Our traditions · Nina's roots
Nina's Gujarati heritage
The colours, the kitchen, and the welcome she grew up with.
Roots she carries
Nina is Gujarati, and Gujarat has never been just a place on a map for her.
She was born and raised in the West Midlands, but Gujarati culture has always been woven into her everyday life. It is the language she thinks and jokes in, the food that fills the kitchen, the colours she wears, the music she dances to, and the traditions that have shaped how she celebrates and welcomes the people around her.
Hospitality is not a nicety in Gujarati culture, it is a way of life. Atithi devo bhava, “the guest is God”, is less a saying in Nina's family than a reflex. No one leaves hungry, and no one stays a guest for long.
Food sits at the heart of it all, endless thalis, dhokla and thepla, sweet and savoury side by side, and always something extra offered to the person sitting next to you. And then there is dance. Come Navratri, nine nights of garba bring everyone together, spinning circles, familiar songs, and celebrations that carry on late into the night.
These are not traditions Nina has travelled from Gujarat to bring with her. They are the traditions she grew up with, the ones that have shaped her, and the ones she is excited to share with a new family.
A little more colour in our home. A little more food on the table. A little more dancing in the living room.
And, in time, perhaps a little Gujarati woven into our Punjabi household too.
Nine nights of dancing
Ask anyone Gujarati about Navratri and they will tell you about garba: a circle of dancers turning around a flame, steps passed from grandparent to grandchild, and a rhythm that starts in your feet and ends in your chest.
There is dandiya too, the wooden sticks that click in time, and the best part is that nobody is a spectator. The circle has a place for everyone, whether you know the steps or not. You step in, you follow the hands in front of you, and ten minutes later you are part of it.
Nina grew up in that circle, and it taught her what celebration should feel like: everyone moving together, no one left at the edge. When the garba beat meets the bhangra dhol on our dance floor, you will see both of us.
Gujarat at our wedding
Nina's hope is that you will feel Gujarat before anyone points it out to you.
In the little details of the weekend, the colours, the welcome, the food, and in the way the room moves once the music starts. A table that carries the tastes of both our homes, and a dance floor that carries the steps of both our families.
Most of all, in the welcome itself: we want every guest to feel the way Nina's family has always made people feel, fed, included, and somehow family by the end of the evening.
What it means to us
Gujarat, carried forward
That warmth belongs at our wedding too. From the little details of the weekend to the rhythm of our home afterwards, Nina hopes to carry Gujarat into everything we build together, how we celebrate, how we host, and how we raise a family of our own.
Two traditions, one table, and everyone we love around it.
Nina & Himmat