Posts Tagged ‘Mehndi’

What a year has 2010 been! Wow! We’re sorry for dropping out of the blog world for a few months there, but we’ve been busy shooting and editing like never before. Throw into the mix this year’s Suhaag Wedding Show which we participated in for the first time, and things have been crazy! Good crazy that is! And 2011 is looking even good-er! Nevertheless, having made bunch of our clients happy this summer, we’re now here to post some of our favorite weddings and pictures from this summer.

To kick things off then, here are a few of our favourite snaps from Ali and Nasma’s Mehndi that took place in London, Ontario.


London Ontario Wedding Photography
London Ontario Wedding Photography
London Ontario Wedding Photography

She walked into our lives wearing yellow shoes on a bright summer day. With her restless eyes constantly running, she talked about her wedding, our book collection, the view from our downtown condo of the Ottawa river, Mehreen’s hair, food, life in Ottawa, life elsewhere and much else. Half an hour later she left. The two of us shared a look and then muttered something along the lines of, “She’s cool. [Pause] Why does she like us so much?”

A couple of weeks later she was sitting in our living room, three of us plopped on our white IKEA couch, her hogging the remote control in one hand, a plate in the other, as we all ate something delicious Mehreen had cooked and watched “So You Think You Can Dance”. A little while later we shared our funny YouTube finds, the laptop hooked up to the TV laughing our asses off.

Then there was the time she decided to be our Ottawa tour guide; the time both of them dropped by to give Mehreen company after the accident; the time they came by on Mehreen’s birthday leaving their best friend’s wedding earlier; and of course the numerous times she’d run into us at weddings and yell and wave frantically upon our first sight, “DOST! HELLO DOST1!”

We still don’t know why you like us Afroz. But, we like that you like us. And we like you too. A lot!

And Usman, we like you too, coz YOU’RE THE MANAGER! (sorry internet; inside joke – maybe another blog entry some other day – you’ll be hearing a lot more of these two).

Afroz and Usman are getting married this weekend in Ottawa. And we’ll be there as their friends, and their photographers. Gitty up!


ottawa wedding photographer

1. Dost is Urdu for Friend.

A couple of entries back we posted a couple of pictures from Nida and Saif’s Mehndi and Wedding that we covered in Mississauga. We also said that it was the most fun and authentic wedding we had seen in a long time. Today we give you a little taste of what in our opinion all Mehndi events are supposed to be like.

We started off the evening by taking some shots of Nida as she arrived at the venue.


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There was this classic poster of Madhubala in the dressing room, and Mehreen asked Nida if she could replicate the pose. She could barely keep her laughter, but she pulled it off pretty neatly.

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There was something about her dress that was very authentic and reminded us of village life. So we decided to go for a snobby Chaudri style pose. We asked her put her one leg up, rest her arm on the leg, and look sideways. Mehreen specified, “Snobs don’t smile!” lol! Nida didn’t need much more in way of direction. Does this girl know how to carry herself or what!

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This is pretty much where the posed shots ended, and we got down to business capturing the essence of the rest of the evening with whole bunch of candids.

Saif arrived with his side of the guests and brought a wicked Dhol wala.


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As Saif’s friends broke out into Bhangra, Saif unwilling to control himself, jumped down from the stage and started makin’ it happen with his buddies.

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mississauga-wedding-photographers-1

Nida was then walked in by her brother.

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As Nida’s brother took her up the stage and handed her off to Saif, there was this quick all-in-fun exchange of “Keep your hands off my sister” moments that Mehreen captured perfectly.

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First look shared.

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As the bride and groom were just settling down on the stage, the crowd once again started to dance in front of the stage, including the bride’s father, the groom’s friends, and pretty much everyone else. Who could have then stopped Saif and Nida.

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The traditional offering of sweets, in this case Gulab Jaman, to bride and groom then started.

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A friend of groom’s dedicated an excellent rendition of “Hai tujhe bhi ijaazat, Karle tu bhi mohabbat”.

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mississauga-wedding-photographers-1

And of course the girls sang all the Mehndi songs on the traditional Dholki. For those not accustomed to the desi culture, yes that is a spoon, and it serves as an added rhythm keeper to the dholki. Who needs hi-hats or cymbals!

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mississauga-wedding-photographers-1

And this is only half of the Mehndi so far. We will add the rest of the pictures later in the week.
More information available at our Mississauga Wedding Photography website www.AliphAurMeem.com