When one thinks of a wedding in Goa it is very likely that the first thing that comes to mind would be a beach wedding somewhere under the coconut trees, and while many people do come to Goa for a destination wedding on the beach, some people actually live in Goa and don’t need to travel far to have a wedding at an exotic location.

The long period of Portuguese rule has left an indelible influence on the original style of this small state and a large percentage of its population is Christian. The countryside is dotted with many beautiful churches and Old Goa has some incredible old cathedrals. Many families still live in their ancestral houses built in the typical Portuguese style, and as a matter of fact even I live in one of these houses in north Goa now, but this is another story.

The bride’s family still owns the old family home not far from Panjim city and regularly visit on family vacations. The old Portuguese house is full of memories and feelings. Wondering through the huge rooms I could almost hear the generations of people that used to live there and spending the time with the entire family there in the hours before the wedding was an unforgettable experience. It was only natural for Analisa to come here for her wedding and be led to the altar of an incredible church on the hill.

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is located in the heart of Panjim on the hillside overlooking the entire view of the city and built in 1540 it is one of the oldest churches of Goa. The wedding took place just after Christmas and before the New Year and the church was beautifully decorated. The scene of the Nativity and little Jesus in the crib was created at the bottom of the stairs and was so colorful that it almost looked a part of Disneyland.

The wedding itself was simple and beautiful. Having documented such a huge variety of Indian weddings it was beautiful to see an Indian Roman Christian wedding in it’s full glory. Bride’s maids and best men in suits, children holding flowers in their hands and the whole feeling of the magnificent church was quite a change for me.

The wedding reception was held at the garden of the Cidade de Goa where we finally got our share of decorated coconut trees. It was a total fun that lasted well into the night. It was truly awesome.

Traditional Christian wedding in Goa
Posted in

Sephi Bergerson

15 Comments

  • If only we were all so lucky to be able to live in Goa! Superb Images!

    • Kismet, it is not as easy as you think 🙂 life is not so easy here. there is a danger of coconut falling on your head, the sand on the beach comes in your swim suit and of course the bugs can come in your mouth when you are on your scooter without a helmet . . 🙂

  • Sephi………Wow!…….wonderful pictures……..you caught the action/expressions at the right moments…… what vibrant colours……those of Analisa and Jaidev exchanging wedding rings and saying their vows are just great and so also the one of Analisa’s grandmother.Excellent work Sephi……..congratulations and all the best.Cheers, Filipe Colaco.

  • Truly, a touch of class! Analisa and Jaidev have arrived. Each picture is an expression of the myriad emotions floating through the entire wedding happening. Congrats to photographer Sephi, as well as Analisa, Jaidev and guests, the work of his art.

    Father Tony da Silva SJ
    GOA

    • Thank you for the comment Father, and belated Happy Easter.

  • Sephi, your images are truly stunning.  I especially love how you handle dimly lit, even pitch-dark scenes with such artistic skill.  Off the top of your head, what is your favorite way to combat light that is extremely, extremely dim?  I love to embrace shadows, but sometimes I feel like at least a little supplemental light is needed, so I wonder how often you take the time to set up a remote, or just skilfully bounce on-camera strobe, or direct flash… …Or if you almost always just crank the ISO and hit max aperture?  Forgive me if you’ve talked about this in great length before on your blog, I’ve only just recently found it and browsed a ton…

    =Matt=

    • Hi Matt, thanks for this comment. I obviously do have a couple of Nikon strobes with me but I try to use them as little as possible. I’d rather use high iso and capture the light the way it is. I use very open lenses so this is usually enough. I do feel that shadow is as much information as light so this is not a problem for me if the picture is ‘dark’. Hope this answers your questions.

  • Never seen such beautifully documented wedding photography on Indian websites.  Great work!  Such a pleasure viewing these pictures!

  • amazing clicks…it was mere pleasure viewing such great pictures…keep it up! 

  • I am going to click a friend’s wedding today & I must admit, I am nervous. I dropped by to seek inspiration 🙂 Your work is outstanding Sephi! 

  • the photo of don bosco and the bride is offensive it tries to portray some hidden message … God know if it is purposely uploaded or an coincident?

    • There is always someone who might find something offensive about something. I’m sorry if you are offended, but this was not the intention.

Comments are closed.