NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM SIKH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
It was the end of November when the phone rang. It was Jon and he was about to photograph a beautiful Sikh couple at the National History Museum of London and he was looking for two experienced photographers to help him. Is any wedding photographer who’s not dreaming to shoot at least once in a life a Sikh wedding? Well, shooting a Sikh wedding was on my bucket list. In a previous blog post I wrote about how a Sikh wedding day is and what you have to know if you will ever attend a Sikh wedding, so I will proceed to tell you more about Rosie and Kieran’s wedding.
Knowing their getting ready will start very early in the morning, Jon booked a hotel for me at Earl’s Court, 10 minutes walk till Kieran’s house. While I was photographing Kieran’s getting ready, Jon was in charge to document Rosie’s getting ready.
I woke up around 5.30 in the morning, I took a quick shower and I headed to Kieran’s house. I met his wonderful family and they invited me to have breakfast and a coffee with them. Everything was new to me and I was excited about the day. My approach is quite relaxed so I captured Kieran’s getting ready in a documentary way. At the end I quickly took a few family portraits and we headed up to Southall Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha for the Milni. The Milni is the official meeting of both families. Key male family members from both sides exchange garlands and greet each other, symbolizing the acceptance of two families into one.
There I joined forces with Jon. After Milni we had a quick breakfast to recover our energy. Rosie and Kieran had an emotional wedding ceremony and all of us worked like a great team to beautifully cover all the key moments. After the main ceremony, we took some amazing couple portraits at The Wellesley Hotel Knightsbride, a luxury 5 star hotel next to Hyde Park. Then we had a short break in the room while Rosie and Kieran got ready for their vibrant party.
NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM LONDON AS A WEDDING VENUE
I visited the National History Museum of London before and I never thought how great a wedding reception can be organized there. Planners and florists had about one hour to set the amazing decor you will see later. Yes! One hour!! Can you believe you can set everything up in one hour? It was far beyond our expectations. The view was amazing!
As a wedding photographer or videographer you have to know you are not allowed to leave your bags on the ground and you are not allowed to hang your stands without securing them and for all of us it was a big challenge. We kindly asked permission to get access on the balconies and we were under surveillance all the time, but I believe we have greatly captured their amazing entry into the scene. The rest is history! Enjoy the story!
