Here You’ll Find a Who’s Who of Our Wedding
As well as our bridesmaids and groomsmen, we’re including some who played a big part of the celebrations and contributed an incredible amount of work, before and during the week we spent in Athens. We’ve called them our wedding ninjas, because they were stealthy, relentless and extremely committed to ensuring our vision was realised. The truth is that so many people supported us during the week and months beforehand, the list would be very long, so we’ve limited profiles here to just a few key players (in alphabetical order), but are eternally grateful to all those that helped us.
Adrian - groomsman
Having met on the fields of Reading Festival in 1996, Jazz and Adrian became fast friends. Sharing mutual pals from Adrian’s home town in mid-Wales, they developed an enduring friendship based on their love of music and partying hard. Later in life this turned to cooking and shouting at the TV. Captain of both his local football and cricket teams, super fit Adrian is a legal professional by day. However, Elvis Presley super fan, also does a mean Harry Potter impression and his dance moves are the stuff of legend.
Alex - bridesmaid
Jazz’s daughter Alex - she elbowed her way into being a bridesmaid, just as she did into Maggie’s heart. Sharing a love of photography, reading, sci-fi, travel & food, she and Maggie developed a special bond over the years. Her help and support throughout was matched only by her enthusiasm, which stretched even as far as helping us produce the 50+ corsages we hand-made for guests. Always on hand to raise our spirits, we’re blessed to have her as a central part of our lives. Made 50% of puns and 50% sarcasm, Alex is 100% Jazz’s progeny.
Amy - ninja
Her kind-hearted, sunny disposition lights up any room she’s in - Long-time friend of Harvi’s & the family, Amy worked like a Trojan throughout the week, making sure everyone was looked after and entertained. Her love of life and desire to share it make her a truly special person, we were honoured to have her as part of our celebrations. Not least, her performance as part of the family mehndi dance, was nothing short of spectacular, reflecting the hours of rehearsals she and the girls put in, under Simiy’s iron rule as choreographer.
Gurmit - groomsman
Jazz’s big brother G, has been one of our biggest advocates since the start, embracing Maggie into his family whole-heartedly. Whilst an obvious choice as groomsman, we were proud to have G at our side when exchanging vows. A man of few words (until his second pint), his compassion and humour are an essential part of our family. G’s reputation for kindness is well know in our family, as is his ability to make friends even in an empty room. He loves hearing and exchanging stories with people far and wide, wherever his spirit takes him.
Harvi - ninja
Harvi, aka the Boss B - our niece Harvi, the youngest of Simiy’s two daughters. She brought to bear her extensive project & event management experience in building an hour-by-hour plan of the entire week. Many months of tireless effort, including a trip to Athens with us before the event made sure everything ran smoothly. Her attention to detail ensured we didn’t overlook any aspect. Keeping our wedding planners on their toes, she even managed to insert so many wonderful surprises even we were unaware of! Despite her diamond tough exterior, her core’s soft & precious, just like 24ct gold.
Jay - groomsman
Jazz met Jay at the turn of the millennium. Jay’s a technology entrepreneur who’s driven by a need to understand how things work, often achieved this by taking them apart and putting them back together better - he’s a hacker in life and in his work. If there’s one thing Jay’s known for, it’s getting a party started, with an international reputation for good times across the continents. Despite being Jazz’s former brother in-law, they’ve remained close through many good times and bad. No one ever forgets meeting Jay, though their memories are sometimes a bit hazy.
Jenny - bridesmaid
Jenny & Maggie first met in the mid-noughties, after her return from a night out in high spirits. Fast forward a year, Maggie moved in with her and became friends. Together they’d end up sharing a roof on and off, over the next 7 years, with Jenny providing a place to stay after Maggie’s many international adventures. Jenny’s calm and objective demeanour has provided Maggie emotional support, perspective and the sometimes brutal honesty, we all need from time to time. Several of their tête-à-têtes made Maggie consider her life choices, for this Maggie is forever grateful. In return Maggie has given Jenny actual physical support, after a few cocktails can reveal her inner Bambi. Her loyalty and enduring friendship made her an obvious choice of bridesmaid.
Joanne - bridesmaid
Starting as housemates under Jenny’s roof (their reoccurring landlady), they ended up as friends. The three musketeers, spent many years hanging out and sharing their love of the outdoors. One memorable hike led to comedic outcomes in the Brecon Beacons, where Jo was bent double laughing at Jenny and Mags, who’d fallen headlong into a bog, frantically trying to drag each other out, Keystone Cops style. Maggie and Jo have shared a few epic nights together - but Jo’s diminutive exterior should never be mistaken, her work-hard, train harder attitude has seen her complete iron-man and other challenges, where she pushes herself to the limits of physical endurance, all great practice for the week in Athens and hen/stag events.
Mariam - bridesmaid
Roommates until she moved to a room of her own at 15, Maggie & her younger sis spent many a night, when lights went out, sharing stories of their day at school and their hopes & dreams for the future. Both left home when they turned 18 respectively, going on to universities continents apart. With the increasing use of technology, sisterly love has grown closer, despite the distance and the rare times they’re able to meet in person. We’re most proud of Mariam’s resourcefulness and compassion, qualities that shine through into her career in community relations and international development. We were honoured that Mariam agreed to be a bridesmaid and to share our special occasion and the events surrounding it.
Oscar - groomsman
Childhood friends, Jazz and Oscar have shared several lifetimes of memories. Growing up together, they were business partners and confidants, getting into and out of, more scrapes together than one of their favourite Tarantino movies. Besides being a gregarious social animal, Oscar is one of the most practical and analytic problem solvers you’ll ever meet. Dexterous and skilled with his hands there’s no challenge he can’t solve, with his trusty hammer. Despite sharing his name with the Sesame Street character, he’s certainly no grouch (most of the time).
Simiy - ninja master
Jazz’ big sister Simiy can only be described as a force of nature. A big personality, equalled only by her big heart. She supported us every step of the way; travelling across the world to have the bridesmaids outfits custom made in India. As well as accompanying us on a visit to Athens six months ahead of the wedding, she met with the vendors to plan the celebrations. Simiy’s an international entrepreneur, having built and grown technology and fashion businesses across Africa and Europe. She’s a power house of ideas and creativity, whose mouth is often faster than her brain - life and soul of the party, we were lucky to have her with us on our journey.
Rashid - celebrant
We met Rash during our time at TfL, he was an inspirational leader & mentor to Jazz, and our first choice when it came to hosting proceedings. Whilst we had dispensed with the legalities of getting wed, in a civil ceremony in London the month before, we both agreed that our ceremony in Athens was our “real wedding”. This was where we’d exchange rings and vows - to this end, it was important the person officiating our wedding represented us & our values. We proceeded to ask him a strange question; “will you marry us?”. We think he was shocked, but he agreed straight away. We could not have chosen a kinder, more generous and sensitive soul - we were honoured to have him lead the proceedings.