We love to photograph multi-cultural weddings. Maybelle is filipino and Mandeep is Sikh,Punjabi. An interesting, fun fact, about Maybelle and Mandeep is that they first met skydiving in Monterey, CA. Their sikh wedding ceremony was at the Fairfield, Gurdwara. Maybelle wore a beautiful fuschia punjabi suit and Mandeep wore the traditional Sherwani and jhooti(shoes). The Baraat procession was fun filled with lots of dancing and dhol music and Mandeep arrived in the traditional style on a white horse. When the baraat arrived at the wedding venue, a ceremony known as the milni ( meeting or merger) was performed. The groom and bride’s parents and close relatives greet each other and exchange presents. The Varmala ritual was also performed, Maybelle and Mandeep exchanged flower garlands by putting it around each other’s neck.The Sikh marriage ceremony is also known as Anand Karaj meaning “blissful union”. Anand Karaj consists of the couple revolving around Guru Granth Sahibji four times as the Laava (Marriage Hymns) are being recited. Maybelle’s father placed one end of saffron-colored scarf in Mandeep’s hand, passing it over the shoulder and placing the other end in the her hand and the two took their vows. The Sikh ceremony ended with happy couple portrait shots in their varmalas(garlands).
