Rajput and Sikh Wedding Ceremonies

My husband and I have a photography/videography business, so when we found out that we were going to India, we knew we had to try to photograph a traditional Indian wedding.  I contacted about 15 wedding planners in India, and only one even responded.  She had a wedding in Jaipur on one of our “free” days to travel outside of Anand, so we got very lucky.  The families that were getting married were very wealthy by Indian standards, so the weddings were grand.  The groom was Sikh, and the bride was Rajput, so we actually saw two different wedding ceremonies.  The Sikh wedding was in the morning followed by a wedding reception, and the bride and groom wore pink for these events.  The Rajput ceremony and reception was in the evening at the Raj Palace, and the bride and groom wore red for these events. 

Here are a few pics from the Sikh Ceremony:

Here I am with the beautiful bride (Divya):

Here are some pictures of the Rajput Ceremony:

The man on the far right is the grandson of Zail Singh, the first and only Sikh Presdident of India. The boy on the far left is the great grandson. I thought that was very cool.

Our experience was priceless.  I was intimidated at first, because I thought we stood out as westerners, and I worried that we may not be welcomed.  Those worries were completely unwarranted.  We were welcomed with open arms, and the family and guests went out of their way at times to make us comfortable.  The groom’s uncle asked me to dance at the Sikh reception, and after he insisted, I agreed.  I’m so glad I did too, because it was a lot of fun, and everyone got a kick out of watching me try to dance to their music.  Some were laughing, and others just smiled:)  We were offered food and drinks, and were asked lots of questions.  Just as we were curious about them, some of them were very curious about us.

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