Rina's Venue, Chennai: An Intimate Tamil Wedding

On a day with the most perfect weather for an outdoor wedding, we entered an amazingly serene escape inside the city of Chennai to shoot a lovely wedding. The wedding venue was a quaint location, a vintage style south-Indian bungalow known as Rina’s Venue, complete with a court-yard surrounded by the trademark wooden-pillars and ornately engraved antique archways. This venue is in Sholinganallur off ECR Road.

The warm glow from the sacred fire set in the centre of the courtyard coupled with the vivid yellow from the garlands of Marigold, added such a charm to the festivities of Shruthi & Chandru’s traditional Tamil wedding . Shruthi was draped in a sari which was resplendent green, completely in contrast to the dark red ochre of the henna on her hands. Chandru was in a white dhoti and ivory turban as is completely customary.

What was memorable from this day was the endearing smile on the his face as the clock ticked closer to the moment he would set his eyes on Shruthi and the striking smiles of both the bride and the groom while they went through every ritual while the relatives and friends showered their blessings.

The walls adorned with intricate wood work with mirrors and  Raja Ravi Varma’s beautiful oil paintings screamed elegance and made for such stunning background for all the pictures.

This wedding was every bit as simple, traditional and beautiful as it sounds. We have had our fair share of shooting weddings set in palaces and other exotic locations but the charm of rustic venues never ceases to amaze us, for, there is a special kind of joy in simplicity.

A Traditional Tambrahm Wedding, Bangalore

Sunitha and Sripath's Tamil Brahmin wedding at Tamarind Tree, Bangalore was an intimate affair, which was fun and informal and yet included all traditional ceremonies.

Tamarind Tree, Bangalore, with its huge trees and stone steps, provided the ideal traditional venue for the ceremony offering a rich visual treat to us as photographers. The décor was also traditional Indian, with a touch of the western aesthetic; the mandap, entryway with the name board, and the seating area were all done up with flower garlands in reds, yellows, and oranges. Brass vessels filled with flowers adorned the stone steps, while marigolds strung in jasmine hung from the tree branches, adding dashes of colour to the monsoon wedding.

Click here for our complete Tambrahm Wedding Guide or our complete Tamarind Tree Bangalore Wedding Guide.

Dressed in kanjeevaram with jasmine on her hair, Sunitha had minimal jewellery on and looked every bit an elegant South Indian bride as she stepped into the venue amidst a mild drizzle. The red of the flowers and the lush greenery in the backdrop seemed to complement the bride's attire. Sripath made his entry in a traditional dhoti tied around his waist, amidst a flurry of guests in multi-coloured kanjeevarams, typical to a Tam Brahm wedding.

Tamil Brahmin weddings have a series of unique and fun rituals, many of which lighten the air and help bring the two families together. One of such is the Kasi Yatra, where the groom leaves the worldly life and take off to Kasi just before entering the mandap. Wearing a pair of traditional slippers and holding a stick, he walks out, and then coaxed by relatives, he returns, and the ceremonies resume. When Sripath started for Kasi Yatra, Sunitha's father and family convinced him not to go for sanyas and offered his daughter in marriage. 

Following the Kasi Yatra, Sunitha and Sripath exchanged garlands, lifted up by their relatives amidst nadaswaram music and cheering. The bride and groom then sat on the beautifully decorated Oonjal or swing, where they were blessed by elders and given sweetened drinks and bananas.

The Oonjal is an indispensable part of Tam Brahm wedding, symbolising the togetherness and the life ahead. As the swing goes up and down, it indicates the ups and downs in human life and how together a couple can tide over any situation. As elders sing Oonjal songs, they also perform drishti to ward off evil eyes that had fallen on the couple, if any.  

The father of the bride washed the groom's feet. The bride's mother applied kajal in the groom's eyes as part of the ritual.  The thali or mangalsutra is tied around the bride's neck by the groom as she sits on her father's lap.

Then Sunitha's dad held her hand and offered it to Sripath. Known as Kanyadaanam, the ceremony is meant to denote that the father is handing over his daughter to the groom to be taken care of well. In the olden days, the brides used to be very young and would fit easily into their father's laps, which was probably the origin of the ceremony, but it is continued today, giving way to a lot of mirth and fun.

Sunitha changed into a gorgeous traditional nine-yard sari for the thali ceremony held at the mandap, which was indeed beautiful to watch, providing us with a multitude of click-worthy moments. The rituals concluded with the couple performing homam together.

Now that the most important ritual was over, the mood lightened, and a series of fun rituals followed. The bride and groom were made to sit on chairs facing away from each other as the guests clapped and cheered. A cake-cutting ceremony for a tiny birthday guest was also part of the agenda of the day. The entire ceremony was informal and intimate, with close family and friends in attendance, adding charm.

We finished with a couple-photoshoot of the bride and the groom, amidst love and laughter and countless memories to cherish. 

