How long is a baraat?

A baraat takes thirty to forty-five minutes from the groom mounting the horse or stepping out of the car to the milni at the venue door, over a route of 100 to 300 metres. A baraat wedding photographer captures the groom before it starts, the dancing from inside the crowd, the bride’s family waiting, the milni garlands and the two families meeting.

The baraat is the one part of an Indian wedding that has no priest, no script and no natural end, which is why the question we are asked most often by grooms is simply: how long does it take? The honest answer is that it takes as long as you let it. We have photographed baraats that were twenty minutes of pure joy and baraats that wandered a hotel car park for an hour and a half while the bride waited inside in full jewellery. This guide is about getting the first kind.

How long does a baraat usually take?

Thirty to forty-five minutes, start to finish. That breaks down as five minutes for the groom to mount the horse or step out of the car and for the family to gather, fifteen to twenty-five minutes of procession with the dhol, five minutes of the final push at the venue door where the dancing peaks, and ten to fifteen minutes for the milni. A baraat that goes over an hour is nearly always a route problem, not an enthusiasm problem.

Stage	Typical time	What we photograph
Groom mounts up, family gathers	5 min	The sehra, the groom with his parents, the horse or the car
The procession	15–25 min	Dancing from inside the crowd, the dhol, the grandparents
Arrival at the door	5 min	The peak of the dancing, the groom lifted on shoulders
The milni	10–15 min	Each pair of relatives garlanding, the two families meeting

How far should the baraat travel?

One to three hundred metres. Far enough that the procession has somewhere to go, short enough that the dhol player can keep the pace up all the way. At most New Jersey banquet halls that is the length of the drive or the far end of the car park to the main entrance; at an estate it is the lawn; in Manhattan it is one block, agreed with the venue and sometimes with the city. Walk the route the week before with the venue manager and fix three things: where it starts, where it ends, and where the bride's family will stand.

Horse, car or on foot?

The horse is the tradition and it photographs beautifully, but it needs a venue that allows it, a handler, and a groom who is comfortable up there for twenty minutes. Many Central Jersey halls and Long Island venues permit a horse on the drive with notice; hotels in Manhattan and Jersey City generally do not. A vintage car, a convertible or a Rolls-Royce gives the same arrival frame with less to manage, and a horse-drawn carriage or a decorated open-top car works just as well. On foot is the simplest of all and the dancing is better for it, because nobody is waiting for the horse to catch up.

If you are set on a horse, book early, ask the venue to confirm in writing, and have the groom dismount for the final push to the door: the best dancing frames of the day come from the last thirty metres and he should be in them, not above them.

What does a baraat wedding photographer actually capture?

People picture the wide shot of the procession, and we take it, but it is not the photograph that ends up on the wall. These are:

• The groom before it starts. The sehra being tied, his mother's hand on his face, the moment he first sees the horse. Five quiet minutes before the noise.
• Inside the crowd, not outside it. One photographer walks backwards in front of the groom and one is in the middle of the dancing, at shoulder height, where the faces are. From the outside a baraat is a crowd; from the inside it is your cousins.
• The grandparents. Dancing, or watching from a chair at the side with the biggest smile of the day. Every family asks for these afterwards.
• The bride's family waiting. While the baraat makes its way, the bride's parents and brothers are at the door with the garlands. That anticipation is half the story.
• The milni, pair by pair. Fathers, then uncles, then brothers, lifting each other off the ground. We ask the bride's side to stand in a half-circle so every pair faces the camera.
• The first sight between the families. The frame where both sides finally meet at the door, before anyone goes inside.
• The bride watching from above. If there is a window or a balcony, there is a bride looking down at it. We send one photographer up.

A film crew wants the same things with sound: the dhol close, the horns, the roar at the door. Our Indian wedding videographer team records the baraat with a dedicated audio recorder on the dhol player, because the camera microphone alone turns it into noise.

The light, and the time of day

A morning baraat at nine or ten gives soft light from a low sun; an afternoon baraat at three or four in summer gives hard light and squinting. The fix is the same either way: the procession should move with the sun behind the groom, so his face and the dancers' faces are lit evenly and the dust and the petals catch the backlight. If the venue's drive runs the wrong way, we start from the far end instead. Our fuller guide on how to plan your baraat for photographs covers the route, the light and the dhol in more detail.

Long Island, New Jersey and the city: where the baraat can go

On Long Island and at the big Central Jersey halls there is room: a drive, a lawn, a car park cleared for the morning. A Long Island venue will usually allow a horse on the grounds with notice and a handler. In Manhattan the baraat is a block of sidewalk and the groom arrives by car; in Jersey City it is the waterfront promenade. Each of our venue guides says exactly where the baraat can run at that venue and which way the light falls.

A ten-minute checklist for the groom's family

• Route walked with the venue; start, end and the families' meeting point agreed in writing.
• Horse, carriage or car confirmed with the venue, with a handler and an arrival time thirty minutes before the baraat.
• Dhol player briefed on the end point and the time; a second dhol for over 150 guests.
• Garlands for the milni counted and matched to the list of pairs, which somebody who knows both families holds.
• Water and shade for the grandparents, and a chair at the door.
• The bride's side at the door five minutes before the baraat arrives, in a half-circle.
• Thirty minutes in the timeline, not sixty, and a hard stop agreed with the person holding the dhol.

Give the baraat a clear route, a sun behind the groom and an end point the dhol player knows about, and the thirty minutes it takes will be the best thirty minutes of the morning.

Both of our photographers and the film team are at every baraat we cover, as part of the ceremony day in every collection across New Jersey (see our Indian wedding photographer in New Jersey page); the investment page explains how a wedding day is built, and the ceremony timeline shows where the baraat sits in the morning.

Frequently asked