Samay Studio: the blog

Gurjeet & Jessie - Gurj's Maaiya, Chuddi, and Jaggo

2008-11-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

Catching up on some of the weddings from this past summer, here are some highlights from Gurjeet & Jessie's Wedding weekend. They had an extended 3 days of colorful, fun-filled events. Both Gurjeet & Jessie's families were so gracious to us throughout the weekend and it was definitely a pleasure capturing every tradition especially since both families carried out so many Punjabi & Sikh traditions that many families don't necessarily do nowadays. I actually covered their engagement ceremony last year so it was really nice seeing the whole family again...and made it easier since I already knew all the faces :)

The wedding weekend started out at Gurj's house in San Jose. They combined lots of different things into one afternoon/evening. So here are some highlights from her Maaiya & Chuddi ceremonies and then the Jaggo and dancing that followed. This was all in the middle of the summer so everyone had a blast in the back yard...

On to the photos!

I'm always amazed at the similarities in traditions across India...here are Gurj's cousins setting up. It's really similar to a Gujarati Rangoli...

Something I just love about these smaller events at home is how relaxed everyone is and how much fun they have with their closest family & friends. Of course the wedding and reception are lots of fun, but these pre-wedding events just have a different feel to them. As a photographer, I get to know the family & friends really well since it's small enough that I can talk with most everyone there...

Featured on Wedding Sutra

2008-11-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

A while back we received a request from the editors of WeddingSutra.com about the possibility of doing an interview to be featured on their site.

And recently our interview with them was finally posted to their site! Have a look at it here:
Interview with Wedding Sutra

In the past, I've interviewed people for a magazine I used to run...let me tell you, it's rather different being on the other end of the questions. Vasu over at Wedding Sutra definitely had some interesting questions which I think many brides are curious about so I'm glad we got the chance to talk about them. Our interview was done on the heels of another photographer friend of our's who had just been featured there (Seshu, who's based out of the East Coast). I found it interesting to compare our interviews. I think we got fairly similar questions and, not surprisingly, we've got our own takes on the art & creativity of wedding photography.

On another funny coincidence, a previous bride of our's was also featured on Wedding Sutra at almost the same time as us. Funny how that works...the Indian community is obviously a small world. Parveen was married in August of 2007 and you can have a look at her "Real Brides" feature on Wedding Sutra here. Photos courtesy Samay Studio, of course :)

Sunny & Gary's Engagement Portraits

2008-10-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

We've been amiss lately due to some travel that both Asad and I have been doing. But getting back into the swing of posting some highlights from our recent shoots...

We actually took Sunny & Gary out back in July a little while before their wedding. Now that the fall chill is upon us, it's actually kind of nice to see these warm pictures :)

On to the photos!

Although we only met Sunny & Gary for the first time at the shoot itself, it was actually really easy to get into the swing of the photo session. We normally start things out a bit slow & formal, but I quickly realized that there was no need for that.

We started the shoot over at The Palace of Fine Arts and then moved on to Baker Beach. Something about Indian skin tones, blue tones in clothing and the Palace of Fine Arts just goes together....

We actually spent way more time at the beach and for good reason. They were game for lot of stuff including getting wet in the water.

This shot obviously has a lot of work done to it with the color tones, textures, etc, but it spoke to me even before I started editing it. It's actually posted on Flickr and it's one of my most viewed shots there. Asad actually took the shot and I wouldn't be surprised if he counts it as one of his annual faves :)

This is one of those serendipitous shots...totally unplanned and unposed (just a bit of shoe arranging), but it's one of my faves from this year...and it's a nice way to end this post.

Sunny & Gary, congrats on your wedding!

Enhanced website features: Our Albums

2008-10-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

The feature which has always needed the MOST work on our site has been the albums section. Afterall, wedding albums are how most of our clients end up seeing their work for posterity. We used to have a few sample layouts, but really nothing spectacular; definitely not anything which reflects the latest direction we've taken our wedding albums. While the online view still doesn't do these layouts justice we hope these new galleries of a few demo albums give everyone a better idea of what sets our work apart.

Check out the albums when you have a moment:
http://www.samaystudio.com/album.shtml

Enhanced website features: Our Portfolio

2008-10-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

To be honest, we've been meaning to completely revamp our site for quite a long time. We've been making updates along the way, but they were just small changes. Our portfolio section would occassionally have problems with some browsers and the photos themselves just didn't look as crisp and clean as possible.

