{"id":8364,"date":"2016-07-05T17:01:57","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T00:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tomellisphoto.com\/blog\/?p=8364"},"modified":"2016-07-05T17:01:57","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T00:01:57","slug":"sikh-indian-wedding-at-gurudwara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomellisphoto.com\/blog\/sikh-indian-wedding-at-gurudwara\/","title":{"rendered":"Sikh Indian Wedding at Gurudwara"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anna & Sundeep – Sikh wedding at Gurudwara Singh Saba<\/h1>\n

Anna and Sundeep were married on June 18 at the Gurudwara Singh Saba in Renton. \u00a0I have never been to the Gurudwara before,\u00a0but I have photographed a few smaller Sikh weddings so I knew a little of what to expect for the ceremony.<\/p>\n

It was a rather dark and cloudy day, though by the time I arrived at 10AM it had not yet started raining. \u00a0The day began with a breakfast for the wedding party and guests, though in this case Anna (the bride) did not appear at the breakfast. \u00a0One\u00a0of the rules of the Gurudwara is that everyone must\u00a0cover their head. \u00a0Fortunately there were a large number of headscarves available for those who did not have their own, which seemed to be the great majority of the guests. \u00a0I do not mean this to be at all disrespectful, but I did find it quite amusing to watch all of the men (myself included) struggle to tie the scarves. \u00a0And the result looked like what I would image a group of well-dressed pirates would look like, in their suits with the headscarves. \u00a0You’ll see for yourself as you look at the photos below. \u00a0Too bad there were no turbans available for all of the men, that would have made for some great photos!<\/p>\n

After the breakfast, at ~11AM the ceremony began. \u00a0Sundeep had told me that Sikh rules said that the wedding must be completed before noon, and because it is a lengthy ceremony it was important that things got underway in time. \u00a0Anna and her parents shortly before\u00a0at 11,\u00a0so things were able to start on schedule.<\/p>\n

There are no chairs in the Gurudwara, so all of the guests, as well as Anna and Sundeep, sat on the floor throughout the ceremony with a couple of notable exceptions. \u00a0It was a rather low-key ceremony, with guests free to take photos of the proceedings, and occasionally various people would move about the room to find a good angle for a photo. \u00a0I always have a bit of a chuckle about this, as almost all of the time they are shooting photos with a phone or pad instead of a camera, and I know\u00a0what kind of quality photo they are going to get, especially in a low-light situation such as this wedding.<\/p>\n

Sundeep wore a western style suit, with the addition of a turban and special sash. \u00a0He also carried a sword, a traditional element of the Sikh wedding. \u00a0Anna was in a beautiful Indian dress, and also had some incredible\u00a0jewelry; bracelets, necklace and earrings. \u00a0Sundeep had told me when we first talked that he had been growing his beard for several months, which is another required element of the Sikh wedding. \u00a0He also joked about how much he was looking forward to getting rid of it as soon as the ceremony was finished!<\/p>\n

The ceremony went smoothly, and shortly before noon Anna and Sundeep were officially married. \u00a0We got a few quick photos of the couple with family, which was quite important because the couple planned to change out of their wedding attire before the reception, so this was our only opportunity to get posed photos in the Indian clothing.<\/p>\n

Then it was off to Redhook Brewery in Woodinville for the reception. \u00a0Originally the reception was planned to be outdoors, but the weather was so cool and wet that it was moved indoors, to a “party room” at Redhook where I have photographed several other receptions. \u00a0The guests all made their way to Redhook (about a 20-25 minute drive from the Gurdwara) and then we waited for Anna and Sundeep.<\/p>\n

When they arrived I almost did not recognize them! \u00a0I am pretty sure I would have recognized Anna, she had changed out of the beautiful red Indian garment into a more conventional white dress, something I imagine was considerably more comfortable while still looking gorgeous. \u00a0But I almost certainly would not have recognized Sundeep unless I was looking for him. \u00a0He had not only changed his clothes and discarded the turban, sash and sword, he was now clean shaven and looked like a completely different person, as well as maybe 10 years younger than in his “bearded version”!<\/p>\n

Once Anna and Sundeep arrived the party go underway in earnest. \u00a0Cake was cut, toasts were offered and drank, and lots of great food was eaten! \u00a0Everyone obviously was having a great time, and it was a shame that the party finally had to come to an end and everyone had to go home.<\/p>\n

Following are a selection of photos from the day, I hope that you like them and will leave some comments. \u00a0Click on any photo to see a larger version.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/a> \"Guests<\/a> \"Sikh<\/a> \"Sikh<\/a> \"Several<\/a> \"One<\/a> \"Several<\/a> \"The<\/a> \"Three<\/a> \"Guests<\/a> \"Guests<\/a> \"Close<\/a> \"The<\/a> \"Sikh<\/a> \"Sikh<\/a> \"Nahal-016\"<\/a> \"Nahal-017\"<\/a> \"Sikh<\/a> \"Bride<\/a> \"Bride<\/a> \"Bride,<\/a> \"Close<\/a> \"Nahal-023\"<\/a> \"Nahal-024\"<\/a> \"Nahal-025\"<\/a> \"Nahal-026\"<\/a> \"Nahal-027\"<\/a> \"Nahal-028\"<\/a> \"Nahal-029\"<\/a> \"Nahal-030\"<\/a> \"Nahal-031\"<\/a> \"Nahal-032\"<\/a> \"Nahal-033\"<\/a> \"Nahal-034\"<\/a> \"Nahal-035\"<\/a> \"Nahal-036\"<\/a> \"Nahal-037\"<\/a> \"Nahal-038\"<\/a> \"Nahal-039\"<\/a> \"Nahal-040\"<\/a> \"Nahal-041\"<\/a> \"Nahal-042\"<\/a> \"Nahal-043\"<\/a> \"Nahal-044\"<\/a> \"Nahal-045\"<\/a> \"Nahal-046\"<\/a> \"Nahal-047\"<\/a> \"Nahal-048\"<\/a> \"Nahal-049\"<\/a> \"Nahal-050\"<\/a> \"Nahal-051\"<\/a> \"Nahal-052\"<\/a> \"Nahal-053\"<\/a> \"Nahal-054\"<\/a>Ann<\/p>\n