Haldi, Mehendi & Sangeet Photography in Keshav Nagar, Pune

Three different jobs

The three functions are usually booked as one thing and they are not one thing.

They differ enough that treating them identically is the most common reason a family is disappointed with one of the three.

Haldi is short, outdoors and messy, and the coverage has to get close and accept the mess.

Mehendi is long and largely static. Most of it is waiting, and the photographs come from the people around the edges rather than from the centre.

Sangeet is a performance with a running order, and it needs that running order in advance to be covered properly.

What you can skip: equal coverage across all three, and any worry about the functions being informal. Informal is what makes them photograph well.

Tell us which of the three your family will care most about and the coverage is weighted rather than spread.

It is worth asking what to do about guests who want photographs with the couple.

They will ask, continuously, and at a first wedding families are unsure whether to allow it or manage it.

The practical answer is to let it happen, and to have the important arranged frames taken before it starts, because once it begins it does not stop.

It is also worth knowing that these functions do not need to be tidy to photograph well.

Turmeric everywhere, mismatched decorations and a room that is too small are all part of what makes them look like what they are.

First-time families worry about presentation far more than any of it deserves.