Well, since we now use Lightroom and there are some great utilities built-in, we've been able to provide a very consistent and much more impressive overview of our portfolio. You'll now find 6 sections in the portfolio area - 5 for some recent weddings and 1 for a lot of the Engagement Portraits we've been doing.

Check it all out when you get a chance!
http://www.samaystudio.com/portfolio.shtml

Notice something?

2008-10-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, if you've stopped by our site recently, you've probably noticed that we've upgraded the site to a brand new look and feel. In addition to a new look, we've vastly improved the portfolio & albums sections to reflect our latest work. We'll post a bit more on the changes since we've satisfied a lot of the requests we've received from prospective clients.

Check out the main site here:
http://www.samaystudio.com/

And as with any website update, we'd definitely appreciate your thoughts on the changes as well as letting us know about any problems you might be having with the site. We may have some bugs here and there and your feedback is the only way we'll get rid of 'em all. Thanks for visiting!

Vivah 2008 Bridal Faire: Thanks for stopping by!

2008-09-29T16:44:00.001-07:00

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, then you probably saw us at the Vivah Bridal Faire yesterday. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. We had the chance to talk to several dozen brides and it's always a great time when we get the opportunity to show off our work.

We'll be posting more about the Couples Portrait Session once we've had a chance to get in touch with the winning couple.

If you stopped by and want to get in touch with us, you can drop us a line at info@samaystudio.com or give us a call at 650-386-6808.

Thanks!

Shweta & David's Reception

2008-07-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Following up on the last posting, here are some photos from Shweta & David's Wedding Reception which was held at the Summit Center in downtown San Jose.

We actually started off with some evening portraits in the Fairmont. We just love tying back portraits to the event venues so whenever possible, we utilize great spots inside or outside the wedding or reception location. Of course, the lobby of the Fairmont is outstanding so no complaints from us :)

Look at David all dapper in his tux. Love the silver...

Later on in the evening we actually did an impromptu photo session on the balcony of the Summit Center. With the sun setting & San Jose City Hall in the background, there's no denying where the party was at!
Since there's two of us covering the wedding, we have the chance of capturing the anticipating before the couple make their grand entrance. A last glance at each other before Shweta & David make their arrival...

Just a few shots from the night...

They had this wonderful cake which just made for great photos...

And with floor to ceiling windows, the colors they chose really lent a bright airy feel to things...

Just a few from their first dance...

And finally...time to get the party started!

I had a lot of fun playing with the lighting. The DJ had some crazy lights going on, so we were able to get some fun starlight pops into our photos.

Shweta & David, thanks for giving us the opportunity to get to know you and cover your wedding!

Shweta & David's Wedding

2008-07-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Getting back to posting some recent weddings, here's a peek into Shweta & David's Wedding. If you recall, I posted some of their engagement portraits here. I must say that we love it when we're able to do both a couple's wedding day as well as their engagement portraits. It really builds on the relationship we have with our clients.

Anyways, onto the photos...

We spent the day in downtown San Jose...starting at the Fairmont and then heading over to Summit Center which overlooks City Hall.

A bunch of morning photos....the schedule for the day allowed for a lot of time before the wedding to get all those wonderful getting-ready shots as well as the details of the outfits. Since Shweta had a few outfits throughout the day, I had a lot of great stuff to work with....

I just loved the simplicity of Shweta's bouquet...
They made this really modern yet classic gift box wrapped in a nice silk material. It matched the colors used throughout the day. Burnt orange is one of those new classics. While it's really popular now, I have a feeling we'll be seeing it for years to come...
To top off the box, they had this cute little topper of our lovely couple. And no, the rings weren't stuck onto the box :)

In case you wanted a closer look at these rings. You can never go wrong with Tiffany's, huh?

Moving on to the ceremony....

Since I had been with Shweta all morning I knew she really just wanted to get things going. She was really calm, but just couldn't wait. I love the look on her face her as David places the garland around her neck.

Finishing off the first part of the day, we don't normally post many of the formal portraits, but I just *had* to share this portrait...Since the agenda allowed for it, I took Shweta & David around the Fairmont on a location hunt. We found quite a few places and got some great shots. My fave was this corner. It had the chaise & mirrors I had been hunting for. I wanted to get that wonderful bouquet into the photo too. And so amongst the many other shots we got that afternoon, this has gotta be one of my favorites...

