Engagement

Some commitments require no big words or fancy phrases, only hands, rings and a room full of people waiting to witness it. Engagement between Charitha and Prathvin was a classic example of shy looks, nervousness that gradually turned into laughter, and the happiness filling the picture effortlessly. As the rings were placed onto their fingers, it wasn’t just a ceremony anymore, but the first chapter of their love story officially started.

Bride Gandhapu Nalugu

The moment before the lights of the wedding and the audience, the moment before all the glamour, it is the traditional ritual where turmeric marks the skin of the bride and her female relatives gather around her, laughing and smiling. Charitha’s Gandhapu Nalugu was an amazing ritual – every spot of haldi on her skin was a wish and every laugh of her cousins would be remembered by her forever.

Groom Gandhapu Nalugu

It is a powerful thing Prathvin, sitting among his family members, accepting turmeric and blessings that are meant to bless him for the future. It is not as exciting as the wedding day, but it is just as important a ritual of getting ready for the main event, dressed in beautiful shades of gold.

Bride Haldi

Everything yellow from head to toe  from her hands to cheeks, dupatta to bursts of laughter all around her. It was the celebration of womanhood, sisterhood, and sheer joy in Charitha’s Haldi ceremony. From aunts applying haldi rather enthusiastically to cousins dancing around her to a bride glowing from head to toe, this was sheer joy in its purest form.

Reception

The wedding was about rituals, and the reception was about celebrating. Charitha and Prathvin were making their entrance into marriage for the very first time as husband and wife, all dressed up in their best attire. Every embrace, every “at last!” and every dance step was the celebration of becoming a couple.

Wedding

From the chanting of mantras to the presence of fire and two families uniting, Charitha and Prathvin’s wedding was all that any Telugu wedding should be: divine, emotive, and messily beautiful at the same time. From Kanyadanam to Saptapadi, each ritual was full of years of tradition, and every teardrop was filled with sheer joy.