I was thrilled when Raj asked me to shoot her Orange County Pujabi Sikh Indian Wedding. I LOVE LOVE LOVE shooting Indian Weddings.. and no it’s not just because Indian food is MY FAVORITE FOOD ON EARTH!!! I just adore all of the traditions, people, practives and colors. Plus Indian people really know how to PARTY!!!!
We started the day at Raj’s house in Artesia right around the corner from the wedding reception venue Artesia D.E.S. We (meaning myself, my assistant Noah, my second photographer Jr and our new amazing videographer Patrick Staehle, from Patrick Staehle Media) started by shooting all of the gorgeous, rich, beautiful Indian Wedding Details like her traditional Indian Wedding Dress called a Linga, although Raj had originally purchased a gorgeous wedding dress from David’s bridal she chose to wear her Linga pretty last minute to enrich her wedding with her cultural and traditional beliefs.
After we shot those beautiful photos at her home we headed to Cerritos Library where we shot Martin and Raj’s first look and some photos of the two of them together along with some family portraits.
The Cerritos Library Scupture Garden was a gorgeous backdrop for the formal photographs. Her you see that her oldest uncle performed the Choora ceremony where he placed red and cream ivory bangles on the brides arms. They also did Ghara gharoli: A decorated pitcher of water (ghadoli) is brought for the bride’s bath by the groom’s bhabi (brother’s wife). In the ghara gharoli ritual, the bride’s sibling or sibling’s spouse visits the nearby temple and fills a pitcher with holy water. The girl is then bathed with this holy water. Thereafter, the bride wears her wedding attire. The ghara gharoli and the vatna ceremonies take place at the groom’s house too. But over there, the groom’s sister-in-law brings the pitcher of water. As per the tradition, their wedding dress is presented to them by their respective maternal uncles(wiki).
Another really cool thing about Indian Wedding is they last days, if not weeks and months! A few days before her Sikh Punjab Wedding I shot Raj and Martin’s Henna Party. It was quite the affair, almost like a mini wedding. I shot their Rokka
Rokka (pre-engagement)
This is an unofficial engagement ceremony where the groom’s family and friends come give blessings to the bride to be. The origin of this ceremony lies in the arranged marriage norm, where the parents would announce that they are looking for a suitable match for their son or daughter, and once they had found that match, their search had come to an end. Though rings are not exchanged, the couple stand unofficially engaged after this ceremony.(wiki)
I had also shot their Dholki/sangeet
There is a sangeet function hosted by the bride’s family, in which just a few close members of the groom’s family are invited. The bride’s family play the dholak drums and sing songs in which they tease the groom and his family. Nowadays, people hire DJs and have a dance party, followed by dinner. A ladies sangeet is held for the bride and her bridesmaids. (wiki) And of course we shot her and all of her guests getting their Mendhi (Henna)
After formal photographs we headed to Buena Park Gurdwars where Raj and Martin proceeded to accept each other as two souls in one body. This was done by the bride and groom walking in tow around the Guru Granth Sahib four times, it’s called laavaan. On a funny side not , Raj’s sister hid all the men’s shoes in a tradition called Joota Chupai.. it literally means “hiding the shoes” well normally they hide the grooms shoes, but Patrick (our video partner) was shoe-less for about an hour before we were able to get his shoes back LOL!!! It was a beautiful ceremony very rich and steeped in culture and traditions.
After the ceremony we headed back to Raj and Martin’s house for her to get her hair and makeup redone. But a week later we shot some more photos of her and Martin at the Claremont Colleges. We were able to shoot unrushed and at the right time of day. I always urge my clients that are having very full and busy days to add another shoot date to their package so that we can get some relaxed and fun images with no rush. Here are some of my favorites from that shoot.
Ok so where were we… that’s right we are back at the house and Raj is re-doing her make up… after that.. we head to Artesia DES. We got there with enough time to shoot some gorgeous details.
The hall was decked out in peacock greens and white. Even the cake was a peacock. We were able to shoot Raj and Martin in the venue before the grand entrance. It as such a fun party! I’m telling you Indian’s know how to PARTY! And YES! They food was amazing! Thanks for Ghandi Palace! Shout out to them! A! I almost forgot to mention that Raj and Martin had a super fun cool themed dance. It had everything from hip hop to Aladdin’s “A whole New World” with rug and all! It was magnificent!
Here are all of the amazing vendors and their instagram accounts! Check em out!
#punjab2peru
Photography Edna Eudave at Square Eye Photography
Make up by Oscar Ziba @oscar_makeup
Ceremony Buena Park Gurdwara @buenaparkgurdwara @gurdwara_buena_park #buenaparkgurdwara
Reception Artesia D.E.S. @artesiades #artesiades #artesiadeswedding
Formals Cerritos Library @cerritossculpturegarden
Catering Ghandi Palace, Mukesh @ghandipalace
DJ Invisible Touch, Juan @invisibletouchevents @djjuancastro
Make Up Oscar Naranjo oscar.naranjo.391
Video Patrick Staehle @patrickstaehle @ patrickstaehlemedia www.patrickstaehle.com
Second Photographer Jr Heredia @gonzalophotography
Assistant Noah Chavira @noah_chavira
Horse drawn carriage by Your Enchanted Carriage
I will be adding the video that Patrick created in the next few days.. keep a look out for it