Look out for more from their wedding in an upcoming post!

Neera & Trushar's Engagement Portraits

2008-07-14T17:25:00.001-07:00

Back to the portraits!

Just a few shots from a shoot we did in June in San Francisco. This was before the usual summertime fog in The City so the colors & light were just so wonderful.

We started off the formal shots at The Palace of Fine Arts. Even though there's a lot construction going on there, we still find several great spots. And even though we shot at mid-day, the light bouncing off the Exploratorium was just wonderful.

I think these next two shots show off Neera & Trushar's personalities better. Getting out of the formal outfit and onto the beach on a nice hot day can certainly help loosen things up ;)

And speaking of small worlds...if you read our last post about Manisha & Ashwin's reception theme of Vegas...I mentioned that they were introduced to each other by mutal friends. Well, it was Neera & Trushar that introduced them to each other...aww how schweet :)

Anyways, it was a wonderful afternoon photographing...especially since we got to cool off a bit in the nice cold water! Congrats guys! Hope you love the shots!

Manisha & Ashwin's Wedding & Reception

2008-07-09T14:32:00.001-07:00

As promised last week, here are photos from the rest of Manisha & Ashwin's weekend. The entire day was lovely with the venues serving perfectly for what the couple wanted...an elegant outdoor wedding and a raging party at night! The wedding was at the lovely Bella Montagna Estate which had a beautiful view of the Santa Clara valley. The evening fun was at the Doubletree in San Jose. It's a place we always love since the staff (and Daljit in particular) do a kick-ass job and help everything run more smoothly.

We started the day off at Manisha's house where she along with all her friends & close family were getting ready. It was sort of the mad-house with so many mulling about, but Manisha was particularly enjoying the lead up to her wedding.

Manisha had a pretty sweet antique Stutz limo to take her to the wedding...

In the meantime, Ashwin was getting ready amidst a bunch of activity as well. Since Ashwin comes from a Punjabi family, the morning of the wedding was quite busy for them with Pagri tying (Turban), Sehra Bandhi (Tying of the tassles on his turban by his sisters), etc, etc.
The baraat was a short one, but check out this little captain! He rode along on the horse with Ashwin till near the end where he walked and danced out the rest of the baraat.

A moment I just love from weddings is when the bride & groom see each other for the first time in their wedding outfits. For Hindu weddings, this is generally on the mandap right after the anterpath is drawn down to present the couple to one another. Manisha had a particularly great reaction which was just the start of the fun for the day.

Now, if you've followed this blog, you know that the Kanyadaan (which the bride's parents give her away) usually has photos of hands joined together, etc. In this case, Manisha's father had some fun and stole her away from her groom!

Just some other details & moments which Asad and I loved from this outdoor ceremony.

We had a bit of extra time for some creative portraits...just one of the shots from the afternoon...

As a new father, I can't help but put myself in the shoes of the bride's father during the vidaii (when the bride traditionally says goodbye to her family and goes to her groom's family). It's a touchy time since tears are flowing so we try to be pretty low key while taking photos. I just love this shot of Manisha's father as Manisha looks on in the background.

Moving on the party at night....we were presented with a Vegas theme. Since Manisha & Ashwin met through mutual friends while partying in Vegas, what's more appropriate?!

The night was complete with flower filled martini centerpieces...

Decks of cards for everyone...
And a yummy looking cupcake cake!
And judging from the fun they had throughout the day, Manisha & Ashwin weren't about to let up on the fun...they entered the hall with their first dance, then proceeded to knock everyone's socks off with a choreographed number.

No, it wasn't a ballroom number...

They went onto wowing the crowd with a bunch of different dances including some bhangra, garba, and....

The Soulja Boy!

I've never heard a crowd roar so loud as when the steel drums from the song started up and both Manisha & Ashwin started with some dips. Can you tell we love it when a couple has fun with their day?!

Just love this shot becuase of Manisha's look...see her crouching down there?

Cheers to a great couple! Thanks for having us at your events and congrats to you and your families!

Manisha's Pre-Wedding Events

2008-07-01T16:40:00.001-07:00

Yes, we do indeed do other things besides engagement portraits :) But don't worry, there are a ton more engagement portraits to show off!

For a change of pace, here are some wedding related photos from about a month ago. These are from Manisha's pre-wedding events at her home in San Jose. Their wedding photos will follow in a bit...

