Khushali and Pulin’s Indian Wedding by RIM Photography

Wow! I don’t know when I’ve been surrounded by such pagentry and beauty as my first foray into the Indian wedding ceremony and Garba of Khushali and Pulin. It was truly a breathtaking experience to delve into the rich traditions of Indian culture. The colorful clothing, intricate dancing, scrumptious cuisines and grand ambience made the celebration a feast for the eyes.

Indian weddings are characterized by elaborate rituals and traditions. I first joined the families celebrating the Garba the night before the wedding. It provides a wonderful opportunity for the two families to meet and mingle before the wedding began as they joined in the Raas, a dance involving pairs of people tapping out the rhythm of the music with dandia sticks.

The wedding day was equally rich in pomp and ceremony starting with the arrival of the groom and his family.  The groom is welcomed amusingly by his mother-in-law who playfully tries to grab his nose at the entrance.

I was entranced by all the intricate customs of the wedding ceremony from the exchange of garlands between the bride and groom to the honey and milk drink given as a token of love. In another part of the ceremony, the groom helps the bride in touching the seven betel nuts with her right toe, while both of them recite the seven vows for their commitment towards each other. There are more playful moments too, like the bride’s sisters trying to steal the groom’s shoes to the groom tugging his mother-in-law’s sari  in a way that it looks he is asking the bride’s family for gifts.

It was a truly an incredible experience that made me feel like I had stepped foot into another country without ever leaving Columbia.

Photos by Renee Ittner McManus/RIM Photography

Linda and Forrest’s Wedding at The Inn at Palmetto Bluff by RIM Photography

If there is a more beautiful setting for a wedding, I haven’t found it. You could not wish for a more romantic setting  than The Inn at Palmetto Bluff. The Hilton Head area resort offers a quaint village square surrounded by stately oaks where guests can stroll and take in the abounding natural beauty of the low country.

Linda and Forrest, along with their  family members, chose to make an extended weekend for their destination wedding by staying in cottage suites and upscale homes amidst the winding paths of this peaceful retreat.

Because they wanted to see each other in a private moment before the wedding, we arranged for Linda to walk up behind Forrest and surprise him with his first view of his beautiful bride in her wedding gown. The graceful grounds around the cottages provided the perfect romantic setting for this encounter.

There was something wonderfully timeless about this setting with its ancient oaks and dripping Spanish moss, so, in a change of pace from my regular postings, I’m presenting these pictures in classic black and white.

Photos by Renee Ittner McManus/RIM Photography

Regina and Paul’s Hilton Head Island, SC Wedding by RIM Photography

I love my Hilton Head Island destination weddings and Regina and Paul’s ceremony at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort’s Shorehouse was no exception. As with most destination wedding couples, we never met before the wedding day but developed a comfortable rapport over many phone and e-mail conversations leading up to the big day.

While about half of my weddings are on the coast, this was my first time to the Shorehouse at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort, a beautiful setting for a destination beach wedding with white folding chairs on an expansive deck overlooking the ocean. As with most beach weddings, after the ceremony and group photos, we took a few minute to escape down to the beach for a more intimate photo session of Regina and Paul walking near the water’s edge.

The reception was an easy walk to an adjacent deck where family members and friends enjoyed a fully catered sit-down meal, then danced the night away as the sun set over this idlyllic setting.  The only surprise was a sudden Southern downpour that put a momentary halt to the post-wedding speeches but quick thinking on the part of the staff meant easy access to the pull-down shades that protected the area from the ensuing storm. Within minutes, it had passed, the partitions came up and the dancing continued late into the night.

The most memorable part of this wedding for me was the affection Regina’s parents had for her. Though divorced, they were very much at ease with each other and made their daughter the center of the day, even sharing several dances with the three of them holding onto each other as they chatted and laughed and glided across the dance floor in a wonderful show of unity on this special day.

Photos by Renee Ittner McManus/RIM Photography

Karin and Theo’s Wedding at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Columbia, SC

Karin and Theo’s wedding was a first for me: a traditional Greek wedding at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Columbia, SC. Once we met, I combed Greek wedding websites to learn all I could about the traditions and ceremonies of a Greek wedding. Karin, an organizer par excellence, provided me with plenty of notes about the blending of those traditions into their ceremony and reception along with a hugely helpful schedule of what was happening when so I wouldn’t miss a beat.

As a photographer, I was like a kid in a candy shop: the sites and sounds and even smells were all so fabulously different than anything I had experienced at a wedding. The biggest surprise was that I was encouraged to photograph from the front of the church, such a novelty that I insisted on confirming that fact with the priests before the ceremony began.

Always respectful of the sanctity of the ceremony, I did my best to stay quiet and behind the wedding party so as not to distract from the hour-long ceremony. It felt odd, at first, to be up at that level, but, the vantage point was amazing! It felt so special to see everything in such detail and I was riveted by the holiness of the ceremony that’s continued unchanged for centuries.

I felt transformed back in time as the bearded priests, speaking in Greek, guided the couple through the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. Symbolism abounds in this holy ceremony as the priest blesses the rings and makes the sign of the cross over the bride and groom’s head. The “Koumbaro,” the couple’s religious sponsor, who is to guide them throughout their marriage, then swaps the rings three times between the bride and groom’s fingers.

Many rituals, like drinking from the common cup and the placing of the crowns on the couple, symbolizing the glory and honor placed on them by God, are repeated three times to denote the Holy Trinity. The couple then takes their first steps as husband and wife by walking around the altar (can you guess how many times?) as the Koumbaro walks close behind holding the crowns in place.

I could go on and on about this ancient and gloriously tradition-laden ceremony, but since pictures speak louder than words, let me give you just a glimpse of my first Greek wedding:

Photos by Renee Ittner McManus/RIM Photography