Tanya first contacted me through some posts she had seen on my brother's wall. They both studied at the same time in St.Stephen's in New Delhi. What was interesting was she hadn't seen a Syrian Christian wedding on my portfolio and was hoping hers would be the first, and it was!
We chatted on and off and finally the day came to head to Kottayam. I reached Kochi airport where I took the taxi to head there. Half way through my journey, a really sinking feeling set in that I had forgotten to bring memory cards. I stopped the car, and checked my bags and indeed I had forgotten! I started to panic! I was miles away from the city and around me were only small towns where I knew I would not be able to find the high-capacity/high performance cards I use to shoot weddings. I called my cousin who is wedding planner in Cochin to see if she could help but didn't lead anywhere. So I stopped at a local electronics store to see what cards they had. No one keeps CF cards in these small stores. Your best is to use SD cards. Thankfully both my cameras supported SD cards but the cards available were SO outdated which meant they were super slow to write files. With my RAW file size starting at 30MB, each photo would take several seconds to write which means a delayed reaction time for me! But I had no choice. I bought almost Rs. 6000 worth in 8GB cards (I managed to find one 32GB card as well!). My dear friend Varun Suresh had already started searching for options for me in Kottayam through another photographer friend, Elvin Jacob. Thankfully Elvin, who had shot in Kottayam several times, found a studio in Kottayam (that kept faster cards and that were nice enough to stay open for me!). I can't remember the same of the studio but I really want to thank them for staying open and helping me! This wedding shoot would not have been possible without you!
By this time, with all the nervousness and the crazy driving of my taxi driver, I was on the verge of throwing up, which I did. The rest of the journey was filled with thoughts of what-ifs and of feeling really stupid.
Thankfully, the wedding next morning, went off smoothly and everything worked like a charm (except I was a little slower than normal due to the card speed). I'm sure, Tanya & Navin had no clue about all this as they were quite the chirpy couple smiling through what I am convinced was the hottest day in Kottayam.
I was also really impressed with the post-wedding reception, something I've never witnessed before or since. Everyone sat. Everyone stayed quiet while people talked on stage. And only after the priest completed a short prayer, did eating & socializing begin. I also liked how simple the wedding lunch menu was. There was pulao rice, raita, fried fish, chicken curry followed by a pudding. If only other weddings couple follow this simplicity. I'm tired of seeing 100 items on wedding menus!
In the evening, there was an intimate reception held in Kumarakom with some speeches, cake, bubbly followed by some dance floor shenanigans (which I can't post)
Thank you Tanya & Navin for having me over!