The first part of the morning was the Ganesh Pooja where Manisha's parents basically welcomed the upcoming events (Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, wards away evil spirits). Her uncles also did some of their thing like planting a "tree" outside the house, etc. Gujarati culture at its finest :)

And then Manisha made her entrance and promptly got pasted! As tradition dictates, Manisha's aunts applied tumeric paste (haldi) on her skin. It's supposed to make a bride's skin glow, but the aunts always have some fun with it.

And then moving onto the vidhi itself where Manisha & her parents did the needful before the wedding day.

And, of course, we can't forget the Grande Dame of the house, Lily! It was her birthday and she had a great time getting pet by all of the guests. She did get a little impatient near the end when she was ready to be walked. Who can blame her! Hindu weddings have so much going on, any dog would get bored! :)

Anyways, more to come from Manisha's wedding day...

Anju & Rajeev Engagement Portraits

2008-06-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

So ya think we've been doing a lot of outdoor portraits lately? :)

We actually shot Anju & Rajeev's engagement session quite some time ago, but we're only getting around to blogging about it now. This was a great session since the couple wanted to experiment a bit for themselves and we had been looking for a pair who wanted to push the boundaries of what most Indian couples want for their portraits. Not to say these shots are out in left field or anything, but they were up for a lot of fun during the shoot.

Anyways, on to the photos!

From a photography perspective, this was one of the first shoots where we limited ourselves with the lenses we used. Why would we limit ourselves, you ask? Well, by human nature, when there are limits placed, we find a way :) For me, when I challenge myself with situations that I don't normally face, especially when it comes to photography, my mind races with the possibilities and I come up with things which I normally wouldn't.

And so with Anju & Rajeev's buy-in, we purposely challenged ourselves photographically...

Especially this calendar year, we've really been going to locations with interesting angles & lots of energy. Regardless of how crowded the location is, we've found this energy really adds to the results. Not just in terms of cool features, but also on the faces of our clients.

One of the few basic poses we did with Anju & Rajeev...

Mixing up this Stalker shot, it was interesting finding something which would be rather different than the usual columns or trees.

Gigantic chess board? Of course!

Now a storefront that's under construction doesn't usually lend itself to portraits, but I just loved the designs on this walls and they so nicely with Anju's dress. What's more, I just loved her expression.

Rajeev had a little fun with the metal gratings. We didn't want to break them so we only did this one once and then ran for it :)

Personally, I found this shoot really opened up a new world of ideas for me. Asad has pretty much said the same of his portraiture too. I think taking this calculated chance with Anju & Rajeev is a no-brainer in retrospect, but I'm glad we actually made it happen!

What's more, they loved their photos :) A few words from Anju after she saw her photos...

Asad and Jigar,
We wanted to thank you guys for doing our engagement portait. We really had a lot of fun doing it - even Rajeev did and he HATES taking pcitures. It gave me a feel of what models do, and believe me having two guys capture your every move on camera is a lot of fun!! Thanks for doing this for us and making it so enjoyable.

Look forward to seeing you guys soon!

Take care,
Anju

The happy couple are actually already married now so congrats to both of you!

Daisy & Gary Engagement Portraits

2008-06-16T21:35:00.001-07:00

I recently took Daisy & Gary out to Stanford for their portraits. They wanted something unique in this area so they came all the way out from Sacramento & Yuba City for this session!

We used to do portraits at Stanford all of the time, but I haven't done any on campus in quite a while. So it was a cool little challenge for me to take my learnings from the last 18 months since I shot there and mix them into a setting which I know oh so well. Daisy & Gary obviously had a good time there so I think it all worked out ;)

Onto to the photos!
Over the years, Asad and I have come up with names for the basic poses we take our couples through. Simple poses take up very little of the session, but the names definitely make things a bit smoother. And they also add a little bit of levity to shoot since we pick pretty random names. The shot above is called The Stalker Pose :) And funny enough...we didn't name it, one of our brides did! So she gets credit for bringing a smile to every one of our clients who want to do this shot. Thanks Sharmila!

I just like the relaxed smiles on their faces here...

Bringing sexy back! The touch of setting sun on Daisy's hair really completes this photo for me.

As usual...I loves me some glare. With the setting sun no less!

Now what does one do with a spot that's so commonly used in portraits? For one, don't pose the couple. For two, get funky with the processing. Textures are in the house at Samay Studio.

