The E: Charmi & Sachin
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Guess when Charmi and Sachin are getting married? Well, since it's after midnight, that would be . . . later today! Guess when I did their engagement shoot? That would be yesterday. Guess who's tired? That would be me. So many of my clients are doctors with tricky schedules, but Sachin's is apparently very tricky, since he arrived from New York yesterday . . . just in time for our shoot . . . and to go to the menhdi party. I just couldn't see blogging an engagement shoot after a wedding, which is why I'm still up blogging. But I just had to share their smiling faces before all the festivities got underway.
Labels: Engagements
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Yasna & Ketan
Friday, August 29, 2008
It's been a few weeks since I've blogged, mostly because this time of year is so busy that I have to put client deadlines first (as evidenced by the fact that the wedding I'm about to blog was actually delivered to the client weeks ago). The studio also recently underwent some computer and systems upgrades, which resulted in nearly a week of downtime. So thanks to everyone for your patience with my delayed blogging. :)
Yasna & Ketan were married at the
Westridge Golf Club, under a hazy gray sky on a very hot day. More than 500 people witnessed the outdoor ceremony, and it was touching to see how emotional Yasna was while walking down the aisle with her father. The viddai was even more emotional, with relative after relative breaking down in sobs and tears as they bid Yasna goodbye, and wished her a happy life with Ketan. Though peacock feathers played a central role in the reception decor, it was another bird that won my heart, and that of many guests. What's not to love about a mother duck running around the golf course with eight little ducklings following her? And for those who might be interested, Yasna's eye color isn't due to colored contacts. She was actually born with that breathtaking color. With coordination and decor by the fabulous Yogi Patel at
Sheer Romance, hair and makeup by
Oscar Naranjo, and videography by April and the talented team at
Robles Video.
Labels: IndianWeddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Andrena in Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
I'm so excited to be featured in the new issue of
Grace Ormonde Wedding Style magazine. The wedding of
Tara and Raj took place in beautiful Udaipur, India, and is featured in a seven-page spread in the just-released Fall/Winter issue. A full-page photo of Tara and Raj vamping it up at the breathtaking
Udaivilas appears on the last page of the magazine. You can read all about Raj's proposal (in a hot air balloon) and their beautiful wedding in the accompanying story. Their wedding was also recently blogged about on
Wedding Bee. Congratulations again, Tara and Raj!
Labels: Random
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Madhavi & Vamsi - Chicago
Friday, August 01, 2008
More than 500 people attended the spectacular wedding of Madhavi and Vamsi, who were married in the Red Lacquer Room at the historic
Palmer House Hilton in Chicago -- one of the coolest cities in the world. Madhavi hired me via phone, but we were able to catch up in Los Angeles a few months before the wedding, and she couldn't have been sweeter. The day before the wedding, we tooled around Millennium Park so I could get to know Vamsi a bit before the big day. Of course, it ended up raining on us, so we ran back to the hotel. But before the skies opened up, we had time to grab some fabulous shots at the Frank Gehry-designed
Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the
Cloud Gate (which some people refer to as the big silver bean).
The wedding was lovely (be sure to check the most blinged-out coconut I've ever seen -- totally encrusted in rhinestones), and the cocktail party and reception were just dazzling. New Yorkers definitely know how to party and this crowd was no exception. This crew got their freak on until the wee small hours, and it was funny to listen to the DJ fan the flames of war by alternating Madhavi's totally 80s Flock of Seagulls with Vamsi's Guns n' Roses. I'm here to tell you that Vamsi's got some dance moves that just have to be seen to be believed. If you haven't invited this guy to a party, you might want to do so because he's hella fun. I really loved working in Chicago, and want to thank Madhavi and Vamsi for having me be part of their wedding.
With wedding coordination and planning by Zak at
Zak Yasin Events, floral artistry by Daniel and the team at
Daniel's Discriminating Floriculture, lighting by Justin Wardell at
Design Lab, videography by April Robles and Natasha Glenn at
Robles Video, mandap by
Dream Occasions, makeup by
Adriana Aude, hair by
Farrah Chapman, DJ artistry by DJ Shaggy at
Global Music Vibes, and cake by
Take the Cake. With second shooting (and tireless patience with lots of travel) by the uber-spectacular
Yoshi Morimoto.
A huge shoutout to my good friends
Heather and Rick Kingensmith, who wined and dined me, and were just generally awesome to hang out with. Another thank you to
Rosalind Van Tuyl (who I don't see enough) and her fiance Jonas (who I had never met and absolutely loved) for meeting up with us for dinner. These guys are all fabulous Chicago-based photographers (except Jonas, who actually may be a fabulous photographer . . . but I think is more involved in a totally different line of work), so be sure to check out their web sites. And another big shoutout to Mili and Sid from
Memories in Motion Cinematography, the fabulous Chicago-based cinematographers who did the Udaipur wedding with me earlier this year. I loved seeing them again, since the last time we saw each other was in India. Mili is one talented mofo, so be sure to check out the extraordinary work on her web site.
Labels: IndianWeddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
