Multi-Day Gujarati Wedding Masterpiece
Most couples during Covid downsized their wedding to the bare essentials. Mitthi & Kinchit did the polar opposite. Hey, if you’re only going to marry once, you might as well do it right. Yes, the guest count was small. But they rented a large AirBNB for the week to accommodate for most of the pre events leading up to their Gujarati Wedding. Everyone came vaccinated. So they did follow all the restrictions. However, one of the nice things of having such a small crowd, is it doesn’t stop you from having a big event. Or rather, a long event.
This Gujarati Wedding had a nice twist to it. Aside from being long with it’s multiple days of traditional festivities. It was also waste free. Both the bride and groom work in environmental protection technology. If you think a one day wedding is wasteful, a 5 day wedding is even more so. These two went out of their way to create multiple events that was no waste. Reusable coffee containers were used every morning, all the dish wear was labelled/reused, and any unused food at the end of the day was donated to a nearby shelter. So they were able to conduct all the family traditions, while maintaining their environmental ethics. Even I made a point of maximizing reusable batteries, and providing a digital delivery to make the whole process waste free for them.
The couple running the show was absolutely epic. They found me a month before the big event. Even when the week started, they were still planning the days to come. How they kept up with the planning, and the celebrations while keeping their sanity… I will never know. I’m sure they had their stressful moments, but no bride/groomzillas appeared that entire week.
I provided both photo and video coverage of each Gujarati Wedding. In order to help keep their numbers down, I provided both services without any additional crew. So obviously, the video wasn’t meant to be fancy. It was mostly just as documentary coverage since some of the events weren’t attended by both the bride and groom.
Day 3 Pooja and Haldi
A pooja is a time for prayer. There’s no formal attire, no hair/makeup, and no loud music. This is a spiritual ceremony where the couple and family will ask the gods for a smooth wedding and happy married life.
In this case, the pooja was followed by the Haldi ceremony. This event can get a bit chaotic. The Haldi Ceremony consists of friends and family rubbing a turmeric paste on the bride and groom. The purpose is to cleanse the skin and create a glow. Traditionally this ceremony involves “cleaning” the bride and groom in preparation for their wedding day. The bride and groom are not meant to shower after this ceremony. And normally, they would not leave the house or see each other. So during the ceremony, the bride and groom sat back to back. That way the families could still celebrate together. And me as their one photographer, could capture both ceremonies at the same time.
Be sure to check out the rest of this wedding…
Mehdni – Day 1
Sangeet – Day 2
Pooja/Haldi – Day 3
Garba – Day 4
Wedding – Day 5