Tamarind Tree, Bangalore: A Sparkling Punjabi Telugu Wedding

And we got a chance to capture the union of the adorable couple, Jigyasa and Abhilash who tied the knot at The Tamarind Tree, a beautiful venue in Bangalore. Kanjeevarams, Marigold, jewellery, laughters and of course, the love, made the South Indian wedding functions memorable as ever! But what stole the show was the smiles on their faces!

Click here for our complete Tamarind Tree Bangalore Wedding Guide.

South Indian weddings are known to be rich in traditions and simple yet tasteful affairs. The union of college mates Jigyasa and Abhilash at the The Tamarind Tree, Bengaluru was one such dazzling event. The two became friends during their days at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and their friendship blossomed into a special bond. So, when the time came to tie the knot, the much in love couple decided to plan their wedding to give it a more intimate feel and their fun personalities reflected in colorful décor. The venue had a beautiful old-world charm to it evident in the beautiful antiques and contemporary pieces of art that adorned every nook and corner providing an interesting backdrop for this colorful funfiled event.

The sangeet ceremony was held at the beautiful banquet hall in the Royal Orchid Resort with minimalistic yet classy décor and the stage adorned with illuminated fairy lights added an air of warmth and romance to the atmosphere. The bride looked no less than a fairy herself in a pink chikankari lehenga made especially for her at Faaya, Banglore.

The couple danced their hearts off and no one could resist taping their feet to those groovy numbers. It was an intimate affair with just close friends and family where everyone had a gala time.

For this traditional South Indian Wedding, the décor was entirely orange marigolds and gold bells in sync with the minimalistic and sophisticated feel. The bride looked ravishing in a beautiful Kanjeevaram sari with gold and pink border which she had gotten during her trip to Kanchipuram. While the heavy gold jewelry and the customary mogra gajras completed the look, the kaleeras added a touch of funk to the otherwise simple traditional attire. She went for the dewy bridal look that’s much in trend with simple makeup and just a touch of color to the lips.

Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok: An Indo-Dutch Destination Wedding In Thailand

Destination Weddings are all the rage this season. Picturesque locales, intimate ceremonies and the couple get to spend more time with the guests are some of the many reasons people go for it. Many a times the couple prefers it because they have a special connection to the place. We witnessed one such grand ceremony in the breathtaking locales of Bangkok at the Royal Orchid Sheraton as Rashi and Maurits tied the knot in this Indo Dutch wedding.

Maurits and Rashi met at a roof top party in the quaint town of Pondicherry where they had both moved for their jobs. There was an instant connection and the two immediately hit it off. After a few years of courtship and launching a handbag brand called ‘Raff” together in the process, Maurits proposed while the two were vacationing in Vietnam.

The two decided upon a destination wedding because they wanted it to be an intimate affair and as the city’s vibe and lifestyle represented their personalities, they zeroed on Bangkok. Both share a love for Thai cuisine and its unmatched hospitality. Also, it was easier travel for both the bride’s side flying in from India and the groom’s side flying in from the Netherlands. The riverside and the skyline at the Royal Orchid Sheraton gave the event a magical touch. As she is a designer herself, Rashi ensured that she left no stone unturned in choosing the perfect outfit and jewelry for the event. Her style was minimal and classy with a quirky twist. She firmly believes that you don’t have to spend a million bucks to look like it and that the outfits you wear should be a reflection of your individuality and personal style. For the cocktail pool party she wore solid colors with interesting cuts and silhouettes. The gorgeous mint and pink lehenga with pearl embellishments thatshe wore on the D-Day was custom made for her by her favorite designer Rehane. The groom complimented her attire in a clean cream sherwani accentuated by a pink safa.

Almost a year’s planning went into the planning and the couple ensured that everyone had a lot of fun as this was the main focus of the wedding rather than the rituals. The rituals were mainly limited to Hindu wedding ceremony. The best part was the baraat where all the Dutch guests taped their feet to dhol beats and the entire atmosphere smelled of enthusiasm. Maurits entered the venue on a vintage bicycle as a tribute to his home country Netherlands. The entire venue was color coded to match the bride and groom’s outfits by the wedding planers Wizkim and the ceremony took place at sunset. To add a Thai touch to the event, the garlands and the phoolon ki chaadar were made up of Thai flowers. We enjoyed a lot clicking pictures against this amazing backdrop.

The detailing wasn’t just restricted to the décor. Even the wedding invites illustrated by the bride’s graphic designer friend Asha Das were personal to the couple’s story and were locally printed and each envelope was wax stamped. The wedding rituals and the seven vows were written on cards and made into fans to explain them to the Dutch guests. Even the gift bags were made up of personalized paper and contained goodies such as a hangover kit, personalized shot glasses, personalized Kitkat covers and other Thai and Indian themed items.

This Indo Dutch wedding photoshoot left us with many fond memories that we’ll cherish over time.