I am officially living in Las Vegas now! Frank and I drove 3,000 miles in 3 days, but we did make a pit stop in Chicago to visit friends and family for two days. I am exhausted! I’ve unpacked most of my belongings but there’s still a lot of errands I have to run like stock the kitchen and the dreaded trip to the DMV. But this week I promised myself I’d start blogging and editing weddings for my clients! I am thankful to have clients who are really understanding.

Anyway, onto the blog post! I was excited to photograph the pre-wedding festivities of the groom’s family because I’ve never actually been to one before! It was a lot of fun, and I was touched at how much I was treated like family even though they hadn’t met me until that night. Ricky’s family is very warm and full of smiles, and fed me lots of good food. I love how Indian festivities are all about the food, because I was shocked when they told me what I ate was just the appetizers! I hadn’t even gotten to the real food yet!

I don’t claim to be an expert at all of the Indian wedding traditions, but I will explain it the way I understand it. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. The night started with the holud, or tumeric cermony, followed by the sangeet, which is a lot of dancing. First, the women prepare like a picture which colored rice.

Then the groom sits in front of the picture, and the women come up to him one at a time and they perform a ritual where they take these plant wisps (for lack of a better term) and anoint the groom with it.

Then they rub the turmeric on the groom. It’s supposed to make the skin glow for their wedding day! The bride usually has a similar ceremony with her side of the family.

They held the ceremony outside, late at night, at the aunt’s house (pictured here- she is very happy and proud!), since his parents are still in India. Taking pictures outdoors was quite a challenge, and the deck we were on was tiny! Everytime I took a picture, I literally bumped into someone. Thankfully no one cared.

This part wasn’t explained to me beforehand, so I don’t know the significance of the headscarf, meal, or money. But I like the pink scarf. Nice touch.

Then we moved to a reception hall for the dancing part of the night, called the sangeet. Everyone’s saris are so colorful! Maybe I should have worn something besides all black to blend in!

Keep your eyes peeled for more posts coming soon!