This is the second post of Avni and Gurpawan’s wedding story. Earlier, I had posted the Garba event which took place at the Hindu Center of Charlotte NC.
Avni and Gurpawan’s wedding day was one of the longest day I have photographed! I actually started the day at 6 AM in the hotel lobby where a sehrabandi and varna (surma) took place. There were two wedding ceremonies- the first one was the Sikh ceremony (Anand Karaj). This ceremony was at the Gurdwara Sahib of Charlotte. The groom arrived at the Gurdwara with his baraat. This was the first baraat of the day. The baraat was received with ardas (Sikh prayer) and milni.
The breakfast was served and the menu had both spicy and sweet options! Never too early for some fried chile peppers! The wedding rituals took place inside the main hall in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib. The ragis performed the kirtan as the ceremony started. The wedding guests presented cash offerings and the groom arrived with rumala for the Guru Granth Sahib. The bride was wearing traditinal salwar kameez for the ceremony and looked beautiful. Once the bride arrived, the Granthi began the ceremony by reading the Lavan hymns. The entire ceremony was beautiful. Witnessing a Sikh wedding is a unique experience. The ceremony concluded with a lecture, kirtan, ardas and distribution of Karah prashad. The couple was blessed by both parents.
Then it was time to head to the beautiful Ballantyne Resort for the Gujarati ceremony. That ceremony was outdoors and working on those images is making me sweat…
– Tesh Parekh
IWP Photography
www.IWPphotography.com
919-622-5399
email: tesh@iwpphotography.com
