A Three-Day Unconventional Wedding in Hua Hin, Thailand | Karishma & Karan
Some wedding stories begin long before the wedding day.
For Karishma and Karan, theirs began with a surprise proposal in October 2023 at Six Senses Fort Barwara in Rajasthan. Karishma had planned everything for Karan, including a grand Bollywood-inspired setup and their closest family members, all without him knowing. She got in touch with us via Instagram and explained the whole surprise plan to us and that’s how we had the privilege of photographing it too.
Almost three years later, we found ourselves in Hua Hin, Thailand, photographing the next chapter: a three-day destination wedding at Sheraton Hua Hin.
For Galaxies Photography, this was particularly special because it was our first wedding outside India. We travelled with a five-member team, three photographers and two cinematographers, to document an Indian couple living in Norway as they celebrated with their closest friends and family.
There was also a beautiful reason for choosing Hua Hin: it was where Karishma and Karan first met.
So this wasn’t simply an Indian destination wedding in Thailand. It was a return to a place that had already been part of their story.
Our First International Wedding
Destination wedding photography comes with a different set of challenges. You’re travelling with an entire team, adapting to a new location, unfamiliar light, different logistics and a schedule where several things can happen at once.
Long before travelling to Thailand, we had multiple meetings with Karishma and Karan. We discussed the celebrations, setups, performances, important moments, their taste and the overall visual direction.
That preparation proved invaluable once we arrived. A destination wedding moves quickly, and there is very little time to figure everything out from scratch. Because we already understood their vision, our team could focus on executing it while still looking for opportunities to improve it.
For us, one of the biggest lessons was simple: good preparation creates room for creativity.
Day One: An Intimate Welcome by the Sea
The first day was intentionally intimate.
It was the guest welcome and welcome dinner, with only the closest people invited for the speeches. There was also a Norwegian influence in the way the evening unfolded, giving the welcome a character that felt different from a traditional Indian wedding function.
It was warm, personal and relatively quiet.
And then there was the beach.
The beach at Sheraton Hua Hin became one of our favourite parts of the trip. It was clean, peaceful and especially beautiful around sunset. One of our favourite frames from the welcome dinner came during the sundowner, where the light, sea and atmosphere created a very different visual character from the wedding environments we were used to shooting in India.
Outside the events, we would sometimes go down to the beach and simply sit there.
When you’re shooting a destination wedding, the destination isn’t just a backdrop. It becomes part of the experience.
Day Two: Poolside Fun and Bollywood Madness
If Day One was intimate, Day Two changed the energy completely.
The pool party brought together more family and friends, and everyone seemed to let their inner child out. There was laughter, chaos, movement and plenty of unfiltered moments.
For photographers, these events are incredibly rewarding because people stop worrying about the camera. They’re simply having fun, and that’s when some of the most authentic candid wedding photographs happen.
By evening, the energy shifted to the sangeet.
Karishma, Karan and their friends had prepared dance performances, including several first-timers. But once the music started, nobody looked like a first-timer.
They absolutely went for it.
Karishma was particularly excited about performing with her bridesmaids. She had prepared a special dance with them and completely owned the stage.
One of my favourite photographs from the entire wedding is a photograph of Karishma with her bridesmaids.
It isn’t necessarily the most elaborate image, but it represents something more important: friendship, excitement and the people who had been part of her journey.
Day Three: The Wedding Day
The final day carried a completely different energy.
The morning and afternoon were spent with close friends and family, along with mehendi and preparations before the evening’s main events.
For us, these hours were just as important as the ceremony. A wedding story isn’t only about the bridal entry or the couple at the mandap. It is also about anticipation, nervousness, laughter, getting ready and the conversations before the big moment.
With three photographers and two cinematographers, we carefully positioned our team to capture these moments from different perspectives without getting in the way.
The goal was simple: make sure nothing important was missed.
A 12-Foot Veil and a Bridal Entry Across the Pool
Then came one of the most visually striking moments of the wedding.
Karishma had envisioned an unconventional bridal entry, and the planners created a customised ramp running across the pool, with the mandap on the other side.
She walked towards Karan with an approximately 12-foot-long veil, while two of her cousins held it behind her.
It was dramatic, elegant and completely personal to her vision.
But the setup was only half the story. We also needed to capture Karan.
As Karishma walked towards him, Karan stood near the mandap with tears in his eyes.
Those are the moments you cannot direct. You can plan the ramp, camera positions and lighting, but you cannot plan someone’s expression when they see the person they love walking towards them.
Because we had discussed the setup extensively beforehand, our team knew where to be: covering the bride, groom, wider setup and reactions around them.
The Frame We Almost Missed
Destination wedding photography comes with one variable nobody can control: the weather.
The weather near the beach was not ideal during the bridal entry, and we almost lost the drone perspective we had planned.
