Ceremony and Reception: The Omni Mandala Hotel at Las Colinas, Dallas, TX

Gita and Srinivas tied their knot at the Omni Mandalay Hotel after 2 days of celebration.  They’re both doctors (Gita has one year of residency left in Pediatrics in Houston and Srini is an attending neurosurgeon in Philadelphia).   From Gita about how they have met:

My best friend in the whole world got married last March. Srini and I met at their wedding and hit it off immediately. I was drawn to him even the first day and found myself coming up with excuses to talk to him or be near him (he says it was the same for him- hmmmmm). Anyway, we lived in different cities but started visiting each other as much as we could because within the first few times of being together, we knew we were soulmates.

It is difficult to come up with a blog post for an Indian wedding ceremony due to the complexity of the events.  The day starts off at 6 am in the morning, they got married at exactly 10:11 a.m in the morning (which would be evening in India – it’s astrological time).   Srini then ties a golden thread with a small coin around Gita’s neck (that’s the equivalent of a “ring” in western ceremonies).  The couple then plays a couple of games and walks around the fire as well as taking 7 steps together.  Then, they go outside and “point” at a star (in India time this would be 2-3 a.m in the morning).  The entire ceremony took about 6 hours to complete.  The couple then held a reception in the same hotel at night.

The talented Ashley Langford came by to help me out for the groom’s part as well as the ceremony.  He did an awesome job and some of the images below are taken by him for Ku Photography LLC.

Here are some highlights of their day:

The groom side played a game where Srini is supposed to go off to Kashi and the bride’s “brother” tries to stop him by telling him that he’d like him to stay and meet and marry his sister…

Behind the curtain – they’ll meet for the first time and put a paste on each other’s heads – that’s when they get married, officially, at 10:11 am.

Srini’s mom participates in a dance performance for the couple.

Gita’s medical school friends (all doctors) performs…..

Congratulations to Gita and Srini!  What an amazing wedding!

Dallas wedding photography by Ku Photography LLC

Event:  Indian Sageet Party at the Omni Mandalay Hotel, Dallas, TX

The second day of Gita and Srinivas wedding celebration is, in one word, spectacular!  i have never seen so much colors in a wedding celebration before – and it complimented each other very well in the decoration – love the blue, light green, and pink combination as well as all the hues in between in the stage they have built.

Ashley Langford in Dallas came to help me out and did a great job!   Some of the images are his.

The event starts with Srini’s family greeting Gita’s family – and they played a game, a sing-off, to determine which side move to the other side first.  Later on in the evening, they’ll perform with songs and dancing – and they are very talented musicians to boot.  I can’t imagine Gita with her grueling schedule as a doctor in residency to have the time to prepare for the song she sang to Srini in this day.

The Srini’s family performs a song for Gita and Srini.

She read a poem that is written about Gita and Srinivas:

This is Gita’s “brother” for tomorrow’s wedding – Gita doesn’t have a brother so he’s stepping in on the wedding day in one of the rituals/games before the actual ceremony.

Event: The Mehndi at Private Residence, Dallas, Texas

Two doctors in love.

Gita works as a pediatrics resident in Houston and Srinivas is an attending  neurosurgeon in Philadelphia.   Srinivas (Srini) brother married her best friend and they met last March at their wedding.

The wedding takes place over 3 days – the first day is the Mehndi where Gita gets her hands and feet beautifully painted in decoration and the parents meet.  The second day is the Sangeet Party, which is a pre-wedding ceremony.  The third day is the wedding day, where the couple will have a traditional South Indian/Telugu wedding ceremony.

Here are some pictures of the first day, the Mehndi:

Gita’s dad, also a doctor, acts as her wedding coordinator and seems like he’s constantly on the phone.

They had a short ceremony after the parents met:

Gita’s mom was very emotional throughout the entire three days.

Ceremony and Reception:  The Fairmont Hotel, Downtown Dallas, Texas

After celebrating for two days (Day One, Day Two), Ruchi and Ankit finally tied the knot!!!  (literally!)  If you have read the previous two blog posts, you’ll know that Ruchi and Ankit loves to laugh and have a great time – particularly on the dance floor as demonstrated in the Sangeet party on Day 2.  I knew after the second night, that the wedding day will indeed be something really special.

A little bit about how Ruchi and Ankit met, from her own words:

Ankit and I met in Boston while we were both in graduate school. We started out being pals, and while I thought he was hilarious and super smart, dating never crossed my mind. At some point during my second  year, I started thinking differently. His wit, kindness, and intellect were things that I really liked about him. We went on a date and have been laughing ever since!

The day began in the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas.  After getting dressed and doing a first meet of the day, Ankit will proceed to do a Barat, which is basically tradition where the groom arrives in a carriage/horse/etc, surrounded by his family members.  They’ll then meet the brides’ family, and enter the Mandap (the wedding stage) for the traditional Indian and Hindu wedding ceremony.

I was assisted by the fabulous Ashley Langford who was my second photographer for the day and he did a great job!  Some of these images in this blog are taken by Ashley.

Here are a few images from their day:

I really love how close the families were.

Sometimes, the best moments are the unexpected ones.

They actually tied the knot, literally (while they were on stage)!

The transformation of the stage is simply amazing.

I have to admit, this is the best dancing groom, Ankit, that I have seen in a long time.

I’m still trying to figure out how Ankit and the groomsmen got into this position…..

This is my favorite picture – at the end of the night in the last song, Ankit kneels down to Ruchi, then Ruchi kneels down to Ankit in return.

Congratulations Ruchi and Ankit!!   Keep on laughing, you guys!

Dallas wedding photography and Indian wedding photography by Ku Photography LLC

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