Photographing Mo and Liz’s wedding was such an awesome experience for me! It was my first time photographing a Hindu wedding ceremony and every little detail was beautiful. Mo and I have known each other since junior high and when he reached out about his wedding, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it. Mo and Liz are such genuine people. They strive every day to make the world a better place and to build stronger communities. They make everything around them shine a little brighter. Something tells me they already did this as individuals, but that together, their power increased exponentially!
Technically, Mo and Liz were already married. They got married about six months earlier in a much more intimate ceremony. This time around, they wanted to celebrate with family and friends. The Hindu ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, maybe two hours. Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said (the ceremony is conducted in Sanskrit), I was riveted. The Sanskrit word for wedding is “Vivaha.” The wedding does not just unite the bride and groom, but it is also meant to unite the bride and groom’s families. Both Mo and Liz’s families were active participants in the ceremony, and it was really fun to watch everyone follow along with the Priest. In a Hindu ceremony, there is no exchange of wedding rings. The groom DOES place rings on the bride’s toes and they exchange flower garlands, but the main symbol of marriage is a gold necklace, which the groom places on the bride. He then puts the red dot (Kumkumam) on the bride’s forehead, symbolizing her married status. As you can imagine, everything was eye candy. I wanted to photograph every single second of the ceremony. Here are some of my favorite photos. Okay, here are A LOT of my favorite photos. Keep your eyes open for the adorable photo of Mo when he sees Liz for the first time after she changed into her bridal sari (Koorai).
The expression on Mo’s face here is priceless. This is how he looked at his bride as she walked back into the room. Are you kidding me?!
Mo and Liz, thank you so much for inviting me to be part of your day and for trusting me to capture this beautiful ceremony!
