Our Big Day

MAGICAL UNION

The marriage of Marvin and Tara Teubner

By | Posted Thu 23 September 2010

Date of Wedding: 19th September 2009
Venue: The Royal Opera House
Photography: Alexandre Pichon

The proposal
Popping the question is harder to pull off than most men think, so it was to Marvin’s credit that he managed to execute a fantastic proposal that had all the right elements – spontaneity, romance and sophisticated surroundings.

The idea germinated after Tara’s parents gave Marvin Grand Prix tickets for his 30th birthday. Tara revealed: ‘He told me that his parents had arranged for us to stay a week in Monaco after the Grand Prix, which of course, I believed!

After the race we made our way to St Tropez and then moved on to the chic Grand Hotel Du Cap Ferrat in Nice. It had to be hands down, the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

After being greeted with Champagne and given an invite to a massage in their spa, I remember thinking that Marvin’s parents had planned the trip so well and had been incredibly thoughtful. After dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Marvin took my hand and we stood on the balcony overlooking the sea. Imagine my shock when he said it wasn’t his parents but rather him who had organised the whole trip, and then got down on one knee! Needless to say I was on cloud nine after that.’

Setting the tone
By her own admission, Tara was never the type to have dreamed about her wedding day. But she did know that when they got married, it would be a classy and elegant affair. As Marvin is German and Tara is Indian, the couple wanted a wedding that would incorporate those ideals, as well as being a mirror for their own cultures.

‘We went for a fusion of East meets West,’ said Tara, ‘and reflected that within our outfits and the event organisation. For instance on the day, we asked our priest to explain the ceremony in English for our German guests. We also took into account the type of music we’d play on the day, so we made sure to have music from both parts of the world, as well as a few tunes that would get everyone of all ages dancing!’

‘When it came to overall planning however, although I hadn’t planned my wedding for years and years, I’d helped to organise my brother’s wedding in London a couple of years ago, so this gave me a head start with knowing what to book first, and what to expect.’

In keeping with the traditional ethos of having large weddings, Tara knew the guest list would be relatively large, but still wanted to retain an intimate feel. She revealed: ‘We wanted to strike a balance of having a grand and interesting wedding, as well as making sure we had time to speak to all our guests. That was something that was very important to us, as we didn’t see the point of putting in so much time and effort to put on a party for our loved ones, if they didn’t feel welcomed properly. As for keeping it intimate, our venue was by its nature very opulent, so we offset that by having a more informal Mehndi night that took place on a boat on the River Thames.’

Perfectionist Vs Wedding Planner
Bridezillas are often created through a pressure-cooker mix of high expectations of the bride coupled with poor delegation. Tara avoided this completely by recognising her greatest strengths and employing a wedding planner to carry out the tasks she felt were most important. ‘I’ve been brought up to be a real perfectionist by my parents, so I knew that it’d be best for everyone if I took on the main responsibility of organising it,’ said Tara.

‘My family were incredibly supportive, but on the advice of a friend, I hired Dream Occasions to organise the day, and they did a superb job. Plus it meant my family could actually relax a bit and it was really important to us that everyone could actually have fun. I also received further support from my venue, who had a brilliant team who worked seamlessly with the wedding planner, and had a sharp eye for detail. I would advise future brides to check that their venue has a good wedding team in place, as this makes all the difference when it comes to getting things done and communicating well.’