An Indian wedding is rarely ever a one day affair. From the mehndhi nights to religious ceremonies, preparations for the big day can take place days, weeks and even months in advance! These events provide the perfect opportunity for friends and family to come together and celebrate the upcoming nuptials. Below are images from the wedding week of my guy's Niki & Jai!!
Of course, before any wedding preparations can begin, there must be a proposal!! Jai proposed to Niki amidst the cold and snow in the most romantic proposal. The full collection images from the proposal can be found here.
Fast forward to the week of the wedding. The week started off with a small religious ceremony, welcoming Lord Ganesh into the family home and signalling the start of the celebrations ahead.
The sagai followed this, as both families came together to officially announce Niki & Jai as fiancés. Jewellery and sari's were given to Niki, and gifts & sweets were exchanged by the family members.
The next day was the Pagla ceremony, which marks the bride's first visit to the groom's house. Niki places her feet into a mix of kanku, a red powder made from turmeric, and leaves her footprint upon a white cloth. After this, the guys from Niki's side bring along and exchange various gifts and sweets.
Following this was the Mehndhi night. Ladies from the family gather together and apply henna in preparation for the big day on the weekend, and friends and family come together to party and dance the night away!
The day before the wedding, three short ceremonies normally take place; the mandvo, mameru and pithi. The mandvo ceremony involved Jai's parents seeking blessings from the gods to continue with the wedding preparations and ceremony. The mameru involves the Jai's maternal uncles giving gifts to the family. These range from clothes, jewellery, sarees and, most importantly, loads of sweets! The pithi involves the ladies of the family applying a tumeric and chickpea flour paste to the groom as a way of cleansing him before the big day. These tend to get way out of hand as the groom soon finds out!
It was an absolute pleasure photographing these days and events with Niki & Jai! It is always great to spend a fair amount of time with couples and families, and try and capture the mood of celebrations and festivities of a wedding week!