Thailand Destination Wedding Photography
Indian Wedding Photography in Thailand – Meera and Meeraj’s Ceremony Day
Day three. The ceremony day. The main event. If you want to see the previous two days (and why wouldn’t you) then here are the links: day one (mandvo and mendhi) and day two (more mendhi and sangeet).
Day one had been gloriously sunny with storms in the evening, day two had been drizzly, day three was perfect – cloudless blue skies and hot sunshine – everything Meeraj and Meera wanted for their outdoor ceremony on the beach front lawns at the Renaissance Phuket resort in amazing Thailand. By now I just felt like one of their friends so capturing this incredible day was so easy to do. It all started with them both getting ready in their rooms, then Meeraj met up with his family for the Baraat procession down to the ceremony – this is one of my favourite parts of an Indian wedding, with so much energy and happiness. After being allowed through my Meera’s family, Meeraj took his place on the mandap (which looked AMAZING) and waited for his bride.
As you’ll soon see, Meera looked out of this world amazing, and Meeraj decided to go against tradition and watch her make her way to the mandap with her uncle. Normally at Indian weddings the groom’s view would be blocked, with his bride being revealed to him just before she sits down next to him. To Meeraj it was important for him to watch her all the way, and that he did – his eyes never left her, and watching his face change as his emotions bubbled up inside was one of my favourite memories of the whole trip.
The ceremony was utterly beautiful, so much happiness and in such a fairytale location with the sun setting behind them. They even had a blessing from a local monk. Such a privilege to be there.
After the ceremony, we enjoyed the last minutes of sunlight on the beach – I had to wade neck deep into the sea to get the shot at the top of this post but it was totally and utterly worth it! It also cooled me down, as I was melting at this point!
Their evening reception took place in the ball room at the Renaissance, and was a super sophisticated black tie dinner finishing with yet more epic dancing!
Working with Krishna, Neal and their Gem Weddings team on this wedding was so easy. They had crafted an incredible event for Meera and Meeraj in Thailand and were so helpful to me and Pete throughout our time there. The iamflower team created three days of awe inspiring floral decorations and they also had an incredible set of personalised wedding stationery ranging from their aromatic invitations, personalised key card holders and guest goody boxes filled with delicious treats.
I have to give extra special mention to the wonderful Vishal, Zara, Hojo, Sudip, Addy, Anusha and the amazing little Sufi – the absolutely inspirational team behind The Wedding Filmer, who filmed the whole wedding. I have to be completely honest, when I found out there would be such a large team of people filming the wedding I was mildly terrified but I can honestly say working with you guys was so easy, effortless almost and I massively enjoyed meeting you all and working with you on this crazy adventure for Meera and Meeraj. I seriously can’t wait to see the finished film, and thank you Vishal especially for your friendship and support throughout. I hope to get the opportunity to meet you and work with you again one day. If you have a minute or an hour to spare, check out their work, it will draw you in and take you away, it’s outrageously good.
Thanks again to my great friend Pete for shooting this wedding with me – great to have you by my side dude!
And of course, to Meera and Meeraj, my friends – thank you. Thank you for trusting me so much, for welcoming me into your world so enthusiastically and for treating me like an old friend. Being part of your wedding was more than a privilege and I feel so lucky to have been there with you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I guess it’s time to look at the photos, this final instalment of Meera and Meeraj’s destination wedding in Thailand at the Phuket Renaissance Resort…