Ren & Ram - Sikh Wedding in Silicon Valley, California

Ren: 'Ram & I have so many mutual friends in common and there have been numerous instances where we have been in the same place at the same time and yet we failed to notice each other... Although, rumor is that he had a crush on me ;)
I celebrated my 30th birthday at Sino and he just so happened to be there with his friends. I found out later that he somehow ended up eating my birthday cupcake (No, he did not wish me a Happy Birthday). Finally, one evening, we were hanging out at Santana Row and our mutual friends introduced us, and the rest is history.'

The black dot behind her ear has a very strict mission, to ward off the evil eye:

The group selfie or the grelphy (patent pending) is mandatory.
To make the story more interactive, I let you count all the bride's maids:

Meanwhile, Lidia is in East San Jose with the groom, aka:

I'm not sure if Ram is trying to protect his eyes here, but probably he should:

A Punjabi Band leads the baraat from the groom's home:

Ram changes the limo at the gurdwara:

Ren's family is welcoming them in front of the temple:

Accompanied by live music, the milni is more joyous than ever:

It's time to go inside:

Only if it wasn't a skilfully improvised barrier of beautiful ladies on the way:

Much like the Golden Gate bridge, there's a toll, but unlike the Golden Gate bridge toll, it can't be paid online:

The level of trust must be pretty low:

Finally, everyone enters the main diwan hall:

The colours just brighten my day:

This reminds me of a field with sunflowers following the sun:

The ceremony can begin now, that everyone is all eyes and ears:

During the lammas, Ren's brothers form a wall hard to penetrate:

The end of the Anand Karaj is marked by the sounds of a huge nagara drum:

The sagan always brings lots of love and money:

The groom's family possesses an extremely efficient anti-shoe-stealing mechanism. His name is Arvind and he comes all the way from Canada:

And he's tall, like really tall:

But the shoe business and any other problem can be dealt with in a mature way now, that Ren and Ram are married:

We have a few minutes for pictures:

Time for the doli comes quickly and Ram faces another live barricade on his way to take his new wife home:

The negotiations are tough.

And they end up in a rather poetic way, with rose petals, money and silly string all over the surrounding atmosphere:

As Ren makes her way down the stairs, the silence is broken only by scattered sobs:

Briefly, Rashaan and his buddy, Benjamin, put a smile on her face:

We still have a reception to go to this evening, so we must be on our way:

The groom's mother and the wife of her husband (inside joke) welcomes the newly weds with milk:

And mustard oil:

The Regency Ballroom at San Jose Fairmont promises an amazing night:

This amazing:

And this amazing:

Sunny and Arvind make the introductions:

Immediately after the speeches, the exquisite cake is severely wounded:

And has to be taken to the ER:

Or, maybe, they just want to make room for a special performance by Ren's alltime favourites, Backstreet Boys:

And introducing the Backstreet Girls:

First dance:

Followed by a night of bhangra:

That's adorable:

Congratulations once again, Ren & Ram! Thank you so much for inviting me to California, to be the one who tells your story!

love.more.cosmin

Vendors 'n' Things:

Anand Karaj - Sikh Wedding Ceremony - Sikh Gurdwara San Jose
Reception Venue & The Beautiful Cake - San Jose Fairmont
Wedding Planner - Ambiance by Tejal
Traditional Outfits - Wellgroomed
Hair & Makeup Wedding - Ana K & Sharona Usher
Hair & Makeup Reception - Tamanna of Dress Your Face
Mehndi - Neeta Sharma
Decor & Flowers - Floramor
Music - Wicked Entertainment
Limo - Corinthian
MC's - Sunny & Arvind
Video - Nebulous Productions
Second Shooter - Lidia Grosso
California Sikh Wedding Photographer - San Jose Punjabi Wedding Photographer

Get in touch with me - cosmindanilaphoto@gmail.com