Radhika & Manu | Wedding at ITC Windsor Maynor, Bangalore
In India, we look at inter-caste marriages as something beyond the ordinary. A beautiful coming together of rituals, ceremonies, emotions, love, and families. When I photographed Radhika and Manu for their wedding in 2013 at ITC Windsor Maynor in Bangalore, they had come down to India from the UK. Their friends and families meant the world to them, and they decided to share these special two days with them all. Their friends who had travelled from different parts of the world, and made this two-day extravaganza a thing worth remembering.
The beauty of the Mehendi on Radhika’s palms took a couple of moments of interest from all her friends from the UK, while her girlfriends from India enjoyed the ceremony by taking part in it.
Despite living abroad, Radhika followed every ritual to the last drop, with the happiness of a bride shining bright in her eyes. The beauty of this marriage lies in the happiness of families and friends. Their blessings and love for the couple is a wonderful sight.
And then finally, we see the silhouette of the groom, against the white curtains of ITC Windsor. It is the Haldi ceremony, and as you can tell from his best men’s faces, it’s full of fun and excitement. With the dhol and traditional songs, we see Radhika’s beautiful saree brought out. As the bride gets ready, we see her looking at the eyelashes. They truly elevate her beauty.
During the ceremonies, the smiles spread across the room leaves no room for a second of second-guessing the love between Radhika and Manu, and within their friends and families. When they look at each other, our beautiful couple glows.
Soon after, the bride prepares herself for the wedding. A warm coloured saree, and the most beautiful set of bangles. With her smile, she could win the world anyway. The groom put on his best attire too. After all, his horse is awaiting him. While the bride finishes her final touches and walks down the path at The Raj Pavilion, the groom and the bride meet each other again. A lot of intense and magical rituals later, and some parting hugs after, we end the day with a beautiful shot of the couple, a true embodiment of their love.
But their story doesn’t end here.
Five years later, in 2018, I got an email from both of them. They were blessed with a baby boy and were back travelling to India. They wanted me to take some of their family portraits. The same venue, the same people, the same contagious happiness. But this time, we had a very special guest with us, baby Kabir.
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