London provides the wedding photographer an unique range of clients as well as venues not seen in the rest of the UK. With a multicultural mix unrivalled by any other city in the UK, London Wedding Photographers need to be prepared for anything from a Sikh engagement, which much more complicated compared to a typical western wedding, to a Greek Orthodox wedding observing unique rituals, through to the traditional Civil Ceremony where couples get married simply.
London is such a diverse city. One of my favourite parts of being a London wedding photographer is experiencing the different ways all its cultures celebrate love! It is an honour to be part of wedding rituals that I’d otherwise not even know existed.
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Multicultural Wedding Photography In London
Multicultural Wedding Celebrations—and What we can learn from them
One thread that constantly runs common at any wedding is the top priority the London wedding photographer must offer to the bride. However businesslike or efficient at the booking phase, the new bride constantly melts and becomes nervous on the big day. The wedding photographer needs to multi task in between “service provider” and “confidence booster”.
What prevails at any wedding is that there is constantly a crisis point when the bride needs assuring of her fantastic outfit, great makeup and spectacular shoes or hairstyle. They are invariably perfect but sometimes she needs assurance. This is the day the bride will have the spent hours getting ready in an exquisite wedding dress or sari, with a professional makeup artist and possible a hair stylist, well chosen jewellery, the wedding photographer becomes more like a fashion photographer bolstering his model.
London Wedding Photographer – Multicultural Traditions
In specific circumstances, there will be cultural traditions to both observe and record. For example the Sikh engagement ceremony is much longer and more complex than a typical English church wedding. Keep in mind, we just talking about the engagement here. An Indian Sikh wedding at a gurdwara in West London is a completely different ballgame. On the day of the wedding, various important rituals are done, religious book ( Guru Granth Sahib ) from which religious verses are read specific for the marriage ceremony and must be recorded by the photographer. Shots of the couple involved at such a religious venue should be taken with subtlety.
In a English church wedding other touches must be observed by the photographer. With consummate delicacy the bride’s train might need tweaking before some formal shots are taken. My own approach is to use one of the bridesmaids as an assistant. As a reportage wedding photographer I are usually opposed to posing, but we are providing a service and what ever the bride wants, the bride gets. Sometime a little tweak is need for tar perfect wedding image.
We maintain a deep affection for photographing multicultural weddings especially when it relates to multiple cultures coming together to celebrate the union of two families. One of the best parts are when both sides incorporate their individual traditions into their wedding events.
Bipin Dattani Photography
28 Hillview Rd
Pinner
Greater London
HA5 4PA
07930 324833