Okay, so this one's posed, but hardly :)

Near the end of our shoot, it was getting way too dark to do anything in natural light. Daisy & Gary were just chillin' talking to each other when Daisy looked over to see if we were going to do any more shots. And when I saw this look, I just had to stop her and save the moment. Sometimes, these "poses" just come so perfectly and the light is just so yummy, that I'm glad that I have the privilege of taking photos!

Hey guys, it was a pleasure spending a few hours with you on your portraits. Thanks for driving all the way out to the Peninsula and congrats on your engagement!

Shweta & David Engagement Portraits

2008-06-07T08:04:00.001-07:00

Wedding season is upon us and, as usual, we're finding it tough to keep posting here on the blog since we're wrapped up in events & post-production. Anyways, we'll certainly try to do better with keeping things fresh here ;)

So onto Shweta & David's engagement portraits. The happy couple is actually getting married today! So in advance of that, we went out to San Francisco. North Beach and Baker Beach were the neighborhoods of choice on this shoot.

Washington Square is always a nice little spot to start off the afternoon with. Since the weather was great, it was actually pretty crowded and finding sight lines without sunbathers was a challenge!

Look at David all dapper in his suit!

We found this closed down cafe/restaurant that still had a bench outside. The wierd thing is that the restaurant still had all of the tables with ready place settings..glasses, napkins, silverware, etc. It was like they had set everything up for the next day and then just decided to not open up! Anyways, we got this great little spot just off of the street.

Can ya say GLARE! Lovin' it!

Oooh, textures. Couldn't help adding some with this shot.

A private moment as we pretended to change lenses :) No matter how much our couples want to get candids, we still try and mix it up to give them something they don't expect...
Can you believe Baker Beach was packed with sunbathers and kids playing in the water? We still found a few angles where we had a clear view all the way to Golden Gate Bridge. Beautiful day!

I love how the light bounces off David's shirt back onto Shweta. Talk about sun kissed.

And finally...kissing in the sun :)

Congrats guys! Can't wait to see what you guys have planned for today!

Rina & Amit Engagement Portraits

2008-05-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

As wedding season has been ramping up, we've been doing some engagement portrait sessions for couple with upcoming ceremonies. So we'll be posting a few of these before posting another wedding...

Starting off with a wonderfully cute couple we shot in the North Beach and Embarcadero areas of San Francisco. They were up for anything and even got a bit wet while posing in a fountain at the Embarcadero....

In the last post, I mentioned that the programs during wedding receptions have changed over the years. What our clients want out of their engagement portraits has changed quite a bit too. We still capture the more standard posed portraits which the couple's parents will want, but in the three or four hours we spend with our couples, we're really trying to show their personalities and express something unique through these portraits...So you'll see a lot of stuff which may not fly at a wedding reception, but it's a direction that we just love and hope our clients continue to ask for more of!

Love the texture on this shot from Washington Square.

And as you head off into married life, what's wrong with a little playing on a playground slide?!

The funny thing with this shot is that Rina & Amit didn't know this graffiti actually spelled out North Beach until after we took the shots.

We spent a little time getting to know the couple over some coffee. And we ended up with some awesome-tacular light at this sidewalk cafe. Just gotta love unplanned stuff.

Ahem...can you say romantic?
Or would that be steamy?!

I just love that little bit of sun peeking through on Rina's neck.

And my fave shot of the afternoon...of course it has to involve glare. Meanwhile, Rina was getting her legs soaked from the fountain right behind them. They could only hold this look for so long until they both cracked up from how wet they were. Gamers, I tell you...our clients are gamers!

Congrats on your engagement guys. I can't wait to capture your ceremony!

Tejal & Nalin's Wedding

2008-05-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

Things have been a bit quiet on the front here since I (Jigar) just had a baby! As we're settling down, we're still catching up on some of the recent events we've covered.

In the last post, we showed you some of Tejal & Nalin's pre-wedding events. Now on to the wedding day itself....

To this day, I always wonder how the bride does it all...starting with make-up before 6am and ending the reception after midnight.

Ready??

Set??

Go!!

Welcoming Nalin...as we've mentioned before, this is the time where it's like a crush of humanity! So many people want to see what's going on. And with so much built up excitement, there's hardly room for the photographers!
But we still squeeze in for the shot ;)

Check out this cool Antharpath. The Antharpath is the cloth which separates the couple when the bride first arrives on the wedding mandap. Generally, the couple holds hands underneath this cloth, but this Antharpath was designed with a heart-shaped hole right in the middle. Aww...how schweet!

