For this wedding I collaborate with Stefan Steenkamp of Exclusive South African wedding photography studio Zarazoo . Stefan is in the UK for two months covering a number of weddings here. This was my first Asian Wedding and I absolutely loved it. The colours, the vibrancies, Manju’s gorgeous asian wedding make-up, the Hindu wedding ceremony or Shaadi. The majority of the wedding ceremony took place within the Mandap (the four-pole canopy). The sacred fire in the Mandap symbolises not only the illumination of the mind, knowledge and happiness but is also a clean and pure witness to the ceremony as it progresses. The ceremony itself is a collection of rituals performed by the bride, bridegroom and their respective parents and close relatives. The priest chants “mantras” from the Vedas. He will also use the following in his ceremonies:

Fresh flowers – to signify beauty;
Coconut – to signify fertility;
Rice, jaggery and other grains – to signify the food necessary for sustenance of human life;
Ghee (purified butter) – to feed the sacred fire;
Kumkum (vermilion) – red powder used for marking the forehead to signify good luck and to say that your soul (husband) is with you.

Flowers and Decor by: Flower Power

Here are my photographs from the hindu wedding preparations and hindu marriage ceremony. Creative shoot to follow.

Shilarohana (stepping on the stone). The bride places her right foot on a stone. The bridegroom tells her to be as firm as the stone in his house so that the can face their enemies and the difficulties of life together.

Asian Wedding Photographer in Surrey
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