We have colour. We have noise. We have Bhangra. We have a barn. We have one very special wedding as Pooja and Prem get married at The Old Kent Barn. Settle in – this isn’t going to be one of those quiet weddings….

Here’s Pooja putting the finishing touches to her clothes for the day.

I say “finishing touches” – like a lot of brides she had been up since the early hours full of excitement for her big days. However, preparations had really started several days before. The Henna had taken a few hours to get just perfect.

If you look closely at her bangles, you can see her name and her husband’s name worked into them.

And I’ve said it many times before, but there’s that moment when somebody you know and have met a few times before the wedding is suddenly transformed into a beautiful bride. For obvious reasons, I call it the “wow” moment….

Though of course, there’s always just one more bangle you can fit on your wrist….

Mind you, the guys didn’t scrub up too badly…

And even the flower colours were perfect.

But there’s always one moment, just before the wedding. It may come early in the morning, or it may come with just minutes to go. But it always happens. It’s the “real” moment. This is it. This is real. I’m getting married today. It hit Pooja as she was sitting by the window.

Meanwhile, Prem had his own real moment as he stood waiting.

And of course Pooja was on time. She had a tuk-tuk to take her to the wedding.

And there, in The Old Kent Barn Swingfield, in front of their family and friends, Pooja and Prem were married.

And they were ready to emerge into the bracing air.

All ready for a couple of pictures.

Unless you’ve experience it yourself, it’s a little known fact that the dhol that announces the bride and groom into an Indian wedding is actually the second loudest sound on earth.  There were 4 drummers and the noise they made was incredible.  Running backwards while avoiding the video crew kept me on my toes.

And all too soon it was time for the first dance.  Just like a regular first dance at The Old Kent Barn.  But with confetti bombs….

As I mentioned earlier, the dhol is the second loudest sound on earth.  Forget earthquakes, forget Krakatoa, forget nuclear tests.  There’s only one thing louder.

Bhangra.  Lots and lots of bhangra.

I’ve mentioned in the past that my assistants have many duties.  One of the most important is getting out of the way when there are 6 blokes jumping around with swords. Tom Langley was assisting me at this wedding.  He did as he was told and stayed well back (my insurance doesn’t cover sword impact) but grabbed this shot of me showing I was a little closer.

 

Pooja and Prem are away on honeymoon right now – somewhere a LOT warmer than Kent.  But you can leave comments for them below.  Or hit the like button to share on Facebook.

And of course, I couldn’t leave The Old Kent Barn without just one more shot.  Another of the things Tom had on his to-do list was looking after all the kit in the freezing cold for this picture.