One of our last couples of 2011, Shawn + Satyma intimate yet grand set of events took place back in November. Starting from their big engagement party leading up to the wedding day and reception, everything about their wedding had something unique to offer.
Both of them are very close to their parents, especially Satyma being the only child of her parents. And we tried to capture that in our wedding film.
Upon our first meeting, we realized that Satyma was very particular about everything while Shawn although seemed that way initially, wasn’t so much by the end of the wedding. Shawn is a very calm and down to earth kind of a guy and compliments well with Satyma who is no different.
Late bookings are a rarity. But Kulsoom and Hadi were a couple we just couldn’t turn down.
It was their down-to-earth nature, their honesty and humility that drew us in. But even these words fall rather short of describing them aptly and fully.
The coverage began with the Nikkah ceremony held at a Mosque and was followed by cultural traditions. The Nikkah took place in the morning and was followed, at night, by their vivid Mehndi ceremony, full of colour, life and energy.
The next day was the Wedding Day. Our goal in the Next/Same Day Edit was to incorporate the getting ready footage as well as the reception entrances. And yes, we pulled it off and completed the final edit a tight ten minutes before the viewing.
Producing Next Day Edits (NDE) for pre-wedding events (e.g. mehndis) is something we don’t usually do. But for Salman and Arooj we made an exception. These two shared a very vibrant chemistry, likely a result of their vibrant, fun and free individual personalities. We had to convey that sparkling energy and good cheer (the individual and the collective) so we produced an NDE of their mehndi—an event filled with entertainment and merriment, aptly reflective, we think, of Salman and Arooj.
At each and every wedding, a specific event becomes a most memorable highlight of the wedding itself and the major underlying theme in our same-day or next-day edits.
At Indi and Jason’s wedding that highlight was the “Money at the Door” game. The game, for those unfamiliar with it, is similar to the “Chinese Door Game.” Following the marriage ceremony, the groom, along with his entourage of male friends and family, arrives at the bride’s house to “retrieve” his bride, as it were. His entrance is blocked by the bride’s entourage of female friends and family. Passage is only permitted when the groom hands over cash (large sums only) to the bridal party. Traditionally, the game takes place immediately after the ceremony, but in the case of this bride and groom, it took place much later and went on for a lot longer.
The groom and his entourage made the bridal party wait for over an hour before gracing them with their presence. If that wasn’t enough to annoy the ladies, the gentlemen then went on to play cards, have drinks and generally have a good time, making the ladies wait even longer for the request of passage. But the ladies were opponents on par. Watch for yourself, their method of reprisal.
With all projects, it is our intent that we should meet the bride and groom first and foremost to ensure that we understand their vision and that they are comfortable with our work and our creative aspirations.
However, in Monica and Anu’s case, we had to settle for meeting just the bride initially, along with her father and uncle. Considering that Monica had already seen our work at another wedding event and was eager to have us cover her own wedding, the contract was settled straight away. After that, a date was agreed upon when we could meet up with both bride and groom, since Anu was unable to make it to that first meeting.
Anu is by far one of the most carefree grooms we’ve ever encountered. If our initial meeting wasn’t indicative of this fact, Anu’s disappearing act on the wedding day certainly was. Our team of cinematographers and photographers could not locate which room he was staying in at the Royal York Hotel and it seemed that no one else knew either. After about 45 minutes of fruitless searching, Monica began to panic and our team began to get the jitters too thinking that this would be a first in all our experience.
But we’re glad to say that all such concerns were baseless. Better yet, we managed to capture the phone conversation between Monica and Anu, once Monica had finally gotten a hold of him. (It was quite the conversation and we’ve no doubt that the footage we captured will be a source of good laughs for years to come).
The wedding was one of the most beautiful outdoor ceremonies we’ve covered. It was held at the Liberty Grande and was followed by a visually riveting reception at the same venue.
Gagan and Rashmi’s wedding was simply magnificent. It was, in fact, an epic wedding, if you will. Every event, from the Sangeet to the Reception (including everything in between) was planned with precision, every single detail carefully considered and executed–because an event is the sum of its parts. And if the parts are perfect, then perfection prevails overall, and indeed it did.
