The Wedding Of The Year

By Seneka Abeyratne

Dhinal Perera and Inoka Razeen were married at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel recently.  Their wedding was like no other.  It was grand but not ostentatious, stylish but not pretentious, and surreal but not outlandish.  It was a work of art – a sublime blend of the traditional and the modern, the concrete and the abstract.  The emphasis was on creativity and artistic expression, and they took this concept to new heights.  Their wedding had a graceful, lyrical quality which I have not seen at any other wedding.  Make no mistake, it was world class.

The couple took it upon themselves to plan their wedding in its entirety as they wanted to do something profoundly different.  They did not hire any experts and came up with all the innovative ideas themselves.  For the saris, suits, poruwa, settee, oil lamps, table décor, etc., they chose an unusual colour scheme, namely “autumn champagne” going into copper, gold and bronze.  These warm, earthy tones gave the nuptial setting a remarkable ambience.  Indeed, the overarching theme was “magical garden” and all the guests agreed that the concept was brilliant, with everything neatly planned and executed down to the smallest detail.

The poruwa, oil lamps, and table décor were made from trees.  Not real trees, of course.  These were profound works of art created from of a range of raw materials, including pulp, wrought-iron, and paints.  The designs were so extraordinary that they filled us with wonder.  The idea behind the futuristic settee was to make it look like a swing.  Hence the artists used simple horizontal and vertical lines to create this illusion.  All of the above were made by Sisira and Muditha of Lassana Flora using ideas provided by Inoka.

The cake structure with its garden setting was created by Orancey Siriwardena.  It was a stunning piece of abstract imagery bordering on the surreal.

In passing, I must mention the lovely wedding invitation done in autumn champagne colours and embellished with a dainty bo leaf imported from Thailand.  It’s the kind of invitation you just don’t want to throw away because of its splendid artistic value.

Most Sri Lankans believe that white is our traditional bridal colour, but Inoka would argue otherwise.  She firmly believes that copper, gold, bronze and other earthy tones such as ocher-brown are our traditional bridal colours and that white became popular only after the advent of colonialism.  One does not argue with someone like Inoka (an astute, Cambridge-educated lawyer) because she always does her homework.  I’m sure she’s right when she asserts that the white or off-white bridal sari was not generally worn by our pre-colonial brides.

I’m willing to bet that Inoka is the first bride in post-colonial Sri Lanka to wear a copper and gold wedding sari.  I visited her mum, Seedevi, recently, and she fetched the sari, neatly folded, and placed it on my palms.

“Heavens!” I exclaimed, “This weighs a tonne.”

“You bet,” she replied, “And can you believe she wore it for over six hours?”

It was the inimitable Ramzi who designed this beautiful organza sari with its delicate pallu and veil.  The border, pleats, and pallu were embellished with beads that resembled little flower petals.  All in all, an amazing sari, the likes of which has never been seen before.  So unique is the design, so intricate the craftsmanship, that one could call it a national treasure.  This kind of sari deserves to be worn twice and if Inoka has a daughter some day, who knows…

The wedding cake was set in a dainty floral receptacle created from stockinette and gold wire.  Namali Perera made the cake while Manel Perera (Dhinal’s mum) made the copper receptacle going into ocher-orange and burgundy.  The cake was divine and so was the buffet – a marvelous fusion of east and west.  There were some fine speeches, including an exceedingly witty and entertaining one by Seedevi, and a slick power-point presentation by Dhinal and Inoka symbolising a trip down memory lane.  The dancing went on till the wee hours of the morning and it was great to see CBK doing the baila with gusto.

All the guests received a gift of a little circular candle embedded in a solid, ocher-brown wooden block 4.5 inches high and 1.5 inches wide, with the word “Ayubowan” engraved on it in Sinhalese.  What a thoughtful gesture it was, for whenever we light that candle, we shall think of Dhinal’s and Inoka’s unforgettable wedding at the Cinnamon Grand.  It was, indeed, the wedding of the year.