Hook Em! Longhorns all around! The groom, his sister, and seemingly everyone else in attendance were Texas alums.

A quieter moment as the bride's mother was waiting for her daughter to say her goodbyes. As I've said previously....sometimes these moments even bring tears to our eyes.

And moving onto the Reception...

Speaking of Longhorns...808 in the house!
Look at the cupcakes! Yum!

The traditional shot of the couple entering is getting them head on as they're waving to the crowd. While we make sure we get that, I just love trailing the couple as they enter and get the reaction of all of their guests.

The agenda for receptions has changed since we started doing weddings. There used to be speech after speech after speech interspersed with a couple of performances. Lately, couples have been skipping the lengthy speeches or performance for more fun stuff. In this case, the Tejal & Nalin played a game where they had to tell everyone who would have the final say on various moments in a married couple's life. Very rarely have I seen the entire reception hall so noisy....everyone really had a lot of fun with this one. That definitely makes it more fun for us as photographers too!

Just love Tejal's expression here

Definitely a Texan at heart...

On to the partying!

Congrats guys! I know you had a great time all weekend. Best wishes as you enjoy married life!

Tejal & Nalin's Pre-Wedding Events

2008-04-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

As most people would probably already know, Indian weddings can last days. In fact, that's one of the first thing non-Indians might say is something like "Man, they take so long!".

Umm...yeah.
.
..
...
But, the next thing they say might is "I'm sure they're so much fun though!"

Ain't it true!

Tejal & Nalin brought us down to the Pismo Beach area to cover 5 events spread across 3 days and boy, did everyone have a blast. With most people flying and driving in from all over the country, it was really like a destination wedding...even though the destination was Tejal's 'hood.

So let's start off with the pre-wedding events

With over 800 people attending various events...Tejal's mom really held it down and made sure everyone enjoyed the weekend. Of course, she had lots of help, but as photographers, we've just gotta hand it to the parents of our couples, this one especially. They always do so much to not only please their guests, but also to make their photographers welcome in their homes!

The details of pre-wedding events are always interesting and definitely less well understood than the main wedding ceremony. These are where specific family culture really varies. Even amongst Gujaratis, the order of things and the littlest details will be unique depending on which part of the state the family originates from.

One of the most fun elements of a wedding weekend is the bride's Haldi ceremony. In Gujarati culture, this is referred to as the Pithi. Starting with the aunts who are usually a bit more docile...

To the friends who make sure the haldi gets ALL over...

Ending with the bride getting her friends back for all the haldi loving attention :)

Moving onto the garba raas...it's all about the movement and the craziness of running around with sticks!

More to come soon from the rest of Tejal & Nalin's wedding weekend....stay tuned!

Chanden & Val's Wedding

2008-04-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

In the last post you saw some of Chanden & Val's engagement portraits. Well, here are some from their wedding & reception.

The wedding was at the Fremont Gurudwara.

Chanden chose a bit of a unique color for a Sikh ceremony, but then again, both Chanden & Val don't follow convention, now do they?

Rarely do we see an actual doli any more during weddings, so it was a bit of a surprise to see this one. Chanden had a great time being pushed by her brother and male cousins. The rain caused a bit of a problem, but, hey, as the bride, she was dry as can be....

The rain really caused a bit of havoc for portraits since we were supposed to head to the Japanese Friendship Garden. Since it was pouring by the time we reached Downtown San Jose, we took advantage of the lobby at the Fairmont. Hmm....really posh hotel with wonderful ambient light & flower centerpieces just like Chanden loves?! Yes please!

For once, we had a lot of "down time" so we had some fun with the couple, the bridesmaids and the grooms men...

Don't mess with the bride!

Moving on the reception, we were at a really unique location, The Corinthian Center which is in Downtown San Jose. It allowed for a unique entrance for the couple high above their guests on a balcony where they opened the night with their first dance...

Since we've been doing weddings for a while now, we've begun to see some once-popular trends become less common. One of those trends which used to be at EVERY reception was dance performances. We used to get at least one if not two or three at every reception. Nowadays, couples usually have a speech or two and get right into the dancing. In this case, Chanden's cousins showed off their skills with a little medley...

Here's to another lovely couple. Congrats Chanden & Val!