The Saturday of Bhavani and James’ wedding was the Hindu part of the celebrations, which took place at James’ Grandparents’ house by the Firth of Forth. I met up with Bhavani and her bridesmaids on Saturday morning to get some pictures of them getting ready and also to photograph Bhavani’s fabulous 3 wedding Saris – each a different colour and with beautiful embroidery and stitching. Being a bit of a fabric nut myself, I could see how beautiful the fabrics were and Bhavani told me they had made a special trip to India to get them all.
After we had arrived at the house, the first part of the day was the Gauri Puja – a ceremony with the priest, Bhavani and her female friends and family. All said in Sanskrit the words were totally unfathomable to me, but amazing to listen to – particularly with the Indian music. Various fruits, candles and other symbolic items were used to bring Bhavani good fortune and prepare her for marriage.
Meanwhile over in James’ camp, he was being helped into his outfit by Best Man Ed and then piped up the hillside before having his feet washed by Bhavani’s brother. This is a very traditional welcome to the bride’s family and James braved the cold water really well!
The main ceremony – the Ganapati Puja then started with James and his family being seated with the Priest on the decorated stage in the marquee called the Mandap. Bhavani then arrived on her family’s arm with a coconut, which is one of the holiest fruits in India, to give to James.
Here are some of my favourite images of the morning ceremonies – next up is the final instalment covering the afternoon:
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