A Sri Lankan Wedding in Orange County – Anjana & Vijay

Anjana and I were good friends in high school and though I was interested in photography and visual arts, I never thought in a million years that I would be a professional photographer one day and would be photographing her wedding. It’s funny how life works out that way. Last year, Anj and I were reunited with a couple of our other friends as we were all in charge of planning our 10-year high school reunion. In the midst of our planning, Anjana got engaged and asked me if I would be available to shoot her wedding. Not only was I honored that she asked and excited to be able to document her day, but I was also really excited to get to document a Sri Lankan ceremony since the traditions of that culture are so different from the weddings I typically photograph. I’ve always been a huge fan of the colors, the beautiful cultural details and just everything that is involved and makes these weddings so special and unique.

It was a really long day for everyone as tradition dictates that ceremonies are in the morning which means that the long process of getting ready starts really, really early.

This is one of my favorite shots of Anjana because it shows off that amazing hair that is covered in fresh jasmine. I’ve never seen anything like it.

The ceremony took place at the Chinmaya Mission of Tustin.

After the ceremony, it was time for all the family photos and a little lunch for all 550 of the guests (yes, 550 people!) My second shooter were able to take a little break from shooting during this time before the evening festivities began, so we met up with everyone back at the Hyatt of Garden Grove for part two of the day which started with getting ready, again. 🙂

Love this shot of Anjana’s parents. 🙂

Anjana was such a stunning bride. And I have honestly never seen her look happier than she did that day.

All the girls hair was done by Kacee Geoffroy.

Anjana’s sisters were also so beautiful in the saris that her mom made special trips to India to have made.

Yes, Vijay. You were looking pretty nice yourself. 🙂

After portraits, it was time to party! The details were really simple but so pretty thanks to what looked like thousands of candles everywhere.

Before the bride and groom made their grand entrance, they played a video that was a spoof of Slumdog Millionaire. It was hilarious and had everyone in the room laughing in their seats.

Immediately after they entered, Vijay took his seat while Anjana remained on the dance floor and started a flash mob that was meant to surprise the guests as well as their parents. Anjana is an amazing dancer and has danced since she was little and now teaches others. She had spent the time leading up to the wedding sending out dance training videos via YouTube so that everyone involved in the flash mob knew the dance. It was the best flash mob I’ve every seen in person. And keeping in line with the theme of the evening, they danced to Jai Ho- the Oscar-winning song from Slumdog Millionaire. 🙂

The flash mob was meant to surprise the parents, and it did. I loved their reaction that was caught by my awesome second shooter Ally. 🙂

Later in the night, Anjana’s best friend from high school Zandi sang a medley of songs. Zandi has a truly amazing voice and it was awesome to get to hear her sing again.

And then, there was a ton of dancing. It was an awesome party!

Here I am with Anjana, Zandi and our friend Stephanie representing for QHHS. 😉

Anjana & Vijay – thank you so much again for asking me be your photographer. It was a beautiful, memorable day and I was honored to be a part of it! Congratulations! xoxo