Neetu's Mehndi Ceremony

Well, after owning this SLR camera for less than a month, I was called upon by my family to capture the memories at my sister's pre-wedding events.  For those of you that aren't familiar with Sikh weddings, there's a lot that goes into a Sikh wedding. 

Lots of different ceremonies, meant to bring families together, share laughs, satisfy some superstitions and religious beliefs, make for an interesting and action-packed week leading up to the wedding.  The first event I photographed was Neetu's mehndi (spelling?) ceremony. 

Basically, the bride invites all of her sisters, cousins and aunts to join her in getting henna professionally applied.  While the bride's henna is the most complex and intricate, everyone gets a touch of henna, mostly on their hands and/or feet.

Here are a few samples from the evening of June 17, 2010.

Take a look at the complete album here.  To download the original images, contact me.