Nupur & Sandeep | Hindu Tamil Mudaliar South Indian Wedding | Jayamahal Palace, Bengaluru

Earlier this year, I shot a typical Bangalore winter wedding. Mornings were averaging at a cool 19 degrees but love kept everyone warm at the wedding :) Since Nupur is Marwadi and Sandeep a Mudaliar Tamil, the wedding was a beautiful marriage (pun intended) between both the cultures. And a huge gang of friends ensured there was enough madness to last the couple a lifetime.

Unlike other wedding blogs, I won’t write much here. But will let the photos do the talking :)

Photography: Elvin Jacob
Wedding Film: Amal Roy Films
MUAH: Ayesha Khan / Senorita Salons
MC: MC Shabana
DJ: DJ Diwu
Mehendi: RK Mehendi Art
Venue: Jayamahal Palace, Bengaluru
Special Mention: Keerthana Rao & Pushkar Murthy

Snigdha & Himanshu | North Indian Hindu Wedding | Noida Golf Course, Delhi NCR

“All Good Things Take Time” - The Power of Slow is quite underrated. So is my talent for procrastination. Eight Months. Eight Long Months have I sat pondering what’d be a good start for this blogpost. Well, thanks to my lazying around, I don’t need to think for another intro to this post now, do I?!

Speaking of time, I started speaking to Snigdha about her wedding photography in late-2011. Yup! That isn’t a typo :) My Manipal senior Namrata had hired me to shoot her wedding with her fiancé Vikram. It was my first paid wedding photography assignment. I was mind-blown by the experience. And it’s there where I first met Snigdha, Namrata’s cousin who doubled up as her bridesmaid/gift collector/gift protector/shoe-stealer/overall life of the party & family. I took a few photos of Snigdha in action. So back in 2011 she told me that when she gets married, I’d be shooting her wedding. It felt good that a girl was fixing her wedding photographer before her fiancé :D

Eight years later, in July last year Snigdha pinged me saying she’s getting married in February 2019 and wanted me to shoot her wedding! I was thrilled! Not only did she remember what she’d told me, she had kept her word as well!!! Apart from getting to shoot a proper Dilli Ki Shaadi, here I was, back to where I started. Seeing the super-warm faces of Snigdha’s family once again was pure joy! Most of them remembered me. It felt so good to have them ask about my haal chaal. And to top it all - I got to see Namrata’s & Vikram’s lovely kids Ranveer and Samar :)

So yeah, coming back to the point - If a wedding’s photography takes eight years to materialize, it’s okay if its blog takes eight months to come through! Almost poetic, won’t you call it?

Photography: Elvin Jacob
MUH: Varnika Suryavanshi / Glammed by VS
Venue: Noida Golf Course, Delhi NCR
Special Thanks: Ragini Singh
Super Special Thanks: Namrata Nath <3

”Elvin captured so many beautiful moments for me at the wedding. He was able to capture people's emotions and bring them alive in the photos. When I see the pictures now, I can see the action, emotions, rituals, and relive the entire event. His ability to connect with the families and relatives make him exceptionally good at capturing the right emotion at the right time. I highly recommend him.” - Snigdha & Himanshu

Here’s Snigdha from Namrata’s & Vikram’s Wedding in 2011 :)

(L-R) 1. Snigdha had just turned 21 on this day. And was moments away from a cake being smashed on her face!
2. Snigdha smiling at someone. Pretty sure it wasn’t Himanshu! :)
3. Immediately after stealing Vikram’s shoes, Snigdha posed for this photograph and later during negotiations asked for a cool Rs 21,000 from her jiju :D

And here’s the adorable note Namrata & Vikram sent me after their wedding in 2011. It stays safe with my other certificates. It’s not less than one after all :)

Nikhil & Saranya | Hindu Kannadiga - Tamil Brahmin Wedding | Temple Tree Farms, Bengaluru

Ok so I have to confess. I really tried to pun Lawyers and Lovers for this blogpost. I really did. But I failed. So go ahead - Sue Me!

Coming back to Nikhil’s and Saranya’s wedding - Both of them are lawyers and pretty sure quite popular. ‘Cause they had as many friends as other wedding guests at their wedding! Friends from school, college and work came together to attend their beautiful wedding at the Temple Tree Farms in Sahakarnagar, Bengaluru.

Like my sense of humour, monsoons also threatened to ruin the wedding. The venue for the Sangeet was a beautiful outdoor one. But a sudden downpour forced everyone indoors. Nikhil and Saranya however put up a brave face against both these ‘natural calamities’. Their friends chipped in with some heavy but graceful cardio disguised as dance. And it was mission accomplished with the Sangeet.

Saranya’s adorable set of school friends danced beautifully and later told us that they danced badly - just like those class toppers from school who’d would write answers to everything in the question paper but would later tell their mortal classmates (like me) that they will fail. I refuse to be fooled again like this.

Big shoutout to Vibin Venugopal (Founder of Headless Hippies) who connected Nikhil & me. I had shot Vibin’s wedding in 2016 and the things he did ahead of the wedding were quite interesting. Check his story out here.

Photography: Elvin Jacob, Srinivas RS
Traditional Team: Sudheer Hebbar
MUH: Sruthi Julta
Wedding Planners: Millionbellz Events
Venue: Temple Tree Farms, Sahakarnagar

Anupama & Vineeth | Traditional Malayali Hindu Temple Wedding | Trivandrum

Hindu Weddings in Kerala are famously short. They are simpler, calmer and quite often, very relaxed. Anupama & Vineeth got married in a similar and traditional ceremony in Trivandrum’s Shanghumugham Devi Temple. Upon checking the timestamps, I realized that the actual wedding ceremony lasted just over 10 minutes! This duration isn’t even enough for a warmup in many Indian wedding ceremonies. And here, the entire wedding ceremony was over!

