Fabulous Sikh Wedding at Hilton Hall
I was honoured when Sunny and Reena asked me shoot their wedding at HIlton Hall in Wolverhampton. Sikh weddings have an air of excitement and high spirits with secret moments of romance and elation in between.
The very early morning started with Preparations and time spent with family at their respective homes with the Groom having his turban tied (Sehrabandi) with his groomsmen in close range. Before leaving home, Sunny was greeted by his family members gifting him with sweets and money as a mark of good luck. The family left home to make their way to Reena for the mangalsutra ceremony.
Meanwhile at Reena’s front door, her sisters and cousins waited excitedly for the Groom to appear, and in the distance with the sun blazing behind them, Sunny made a grand appearance in a cloud of smoke bombs accompanied by the sound of trumpets and dhol beats and his entire family dancing all the way up the street. As tradition insists, the girls at the door demanded money from Sunny, who happily obliged, gifting them with a wad of notes, only for the girls to realise the notes were fake with Chinese printed all over them! Sunny finally succumbed, genuinely gifting them and was given a clear path to see his bride for the very first time. Sunny placed a mangalsutra necklace around Reena, then both families left her home for the religious ceremony and customs at the Gurdwara.
On arrival at the Gurdwara both families performed a ceremony outside called the ‘Milni’ where the families exchange well wishes before entering the Gurdwara for a small breakfast of hot samosas and traditional Indian tea (yum!!)
Sunny entered the hall first with his family, followed by Reena and family. The atmosphere in the Gurdwara was so peaceful, with the ceremony being performed to the melodies of the tabla, the harmonium and the Granthi reciting verses from the Holy Book.
Reena’s father tied a shawl linking Reena to Sunny, signifying he was giving the bride away. This was followed by the four wedding prayers, the Laavan, recited to seal the marriage, with the couple walking around the Holy Book.
After the ceremony, Sunny and Reena made their way to the Groom’s family home for the Pani Varna ceremony and Sunny’s bracelets were tied so tightly that it took a very very long time for Reena to untie the knots!
The evening sun was gorgeous and gave us a little time to take some soft lit portraits before the party started in the huge marquee on the grounds with DJ Sunny Jagpal setting the atmosphere off. Nearing the end of the evening, Sunny and Reena played the traditional game of ‘find the rings’ in a bowl of water and milk where Sunny and Reena placed one hand each in the bowl to search for the ring, the person to find the ring the most in seven rounds is said to have the upper hand in the marriage. It seems from the images that there was some cheating on Sunny’s part, with Reena singing along to Boasty, it was all fun and games.
Here are some of my faves from the day, with the suppliers below.
Photographer: Zehra Jagani, with thanks to Dwiko Arie
Cinematographer: DaVinci
Venue: Hilton Hall
DJ Sunny Jagpal
Decor: Gold Events
Catere: Spice Nation
Cake: JuciLuci
Outfits: Zoya Valorous, Moss Bros, Seasons
Dhol players: Band Baja
Jewellery: Kyles Collection, Vivienne Westwood, Brilliant Diamonds
Caricaturist: Mark Bowen
