I had the pleasure of shooting Tahir and Sarah’s wedding in Berkeley this past weekend, it was an amazing experience! We started off at Sarah’s parents beautiful home in the Berkeley hills where Sarah and her friends were getting ready. Sarah is so nice and has a great group of friends and a wonderful and warm family, I was so happy to be welcomed and brought in to be a part of the experience. Unlike Western tradition, Indian wedding celebrations typically run for several days, and this was the fourth, so Sarah and Tahir are allowed to see each other before the ceremony. Tahir came over and, according to tradition, had to pay the family of Sarah and drink a special kind of milk before he was allowed to enter. It was really fun and everyone was laughing and having a great time!
I have to admit that I this was my first Muslim ceremony in a Mosque and it was very different from a typical Western ceremony. It started off with a public civil ceremony in the outer hall of the Mosque then moved into the private inner chambers where the religious part of the ceremony took place. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was very grateful to be allowed to witness and document it. After the ceremony things are very different from what I normally see as the bride and groom are pretty much mobbed by their friends and family who wish them well and congratulate them! It was a very exciting and happy time and was truly beautiful!
We then headed back up to the beautiful and historic Claremont Resort for the reception. We took lots of family photos and some fun photos of Tahir and Sarah that you see here. At the reception they performed several Indian traditions and moved on to a great meal and some pretty hot dancing!

Outside the Claremont…I always find the strangest places to shoot

Some haute Calvin Klein shoes

Beautiful (and tasty!) cake

Outside Tahir and Sarah’s room on the way to the reception

Heading out for some air

Thank you so much Tahir and Sarah and your wonderful families for having me, I had a great time and loved the new experience! I wish you a lifetime of happiness and joy!