Here are a couple photos we took a week before their wedding when we hung out to talk about the two of them and the last minute wedding details.

***more than 70+ photos can be found on my facebook page. Including the prayer ceremonies at the B&G’s houses before the wedding ceremony. Feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see all the photos there***

Church
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel
190 S Prospect Ave
Elmhurst, IL 60126

Reception
The Meadows Club
2950 W Golf Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

On the wedding day, we started in Des Plaines…I love Shaina’s laugh as her friend and hairstylist, Gigi, helps put the finishing touches on the veil. Not to mention that her twin sister (maid of honor) seems to almost have the same laugh…like a mirrored reflection-

A photo of the wedding bouquet-

I loved the dress and veil-

A great makeup job was done by Lillian from Starlight Chicago.

Once at the church I grabbed these two portraits of Abin.

I love this photo of Abin…like…I wish I had my picture taken there too! =)

As she began to walk down the aisle…his eyes began to well up…ever so slightly-

The bride is escorted by her two brothers down the aisle-

I love this moment Shaina has with her father just before he presents her to Abin-

Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel was a beautiful church with wonderful natural light coming through. It is located in Elmhurst College…Shaina’s alma mater.

In an Indian Christian wedding…the priest (achin) blesses the rings at the very beginning.

He surprised his bride by singing a song for her-

The ever so important manthrakodi – as he places the sari around his bride. If you want to see photos of the necklace tying (minnu/thali) you can see those in the facebook album.

A group photo in front of Hammerschmidt Chapel-

We didn’t have too much time for creative portraits, but I did manage to get this photo after climbing onto the roof- =) In my mind, it looks like a flower-

I love this photo…Abin & Shaina were so great to work with- their connection was just so obvious to me and it made my job as their photographer so easy!

What a moment- I LOVE this-

Love this photo too! =)

He picked her up with ease!

The wedding cake with matching tiffany/baby blue colors.

The ever so important milk drinking ceremony- One of the few couples that actually drank all of it! =)

Thank you Abin & Shaina for having me as your wedding photographer! And thank you for being willing to walk all over for those creative portraits! I’m so glad we took the time for those! As you were faithful to your convictions regarding your relationship before marriage…I can only imagine the wonderful things that lie in store now that you are one- God bless you guys!

with love,

Kenny

Contact – Portfolio – Facebook – Twitter

But let’s rewind for a minute and start off the wedding photos with a little getting ready action at the Double Tree Hotel in Schaumburg, IL

Reeja’s wedding Sari-

I love the details-

The wedding shoes-

There was an Indian traditional ceremony at the hotel before we left for the Church.

Her father was taking in the moment-

We caught up with the guys at the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church (1220 South 60th Court in Cicero, IL)

I grabbed Reeja for a couple creative photos before the ceremony began-

Another important Indian tradition is to tie a necklace behind your bride- and there is a specific way to tie the knot.

The reception was held at the Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows, IL

The Indian tradition of lighting the lampstand together-

Moms giving their children some milk to drink (another Indian tradition)

And a picture of their flash dance! It was soooo cool! I wish someone taught me the dance too! =)

I really like the lighting at the Meadows Club. It helps for pictures like this-

After the kids performed, there as a pretty awesome dance group that performed-

Libu was tearing up the dance floor-

Thanks you guys for a great time! I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather down in Oklahoma! I’m so happy for you both!

with love,

Kenny

It was a wonderful celebration, and though raindrops began to fall shortly before we began our portrait session, we were able to brave the elements to for some fun photos-

A quick shout out to Alexandra, a wedding coordinator from Exquisite Weddings who helped make sure their day ran smoothly. And to Joe Kang who helped me out with photography coverage.

Before I show their wedding photos, I want to share a couple from their engagement session from earlier this year. You can see the rest of the photos here.

***You can see more photos on my facebook page. Feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see all 60+ images there***

A photo of the wedding dress

I loved the color of her shoes-

Making sure everything is ‘alright’ under the hood-

Had a couple photographs taken before we headed down for the prayer time

I love this one-

It’s ‘ok’ to feed the wildlife- =)

A moment between father and daughter-

The sari and necklace for the Indian traditions-

I loved this one of Manoj as he awaits his bride walking down the aisle.

And though it was raining, the we still headed out for some photos! They came prepared with umbrellas! It made for some creative shots!

The ladies having a good time-

It was so windy that day, I had an idea for all the guys to throw up their umbrellas into the air! The wind did the rest!

The reception was held at the Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows. The venue does a great job with lighting-

More Indian Christian traditions, the lighting of the lamp!

I love this photo of the dancer-

A group with an Indian dance-

The Meadows Club has these awesome spot lights that make for a cool photo-

Thanks you guys for sharing your day with me! And thank you for being so willing to hang out in the drizzling rain for your photos!

with love,

Kenny

Nakai Photography