Maternity portraits with Davina and Sanj

After an epic Delhi wedding, Davina and Sanj are ready for a momentous event of another kind: welcoming their first baby daughter into the family.

I’ve never heard of nuptials on this scale before. Yes, ok, there’s our Royal Weddings, but the bits we see of those are all a bit solemn. What Davina, Sanj and their 2,000 guests enjoyed sounds a lot more fun.

Yes, you read that right – 2,000 guests! Many were patients from Davina’s dad’s career as a doctor, but many were Sanj’s friends from London, who flew over just for the event. When they arrived at their hotel rooms, traditional Sikh wedding gear was laid out on the bed waiting for them.

How did Sanj know the right sizes to get? He tells me it was all organised on a huge Excel spreadsheet – one he threatens to send those guests on the ten-year anniversary to see if they can still fit into those outfits! If they can’t, they can at least partly blame Davina and Sanj – the free-flowing food and drinks during the five days of celebrations would mean that the plane they travelled on would certainly need a little more fuel for the return journey!

Five days of celebrations meant five different dresses for Davina, some so embellished and adorned that they weighed more than her. One was worn by her mother on her own wedding day, and will be passed on to her daughter afterwards.

Sanj made a grand arrival on the back of an elephant – a detail he insisted on from the start! There was also a train, a horse, a sword, a lot of dancing and a New Year’s Eve party thrown in for good measure, too.

Three photographers captured proceedings, and the most veteran one (with 40 years’ experience) said it was the best wedding he’d ever attended!

How long do you think it would take to plan an event like this? People normally allow a year for nuptials with 50 – 150 guests, yet Davina and Sanj planned theirs in just three months! Despite all the stress an event like a wedding can create, this couple didn’t let it get to them. They showed me their wedding album and every page is filled with joy. Their guests and their own faces are lit up on every page. A lot of that positivity comes down to just how happy these two make each other.

Davina loves Sanj’s values, and how he always puts family first. Sanj loves how Davina always gets things done. She’s beautiful. He’s funny. She loves cooking. He loves eating. Green Thai Curry and Lamb Biriyani are Davina’s specialities and she tells me that marinating the lamb overnight is the secret to a dish that sings with flavour.

They met at Formula 1 in India. They dated long-distance for a while and then decided that it wouldn’t do; they needed to be together. Sanj told me that he connected with Davina more than anyone else he’d ever met.

Of course, living with someone involves a period of adjustment, or compromise. You’ve each got your own ways of doing things; your own opinions and ideas.

But then, Davina got pregnant and everything changed. For the last two months especially, Sanj has just been in awe of her, her body and her ability to create life. That’s what our shoot today celebrated and this is their message for their baby: ‘Hurry up, we’re ready to meet you!’

I can’t wait to meet her either, with all the wonderful qualities of her parents rolled into one awesome little human 🙂

Davina and Sanj joke about hosting another event as epic as their wedding on their 10-year anniversary. And this time they might need an extra elephant: for their new baby daughter to arrive with them.

Id love to be on the guest list for that party! 🙂

If you’re interested in maternity photography in and around Bicester and/or Oxfordshire, please get in contact:

Sarah Plater LMPA is a qualified, certified professional photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.