I was looking forward to Pooja and Jon’s wedding ever since I met Pooja. She is a bundle of positivity and warmth and leaves a smile on anyone she talks to. She and Jon met in medical school and have been quite a force ever since. Friends and family who gave toasts at the rehearsal dinner spoke both of their deep compassion and love for kids.
After meeting with the two of them, I was practically begging her to let me photograph her wedding. I was especially eager as it was going to be both inter-faith and multi-cultural, a Hindu girl and a Jewish boy were getting married!
As much as I love a white dress, there’s something really fun and exciting about photographing the red and gold of an Indian bride and all of the vibrant details that go along with that. Jon’s Jewish heritage of course played just as big of a role on the wedding day and it was interesting to see ways in which the two religions overlapped. For instance, Hindu weddings take place under a mandap and Jewish weddings take place under a chuppah. These are essentially the same thing, a canopy under which the could is married. They also had Indian pashminas for guests to use during the ceremony, which could double as tallits, Jewish prayer shawls.
The wedding took place at the Grand Pavillion at Wild Dunes Resort, overlooking the ocean. Lotus Flower, the appropriately named florist for this wedding(!), did the flowers and garlands for the wedding. Kit and Mary of Lotus Flower were totally charmed by Pooja as well and found themselves invited to enjoy the delicious Indian feast at the rehearsal dinner!
Details from Pooja’s outfit, which I believe is called a lehengha choli. (Correct me if I’m wrong)
It is part of the Indian wedding tradition to decorate the hands and feet of the bride with henna. The application is called mendhi and elaborate designs are drawn. Can you spot Jon’s name in there?
Pooja in her regalia looking stunning!
She decided to wear gold bangles instead of these red ones, but the color and vibrancy of these sums up an Indian ceremony for me!
Her mother helps her put the bangles on.
Her sister helps to place Pooja’s head piece.
All of Pooja’s bridesmaids wore saris and the flower girls salwar kameez
Meanwhile, he groomsmen and ring bearers played chess and waited patiently for the ketubah signing!
Jon and the guys wore traditional suits and ties, with Jon wearing a red tie as a nod to the Hindu red.
I love kids in a wedding!
Jebb Graff, who is an excellent photographer and helps me photograph many weddings, took this photo of the Hindu ceremony and the succession of shots form the Jewish ceremony below. They had both a Hindu priest and a Jewish rabbi marry them in successive ceremonies. You’ve got to love the big smiles on these two!
Jebb Graff also took this series of photos of Jon breaking the glass in the Jewish ceremony, Mazel Tov!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post which features Pooja & Jon and their wedding reception!! More color and smiles to come!
Venue: The Grand Pavillion at Wild Dunes Resort
Flowers: Lotus Flower
Sitarist: Bryan Mahanes
Band: Quiana Parler and Friends
Cupcakes: Sugar Bakeshop
