My First Indian Wedding

Last Saturday I had the privilege of Filming my first Indian Wedding at the Macdonald Kilhey Court Hotel in Wigan. I say,  ‘Indian Wedding’ but there was definitely a Anglo/Indian fusion thing happening. This event was

actually the second wedding in that the couple had had a traditional Indian Wedding back in India and were now legalising their union here in the UK.  British Weddings generally follow a fairly predictable formula and this one wasn’t too

different really but it certainly had a unique feel to it which I wanted to capture in their wedding film which I am still in the process of editing by the way.. The couple I won’t name because they have opted for non disclosure of their wedding film on my website or social media and because I want to honour the couples wishes and privacy I will just refer to them as ‘the couple.’

Tuning into what the couple actually want..

The Bride didn’t want much getting ready footage so I headed over to the groom to get some shots of him getting ready then headed back to the bride to capture shots of her all made up and feeling a lot more comfortable about being filmed. It reminded me that as a videographer you can get too fixated with getting certain shots but we need to be a bit more sensitive the wishes of the bride & groom after all it’s their wedding and their wedding film. Often when you get to the venue you get some establishing shot, bridal prep etc etc..

I always try my best to make each and every film I create unique to that couple and there are a number of ways to do that;  first it’s important if possible to meet with the couple and get a feel for them, what’s important to them? what do they like? and more importantly what they don’t like? If it’s not possible to meet up before the wedding day it’s good at least to have a telephone consultation or even better a Skype call. Finally, I send my couple a questionnaire to fill in and it’s worded in such a way as find out as much as possible about the couple. On the day I try to go with the flow to some extent and I will often shadow the photographer and he directs the couple and the couples family for various portraits and group shots- I try to avoid just following exactly what the photographer is doing otherwise you can end up with a filmic version of their photographs which wouldn’t be very good or original.

 

Working WITH the Photographer

The photographer I worked with at this wedding was Shane Webber: https://shanewebber.com  he was great to work with and we tried to help each other out rather than get in each others way. Shane’s work is great and his photography has a very natural feel to it. To be honest, ‘The Couple’ were a little uncomfortable being in front of the camera- as many couples are- yet I noticed Shane was very good at putting the couple at ease and hence getting those beautiful natural shots- which really helped me! I always try to reach out to the photographer before the wedding day and introduce myself; 1. Because I want to make sure that I don’t get in his way so that he can get the shots he needs and 2. Let him know where I plan to station my cameras for the ceremony that we all get the Bride as she walks down the aisle :)

 

The Feel of this wedding?

As I said there was definitely an anglo/Indian fusion thing happening probably because the bride was British and the groom was from India. The couple plans I believe are to live India. This wedding had a really family feel to it; it was apparent that many had traveled from distant lands to be with this couple and they hugged and greeted it other with such warmth and enthusiasm it was really nice to see. The music and dancing was as colourful as the women Saree’s and young and old alike hit the dance floor as the Dj’s music pulsated. The music was great as was the food thankfully we were able to grab a bite to each once the speeches were done and dusted. Before this wedding I must admit I was a bit apprehensive mostly because it was a ‘first’ and I was anxious to get the shots that were important to the couple and their family- looking over the footage this week as I began the process of editing I can see this wedding film is going to be a good one!

 

Wedding Video- Julian Voigt Wedding Films Manchester Wedding Videographer: https://julianvoigtweddingfilms.co.uk

Photographer:   Shane Webber   https://shanewebber.com

 

DJ & Music: Apnabeat: http://www.apnabeat.co.uk