Simran & Shahrooz
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Simran and Shahrooz were married in a dual-ceremony wedding at the
LAX Hilton. (Leave it to me to post a sneak peek more than a week after all the wedding images were delivered to the couple.) The day started off with a Sikh ceremony, then, after a quick clothing change, everyone moved on to a heartfelt Persian Muslim ceremony. Put Punjabis and Persians in a room and you can't help but get a truly amazing reception. This was definitely a crowd that knew how to party. This couple is just the sweetest, and Shahrooz adores Simran so much. It's truly a joy to watch these two together. Coordinated by the lovely
Sonia Sharma, with floral artistry by Beverly Blossoms, makeup by Chisu Kim, hair by Peggy Barks, and DJ services by Ajay at
Kumba. (Apologies: I believe there was a Persian DJ there, too, but I will have to add his name to the blog posting later, as I don't have it right now.) With second shooting by the fabulous
Yoshi Morimoto.
Labels: IndianWeddings, Weddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Tara & Raj - Udaipur, India (Part 2)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Now that I've gotten through all the images from Tara & Raj's wedding, it's clear that I'll need three posts to properly share this spectacular set of events. Behold Part 2 -- The Wedding & Reception.
Tara and Raj began their wedding day preparations at the world-famous
Lake Palace Hotel -- a floating palace on beautiful Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India. Considered by many to be the most romantic hotel in the world, this exclusive property is only accessible by private boat, and you cannot even visit this hotel if you are not staying there. Thankfully, Tara was able to get special permission for my team and I to visit the hotel and shoot on its grounds. (We actually arrived just as the President of the Maldives was preparing to leave by boat.)
The baraat -- featuring camels and an elephant -- took place on the Promenade just oustide the City Palace, and Raj and his family then took boats over to stunning Jag Mandir Palace Island, where the wedding took place. Built sometime around 1622, with structures made of sandstone, Jag Mandir has served as a home for royalty as well as a place of refuge for those in exile. Raj's entrance was welcomed by fire blowers and an extensive fireworks display, much to the delight of the guests. Despite the unseasonably freezing weather, everyone loved the beautiful and heartfelt ceremony, which concluded with champagne for everyone and yet another dazzling fireworks display. Tara was carried out in a doli, and then she and Raj took some time alone on a boat out on the dark, quiet water.
The reception was fabulous, and everyone braved the cold to dance into the evening. Tara's outfit was stunning,
DJ Amlan rocked the house, Rajasthani dancers entertained the crowd, and a light-up dance floor added a fun shock of color to the peacock-themed reception. (For a complete list of vendors, see my first post upon return from India.)
Be sure to check back soon for the third and final installment: Portraits at the Udaivilas, the No. 1 hotel in the world.
Labels: Destinations, IndianWeddings, Weddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Tara & Raj - Udaipur, India (Part I)
Monday, March 10, 2008
The wedding of Tara and Raj was breathtaking, with four events spread over three very cold days in beautiful Udaipur, located in the state of Rajasthan, India. Known for its Rajput-era palaces and nicknamed "The City of Lakes," Udaipur was made famous in the James Bond film "Octopussy." It also boasts some of the most lavish hotels and event venues in the world.
The talented
Christine Marie photographed the events with me, and I will forever be grateful for her willingness to travel halfway around the world to contribute her artistry to this stylish couple's wedding. She's one of the most talented photographers I know, and a good friend. So to Christine, Thank You, from the bottom of my heart.
I can't seem to find a way to blog this unique wedding with just one post, so I'll start with the Menhdi and Sangeet. The Menhdi took place at Shiv Niwas, and featured a traditional Indian bazaar theme, complete with hundreds of puppets hanging from silk fabric panels. As the women got their menhdi done (and Tara's menhdi was the best I've ever seen -- courtesty Sangeeta Shah out of Mumbai), I couldn't help but laugh as Raj spent nearly an hour attempting to fly a small kite just outside the gates of the Maharana of Udaipur's palace. A snake charmer -- complete with two cobras -- added to the event's charm.
The evening's Sangeet was a masquerade ball featuring an amazing performance by
Prem Joshua, the top-selling world musician in India. Born in Germany, this talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has released 14 albums, and everyone found themselves in awe while he and his band played. The party took place at the Zanana Mehal in the City Palace Complex, where Tara and Raj were greeted by torches, a 20-piece band (complete with bagpipes), girls throwing rose petals, and horn blowers on horseback. The banquet featured so many different dishes that people had to make four trips just to sample everything. Once Prem Joshua finished his set,
DJ Amlan spun the crowd into a dancing frenzy.
Next up: The Wedding. Be sure to check back in a day or two.
Labels: Destinations, IndianWeddings, Weddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Home At Last
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Hi, everyone! I'd hoped to blog a bit while traveling through India, but shooting, an aggressive travel schedule and illness kept me from doing so.
