It’s been awhile since I’ve photographed a Malayalee Indian Orthodox wedding…and I was privileged to the first wedding photographer to photograph a wedding at the new St. Gregorios Orthodox Church! Congrats to Jason + Deepa!

Shout out to working with some of my favorite wedding vendors: Floral design, centerpieces and wedding bouquets by the uber talented: Vale of Enna and the amazing videography team of: Chris and Oliver Cinema!

In case you missed their engagement photos, be sure to check out their Chicago engagement blog post!

I’ll start off w/one of my favorite creative wedding picture from the day!

Deepa was getting ready at her hotel…a few detail photos to start us off- Her Indian bracelets-

I put her wedding shoes on this ledge for a creative composition

Her hair and makeup looked great! The bride is literally ‘glowing’ in this photo!

Putting on her earrings-

Deepa’s Mom was helping to pin the veil with her bridesmaids holding the edges-

A nice black and white portrait of the bride!

Loving her look!

There was a great photojournalism moment when we went downstairs to find a couple friends who were blown away by Deepa in her wedding dress!

There was an Indian Orthodox prayer ceremony before the family departed for the church-

Meanwhile…at the groom’s house-

His JT cufflinks that were gifted by his bride!

A couple groomsmen helping Jason with his cufflinks-

Loving this portrait of JT!

JT gathered the groomsmen around for a spontaneous huddle before the day’s celebrations begin!

The prayer ceremony at the groom’s house-

The flower girls making their way down the aisle!

Deepa making her way down the aisle with her parents!

The view of the wedding processional from the balcony-

Loving this photo of the bride with her mother-

A Christian Indian Orthodox wedding-

A prayer over the groom-

A prayer over the bride-

The important necklace tying the knot (Minnukettu) of the ‘minnu’ ceremony for the Christian Malayalees

Another Indian Orthodox ceremony – the Manthrakodi- when the sari is placed over the bride’s head

The blessing of the marriage-

One last photograph before the wedding ceremony ends!

We headed out to grabe some creative portraits before their wedding reception began…JT had twice as many groomsmen as bridesmaids…so I wanted a bridal party photograph that looked ‘balanced’ – and I think this photo does the job!

The bridesmaids- and I love the color palatte

A groomsmen photo-

The newlyweds!

A creative bridal party portrait! I was standing on a very narrow ‘island’ in the middle of the street for this photo! The blue from their Indian sarees really pop in this picture!

A beautiful wedding picture in the park!

We made our way to their reception at The Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows, IL.

Flowers were done by Vale of Enna-

After the bridal party introductions…there was a lot of excitement on the dance floor!

The bride and groom with one of their Malayalee Indian Orthodox traditions of lighting a lamp together-

The traditional Indian ‘milk ceremony’ with their mothers-

First dance photograph-

The first of two dances performances!

JT surprised us all by getting out onto the dance floor and showing his moves!

Pulling his bride onto the dance floor!

Deepa with her bridesmaids

JT was having a good time on the dance floor!

Thanks Deepa + JT for a great time + for having me as your wedding photographer! There are so many more amazing photos from your day…I couldn’t possibly put it all on this wedding blog post! Stay tuned for more!

with love,

your Chicago wedding photographer,

Kenny