Asian Wedding Photographer Hayes, Photography and Film

A typical Hayes wedding moves. The Mehndi might be at home off Uxbridge Road. The Anand Karaj might be at the gurdwara on Golden Crescent, or a few minutes away in Southall. The reception often ends up in a function suite on the Bath Road, with planes coming in over Heathrow while the speeches run late.

That movement is where most wedding photographs are lost. The car swap, the outfit change, the hour when the bride is ready but the baraat is not. We plan those gaps with you before the day, so the crew is already at the next address when you arrive.

Golden Crescent and the Southall gurdwaras. The Ramgarhia Sikh Association runs the Sikh Temple on Golden Crescent in Hayes, and many Hayes families also marry at the larger Southall gurdwaras on Havelock Road and Park Avenue. Each committee sets its own rules on photography, filming and where the crew may stand. We speak to the Granthi or the stage secretary before the day rather than on the morning.

The Navnat Centre on Printing House Lane. The Navnat Centre (UB3 1AR) is listed by Hillingdon Council as an approved ceremony venue. Bridebook lists its dining capacity at 420 and reception capacity at 550, with external catering allowed and free parking. A mandap, a full dining room and a dance floor can sit under one roof, which means one lighting plan instead of three.

The hotels along the Bath Road. Hillingdon's approved venue list for Hayes and Heathrow includes Hyatt Place West London/Hayes, the Sheraton Skyline, the Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre, the Marriott and the Courtyard by Marriott. Ceilings can be low and the light mixes daylight, tungsten and coloured uplighting, so we bring our own lighting for the mandap and stage. For film we place microphones close to the vows and speeches so aircraft noise does not swallow them.

Mosques and community halls. Hayes has its own masjids, including the Hayes Welfare Association and Abdulla Masjid and the Islamic Education and Cultural Society on Pump Lane. Many Nikkahs happen at home or in a hall with the imam attending. Where men and women sit separately, we can send a female photographer to cover the women's side.

The civil ceremony, sorted early. A gurdwara, temple or mosque ceremony is not always legally registered, so many families add a civil ceremony. In England a civil ceremony at an approved venue cannot include religious readings, music or content, so the civil part and the religious part are usually kept separate. Hillingdon Register Office at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge has two ceremony rooms, the Nova Room for up to 20 guests and the Astra Suite for up to 80. Hillingdon Council lists the approved ceremony venues and registrar fees.

Our studio is in Brentford, usually around twenty minutes from Hayes by road, and Hayes and Harlington station sits on the Elizabeth line, so early starts and late finishes are simple for us.