Molly & Vid - Wedding Day Sneak Peek One of my favorite things about photography is sharing my work with clients. And a part of that is giving little teasers to whet their appetite for more once the full set of photos is complete. I just had to share these few photos with Molly & Vid earlier this week and I figure blog readers would love to see these too....so here's just a very few from their big day. Many more to come....

Labels: Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

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  Mayuri & Kunaal's Engagement Ceremony You might recall a previous post on Mayuri & Kunaal's portraits. Well, the couple had their engagement ceremony back in May to make it all official. Yes, their engagement was more elaborate than many weddings, but I'm sure a lot of Indians will relate to the importance of the engagement ceremony.

Everyone joined the couple at the Sunol Valley Golf Club for breakfast, the ceremony itself, and a lunch reception afterwards. Without further ado, onto the photos!











Kunaal even got down on one knee to put the engagement ring on Mayuri's finger!


Check out that bouquet! And don't forget about the groom in the background ;)




The lunch reception started immediately after the ceremony ended. And since the clouds and winds had hung around all morning, people were happy to head indoors!

Mayuri and her friends had a sweet Bollywood dance for Kunaal.



Congrats you two! Can't wait to hear about your wedding plans in Seattle!

Labels: Engagements, Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil

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  Pallavi & Neil's Reception Finishing up on Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend, here are some highlights from their reception....Enjoy!

They had a cute fuschia & orange theme going on...



I love the texture on the fondant on this cake!


Neil's cousins had a lot of fun with some dances they did for the audience.









And, of course, everyone spent the rest of the night dancing away...



The sweetest thing at the end of the night was when Neil & Pallavi's friends conspired with the DJ to play their First Dance song while all their closest friends & family did a nice big group hug to end the dancing. I must say, in all the weddings I've photographed, this was about the sweetest way to finish the night!



Congrats Neil & Pallavi. Thanks for having us at your wedding!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

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  Pallavi & Neil's Wedding Following up on the previous post about Pallavi & Neil's truly multi-cultural wedding, here are some highlights from the wedding ceremony itself. The wedding & reception were held at the Canyon View Dining Hall in San Ramon. It's a beautiful venue with a view out on the hills in the back. The ceremony itself was held outdoors so the light was just amazing especially as the sun was setting.

For folks not accustomed to Indian weddings, the fact that the ceremony was held outdoors is a bit of novelty since it's actually pretty tough to find a nice outdoor location that can hold the large number of people that are usually invited to such affairs. Safe to say, we photographers are so happy when we get such amazing light ;)

Onto the photos!













The ceremony was split into 2 halves. Following her Tamil tradition, Pallavi changed her sari half way through the ceremony. Amongst other tradtions, the second half included the mangala darna where Neil ties the traditional Tamil Thali around Pallavi's neck as she sits in her father lap. This is different than the North Indian tradition which usually involves a small Mangal Sutra and the bride doesn't sit in her father's lap.


I just absolutely LOVE the look in Pallavi's eyes here! Can ya guess she's happy?! :)

And as with most Hindu ceremonies, it can get chaotic on the mandap. In this case, numerous people had to help Neil tie the thali since it was actually difficult for him to see around all the flowers, etc. It's actually pretty fun to watch & document the little things going on like this. It's not something which the audience sees since it's usually hidden behind a bunch of people on stage who are all trying to help. So many times, I feel blessed at the chance I get to capture these little moments between family members like this one where Pallavi's aunt is explaining to Neil's sister just how the knots should be tied.


Just one more post to go for Pallavi & Neil's wedding! Watch out for the highlights from their reception coming shortly!

Labels: Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

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  Pallavi & Neil's Pre-Wedding Traditions As we mentioned in the previous post, Pallavi & Neil had an action packed wedding weekend with elements of both Gujarati & Tamil wedding cultures mixed in. There was a traditional North India baraat, Tamil oonjal, and lots of other tidbits pulled from the variety that is Indian Hindu culture.

So let's start off with the events leading up the actual wedding...

