Maya and Vilas' Autumn Wedding At Mill City Museum And McNamara Event Center In Minneapolis / November 6, 2021 by Bradley Hanson

Maya and Vilas had a two day Indian wedding in Minneapolis. Day one was at the lovely and historic Mill City Museum on the Mississippi River near the Stone Arch Bridge, and Day two was at the massive McNamara Event Center in Minneapolis on the University of Minnesota campus. They live in New York, but got married here because this is where Maya grew up.

The McNamara Event Center was completely transformed by the wonderful Reena Maheshwari of Kahani Events. You can see more of her work at https://www.kahanievents.com.

I was just interviewed in World's Best Wedding Photos about how I got started in Seattle shooting weddings on film, how I work, and why I never ended up delivering pizzas. They also selected some of their favorite photographs of mine. If you’d like to read the entire interview and see the accompanying gallery, click here.

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I have two accounts: @bradleyhanson is my personal one, all square images from my iPhone since 2008. @bradleyhansonphotography is my professional portfolio, a mix of weddings, family and portraits, as well as black and white and color landscape images. If you are still reading this far, you’ve already figured out how to find my website…

I am a Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota based wedding photographer, specializing in documentary style weddings, Jewish weddings and Indian/Hindu weddings all over the world. To see more of my work, click the wedding galleries under the portfolio heading. To inquire about my rates and availability, call me at 206-393-8292, email me at bradley@bradleyhanson.com or fill out the contact form (click the “contact” link on the top right above this paragraph).

Gauthami And Moulin's Joyful 3-Day South Indian Wedding At The St. Paul College Club, Intercontinental Hotel And Landmark Center In Downtown St. Paul, MN / July 10, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

The next wedding in a series of Indian/Hindu weddings this spring was this one in three locations I love shooting at: The St. Paul College Club on Summit Avenue, the Intercontinental hotel on St. Paul’s downtown waterfront and the historic Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul.

I’ve photographed over 600 weddings (25-30 Indian weddings) and this was one of those weddings where everyone seemed to be smiling the entire time. When the bride sent me an email, one of the words that peppered her comments was “joy.” Looking over the highlights, that’s all I see: people having fun and a couple with a great connection, surrounded by loving and supportive friends and family.

This was a south Indian wedding, which has a few different customs. The ceremony is a little longer, and typically starts earlier in the day. The marriage ceremony takes place on the mandap (stage), led by a Vedic priest who chants ancient hymns and verses, recalling the names of three generations of ancestors of both, the bride and the groom before all who have gathered to witness the wedding. The bride and the groom are hidden from each other, then exchange garlands when they are lifted onto the shoulders of their respective uncles.

A little background into the bride and groom: Moulin and Gauthami met in college, taking summer organic chemistry. They were good friends for a long time, then started dating when they were studying abroad in Paris. After college they’ve been following each other from Chicago to Madison to New Haven, finally getting married in St. Paul and now living in Massachusetts. They are both physicians now: Gauthami is in Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Yale and Moulin is in Electrophysiology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

To see more Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN portraits, wedding photography and weddings all over the world, visit my main portfolio on bradleyhanson.com or email me at info@bradleyhanson.com or call me at 206-393-8292 and we can discuss your wedding plans in detail. I have extensive experience with Indian weddings in Minneapolis, Seattle and even in Rajasthan, Udaipur, India.

Shruti And Erik’s Majestic Washington DC Wedding At The Andrew Mellon Auditorium / June 4, 2019 by Bradley Hanson

I’ve had a series of Indian/Hindu weddings this spring, so I wanted to get a few of them posted.

The day after the Mehndi at the bride’s parents house, Shruti and Erik got married at the majestic Andrew W Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC. As is typical of Indian and Hindu weddings, it was a 3-day event. It rained the entire time except for an hour before the ceremony. It did convert to a little mist during the Baraat, but resumed again during the ceremony. Unfortunately, the bride was feeling a bit under the weather, occasionally sneaking hits of some cough syrup during the day. You’d never know from her energy level, though…

I’ve photographed over 25 Indian weddings and this was probably my favorite Baraat (the processional with the groom on a white horse) of all of them. It began in the beautiful but wet alley of the historic Mellon Auditorium. The old stone building amplified the sound of the music, the drummers and the family and friends clapping in time. Erik, on horseback, really got into it and his gigantic smile was reflected by those around him. One never knows what is coming during the Baraat, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a very stylish couple on coordinated bicycles, watching the whole thing in the alley.