Amir & Nasrine's Wedding Day 3 - Ceremony & Reception | 5th Avenue Event Hall | Atlanta Indian Wedding Photographer

Catch up with Day 1’s Mehndi Party here and Day 2’s Pithi Ceremony here

All good things must come to an end, even a three day wedding ceremony! Sunday was more akin to your traditional Western wedding since we started early in the day with the bridal preparation and eventually flowed into ceremony and reception. The story of the day begins early on Sunday at Nasrine’s house where Dina of Dina Marie makeup was already beginning…

After spending a bit of time photographing and filming Nasrine, we shot over to Amir’s house to see what the boys were up to. Amir was starting to get ready as well, but as with any almost every groom, it’s a much less extravagent affair than the makeup and hair that goes into making the bride look her best.

Back to Naz’s! We cut across town again and went back to Nasrine’s house where she would be waiting for Amir to come over and pick her up.

During this brief respite, now that she was fully dressed in her wedding gown, we took Nasrine out on the patio to take these sets of portraits (mix of photos by Zac and Betty in these outdoor portaits):

I love all of the intricate details that go into an Indian wedding gown, it’s just amazing! Not that Western gowns are not gorgeous in their own right, there is definitely something magical about making a solid color (white) look stunning on a beaming bride.

Amir arrived to pick up his bride, but before she could leave another quick gift was exchanged and Nasrine received new shoes. While Nasrine was receiving new shoes, Amir is greeted in his car by the sister of the bride (Jharine) who serves him strawberry milk.

Bride in tow, a knot is tied to symbolize the couple being locked together.

Back to Amir’s house for more ceremonies with the groom! Upon arrival the two newlyweds are greeted by the mother of the groom who blesses them and cleanses their feet.

Much like Amir had to drink the strawberry milk from the sister of the bride, both bride and groom have to serve each other and bow to the other getting a drink while the friends of each side attempt to prevent the bride or groom giving up too much! Another fun game that is played is each side searching for a coin that is buried in a bowl of rice, who will find it first?

From here they played the wedding game of Koba Kopi (is that spelled right? Someone help me out!). Nasrine is greeted by members of the family while they ritually pass the rich through their hands and then toss it on the bride.

If you can believe it, as evening approaches we finally head back to the 5th Avenue Event Hall for the wedding ceremony and reception. Once we arrived Naz was taken to the ready room and we snapped a few portraits while she anxiously awaited the start of the evening’s events.

The ceremony itself is pretty “normal” by Western standards except the beginning pact which is made between the families by the Muslim leader. This part of the ceremony is called the Nikah in Islam. After this ceremony we proceeded into such standard events as speeches by the bridesmaids and groomsmen, exchanging of rings, and the cutting of the wedding cake.During a break in festivities we stole away the bride and groom to take some formal photos. We had intended to do these much earlier in the evening but with the events it just was not feasible. We got them done however! Much like Day 2’s portraits of Nasrine these were taken behind the OTHER side of the Event Hall. What you don’t see is the power meter to the left or the dumpster on the other side! These portrait photos below again were taken by me, Zac, whereas most of the other photos in this blog post are taken by Betty since I was filming the video.

What’s a wedding without some dancing, especially at an Indian wedding!! Jharine, Jaushin and Annie performed two awesome Bollywood-inspired dance numbers in between events.

And as the night wore on everybody got on the dance floor for some final dancing at the end of the night!





The night ended with the always-touching giving away of the bride by her mother. The event is always emotional and a real tear inducer for everyone witnessing it as the mother says goodbye to her daughter.Whew, what a weekend!! Betty and I were absolutely exhausted by Sunday night and I think Miles was too. My Mom (Miles’ grandmother) came in town for the weekend to take care of Miles and I know those two had a great time together. Grandma got a chance to see her grandson and Miles had someone new to play with. Sorry for the repetitive nature of these posts over the past couple of days but it has been a huge help with me traveling to write about one subject, one wedding, and keep that train of thought! I actually wrote one blog posts in the Houston airport and one the plane to San Jose as I start this vacation in Big Sur. This final one tonight is written from a Motel 6 in San Simeon :). I’d actually rather be photographing another Indian wedding but taking my mind off of brides and grooms will help me think more creatively and to work my creative muscles in a different way for a few days. More to come, I hope to write a quick post for Thursday some time on the road from a hotel!!

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Wedding Photography Equipment List (B&H Affiliate Links)
Betty’s Photography Equipment
Nikon D700 Digital SLR
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G
Nikon Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II
Nikon Speedlight SB-900
PocketWizard PLUS II Transceiver

Zac’s Videography Equipment
Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR
Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L
Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS
Canon 50mm f/1.2L
Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS
Canon Speedlight 580 EX II
Canon XF100 HD Professional Camcorder
Tiffen Steadicam Merlin
Litepanels LP-Micro
Manfrotto Fluid Video Monopod
Manfrotto 501HDV Fluid Video Tripod
Zoom H4N Handy Digital Recorder
Rode Shotgun Videomic
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Zachary Long and Betty Feng are a husband and wife team of wedding photographers based in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia and available for Western weddings, Asian weddings, South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) weddings, and everything in between. View our wedding portfolio website at http://www.FengLongPhoto.com/ and use the Contact page or email us at FengLongPhoto@gmail.com to inquire about 2011 and 2012 wedding availability.