Nairobi Destination Wedding Photography Kenya Africa

Ushmi and Malav’s amazing three-day destination Indian wedding in Nairobi, Kenya

If you’d told me back when I was a 9-5 programmer with almost no interest in photography and the furthest I had travelled was southern Spain, that one day people would effectively pick me out of all the possible wedding photographers in the world to take pictures of their celebrations in a country I never even expected to visit, I’d have thought you were beyond crazy. Somehow, since those days, I’ve now photographed weddings in 15 different countries across 4 different continents and I find that mindblowingly-unbelievable.

My first ever destination wedding experience, and my first ever Indian wedding, was in Naivasha, Kenya when Sonal and Parit invited me out to be part of their three-days of events. Their wedding has always felt like a catalyst for everything I’ve achieved since and I’ll forever be grateful to them for lighting a fire for me that’s only continued to burn brighter and fiercer ever since. Their amazing wedding, while being an incredible experience for me, has also directly led me to Hong Kong for Lil and Jim, to Thailand for Meera and Meeraj, to Thailand again for Sandhya and Parit, and to Dubai for Saloni and Rishabh as well as many more Indian weddings here in the beautiful UK. Each one of those adventures can be directly traced back to that first wedding in Kenya through either recommendation or another connection. So Kenya is super special to me. And here I am, back again, for Ushmi and Malav’s celebrations, thanks to a glowing recommendation from Sonal and Parit. Unbelievable!

Ushmi and Malav had three days of events planned and I was here to be part of and capture them all. I also was lucky enough to have my great friend Liam Crawley with me again as my right hand man to capture Malav’s separate events and help me make sure nothing was missed for Ushmi and Malav (all the images here are mine, I’m sure Liam will blog a few of his at some point!). It’s always a pleasure to work with Liam who is one of the first true friends I made in the wedding photography industry and we’ve been through many things over recent years! Thanks for all your help on this one mate.

What I love about Indian weddings is the three ‘C’s – colour, choreography and chaos. Especially the last one. I feel like choreography and chaos are a contradiction in terms but that’s what I find so interesting about Indian weddings. You know what’s coming, but you never really do! I love that I have to stay alert with my camera to my eye at all times because you just never know when an amazing moment will erupt. I also love how the whole emotion of the wedding can swing like a pendulum from one moment to the next. They’re a challenge to capture well, both mentally and physically, but it’s a challenge I love immensely.

I’ll remember so many things about Ushmi and Malav’s destination wedding in Nairobi. Too many to list really. The main, overriding feeling will always be of feeling like – and being treated like – one of the family from the moment I arrived. It’s such an amazing feeling to be treated this way, so far from home. I left feeling like I had gained two great friends and a new home-from-home.

Ushmi and Malav, thank you so much for inviting me to your home in beautiful Nairobi, Kenya for your wedding. Huge congratulations once again, I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness.

Here are some of my favourite photos from Ushmi and Malav’s Nairobi destination Indian wedding in Kenya, Africa…