Photographers: Grace, Andrew & Alex
Finally, these set of images are making its way to the blog. The wedding of Nabil & Maisha in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is a massive week long event, planned a year in advance, and executed so well. Maisha loves planning, and she aspires to be a wedding planner one day. Our team flew to Bangladesh to cover only 5 out of the 9 events for Nabil & Maisha’s wedding. When we arrived at the Dhaka airport, I was surprised to be greeted by Nabil and an army escort as we exited the plane ramp. Maisha’s dad is the Major General in the Bangladesh army – that explains the army escort!
The first event was the Bride’s Holudh, held at Maisha’s residence. Don’t you just love the way the house was decorated? It’s an awesome idea and looks so amazing!
My jaw dropped when I saw these table ‘tents’ too!
Maisha just looks so gorgeous, waiting on the palki before making her grand entrance. Earlier that day, Nabil’s family were busy packing and organizing the gifts for Maisha’s holudh. These are just a few of the many different gifts that were there that day!
The 2 fish below represent Nabil and Maisha (Maisha’s the red one!). It’s a tradition in Bangladesh for the groom’s family to send fish to the bride’s family. Just for fun, Maisha’s little fish is given a cigarette to smoke along the way as the whole boat is taken to her family… yes you guessed it right… with an army vehicle!
The interesting thing I realize is that weddings in Bangladesh generally happen at night. This is the 2nd time I have photographed a wedding in Bangladesh, once in Chittagong, and now in Dhaka. So in the evening, we headed to Maisha’s home for the holudh. That evening, I had a taste of Dhaka traffic! It was a little stressful trying to get there on time with the traffic jam, but we made it!
See what I mean about the hanging lights as a beautiful decoration? The background is never ‘black’ but always colourful!
The gifts arriving one by one…
And then Maisha’s grand entrance…
A blessing with coins.
The tying of the rakhi, a beautiful bracelet. The bride must not take off the rakhi throughout her wedding celebrations, even in the shower!
The tumeric paste that is used during the holudh.
Throughout the night, there were many fun performances. Nabil eventually appeared towards the end of the event. The groom is not supposed to be present during the bride’s holudh.
Next post in this series of images – Nabil’s holudh. Coming soon!
Are all the pictures shot with bare flash or did you had like a light modifier on it?
wow… is she like a princess or something? thats really some big massive elaborate wedding! the decorations are indeed jaw-dropping! =)
The tent decorations were gorgeous! Definitely something different from the norm that we see in Malaysia but I bet the deco costs a fair bit of ka-ching!
Superb photography!! love the lighting setup!
What a grand wedding. You must feel so privileged to have experienced such a beautiful, colourful and cultured wedding. Simply amazing … wow … can’t wait to see the series you will be putting up.
Pamelyn, yes I do feel so privileged! It’s really lovely to be able to experience different wedding cultures.
Jason and Shan, thanks! I did not use any light modifiers, just flash and a bounce card. Not everything was shot using a flash, in fact, most of it was photographed with available stage lighting and video light.
Goingkookies, I seriously don’t know the cost! It looks grand, for sure.
C, nope she’s not a princess. :) This is just the celebration before the actual wedding day!
awesome pics grace. very extravegant celebration b4 the wedding. The wedding day would be even vavavoom!
Beautifull
BE PREPARED Grace and team !!!! to come to bd again in a couple or 3 years’ time :P
how did u find the weather Grace? this time of the year bd weather is pleasent :)
Hello… didnt u attend the wedding…? won’t u upload the wedding and reception pictures..? If u have attended the wedding and reception, please can u upload them for viewing? great work by u!
Thanks everyone! RM, yes, of course we will come again if you hire us! :)
Saif, yes we will upload it soon, we just decided to post it at a different time! Thanks for viewing!
Hiya, i a bit ketinggalan zaman and just saw these. Love the pixs esp the one with the fish with the ciggy in its mouth!! Nice detail :)
Beautifull