A board game inspired fusion wedding at Edinburgh City Chambers

Inspired by their Indian and Scottish heritage, plus their love of board games and food, Shra and Neil were married in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town. Achieved on a small budget and in a low waste way, their “fun and geeky” wedding is packed with personality and colour. So much to love!

How did you two meet?

We met online on Match.com. I approached him after seeing his profile photo which was him running the Scottish Half Marathon, which I had run too! That got us talking.

We were both in Edinburgh but we finally met after three months of chatting online. We had our second date a week after the first and we haven’t been apart since.

Five years together this year and can’t wait for the next 50!

What inspired your wedding plans?

Edinburgh City Chambers is a beautiful and charming Grade A listed building. It gives a real feel of the gorgeous architecture that Edinburgh has to offer.

We are board game geeks and while we didn’t want to go a certain theme, our outfits needed to be the same colours as the colours we actually play (I always play red and Neil always plays green). Also, our baker made us the most beautiful three tier cake of our favourite board games and it was fantastic!

We did a lot of things ourselves and we knew we wanted to keep waste/costs as low as possible. Hence no flowers, table arrangements, bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Everyone got a hog roast roll to go, in order to avoid wasting food! As a wedding favour, we had another friend who is a professional potter make wee clay meeples which were mounted on wooden photo holders and a wee bag of traditional Scottish sweeties.

We didn’t have a first dance but jumped immediately into a Gay Gordons! So we had a little bit of everything that we like (Indian, Scottish, boardgames, food!).

A friend helped us design our wedding and reception cards and we got them printed by a local print shop!

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I wore two outfits – a traditional red saree for the actual wedding ceremony and a white wedding dress for the reception. The vintage dress was probably the 10th one and it just felt right. I didn’t want a train or veil and something that I wouldn’t be able to dance in. The flowy skirt won me over. It had the swish I wanted!

Neil wore a traditional Scottish kilt of Clan McMillan (a nod to his mother’s side). The greens and yellow in the kilt went beautifully with his black jacket and waistcoat.

I finally got my dream shoes – Jimmy Choos! Neil got traditional brogues to go with the kilt.

Your photos are beautiful!

Ali was a joy to work with right from the start. Thoughtful and creative, she made the lead up to the wedding fun with the couple shoot, henna night, and the wedding and reception. The photos have been a joy to see – she captured so many beautiful moments!!

Were there any challenges along the way?

Not really. We had wonderful people working very hard in the background, so our day went very smoothly. Even the overcast weather didn’t put a damper on the day as the photos came out brilliantly!

Any advice?


Don’t get bogged down with details, and remember, it’s the days after the wedding that matter more than the day itself!

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Honeymoon was brilliant! We are not really the sun and sand kind of people, so we decided to pick a place each. Neil fancied Russia and I am a massive fan of Korean everything!

So we did one week in Russia – Moscow and St Petersburg – and the second week in Seoul. This was in February and we spent a beautiful Valentine’s Day cruising along the Han river in Seoul.

So, so glad we managed this before the pandemic hit!

What’s the one truly unforgettable thing about your wedding day?

The walk back to our hotel after the day was done. It was only the second time of the day that we were alone and we couldnt stop smiling.

Thank you for sharing your wedding story with us Shra and Neil! Still can’t get over how convincing the cake is – we genuinely thought it was a tower of board games when we saw the photo! x