April,
Christine and I had a great time at Tara & Raj's spectacular wedding in Udaipur, which I promise to blog soon. We also loved meeting (and working with) Mili and Sid from
Memories in Motion, the wonderful Sushmita (who does amazing hair and makeup, but whose site I will have to provide later), the super-cool
DJ Amlan, and Joyti from
Jyoti Soni event coordination.
All three of us really enjoyed traveling to many cities in India after the wedding. Alas -- April ended up in the hospital in Kolkata, due to a horrible case of food poisoning. It's no fun to go to a hospital in the middle of the night when the nurses only speak Bengali, and you only speak English. Thankfully, the talented coordinator Smita Mohindra at
Ethnic Essence had put me in touch with her mother Versha -- lead designer at
Ritu Kumar -- in Kolkata, and she was so helpful to us while April was in the hospital. She translated for us and even found hotel accommodations for Christine and I after our own hotel became unavailable for the extra days we needed to stay in Kolkata. A heartfelt thanks from all of us to both Smita and Versha.
After April got out, we flew from Kolkata to Delhi to Varanasi, and by the time we got there, I had come down with the exact same thing that April had. I refused to go to the hospital, but did have a doctor come to my hotel room to give me a shot and several different kinds of pills. I ended up missing out on Varanasi and Agra completely (thankfully, I'd already seen the Taj Mahal on another trip), and meeting back up with Christine and April in Delhi. Our trip also included stays in Amritsar and Mumbai. All in all, a great adventure.
I'm still fighting off this food-borne illness a bit (it went away but then kind of came back), but I think I'm finally somewhat on the mend. My mom, however, is on the mend for a different reason. Leave it to your mom to *not* tell you that she's fallen and shattered her ankle -- and had surgery! -- while you were traveling . . . just because she didn't want to ruin your holiday. Imagine my shock when I called her from LAX yesterday and she told me what had happened. My adorable mom walks approximately 900 miles a year with my dad, always in Malibu State Creek Park (near where they filmed M*A*S*H). The rains apparently created some slippery crevices and down she went. I feel so badly for her.
That's the news from here. Thanks to everyone for their patience while I was gone. I'm getting through all my emails as quickly as I can, but feel free to ping me if you haven't heard back from me by tomorrow. :)
Labels: IndianWeddings, Random, Weddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
A Soggy Big Apple
Thursday, September 27, 2007
I haven't blogged for a while because I've been busy shooting in New York. Harshna and Mihir were kind enough to fly me out to shoot their wedding, and I found out that they were great sports when an unexpected thunderstorm pounded down on us while we were doing pre-ceremony group shots. It was raining so hard that we got caught outside for a good long while before we could figure out how to get back in. I ended up using my Westcott strobe umbrella as shelter for my gear and Harshna. Tracy Toler from
Maia Studio, who second shot the wedding for me, ran outside to help me cover my gear and got this great shot of us trapped under the umbrella. The entire wedding eventually got moved inside, though the decor had to stay outside. I'll blog the wedding soon, but for now, I thought everyone might like to see the before-rain and a-few-minutes-later shots.
Harshna and Mihir got dressed up again on Monday so we could take some fun portraits without rain, and I was amused beyond repair when
Michael McGlone -- star of the Ed Burns films "The Brothers McMullen" and "She's the One" -- walked by us in Central Park, and agreed to pose for a photo. How did I coax him into it? By using the tried and true, "Hey, guy from Brothers McMullen! Would you take a photo with my bride and groom? Their wedding got rained out on Saturday." I felt silly afterwards, but he was really nice about it.
I also did a great engagement shoot in TriBeCa with Tara and Raj, who will be getting married in Udaipur, India, in February. It was great to finally meet them, and they were amazing to work with. A big thanks to my friends and colleagues
David Mielcarek and
Thomas Geist for tagging along on the engagement shoot (which I'll blog soon). And a big thanks to my good friends
Cliff Mautner and
Susan Stripling for trekking to Manhattan to hang out with Digital Wedding Forum Founder
Jeff Caplan, So Cal photog
Britney Alves and a host of other fab photogs.
And a special thank you to the talented
Monika Broz, who kindly hosted me for two days while I was in town. Monika is super creative and has a marvelous eye, and is also a good mom to Munk, the adorable Boston Terrier that she rescued.
Under gray and cloudy skies:
A few minutes later, under my Westcott strobe umbrella:
With the actor Michael McGlone in Central Park:
Labels: IndianWeddings, Weddings
Posted by Dina Douglass [+]
Pinaki & Eric
Monday, July 23, 2007
Pinaki and Eric had a two-ceremony wedding at the California Science Center, which is fast becoming one of my favorite places to shoot. The day started off with an i
