Manisha & Kabir's

Manisha & Kabir had been married for around 2 years before these photos were taken. Their wedding happened in such a rush as Kabir had to leave for Doha his secured a job there that Manisha had to be with him no matter what. It was a small quite ceremony but Manisha’s desire to have the fun and frolics of an Indian wedding still remained. She wanted to enjoy it with her close friends and family and had got in touch with me after we shot her best friend Shweta’s wedding two years back. That freshness of their relationship and marriage is still intact and I am glad I could capture it all as it happened. I hope it shows through the pictures and the video at the end. Also don’t miss out on Kabir’s rap performance posted somewhere in this blog.

It started out with Manisha’s Mehendi ceremony at their residence in Lucknow.

It was followed by the Manisha and Kabir’s combined Haldi ceremony where some of her friends did get their share of Kaleera.

Both these functions were attended by their close friends and the reception ceremony was attended by a larger circle of guests but the energy still remained intact, with Manisha asking the DJ, rather animatedly to continue while the storm was taking over the night.

Roli & Sanket

I have been blessed to work for people who have been very clear to me what they expect from their wedding pictures. Almost always the brief is to capture them how they are and not make them do anything. I met Roli and her family five months before the wedding and it was one of the fastest booking I have ever had. I remember I was ecstatic after the meeting as it reinforced the confidence that there are takers of your vision who appreciate it and recognise it as soon as they see it. It is not to boast (because there are many more who also not end up booking with us) but they mentioned that I was the last one they met that day and were quick to like my portfolio. If you are into a creative industry on your own, you can understand how easily we undermine and self doubt ourselves all the time and small gestures like this keeps your mental health at peace for some days.

Roli and Sanket are both PhD. scholars at IIT and throughout these five months I couldn’t set up a meeting or phone call with her to understand her taste for the portraits although she had already told me she wouldn’t like to pose for any pictures but as it turned out, she straight away came to the ‘mandap’ and we didn’t get any time for the portraits as I had some slight hope to convince her as i find it to be the most challenging part in a wedding.

As a wedding photographing team we had been yearning to shoot a wedding out in the open during daytime as most weddings that we shoot happen late in the night in four walls. Luckily this wedding was scheduled for 10:30 in the morning which is very refreshing.

The mandap being looked after by Roli’s brother-in- law as he was one of the first ones to arrive and oversee the decorations.

As the time progressed, the guests starting poring in for this early morning winter wedding.

Meet Sanket, the most smiling groom have ever met till now.

and here comes our bride……

The case of the shining shoes.

One of the kids, not happy with the price offered for the shoes, tries to saperate the newly wed couple.

Roli & Sanket photographed for their reception in the evening.

Shweta and Parth's Wedding - II

During the last meeting I had with Shweta’s family before the wedding, Shweta’s father suggested her to go with Vicco turmeric rather than real haldi for her Haldi ceremony as no one knows what kind of reactions she ends up getting on the wedding day. I took it to be his dark humour while everybody reprimanded him to not go overhand infront of guests(me) . I immediately took a liking for him as that’s the kind of humor that runs in our family. Little did I know they will go ahead with that idea.

While Shweta was having fun at her Haldi, Parth was getting ready for his Janeyu before the wedding.

Both Parth and Shweta got ready at Taj Vivanta, while the lovely decor was being done by Naina Garg of Heavenly Marriages Inc.

Weddings are too hectic and there’s a lot of things going on the couple’s mind, when I suggested Parth and Shwetato sneak sometime out for the portraits, they flat out refused as they were around their family and friends who had come from all over the world and that’s what mattered to them. Even during their consultation, Shweta wanted me to be just capturing whatever is happening and nothing fabricated, but I had found this lovely paitning at the venue and couldn’t miss the chance. Also since the couple is so occupied with other things, it becomes ourjob to ease out things for them and take over the responsibilities sometimes, I did a mock shoot with my assistant , came back down to them and convinced them for 5 mins after they liked the photo. Still I got that chance after all the ceremonies had finished off. But looking at the result it was all worth it and I am happy that I became pushy for a change.

The vidai had to take place from Shweta’s house and one could sense the gloomy somberness in the environment.

Shweta & Parth's Wedding - I

As a wedding photographer, I get a lot of calls or enquiries from couples, their parents for photographing their perspective weddings, but with some couples, you know from the get go that these are the kind of people you’ll get to enjoy a lot while being a witness of their big day.

Shweta and Parth’s wedding was one such wedding I shot this year and I have received so much praise for this album that it has been overwhelming as well as reassuring of my own craft and instincts for capturing moments.

Since it was a four day long wedding, I have split the blog post in two sections starting off with the Mehendi ceremony where the groom also dropped in to have a couple of cans of beer but.

To be honest, unless I bring some elements of my street photography while shooting weddings, I am not content about where my photo story is heading on that day.

I probably mentioned this somewhere that since meeting Andre Corsi at Silk Inspire, I have got a new perspective of keeping an eye on children during weddings and see it from their perspective too.

Didn’t I tell you :D

A lot of the couple’s friends dropped in from different cities much before the actual wedding started.

Friends and family of Shweta had arrived from different cities and it turned out to be a mix of traditional folk songs sung by her aunts and friends discussing the dance moves for the ring ceremony and cocktail party.

The ring ceremony and the cocktail party.

Each day’s decor was done by a different team but still it felt so cohesive while being different. This beautiful cake was provided by arguably the best wedding cake maker of the town, Mouth Wide shut.

The crazy dance party went beyond the wee hours, even after we left the venue, which also resulted in Parth’s swollen face the next day, but that’s all okay, times and meets with friends from your childhood to adult life comes very few times.
Coming up next is their wedding day and how I clicked the most Unhappy picture of mine ever……