AMI & SIDD
Ami and Sidd will be married at Pelican Hill and the Ritz-Carlton Dana Point over Thanksgiving weekend.

JEN & FARBOD
Jen and Farbod were married in June at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey.

RESHMA & AMIT
Reshma and Amit were married in July at the Nixon Library.


(Sadly, my favorite grafitti wall is no more. Vandals recently spray painted over it.)

SHAYLA & MIKE
Shayla and Mike will be married in September at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs.

ANIKA & SHARDUL
Anika and Shardul will be married at SOKA University over Labor Day weekend.

KACY & LEE
Kacy and Lee will be married in October at the Monaco Mansion.

PAYAL & ROHIT
Payal & Rohit were married in July at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. You might have seen their baraat — featuring Tai the elephant — on ABC or NBC, both of which covered the “first time an elephant had been in Beverly Hills in 15-20 years.”

SAVITA & JAY
Savita and Jay were married at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott this past weekend.

NATASHA & PRATIK
I am not shooting Natasha and Pratik’s wedding, but I was delighted to do an engagement session for them because they are just absolutely lovely people. Their session was a gift from the adorable Smeeta.

Lizzette and Shad chose to get married in the Church of Santo Domingo, which was built in 1539 and is just breathtaking to behold. I shot the wedding of Andrea and Andres at this church a few years ago, and despite the addition of some random palm trees in its interior, it still ranks as one of the most awesome churches I’ve ever seen. My good friend Jennifer Dery was a wonderful second shooter, and since she’d also photographed a wedding there a few years back, she was completely familiar with the city. (She’s a fabulous photographer, so if you’re having a wedding in San Diego, be sure to check out her great work.) In fact, she actually showed me many parts of the city that I hadn’t seen on my first visit (mostly because I was too hot to move). When hair and makeup ran nearly an hour late, Jen ended up getting all the guests out the door and over to the church, where the priest made a few jokes, then threatened to leave. An hour late and with only one minute to spare before the priest went home, an antique Mercury brought Lizzette, her father and I to the front door of the church. I had to sprint to the front of the church, because the processional began the minute Lizzette stepped out of the car. But it’s all in a day’s work at a Cartagena wedding.

For their reception, Lizzette and Shad had an open-air dinner on the lower level of the Casa del Arzobispado Hotel, then moved their guests upstairs for drinks and dancing. At 1 a.m., Devil’s Hour began, and a ton of costumed, partying racket-makers stormed onto the dance floor to twirl and have fun with the guests. I’d never seen anything like it, and really had a lot of fun watching all the craziness. Despite the fact that Lizzette and Shad (I think) partied until 4 or 5 a.m., they both rallied for a day-after session, which started at the Hotel Santa Clara (such a pretty hotel), and then continued throughout the winding streets of Cartagena. By the end of the shoot, we were all covered in sweat and humidity-caked dirt, so I suggested a dip in the pool, and Lizzette and Shad agreed. Be sure to scroll to the end of this post to see how much fun they had climbing into the pool in full tuxedo and white dress. Thanks, Lizzette and Shad, for including me and Jen in such a wonderful time in your lives. We loved working with you, and the post-shoot mojitos will be a fond memory for years to come.

The Bhindi Family

The Patel Family


Peeps . . .

Peeps . . .

And more peeps . . . .



Neville gets the biggest laugh of the night when he unfurls (and begins to read) the list of “Why I’m Awesome, By Taju Patel”



Ajay (of Special Occasions) and Raj (of Sound Nation), looking swank. Ajay was the DJ for the night, and he rocked the house.

When Cinal and Taju started planning their 900-person reception, they took their inspiration from years of going to nightclubs, boutique hotels and stylish restaurants. Since they both had a love for bright colors and abstract design with a modern twist, meshing their styles was as simple as thinking up possibilities. At the end of the day, Cinal and Taju both wanted something different, trend-setting, dramatic and that had an exciting club feel — Miami’s South Beach meets Hollywood Glam with a bit of high-end Las Vegas thrown in for good measure.

These original personalities both wanted to stand out in the crowd by trying to come up with unique ideas. And the creative and talented Shawna Yamamoto was the perfect person to help bring their design ideas to life. When the doors were opened and guests were let inside, they delighted to an absolute wonderland of blues, purples and silvers, including a silver couch flanked by plexiglas pedestals filled with colored water and topped with flowers. As if the photos below weren’t evidence enough, check out the ridiculously creative cake. Shawna asked Cinal, “Do you want a traditional wedding cake?” to which Cinal replied, “No.” The end result? One of the most creative cakes this photographer has ever seen. The reception also featured a candy lounge, which paid homage to Cinal’s sweet tooth. Coordinating a 900-person reception is no small feat, so Cinal hired the fabulous Jeannie Savage at Details Details to make sure everything ran smoothly. Jeannie brought a team of 7 or 8 great girls (I lost count), and every aspect of the reception went off flawlessly without Cinal or Taju having to worry about anything.

