It ran from a quiet house before dawn to a fire that was still burning at four in the morning. Here it is in order — and every chapter opens into the photographs it came from.
Day One · morning · at home
Long before the venue, the lights and the guest list, there is a house: aunts arriving with too much luggage, a kitchen that never closes, and a family slowly realising the day is really coming.
Open the reel20 photographs
Every wedding is rehearsed for years in the kitchen of somebody's home.
Day One · evening · the stage
Weeks of practice on both sides came down to a single evening. The choreography held for about a song and a half; after that it was simply everyone, dancing, until somebody finally turned the lights up.
Open the reel46 photographs
Day Two · late morning · the courtyard
Turmeric, marigolds and a great deal of laughter. The rule was that the bride and groom should be blessed with haldi; the reality was that everyone within arm's reach went home a shade brighter.
Open the reel20 photographs
Day Two · afternoon · poolside
An afternoon kept free on purpose, which lasted exactly until the first person went in fully dressed. Music, sunshine and the only photographs where nobody is posing at all.
Open the reel20 photographs
Day Two · nightfall · on the road
The walk to the venue is short on any map. With the drums going and a crowd dancing ahead of him, it took the better part of an hour — and nobody wanted it to end.
Open the reel20 photographs
Day Two · late evening · the stage
After two days of being kept apart by schedules, the couple finally stood face to face. The garlands went on to cheers from both sides, and for a moment the whole evening went quiet around them.
Open the reel38 photographs
Everything before this was preparation. Everything after it was theirs.
Day Two · small hours · around the fire
Late into the night, with only the closest family still awake, the couple walked around the sacred fire — seven times, one promise at a time — and the wedding became a marriage.
Open the reel20 photographs
With the seventh step, you became my friend. May I never lose your friendship.
In the quiet moments between
A few minutes stolen between events, still in whatever they were wearing. The only photographs from the whole celebration where it was quiet.
Open the reel120 photographs
The chapters above are the edit. Underneath sits everything the photographers actually handed over.
