A Long Island Wedding · Two Ceremonies · One Love Story



A Sikh Anand Karaj at Mata Sahib Kaur Gurdwara in Glen Cove — followed by a Jewish chuppah ceremony and black-tie reception, both held at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.


Glen Cove · Woodbury, NY | Fusion Interfaith Wedding | Photographed by Memory Lane Studios

CINEMATIC WEDDING TEASER


Some weddings you photograph. Others you witness — the kind where two families, two languages, two ceremonies, and two generations of tradition are woven into a single day on Long Island.


Alina and Mikhail's wedding was the second kind. A Sikh-Jewish fusion wedding split between two Long Island venues: the marble sanctuary of Mata Sahib Kaur Gurdwara in Glen Cove, New York for the Anand Karaj, and Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury — which hosted both the Jewish chuppah ceremony in the garden and the black-tie reception that followed in the ballroom. Mehendi-stained palms in the morning. A chuppah draped in ivory florals by evening. A bride in a crimson lehenga who became a bride in an ivory ballgown between the ceremony and the first dance.


As a luxury wedding photographer serving New York City, Long Island and Connecticut, we've spent years photographing weddings that refuse to fit into a single category — interfaith, multicultural, multi-day. Alina and Mikhail's day was the distilled version of everything we love about this work: big, specific, deeply personal, and impossibly cinematic.


Here's how their day unfolded, in photographs — and, below, in film.

Day 1 —Mehendi


Pre-Wedding · Henna Morning Long before the lehenga came out of the garment bag, Alina sat for her mehendi. Henna paste drawn into a curling lattice of peacocks and paisley, a hidden "M" tucked into the wrist for Mikhail to find.


A mehendi morning is one of our favorite pre-wedding events to cover. The light is soft. Nobody's in a rush. Mothers, sisters, cousins and nieces drift in and out with chai and bangles and laughter that doesn't know it's being photographed. We tend to shoot this one quietly, handheld, on film-emulation presets — letting the color palette of marigold and turmeric do the work.


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Day 2 - The Baraat & The Anand Karaj at Mata Sahib Kaur Gurdwara


The Sky Had Other Plans (And Then It Didn't)


If there's one moment guests will be talking about for years, it's this: dark clouds rolling over the Mata Sahib Kaur Gurdwara on Long Island, rain pouring down relentlessly, and a Baraat that simply refused to be dampened.

Guests refreshed weather apps. Timelines were quietly reconsidered. And then — minutes before the procession was set to begin — the rain stopped. The clouds parted. A warm, golden light settled over everything like a quiet answer to an unspoken prayer.

Mikhail stepped out to a thunderous roar of cheers. The dhol beats hit harder. The dancing got wilder. What could have been a logistical headache became one of the most electric Baraat moments we've ever had the honor of photographing. That's the thing about real weddings — the unplanned moments often become the ones you treasure most.


The Anand Karaj: Sacred, Emotional, Deeply Beautiful


Inside the Gurdwara, the energy shifted from jubilant to reverent. The Anand Karaj — the Sikh ceremony of blissful union — unfolded with the grace and meaning it has carried for centuries. As Alina and Mikhail took each laav (round) around the Guru Granth Sahib, the room grew still. Each step, a promise. Each circle, a lifetime of commitment taking shape.



Alina was absolutely radiant — her floral lehenga a work of art, her soft glam beauty brought to life by the incredibly talented Rachel Esco of Glam by Esco. Mikhail, striking in his ivory sherwani, never took his eyes off her.

We quietly moved through every sacred moment — the ardas, the lavaan, the tears on parents' faces — capturing not just the ceremony, but the feeling of it.


Day 3 - The Jewish Wedding at Crest Hollow Country Club

From Sacred to Spectacular


If Day Two belonged to ceremony and soul, Day Three belonged to pure, uninhibited celebration. Under the perfect light of a September afternoon, guests arrived at Crest Hollow Country Club — one of Long Island's most iconic wedding venues — for the Jewish ceremony and reception.

The space was transformed by the breathtaking floral and decor work of Let's Bloom Florist, with lush romantic arrangements that perfectly bridged the elegance of both cultural traditions. Planning and event design by Artistic Affairs NY ensured every detail — from the ceremony layout to the reception flow — was seamlessly coordinated across all three days.


The Chuppah & Breaking of the Glass

Standing beneath the chuppah, surrounded by the family and friends they love, Alina and Mikhail exchanged vows that left the room in beautiful, tear-filled silence. When Mikhail's foot came down on the glass — mazel tov! — the room erupted. It was one of those moments where you feel the joy physically, like a wave moving through every person in the space.



As photographers and cinematographers, our job in moments like that is simply to not miss it. We didn't.



The Speeches: Laughter, Tears, Repeat


From the heartfelt words of Alina's parents to her sister's perfectly balanced toast, every speech added a new dimension to the love story we'd been documenting all weekend. Mikhail's mother brought a warmth to the room that hushed every conversation. His brother had the crowd laughing one moment and wiping their eyes the next. (The emotional rollercoaster we all secretly love at weddings.)

The First Dance. The Hora. The Night.


The first dance was cinematic — intimate, glowing, every bit as romantic as it sounds. And then the hora began, and any pretense of a quiet evening went straight out the window.


No one stayed seated. Not a single grandmother. The energy on that dance floor was electric, the laughter nonstop, the circle of the hora growing and spinning with a joy that felt almost defiant — joyful, alive, unstoppable. DJ Tony kept the night moving from start to finish, reading every room perfectly. Premier DJ provided live music that added another layer of magic to an already extraordinary evening.

The flavors of the night were just as memorable — Benares Catering honored South Asian culinary tradition while delighting every guest at every turn.


Behind the Lens: What It Means to Photograph a Fusion Wedding

Three-day celebrations like Alina & Mikhail's are among the most meaningful work we do at Memory Lane Studios. They ask us to show up fully — for the quiet intimacy of a Mehendi circle, the sacred weight of an Anand Karaj, and the electric joy of a Jewish reception — treating each moment with equal care and intention.

This is what we're here for. Not just documentation — storytelling. The kind of imagery that lets you relive not just what happened, but how it felt to be there.

Vendor Credits

We are so grateful to the incredible team of vendors who made this celebration possible:


Featured On

This wedding was featured on Maharani Weddings, one of the leading South Asian wedding publications in North America.


Planning a Fusion Wedding on Long Island?

If you're planning a South Asian fusion wedding in New York and looking for a photography and cinematography team who truly understands how to honor both cultures — we'd love to connect.

Memory Lane Studios specializes in Indian, South Asian, Sikh, Jewish, and multicultural fusion weddings across Long Island, New York City, New Jersey, and beyond. Our approach is quiet, intentional, and deeply personal. We don't just capture weddings — we preserve legacies.

Get in touch with us at memorylane.works