I have been looking forward to October 1st and 2nd eagerly since May when I booked my first Indian wedding.  Shez, short for Shazneen and her now husband Rahim had selected me as their wedding photographer.  As a big, young white guy I was probably an unlikely candidate but as they told me later I had impressed them with my prompt honest responses and professionalism when we met.  Shez did me a few great favours, including giving me about 10 double sided sheets of paper not only explaining her complete timeline for the day, but also explaining the significance of every part of the two day ceremonies.  Now on an average day, this kind of detail is a little overkill, but for my first Indian wedding it was immensely helpful.  It was a beautiful Ismaili wedding with an absolutely wonderful couple and a perfect introduction to Indian weddings.  I can only hope the rest of them go this well.

This is Rahim, getting himself organized in the limo before seeing his bride for the first time that morning.

A few words from Rahim’s speach

Shez in her beautiful sari.

Once Rahim arrived we got the ball rolling pretty quickly.  Shez helped Rahim out with his boutineer and then we headed downtown to shoot in BCE Place and Brookfield place.  It’s a great location but we had to move quickly to keep Security from stopping things in their tracks.  I have to thank my second shooter Dan Beaney of Square Studios for joining us downtown.  It was a huge help to have such a capable second pair of hands, and although all of the shots posted here are my own, he made an excellent contribution to the shots the happy couple will receive.

I always knew the henna was supposed to be ‘detailed’ but it really is something to see first hand.  (no pun intended)

A tender moment.  These two are so clearly in love.

At this point, Shez had changed into her evening gown, a more comfortable and lighter weight option then the traditional sari.

Champagne to celebrate the newly married couple!

There was a live performance during the reception hall.  This girl had some serious moves.

I was impressed that even after two days of ceremonies and conversation, SO many people still hit the dance floor with vigour when the music started.  Kudos to the DJ for managing to mix traditional type music with modern songs and rhythms for a mix that everyone enjoyed.