Hello blog stalkers!!!

So, this one took awhile, but it is worth the wait! This day was so big I am dividing it into two blog posts. I have never in my twelve years of shooting weddings shot so much in one day!

Jennifer and Prashant (along with some help from their families and the awesome folks at Wychmere) planned their wedding weekend on the Cape from New York. There were a lot of moving parts, and everything went so smoothly!

Part one of this wedding day was the Indian ceremony and all of the traditions that go along with it.

I started off with Jen who was looking lovely in her sari, she even had Prashant’s name hennaed on her hand.

(ps – I looooove the invitations!)

Once Jen was all dressed and ready to go, it was time for the Gauri Pooja, which is a ceremony where they ask the goddess Sri Gauri Devi for a long and happy marriage. I loved all the colors, smells of the spices, and the musicians that went along with this. (ps – please forgive me if I have confused any details of the ceremony!!)

Grooms in India sometimes arrive on elephant, so here was Prashant’s big entrance with a Cape Cod twist! The Groom’s family is then greeted by the bride’s family.

Now it is time for Jen to enter the ceremony room – Anthar Patam. She is carried by her uncles and cousins to the Mandap, where she is seated across from the groom but separated by a cloth.

This was a really fun part – the Talambralu. The bride and groom shower each other with a mixture of beads and turmeric rice which shows their desire for happiness and peace.

Next they make offerings of puffed rice, “tie the knot” with the loose ends of their garments, and the Saptapadi – 7 steps toward a new life together.

This part was so cute – the Ring Game. They are competing against each other to retrieve a ring from a copper pot.

Married!!! Members of their family passed around petals and flowers for their recessional.

Phew!!! That ceremony took about three hours – but guests were welcome to get up and move around, go to the patio, have coffee, etc. It was my first time photographing an entire ceremony like that and it was really amazing. I know most of my clients think their ceremonies start and end before they even know what is happening. I get the feeling that these two really got to savor the whole process.

{if you were a guest and would like to see the gallery, please click here – more galleries coming soon – just $2 shipping and 20% off prints until June 13th}

**photos may be shared on facebook, pinterest, etc. please DO NOT crop out logo, and give credit back to this site whenever possible. photos may not be printed from this page, it’s stealing, and also, bad karma.*

details, details, details….

dj – DJ Danny Walsh
flowers – Lilacs
ceremony + reception – Wychmere Beach Club