VOWS:EMA STAUNTON AND Aslam Meparambil were married in the registry office in Wicklow on April 24th. After the ceremony, a small group of close friends and family went to Hunter's Hotel in Rathnew for lunch and then made their way to Newtownbarry House in Bunclody, Co Wexford, for a larger wedding party.
Ema, from Dublin, is the daughter of Denis Staunton and Cora Cregan. She studied at the National College of Art and Design and graduated in 2001. She now works as an art therapist and arts co-ordinator at St Luke’s Hospital in Rathgar.
Aslam is from Kerala in southwest India, where he studied world history and Islamic studies. He always had an interest in flight navigation, so he went to Dubai shortly after finishing his degree and trained as a co-pilot for six years, working with British Airways and Lufthansa. He eventually returned to Kerala due to family obligations and along with two other friends set up a small restaurant and hotel in Cochin in 2003.
The pair met in 2006 when Ema took a three-month work break to travel in India and got as far as Aslam’s beach resort in the first three weeks. A sprained ankle prolonged her stay, and thus began a three-year period of travelling back and forth between Ireland and India.
Eventually, they decided to get married in Ireland. “One night Aslam hopped off his motorbike, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He produced a ring which he’d kept in a battered Coke can for safe-keeping.”
A close friend from college suggested they have their wedding party in Newtownbarry House, her family’s Victorian house, noted for its sunken gardens and art studios. “We owe our thanks to the Norton families for giving over their home to a rowdy bunch and to all the other friends who sang, played music, cooked amazing Indian food, decorated, made my wedding dress, managed the bar and took the photographs. I want to thank my parents, too, for being so supportive and welcoming Aslam into our family with open arms.”
The photographs in the field of rapeseed were taken on the way to Wexford by Sinead Cahalan and Orlagh Ní Arrachtain. “We are thinking snow in Sweden as a backdrop for our honeymoon pictures,” Ema says. Aslam remains involved with the resort in Kerala and hopes to develop an Ayurvedic retreat that will attracts lots of Irish visitors. Meanwhile, they are living in Stoneybatter.