Following our initial meeting with the couple, we took a tour of the wedding venue: Sarkaria States. We often visit venue sites, beforehand, just to acquire a sense of space and energy, so that we can translate such elements onto the screen effectively. The first event, the Sangeet, featured quite a lot of energy with music, performances, ceremonies and a mouth watering menu. Then came the Sikh Ceremony. We arrived early to cover the preliminaries–the getting ready and the general prior pandemonium. It was an early morning for us and those tend to be tough, but, as always, once the event began and we became absorbed with the task at hand—ensuring full and creative coverage—it all flowed seamlessly. The simple but elegant ceremony was followed by the photoshoot.
According to Sikh Tradition, before entering the groom’s home as his bride, the bride must first be given away by her parents, at her own home. In a highly symbolic procession, the groom leads her out of her (former) home as her parents follow her departure. But since Rashmi’s parents flew in from their home in Africa, the Rukhsati or the “giving away” ceremony took place at the Hotel, where Gagan sang his self-made musical masterpiece: “Rashmi Rashmi tu Kithe Hai, Tu Darwaje Se Bhar Nahin Andi” (“Oh Rashmi, Where Are You and Why Don’t You Come Outside?”)—a truly unique touch—one we can honestly say, we’ve never seen before (and we thought we’d seen it all!)
While filming some general footage, we requested Gagan to allow us to mount our Go Pro cameras on his beloved Aston Martin, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea—understandably. But no quandary ever plagues us for long. We simply mounted them on our own car and acquired the footage beautifully.
Like any film, the finale had to be grand and it certainly was. Following the Rukhsati, both bride and groom drove to Gagan’s house in Gagan’s Aston Martin and then took a romantic ride on a Horse Carriage. The grand finale carriage ride was shot with 2 Go Pros, mounted on our vehicle and by 3 separate cinematographers with DSLRS
Finally, our heartfelt congrats to the couple and a warm thank you to the Sarkaria and Pradhan families for their hospitality and for the opportunity of allowing us to cover their epic event—Cheers!
In July of 2010, Cassandra Williams approached us for a concept production, having seen a few productions on our website. She also wanted to take us on for our cinematography services, only she’d already booked with another company. But following our conversations, she decided to opt out of her initial contract and sign up with us instead. And thus began this journey.
And thus began the brainstorming. We met up with both Cassandra and her fiancé Ravi Ramjit to that end…the conclusion of which was the concept film ‘Kismet se Milna’ (A Chance Encounter). But enough about that, let’s get down to the crux of the matter: the wedding itself!
It is Film-Style’s philosophy that our team should come to know the couple very well, so that we can produce work that really brings forth the couple’s personality, and that the couple should come to know our team very well so that they become completely comfortable in front of the camera. To that end, we spent well over 30 hours in Skype conferencing with Ravi and Cassandra over the past year—and it certainly shows. Both Ravi and Cassandra were very relaxed throughout each event, i.e. the mehndi, the pooja, and the ceremony and reception.
Hindu weddings are a bright affair as it is but this one was especially so–it was full of life, colour and a lot of fun. And Dream Party Decor‘s decor was, as always: Stunning. So have a look at this Next Day Edit and check out the much anticipated concept film ‘Kismet se Milna’ (A Chance Encounter), tomorrow.
In June of 2010, we received a phone call just as we were closing office for the day. A Suri Dhaliwal from Winnipeg was calling to inquire about our Cinematography & Photography services. Normally, we request the client to call back during business hours, but on a whim, I asked Suri to call my cell 20 minutes later.
Twenty minutes later, I was out shopping with the family when Suri called back accompanied by her fiancée, Ruben Karla on speaker phone. While my wife carried on with the shopping, I wandered around aimlessly, immersed as I was in the conversation, which lasted about 30 minutes. Even though I’d never actually met the couple (not yet that is), they struck me straightaway as clientele for whom we would no doubt do something very special.
Our team flew down to Winnipeg for 6 days to cover the pre-wedding events including the mehndi, mayyun and chunni rasm, followed by the wedding itself i.e. the elegant sikh ceremony and then the grand reception.
