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A wedding in Nainital- II

Outside the venue at Royal Hotel, Nainital

Outside the venue at Royal Hotel, Nainital

Manika & Sukarn's Wedding

On the day of the wedding which was to take place at Royal hotel in Nainital which has absolutely picturesque galleries, we were waiting to start with Manika's portrait session but the room yet was bustling with family members. We did some test shots and kept waiting, we were waiting for the groom's brothers to arrive with the gifts only after which Manika would go to get ready. It was getting late I suggested we do a light portrait session out in the gallery before we lose light.

and thank god we did it because we never got the room after that and Manika had to be shifted to another room while the groom's side arrived.

Much before I had even started photographing weddings professionally I used to photograph the Brass bands on street, there's so much of character, intrigue and humour around them

Much before I had even started photographing weddings professionally I used to photograph the Brass bands on street, there's so much of character, intrigue and humour around them

The master of the ceremony getting ready backstage before he enter the arena. :D

The master of the ceremony getting ready backstage before he enter the arena. :D

The successful flicker story.

The successful flicker story.

After the exchange of garlands on the stage, we quickly moved to the corridor of the hotel to setup our lights for the couple pictures, with some confusion we were told that they would come after a little Puja so we moved back to the hall and turns out that Puja converted to the full wedding rites, little after 4 o' clock we realised that the couple shoot will not be possible, I wish we had got 10 minutes for that but mostly in traditional weddings it gets difficult to snatch the couple away from the family.

A wedding in Nainital.

Ever since I photographed the wedding of my proudly 'Pahadi' friend Rahul, I had spread the word that I want to shoot more of them even by taking a cut in the my fees. I absolutely love the all time smiling and laughing faces, the great camaraderie among the family members and the colorful Sarees that the women wear. The energy just transfers onto you and in the pictures.

The loveliest part of the deal was that this wedding album was being gifted to Manika (the bride) by her cousins, one of them is an old friend from theater, while the family had hired their own regular photographer. It's uplifting when your friends believe in you that much. The first leg of the wedding was the Sangeet ceremony in Lucknow where Manika's father was looking after all the arrangements before the guests poured in.

I managed to get a picture of him in a somber mood before that guest actually started pouring in.

I managed to get a picture of him in a somber mood before that guest actually started pouring in.

Love this portrait of Manika which I managed to make in one of the empty halls of the venue.

Love this portrait of Manika which I managed to make in one of the empty halls of the venue.

 

The wedding was to happen in Nainital, but not before the best Haldi ceremony I have ever experienced.

I had a really hard time sifting through the enormous number of photos from this ceremony. Normally a good edit is the one which doesn't repeat similar photos too much, but here each picture was unique because of changing micro expressions of Manika all the time. Never seen a bride having so much fun at her Haldi.

I would break this post here and continue the wedding album of Manika and Sukarn in the next blogpost. Let me know how you like it till now.