But we decided to try anyway.
We managed to get the drone up and captured the bridal entry from above.
It became one of those frames that reminded us why you should always leave room for one more attempt. You can plan the location, setup and shot, but sometimes the weather decides whether you get it.
The job is to adapt.
Photographing Love, Not Just a Wedding
The biggest thing we took away from photographing Karishma and Karan was how naturally their relationship came through.
There was no need to manufacture chemistry. They simply had it. Their affection was visible throughout the celebrations, and knowing their story made those moments even more meaningful.
They had built a life together in Norway, returned to the place where they first met and brought their loved ones together to celebrate.
For us, that is what wedding photography is ultimately about.
It’s about photographing relationships.
And Then Came the Full Moon Party
Just when we thought the three days couldn’t get more energetic, the Full Moon Party began.
The elegant wedding environment transformed into a full-blown party. The setup was grand, the performances were energetic and the atmosphere was completely unapologetic.
The drag performances brought another layer of energy to the evening.
Then Karishma had one final surprise.
She had prepared another performance with her bridesmaids, inspired by a larger-than-life pop-star performance and look. After everything she had already done during the wedding, she stepped onto the floor and delivered it effortlessly.
From a photography perspective, these celebrations are incredibly exciting. The lighting changes, people aren’t posing, movement is everywhere and the energy is unpredictable.
You simply have to be ready.
What This Destination Wedding Taught Us as Photographers
Preparation Creates Creative Freedom
One of our biggest learnings was the importance of communicating with the couple long before the wedding.
Because we had multiple meetings with Karishma and Karan, we understood their taste and knew what mattered to them before arriving in Thailand. That allowed us to concentrate on photography rather than figuring things out at the last minute.
A Photography Team Needs to Work as One
Three photographers and two cinematographers can capture much more than one person, but only when everyone communicates.
During a major moment, one photographer can focus on the couple, another on family reactions and another on the wider frame, while the cinematographers work around their own perspectives.
The goal isn’t simply to have more cameras. It’s to have a team that works together so that nothing important gets missed.
Don’t Just Document the Setup. Improve It When You Can.
As photographers and cinematographers, we don’t always have to accept a setup exactly as it is.
Sometimes a small change in position or timing can make a major difference to the final photographs.
For example, while the lighting during the ceremony was good, starting the wedding an hour or two earlier could have created even better natural light.
These are conversations worth having with couples and planners. The goal isn’t to change their vision, but to help their vision photograph and film as beautifully as possible.
Always Be Ready to Adapt
The drone shot during the bridal entry was almost lost because of the weather. It worked out because we tried.
Destination weddings have more variables, weather, travel, light, locations and timelines. Things will not always go according to plan.
The best wedding photographers aren’t necessarily the ones with the perfect plan. They’re the ones who know what to do when the plan stops working.
What Couples Can Learn From a Destination Wedding
If you’re planning an Indian destination wedding in Thailand or anywhere else in the world, involve your photography and cinematography team early.
Share your references. Discuss the venue and decor. Talk about the important moments and, most importantly, let your photographers understand you as a couple.
A photographer who understands your relationship can create much more meaningful photographs than someone who simply arrives with a camera and follows a shot list.
And don’t feel pressured to recreate somebody else’s wedding.
Karishma and Karan’s wedding worked because it was unmistakably theirs.
There was a Norwegian influence, Bollywood, a pool party, a dramatic bridal entry across the pool, an emotional wedding ceremony and a full moon party to finish everything.
It wasn’t designed around one idea of what an Indian destination wedding should look like.
It was designed around them.
Looking Back
When we look back at Karishma and Karan’s wedding, it isn’t one photograph or one event that comes to mind.
It’s the entire journey.
A surprise proposal at Six Senses Fort Barwara in 2023. A destination wedding at Sheraton Hua Hin almost three years later. The intimate welcome dinner and sundowner by the beach. The pool party. The first-time performers at the sangeet. Karishma dancing with her bridesmaids. The mehendi. The anticipation before the ceremony. A 12-foot veil moving across a ramp over the pool. Karan standing at the mandap with tears in his eyes. The drone frame we almost missed. And finally, a full moon party that brought the entire celebration to an unforgettable close.
For Galaxies Photography, it was our first international wedding.
But more than that, it was a reminder of why we love destination wedding photography.
Every wedding gives you a destination. Every couple gives you a story.
But every once in a while, you get to photograph a story that started years earlier, return to the place where two people first met, and document the moment when all those chapters finally come together.
For Karishma and Karan, that place was Hua Hin.
For us, it became one of the most memorable wedding stories we have had the privilege of photographing.
Hua Hin, Thailand | February 2026
Karishma & Karan
Photographed and filmed by Galaxies Photography And Film Productions