I was asked by a colleague to capture her sister’s Mehndi Ceremony, and a portion of the wedding three days later. Naturally, I said yes. It was not only my pleasure to help a friend, but it would be my very first time at a Bangladeshi wedding.
The Mehndi ceremony is a very important tradition. It essentially is a pre-wedding ritual, where a henna artist applies an intricate Mehndi design to the bride’s hands and feet. To top that off with a bit of romance, there is usually the name or initials of the groom hidden away in the pattern.
The Mehndi
“Colorful” is a good verb to use to describe Thuhina’s darling Mehndi. She had all sorts of lavish accessories to spruce up her elaborately bejeweled green gown.
A natural beauty, really. She didn’t really need all the bits and bobs; however, it’s very hard to argue with the results.
Her entourage of beautiful sisters and cousins, saw her down the steps to their front yard.
She rode in style…
On arrival, she was ushered in by a barrage of hefty male relatives guarding her as she made her way gracefully down the aisle to her throne. I’ll just go ahead and call this her “Mehndi Throne”.
Her entourage carried in trays of fruit and chocolate in varied assortments and arrangements.
This was where she sat and ate bites of fruit and sweets from every single person at the event. It was tradition after all, but looking at her tiny frame, I do wonder how she put it all away.
There was one adorable little girl who did try to make away with most of the chocolate covered strawberries though.
When she wasn’t pinching the treats, she was busy escaping being picked up by the grown ups.
Suffice it to say, the bride was stuffed by the time her Mehndi was being applied to her hands and feet.
The ritual took a few hours, but by the looks of it, she enjoyed every minute as her girlfriends laughed and doted on this beautiful Bangladeshi Bride.
The Wedding
The wedding was high energy to the max. She was dressed in red and looked just so beautiful, and very much likened to a Bollywood super star. Inspired by that, I took some shots to play up the “Paparazzi effect”.
What I gleaned from this lovely lady was her deep love for her mom and dad.
At the Mehndi, she was daddy’s girl; while at the wedding, she held on dearly to her mother’s hand.
Truly beautiful moments.
The entire experience was truly one for the books. I learned a lot about their culture, and was put on to a bunch of really cool movies and music. One of which is a back drop to this cute little video I made in honor of the bride.
Congratulations! May your love last forever. :)