During the wedding, I befriended Veda and Vihaan - Vineeth’s niece and nephew, respectively. And they turned out to be pretty good with the camera for their age. In fact, some of the photos they took ended up in the final wedding set. Cool huh?! :)

Photography: Elvin Jacob
Wedding Venue: Shanghumugham Devi Temple, Trivandrum
Reception Venue: Trivandrum Golf Club

”Having Elvin around was one of the highlights of our wedding day. He is an extremely calming and friendly presence to have around on one of the more stressful days in life. Not once did we have to fake being in love :-) or indulge in artificial displays of affection. We felt like his pictures literally weaved a story, often through capturing waves of emotions and candid moments. (the cutely awkward ones were particularly awesome!). Moreover, the kids love him and his Harry Potter-esque style! This guy even nice enough to give them some basic photography lessons amid all the chaos. To sum up his work, Elvin has an eye for seeing beauty in the most unlikely of places and moments, capturing your uniqueness as a family/couple.” - Anupama & Vineeth

Srishti & Vishal | Vedic Hindu Wedding | Isha Yoga, Coimbatore & Ooty

Srishti - "Elvin! We are getting married in Isha Yoga, Coimbatore and I want you to shoot our wedding."
Me - "So Cool! I would love to shoot your wedding."
Srishti - "But you won't be allowed to shoot the actual wedding." 
Me - "Huh?!!!"

So Srishti & Vishal are Sadhguru followers and they hired me to shoot their wedding in July. And I ended up shooting everything but the actual wedding. :) Instead, Srishti & Vishal invited me to attend their intimate wedding at Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore. Thanks to them, I got to witness one of THE MOST beautiful weddings that I have ever seen. Their wedding was conducted as per ancient Hindu customs. The setting, music and rituals were such that everyone just kept mum and participated in the wedding. Read more about this vedic Vivaha here.  Also, photos can not do justice to the statue of Lord Shiva at Isha Yoga. It's HUUUUUGGGGEEE!

Needless to say, the wedding was an emotional affair. Srishti & Vishal couldn't really hold back their tears. I get laughed at often for admitting this, but it's easy to get me all emotional. I have shot many a Vidaais with blurry vision (Thank God for Auto Focus!). This wedding wasn't very different. 

Srishti & Vishal did have some rituals as per North Indian customs at Coimbatore and later in Ooty, that I got to photograph.  Throughout the wedding, Srishti had an infectious but reassuring smile on her face. Vishal, on the other hand, had a calm demeanour. And they are both Doctors. So if I am ever ill, and I get doctors with faces like theirs, I know I would already be on the road to recovery.

Photography: Elvin Jacob
Wedding Film: Amal Roy Films
Jaimala Venue: Celebrity Resorts, Coimbatore
Wedding Venue:Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore
Pheras & Cocktail Venue: Sterling Ooty Elk Hill, Ooty
Special Thanks: Tanjul Sarkar and Pranjal Patel

Devika & Satyen | Hindu Kannadiga Tamil Wedding | ITC Gardenia & Bangalore Club, Bengaluru

Satyen's & Devika's wedding reaffirmed my faith in intimate weddings. They took their vows surrounded by close family and thick friends from all stages of their life. Speeches by their friends during the Sundowner left many teary-eyed and left some paralyzed with laughter. It was truly heart-warming to see the union of this 'two souls, one heart' couple :)

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Svana & Santosh | Hindu Kannadiga Wedding | Fiestaa Resort, Bengaluru

Svana & Santosh joined the gym separately with the sole intention of walking out fit. While they did walk out fully toned, neither of them expected to meet, fall in love and walk out of the gym with another fully toned person!

Spread over three days, the couple celebrated their coming together in front of an intimate crowd  of family and friends.  I've got to mention the bride's niece Zola here, who was the most popular girl (after the bride of course!) on those three days! We even discussed Peppa Pig, after the wedding! :)

Lastly, special thanks to Nilma Dileepan from With Love, Nilma :) Thankoo!

Photography: Elvin Jacob
Traditional Videography & Photography: Kumar NK & Venkatesh
Wedding Venue: Fiestaa Resort, Bengaluru

”Elvin’s pictures of our wedding day will always be the best memories that Santosh & I love to relive again and again. When Santosh & I decided to get married in 2 months we had great help from my family to arrange everything within such a short time. Amongst all the important things to be arranged having an awesome photographer was so important for us. And we had just one month to "the day" when we found Elvin, and luckily he was available for our dates. 

I'm so happy he covered our big day because he managed to click all the happiest moments in the family that happened for 3 continuous days. I feel like he did not miss even one smile or even one moment. I've heard that sometimes photographers forget to click some important moments but Elvin not only covered all the scenes I think he managed covering behind the scenes as well and all single-handedly. Really after the wedding there is always this exciting wait for the photographs and video graphs. When our wedding photos and videos came out we were surprised and so happy with the quality of emotions in every picture. He is not overpriced like the other photographers out there and his talent is excellent too. Bangalore needs more wedding photographers like Elvin Jacob” - Svanna & Santhosh

Priyanka & Paul | Arya Samaj Hindu Wedding | Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru

Bangalore Winters are cold enough for one to pull out their sweaters & cardigans. But this wedding, held over two nights in December 2015, warmed everyone up. It was the lovely coming together of two families - Priyanka's & Paul's. 

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