Southall
The gurdwara sets the rules.
Not the photographer, not the venue, and certainly not the shot list. Knowing that before you arrive is most of the job in Southall.
Every gurdwara is different, and they will tell you so
No lens is ever pointed at the Guru Granth Sahib. No flash. Nobody stands between the couple and the sangat. Beyond that, each one has its own rules.
Some will let you work from the side during the laavan. Some will not let you past a certain line at all. Some want the crew to sit. A photographer who turns up expecting to negotiate on the morning gets the answer they deserve, and the family is the one who loses the pictures.
So we clear it beforehand. We speak to the Granthi weeks ahead, agree exactly where the cameras will be during the Anand Karaj, and turn up already knowing. It is unglamorous and it is the single biggest difference between a Sikh wedding covered well and one covered from the back of the darbar hall.
Southall is where a great many of these weddings happen, and where a great many of them are catered by people we have worked alongside for years. Madhu's is on our partner list because we have been in the same rooms as them for two decades, not because anyone swapped a logo.
Covering a Southall wedding
What actually changes when the ceremony is an Anand Karaj.
- 01
The Granthi is consulted first
Weeks ahead, not on the morning. What is permitted varies gurdwara to gurdwara, and the answer determines where the cameras stand.
- 02
The four laavan
Four rounds, each with its own meaning and its own order. Knowing which one is which is what lets a crew be in the right place for the fourth rather than the first.
- 03
Long lenses, no flash
The darbar hall is covered from a distance with fast glass, so the ceremony is recorded without the crew ever becoming part of it.
- 04
Milni and the Baraat
The greeting outside is often the best twenty minutes of the day for photographs, and it is over quickly. Two cameras, both ends, agreed in advance.
- 05
The langar and the hall
The parts nobody books for and everybody wants afterwards: the families eating together, the older relatives, the children under the tables.
- 06
The reception, wherever it lands
Southall ceremonies frequently move to a venue elsewhere for the evening. We cover the move rather than joining you again at the other end.
Coverage
The same shapes of coverage as anywhere else we work.
One day
- Around ten hours
- Photography, film, or both
- Crew travels the night before if the start is early
- Digital delivery
Full day
- Around fourteen hours
- Both sides covered at the same time
- Album and feature film
- Documentary edit as well as highlights
Multi-event
- Mehndi, Haldi, Sangeet, the day, the reception
- Across more than one venue if that is how it falls
- One team throughout
We don't publish prices, because no two of these weddings are the same. Tell us the date, the venue and how many events you are running, and we will send an itemised quote with nothing to decode.
Twenty-five years in the room
What twenty-five years in these rooms buys
Three things that only come from having been there before.
We already know the building
We have worked gurdwaras across Southall, Gravesend, Hounslow and the Midlands, and every one of them sets its own rules. Knowing which is which saves the conversation happening in front of your guests.
Nobody is asked to repeat anything
The laavan happen once. A crew positioned correctly does not need to ask a family to do anything again for the camera, which is the request that ruins the memory of a ceremony.
The caterers are not strangers
We have worked alongside the Southall caterers for years. Knowing when the food is about to move is the difference between covering the hall and blocking it.
Questions
Before you ask.
Which Southall gurdwaras have you worked in?
We have covered Anand Karaj across Southall and west London over twenty-five years, alongside Gurdwaras in Hounslow, Gravesend and the Midlands. Tell us which one is yours and we will speak to them before the day.
Will you use flash in the darbar hall?
No. Never. Fast lenses and available light, from a distance, and we sit when we are asked to sit.
Can you cover the Baraat and the Milni if they are outside?
Yes, and they are usually the strongest photographs of the day. Two cameras, one at each end of the greeting, because it happens quickly and from two directions.
Do you cover the evening reception as well?
Yes, including the move if it is at a different venue. Tell us both addresses at the enquiry stage so the timings account for the journey.
Enquire
Is your datestill free?
Tell us the date and the venue and we will come back within one working day with availability, a crew size and a straight price.