INDIAN WEDDING FRANCE - LAUREN & KAL
DAY 01
MEHNDI
Back in 2020 and 2021, I had 3 Indian weddings in France booked. But then Covid struck and all 3 were cancelled. Not postponed, but cancelled as in never to happen in France and this was something I was pretty sad about as I very much enjoy an Indian wedding whether it be Hindu, Sikh or as in this case, Bengali Muslim.
Back in the UK, I used to enjoy a few of these every year, but there are not so many taking place in France, so when Lauren & Kal came along saying, “hey Simon, would you like to come to our Indian Wedding in France”, I leapt at the chance.
BTW, if you look closely at any of the signage etc, the groom’s name will read Chotan, but he goes by Kal, hence the title of this post.
This was not just one single wedding, but two with a different flavour of wedding on the Friday and that can be seen by clicking here. This side of things took place over an additional 2 days with Day 01 being the traditional mehndi sometimes known as a ‘Henna Party’.
And that is exactly what happened, henna for the ladies while the men…well the men played table tennis and did most of the cooking. Until Kal’s mother Salihar turned up and took charge of the kitchen. Up to that point and beyond, best men Zia and Muj did a great job.
Everything over the 3 days took place at Gites La Colombiere in Dordogne, about 1 hour from Bordeaux.
As the sun went down, it was time to eat followed by a ‘how well do you know the B&G’ quiz hosted by the bride herself and was a lot of fun.
Above, we have a film/video of the henna party and below, some highlight pics and below that, Day 02, the second wedding day.
DAY 02
WEDDING DAY
Technically Day 03 of the events in France but Day 02 of the Indian Wedding.
It started off as they tend to, with some prep with makeup by Anais from Sunset Life. With the ‘other wedding’, the focus was a little more on the bride. This time, the groom had some extra focus.
The entire creation and set up for the ceremony, as with the Mehndi yesterday, was 100% hands on and DIY with everyone working like troopers for many hours to create the setting.
The caterers came in and did their thing, but otherwise this was very much a ‘family & friends’ affair.
Immediately after the ceremony, food was served followed by some speeches and then it was time for the event many had been waiting for, the holi colour fight!
The only problem with colour fights is they only last 2 minutes so as a photographer/filmmaker (and the official timekeeper!), it was flat out for 120 seconds trying to grab as much footage as possible with minimal kit damage and preservation of my eyesight. There were no casualties.
