Sabina’s Mehndi was the first time I got to come down to Selma, CA for a shoot! It is a fun little small town that feels like you just stepped back in time. I love places like that and is the best part of being a wedding photographer. We get to go to so many places!
Sabina’s fiance, Nav, is from Canada and so he got an Air BnB in Half Moon Bay, right near their wedding venue, Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay. It just happened to be a crazy hot day down in Selma for Sabina’s Mehndi. Since that is her home town, that is where they did her Mehndi event even though it was a few hours from the wedding venue.
It was well over 100 degrees and the sun was scorching down. Sabina got her Mehndi done in the comforts of her living room by Hussain Maaz, who is definitely one of the top Mehndi artists in the Bay Area. His designs are so clean and look so good in photographs and will look good on the wedding day too. That meticulous detail needs clean lines or it all blends together and looks weird later on!
Once her hands were done, we took her outside for a few portraits but we had to work extremely fast since it was so hot and she didn’t care for being in the sun too much! Literally on the end of her street were some vineyards and she trusted me to go out and get some shots there for a few minutes. Fortunately, we did that because those are some of the best shots from the day and they were widely seen on all the top online wedding blogs on instagram!
Once we came back inside, she proceeded to get her feet done and we packed up so we could head back to the bay and prepare for the next day’s festivities.
We love capturing Mehndi and recommend that all brides get their Mehndi done get photos and video of the Mehndi process. It is a great way for us to get these amazing shots of the design, as well as, meet the family of the bride and her friends. On the following days, we already know each other and everyone is more comfortable in front of the camera!
The Mehndi always looks the best right after it is applied and while the design is dark and shiny from the lemon/sugar mixture that is applied to it as it dries. The next day the Mehndi will be orangish and not as beautiful as when it was originally put on, and the next day it will be super dark but that is the wedding day. To get the full effect, we like to shoot the Mehndi getting done, get some shots of it the next day and then a lot more shots on the wedding day.
We also do different poses the various days so we have new and fresh ideas for each event. If you don’t have your Mehndi covered, you are potentially missing out on lots of fun shots and things that you can do for photos that you just won’t do on the other days.
Do you have a favorite Mehndi artist or design? Let us know in the comments!
