did you guys start planning your wedding?

We got engaged in January 2024 and started planning a couple of months later.

How long did it take you to find your perfect wedding venue?

We searched for MONTHS to find the perfect wedding venue. We had an Indian hybrid wedding so we needed something big enough for around 200 guests but also somewhere that didn't limit us to certain food from their own menu - so that narrowed down our search a little bit to dry hire venues. We actually looked at Ragley Hall online first, and then it got lost in the huge list of other venues, but when we finally went along to an open day there was no question it was the perfect venue for us

How would you describe your wedding theme? What was the inspiration?

A few of our friends had Indian fusion weddings, and we loved their ideas of having two separate ceremonies in one day so all of our friends and family could celebrate both cultures together. In the lead up to the wedding, we realised most of Fran's family and friends had never been to an Indian wedding or Hindu ceremony before, while many of Ronit's friends and family had only ever seen western weddings in films. That made the whole process even more exciting everyone was genuinely looking forward to experiencing the blend of traditions.

We wanted the day to feel like a true celebration of both cultures with wedding moments that we had each grown up imagining. For Ronit this was the Baraat with a live band and beautiful horse and for Fran this was confetti outside once we had said I do.

Once we had shaped the overall flow of the day, we chose a colour palette of pink, blue and green with accents of white and gold so that the day felt cohesive but still complemented both cultures.

Tell us about your ceremony & your wedding reception

We had two ceremonies on the same day, which made the whole celebration feel so meaningful to us both.

The morning began with breakfast outdoors for all our guests while a pagdi-tying station was set up for men to get some traditional headwear. Ronit then made his entrance on a horse as part of the Baraat, complete with live music, dancing and so much energy. He did a loop of the gardens before the Hindu ceremony started.

The ceremony itself is full of lots of different rituals, it's quite different from a traditional Western ceremony where you exchange rings and say your vows before you're pronounced married. There are lots of stages, blessings, and symbolic moments, many of which are spoken in Sanskrit which can be difficult for guests to follow. So to make everyone feel included, we designed a little ceremony programme with illustrations and simple explanations of each ritual so our guests could understand the importance of what was happening. At the end of the ceremony, the priest then led a few fun wedding games for us, which had everyone laughing and created the perfect transition into lunch.

Afterwards, we had some live food stations set up in the gardens, and a brilliant artist doing Mendhi on the ladies.

We then went to get ready for our Western ceremony. We had originally hoped to legally marry on the same day as our Hindu ceremony, but the registrar's timings didn't work out so our amazing family friend Sarah was our celebrant. Having a close family friend lead the ceremony ended up being incredibly special, personal and relaxed.

Following the ceremony, we did confetti outside before heading into cocktail hour in the Red Room upstairs. We had a live saxophonist who was incredible and was also our DJ in the evening - so the rest of the night after dinner was filled with him playing sax over some of our favourite songs and was genuinely one of the best memories.

What was your favourite part of planning your wedding?

The BEST bit of the wedding planning without a doubt was the food tasting and the cocktail tasting.

Do you have any regrets or things you wish you knew before planning a wedding?

Wedding planning can easily become all-consuming, so if we could go back, we would intentionally carve out more time for date nights where wedding talk is completely off-limits. We also wish we had set a firm deadline for getting everything finished. That way, we could have spent the final week feeling excited and present rather than stressed and tying up loose ends!

Looking back on your wedding now, what was the most memorable moments?

Some of the best moments for us were saying I do! and also taking a moment to look around the room and see all of our friends and family enjoying the day.

What were some of the best decisions you made when planning your wedding day?

One of the best decisions we made was having a celebrant and even better having one of our close family friends do that role. It made the ceremony feel incredibly personal and relaxed.

Another great decision was having a sweetheart table. It meant our parents could sit with their friends and it took the pressure of us to stay in one spot. We felt completely free to move around the room, chat to everyone, and sneak out for sunset photos without feeling like we were leaving a table of people alone.

If you had any advice for future bride & grooms, what would that be?

We have three bits of advice for brides and grooms:

Embrace your wedding era! You're only engaged for a tiny part of your time compared to all the years you'll be married so enjoy it fully! Lean into it and don't feel guilty for celebrating you both

Take intentional moments to pause. At dinner or during the ceremony, look around the room and take it in. Watch your friends and family chatting, laughing and being together for you!

There will always be more you can plan or make perfect so choose a date to stop planning, unfollow the wedding accounts, stop searching Pinterest and stay away from comparing your wedding!