Hindu wedding photography Manchester, crazy colours & fantastic music :)

We were very much looking forward to this autumnal Lancashire wedding, our first Hindu wedding which Rima and David had filled us in on all the chaos and the crazy Bengali hat for David too!

So the celebrations started the day before with an afternoon Mendhi party, where Rima’s closest friends & family were there for the haldi (tumeric) ceremony and henna. David and the boys mostly retreated to the lounge and the play station, apart from when David had to kiss the head of a fish?! Already this small celebration was full of colour, smiles, lots of yummy food and anticipation for the following day – perfect for our style of documentary photography.

A Hindu wedding – the shortened version

The Hindu wedding celebrations were to be held at Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh, primarily as they were happy with the small fire which is an integral part of the Hindu ceremony! We floated around the hotel between Rima and the girls getting ready in their stunning outfits and David donning his crazy Bengali hat ;) The ceremony was due to start at 1pm, but Asian timing dictates that this means at least half and hour later – we’d experienced this sense of time before and were ready for it! Luckily the Hindu ceremony had been shortened from its normal  four-ish hour length to a more manageable one hour, so there was a lot to fit in, all performed on the stage area. The wedding ceremony was great to photograph with so many different elements going on all the time, Conch shells sounding, banana leaves, fire, more tumeric and…….The finale to the ceremony and the part Rima and David were most looking forward to was being played out by the very amazing New York Brass Band, who led them and their guests out into the late October sunshine :)

Autumn mud and the English legal bit

With guests enjoying street food styled canapes (well mini-meals really) there was time to enjoy the music whilst we shot the few family/friends shots, then with a few minutes in the schedule we nipped away from the crowds to capture a few photos of Rima and David. There was just enough light for a few shots with the trees in their autumnal colours, well done guys for braving the mud, especially Rima who must have got muddy toes! Then the jam packed schedule kicked in again and it was time for ceremony number two, the legal bit – the British ceremony seemed quite dull in comparison, apart from the sci-fi reading which did raise a fair few chuckles :) Again the New York Brass band did a cracking job of playing everyone out.

Saree number two!

Before the evening meal there was a dress change, to Rima’s more preferred outfit, we quickly snook out of the hotel for a few photos, so no one could see her before she made a grand entry into the wedding breakfast. With the tables set, eventually but we were on Indian timings, then the room was awash with bright colours for the wedding breakfast and evening party to begin. Into the night the Bollywood dancing took centre stage, with plenty of the uncles showing everyone a move or two. We really loved every minute of this Hindu wedding celebration, the colours, the craziness, the food, the people, the music it ticked all the boxes – Congrats to Rima & David on a truly fab Hindu-English wedding day :)

Hindu wedding photography by Pixies in the Cellar – Prices & Contact – Blog – Home

Venue: Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa

Brass band: New York Brass Band

Food: Sai Spice