Cinal and Taju carried their singular style through the design of their custom-made super-bling reception outfits. After trying (and failing) to find just what she was looking for in India, Cinal co-designed her outfit from scratch along with the designer for India’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Meanwhile, Taju’s uber-stylish outfit was designed by Nilesh at Mitesh & Nilesh. Even Vinod and Sudha Bhindi pitched in with the design, so the search for originality became a bit of a family affair.

While the photos speak for themselves, I asked Cinal if she had anything she’d like to add anything about her design and coordination team. “I have to thank Shawna for taking what we dreamed about and wished for, and making it into reality. Without her, nothing would have worked. And Jeannie and the team at Details Details were more than I ever imagined!!! They were perfection!! We didn’t worry about one thing the day/night of our reception.” I’ll have much more to say about the reception in Part III, which I hope will go live by early next week.

With coordination by Jeannie Savage and the team at Details Details, floral artistry and design by Shawna Yamamoto, lighting by Amber at Amber Event Design, hair and makeup by Oscar Naranjo at Ziba Beauty, DJ stylishness by Ajay at Special Occasions, catering by Jay Bharat, fruit station and ice carving by Jorge Tapia at Crystal Creations, ice sculpture by James at Crystal Ice Creations, dance floor/chargers/chairs by Chiavari Chair Rentals, linens by Diana at 3-Generations, cakes by Jennifer at Beverly’s Best Bakery, chocolate fountain by Scott at Amor Chocolate Fountains. And with jewelry by Bhindi Jewellers. And with second camera by Yoshi Morimoto at YM Images and third camera by Christine Marie at Christine Marie Photography.

This is a cake! All those little white things on top are cakes! I can hardly believe it! It was just amazing.






The cocktail party decor was done in reds, with favors in gold boxes.

And a bit more on the décor from Shawna Yamamoto, who provided this great info:

“For inspiration, Cinal and Taju said they wanted purple and turquoise, and told me that they loved crystals and manzanita branches. They both wanted a modern yet fresh feels. We talked about hanging some of the trees from the ceiling, practicality suggested that we take another approach, so I needed to create something massive enough to make it feel as if the centerpieces came from the sky. I used the color choices they provided to me to create mini-environments. The mini-environments helped the 900 guests feel as though they were at a party for 150 (hence, the nine centerpieces).

As we brainstormed the cake, I wanted to take their “up for anything” ultra modern mindset and change up the idea of a wedding cake. I knew I didn’t want it to be like anything we had seen before, so I thought, ‘Why not have two stands, and then have them work in harmony together, creating a 3D art piece using cake and other pieces that fit in with the décor?’ So I took pieces of the centerpieces and just went for it. Beverly’s Best Bakery was great to work with, and their mini cakes came together beautifully.”

Cinal and Taju’s wedding took place at the Long Beach Hyatt under a modern plexiglas mandap draped in crystals and roses, and surrounded by candles floating in glass pillars filled with water and flowers. The Bhindi men all wore a lush green, while the Bhindi women dazzled in their beautiful saris. Cinal was carried in by her brothers (including the fab Ronil), which always lends a lovely sense of pageantry to any wedding processional. Also, since Cinal is light as a feather, carrying her was easy. LOL. After the ceremony, a tearful viddai took place before the couple departed for a quick spin around Long Beach. After that, it was a few games to see who would run the household (can you guess who won?), and then some champagne before we headed outside for some portraits. This couple is game for anything (yet another reason I adore them), so we had a great time creating a ton of fun shots.

There’s just no way to cover this wedding with only one blog post, so be sure to check back later this week for Part II — The Reception (with fabulous decor by Shawna Yamamoto and coordination by the lovely Jeannie Savage at Details Details).

With custom mandap and florals by Shawna Yamamoto, videography by Aman and the team at Samson Productions, hair and makeup by Oscar Naranjo at Ziba Beauty, DJ craziness by Ajay at Special Occasions, Vinod Bhindi’s awesome car by Bentley, and Cinal’s jewelry by the one and only Bhindi Jewellers.

And a fun one of me at work, courtesy the fab Yoshi Morimoto.

Once the reception started, everyone delighted to the choreographed dance that Ribha and Peter performed. Who knew that Peter was such a Shahrukh Khan? After toasts, dinner and some open dancing, Peter’s sister took the microphone to provide a history of her gift to the couple, which was an incredible traditional Chinese Lion Dance. The dance was extraordinary, and photos absolutely do not do justice to this dance team’s artistry (mostly because I cannot post 100 photos here, and the images can’t capture the extraordinary music). This wedding was yet another blending of two great cultures, and I know Ribha and Peter are going to have a great life together.

With event design and coordination by the always fabulous Sonia Sharma, floral artistry by the dazzling Shawna Yamamoto, hair and makeup by the wonderful Jeannie Jeffries at Couture Bridal Service, DJ rockitude and dhol players by Sunil and the team at Pure Sound & Lighting, videography by All Video Productions, and incredible Chinese Lion Dance by The Immortals.