Sabiha & Yousuf

A while back I had the opportunity to accompany Xuong of Happy Photos to an Indian wedding reception at Anaheim Hills Golf Club. And I mean a WHILE back, as in...June. This post is beyond belated!Anyway, I've never seen anything so bright and colorful as Sabiha and Yousuf's wedding party. An Indian wedding is usually a three-day affair, or longer; Xuong and I were only there on Sunday for the big party!

I am always enchanted by foreign cultures and customs, and I was enraptured by the elaborate gestures used to greet guests, particularly elders. The attendance was enormous, with distant relatives and friends flying in from all over the world just to be there.SabihaThere were so many little details to photograph, by the end of the night it felt like my eyes were crossed. Look at her amazing hairdo! Sabiha told me she'd had it done up like that for three days...who knows how she slept so it stayed that way!!Sabiha's hands with henna markings, and her HOT PINK sari with matching bouquet!This wedding was filled with things I'd never seen before, including Sabiha's hot pink and bright blue bouquet...did I mention this wedding was colorful?This picture is blurred beyond recognition, but for some reason I find its abstraction terribly captivating (it's actually a serving tray of candies).YousufYousuf's younger brother.Favorite shot!Wowza! What a cake! I can't imagine trying to move that thing...!At one point during the afternoon, Yousuf was to ride a white horse up to the door of the reception venue.While Yousuf rode in on a horse, Sabiha was to be carried in a litter born by male relatives.The whole procession was quite a spectacle.When they arrived at the door, their parents performed a ceremony with a coconut...The reception was like nothing I'd ever photographed at a wedding before, it even included some of Sabiha and Yousuf's friends getting up and peforming to a Bollywood musical score!I also didn't recognize a single thing in the buffet (I don't eat a lot of Indian food because I'm not big on spicy tastes). I decided to be brave and try a little of everything, partly because I was hungry, partly because what would I do if I found myself in India one day? Luckily a very nice woman who spoke English was in line behind me and told me what everything was and whether it was mild or wild!Man, they could party! EVERYONE got a go on the dance floor, and it went late, late LATE!