Of course, a beautiful blushing bride starts her day with her sisters and mother in the hotel room :)

These are actually Pallavi's sister's saris...dontcha love the colors?!







Everyone wants a sneak peek at the bride!






If you're wondering why that umbrella's there, it's not because of rain, it's part of the tradition of a Tamil groom going to Kashi for his education. The tradition goes that the groom doesn't really want to get married and would rather further his religious education. Before he meets the bride, the priest and families must convince him to get married for the good of both families. Here, Neil's coming back to the wedding milni with his grandfather who convinced him to return to his wedding ceremony :)


A little Gujarati tradition with Pallavi coming out so that they can both garland each other. It may not look like it here, but their both on the shoulders of their relatives. The game it to prevent the other from getting the garland on. As usual, a wedding day is filled with lots of little games to keep it fun!

And just to clarify, even though Neil is following the Tamil traditions and Pallavi is following the Gujarati traditions, it's actually Neil who's Gujarati and Pallavi who's Tamil. Basically, the whole family ensured that everyone participated in the various traditions and made the entire weekend a load of fun. Some people say that a marriage isn't just about two people getting married, but actually about two families coming together. That may be a cheesy line during many speeches, but I truly believe that to be the case for multi-cultural weddings.


And moving onto more Tamil traditions, Neil & Pallavi had a Oonjal (swing) ceremony...







And to finish this post off, an afternoon portrait of the bride, groom, and groomsmen. Love it!

Look out for more from their wedding day soon!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

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  Pallavi & Neil's Garba We had the pleasure of covering Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend and since it combined both Tamil & Gujarati traditions, it was a wonderful mish-mash of cultures & events.

Here are some highlights from their garba which was held at the San Ramon Community Center. Since it's a semi-circular hall with a half-dome, I always feel like it's the perfect place for garba!

We're used to capturing all the action & movement at garba-raas, but this time, let's start with some of the details. Neil's family added some cute little touches throughout the hall to make sure people know this was a Gujarati affair :)


And the unique Ganesh statue's they had were just wonderful! These were true works of art and I couldn't help but spend some extra time getting some interesting angles on these statues.

Onto the dancing!







Watch out for more from Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend coming up on the blog shortly!

Labels: Garba, Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

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  Reena & Kedar - Wedding Reception Following up on the previous post, Reena & Kedar held their reception on a warm summer afternoon...the relaxed atmosphere just seemed to fit them so well...






I mentioned before that Kedar's music was the doorway into his soul. Well, he actually performed at his reception and he definitely rocked the house!





Hmm...should we be worried about competing photographers?! :)

Rather than heading straight to dancing to DJ music, everyone started off with some garba-raas.
No photoshop here! Just having some fun with camera technique.



Reena & Kedar, thanks for having us at your wedding! Congrats!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

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  Reena & Kedar - Wedding Ceremony Her eyes are the window into her heart.

His music is the doorway into his soul.

Reena & Kedar showed us so much of their personalities throughout their wedding days. As you'll see in these photos, Reena has just about the most expressive eyes I've ever seen. And Kedar is so talented with his guitar. Both of them were so Zen throughout the day and it made this summertime wedding all the more enjoyable. They were married at the San Jose Holiday Inn near downtown. They have this lovely courtyard in the middle of the hotel so it made for a really nice outdoor wedding in the gazebo.

On to the photos!


Reena and her bridesmaids got ready in her hotel room.


The next two photos probably say all I need to about Reena's expressive-ness. That smile and those eyes are the sign of a happy bride!



As I mentioned, these two were so zen throughout the day so we were able to spend a good deal of time taking couples portraits before the wedding. We had a bit of fun by playing some games between the more serious portraits.


Reena's bridesmaids wore coordinated saris. And they were just as ready for a great day as Reena!

Mid-summer baraat in the sun? No problem for Kedar's family...they were ready to dance!




Here's a few moments from the afternoon...













Stay tuned for more photos from Reena & Kedar's reception...

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

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