2 DAY Cairns WEDDING
Anchu & Kent
Anchu & Kent’s Lake Tinaroo & Cairns Wedding
Anchu and Kent both call Cairns home, so it made the most sense for them to have a Cairns wedding. Though with Kent’s family coming up from Sydney, and Anchu’s family flying from Canada, it was a destination wedding for most of the guests. But Cairns is one of the best places in the world to be during winter, and Anchu and Kent were definitely some of the best people in the world to be with.
Day One: Cairns Haldi/Mehndi
The Cairns wedding celebrations started off in the best way: with the Haldi. Setup in Anchu and Kent’s backyard, they had a quick Haldi ceremony with everyone getting a turn to bless the couple with the turmeric paste, before Anchu’s brothers dunked them (and me) with a huge bucket of water. After a short afternoon break (and a change of clothes), they went into a chill, casual Mehdni night with dosa, games, and henna art.
Day Two: The Wedding, Lake Tinaroo
After the first evening, we all got a day off to rest and make our way up to Lake Tinaroo for the wedding ceremony – not before a bit of setting up. Kent is a bit of a handyman, and he actually spent the afternoon putting the mandap together with his own hands. That includes all the nails, the wood, and making it level – that was all done by Kent. Such good work!
We were blessed with gorgeous weather going into the wedding ceremony. Usually an outdoor Hindu ceremony in the middle of the day is a bad idea, but luckily Anchu and Kent picked winter to get married, so the sun was nice and comfortable. After the traditional Hindu ceremony, Kent’s father took them through a traditional Japanese sake ceremony – where they drink from a sake cup three times, symbolising their past, present and future. It was beautiful to see both of their cultures represented, something that’s pretty unique to Australian weddings.
Kent is a bit of a joker, so it was pretty touching to see him tear up during their wedding vows. There were more than a few sniffles coming from the crowd, and definitely a few tears from Anchu and Kent.
Later on, we drove up to the northside of Lake Tinaroo for some beautiful shots around golden hour, before wrapping things up with a chill and casual reception back at the resort.