Getting to know the couple is central to Film-Style’s philosophy. Ruben and Suri proved this philosophy all the more indispensable. We spent a great deal of time with both of them, which is precisely why we believe that their chemistry translated onto the screen as gracefully and as seamlessly as it did.
Congrats to the couple and their families. Cheers!
Film-Style has always had the unique pleasure of working with interfaith couples. Covering an interfaith marriage is loads of fun, not just because of the different cultural and religious traditions that are all wrapped up in one big happy package but also because it’s a rewarding experience to be able to see two very different worldviews, encompassed within those cultural and religious traditions, become as one. It’s a ‘feel good’ kind of wedding that enables and embraces differences even as it reconciles them within the institution of a marriage.
Sameera (the Muslim bride) and Jagan (the Sikh groom) proved to us once again this beauty of an interfaith union. On July 8th, this couple held their Sangeet/Holud where their respective cultural traditions were paid tribute to “desi-style,” with a lot of dancing and a lot of performances. And on July 9th, their respective religious traditions were honored and upheld at their respective religious ceremonies, with a lot of love and respect from their families.
We wish this couple great success in the future and a lot of happy new traditions in the making. Cheers!
In all our years of business, never before had we covered a double wedding. We were a little anxious about the challenge of it all, doing justice to the stories of two separate couples, even while dividing our attention between them. But then, we’re nothing if not up to meeting a challenge.
Still, we were a little apprehensive, having heard stories of competing brides and grooms and all the relevant drama. But let it be clear here and now that these stories proved altogether baseless with Zohaib/Jennifer and Shoaib/Danielle.
Brother grooms, Zohaib and Shoaib were very…well, very brotherly . And the two brides—Jennifer and Danielle, seemed to be long time friends, whether they were busy in the bridal room, helping each other out with jewelry and final touches, or on the dance floor, pulling each other along in their dance movements.
These two couples shone in their respective moments, and all together as well. They and their families managed to pull off a double wedding with grace, humility and laughter. Cheers!
P.S. A special *tip of the hat* goes to Abid Syed, the grooms’ brother-in-law. Abid took care of everything—literally—from planning the event to implementing it, in all its aspects, and he did it with much grace: Nicely done sir!
Every couple adds a unique flair of venue, to the universal event that a wedding is. Umair and Adeeba held their Mehndi and Valima events at a banquet hall like every other couple. But unlike every other couple, they decided to celebrate their Nikkah ceremony (the vows ceremony) in their backyard. A marquee housed the event, with close friends and family in attendance. It was an unusual venue, but no less striking than any other that we’ve encountered.
Umair and Adeeba found out about us at Fahad and Khatidja’s wedding and ever since, had their hearts set on our cinematography services. While Umair was pretty laid back (as most grooms tend to be), Adeeba knew exactly what she wanted and conveyed her ideas without hesitation. Coming from a family of five sisters, she drew inspiration from each of them and brought together multiple ideas with sophistication. And Umair, as the eldest in his family, took on the responsibility of ensuring that everything went smoothly and according to plan. These two make quite a team:)
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” Weddings are just such occasions. They take our breath away. Not just by the beauty of the décor and not just by the great food or venue but above all, by the people who partake in the event: the families that are brought together and the guests that are invited to share in the celebration of the union that a wedding is. Vik and Manisha’s wedding did just that: it took our breath away.
The décor by Dream Party Décor was phenomenal. But even more phenomenal was the couple’s calm and certainty despite all the stress and distress that a wedding usually entails. I first met Manisha, last year, at Priya and Angat’s wedding. Her eyes lit up as she told me her plans for her big day. She was very clear on what she wanted.
I then met her and her fiancée Vik at the studio where they gave us further details of what they wanted. When they left the studio, they were confident in our ability and we were confident in their vision.
And their vision, coming to life, was indeed a grand success. Catch a glimpse of it below in the “Next Day Edit.”
(Next week we will feature the entrance video, highlighting the wedding prep., but for now, feast your eyes on this).
