When Sarita and Chirag first got in touch with me, I would have told you that If I had my choice between the most gorgeous/expensive destination wedding you’ve ever seen, and a traditional Indian wedding, I’d have chosen the Indian wedding 100 times over. Why? Because as much as I love an epic landscape as much as the next person, that’s RARELY what MAKES a photo. Our photographic style revolves around real couples and real moments, and the fluidity of most cultural weddings lends itself to that style to a “T.”
Sarita and Chirag’s event, not only filled a gaping hole in my cultural wedding experience, but it gave me confirmation of something I had suspected for a long while now… I LOVE ALL cultural weddings. I want to shoot MORE cultural weddings. And thanks to this one couple taking a leap of faith on someone with no prior Indian wedding experience, I have now shot almost every type of cultural wedding there is; traditional Asian Weddings, Jewish Weddings, Catholic Weddings, Same-Sex Weddings, Greek Weddings, Bulgarian Weddings, you name it.
Given the type of event this was, I was not surprised that the photos from this event were some of my favorite of my career. I was, however, not without an amazing team who helped to make that happen. A big thanks to Chuck Anerino and Jim Heine for photographing this grueling 14-hour day with me, and doing a fabulous job at that! Let’s get started with sharing some photos!
After the “first look” we all headed outdoors for Chirag’s Baraat. The light was beautiful, the crowd was awesome, and I was more than happy to get occasionally kicked or walloped by guests (by accident) to get close enough to the action for some of these favorite photos!
The colors from the traditional Indian ceremony just blew me away. Nothing against Catholic churches, but why I have I never before seen color like THIS in one of them???
After the ceremony, we headed outside for bride and groom portraits. This set goes to show that anyone who tells you that great photography is all about having a gorgeous location to work in hasn’t honed their craft. All of these images, save the last one, were taken in the venue PARKING LOT.
Okay, so it helped we had a horse for some, and EBHorses were fabulous to work with.
After that, it was back inside for a quick transformation into the bride’s reception look!
Speaking of the reception…
14 hours later, with most running on four hours of sleep or less, I have NO IDEA where the guests were still getting energy from but I never turn down an opportunity to capture a great party!
To Sarita & Chirag: Once again, I can’t thank you enough for the awesome opportunity to be part of another culture, and experience new and exciting traditions. You are an amazing couple, with great hearts, and I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together!