The Baraat
The dhol, the dancing and the groom's joyful arrival, photographed with all of its energy.
Asian wedding and celebration photography in Chigwell, from the first blessing to the final goodbye, with respect for your traditions and an eye for natural beauty.
★★★★★ Rated 4.8 from 539 reviews
Wedding photography from £750
Bespoke packages · fast response · free consultation
The short answer
An award winning, London based Asian wedding photographer, Kaushik Bathia has spent more than twenty five years photographing Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Gujarati and Tamil weddings in Chigwell and across Essex. We arrive early, stay late and keep pace with every part of the celebration. Multi day Asian weddings are a speciality in Chigwell, from the pre wedding events and the baraat to the ceremony and the reception, whatever your tradition. Twenty-five years behind the lens means we know exactly what comes next, whatever the faith. You can add a second photographer, a female photographer and hand finished albums, and we are glad to travel across Essex and beyond, so wherever your celebration is held it is within reach.
Serving Chigwell
Chigwell is an affluent Essex village with grand venues. Across Essex, including Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Woodford, we photograph the colour and devotion of every Asian tradition. A ceremony is a sequence of small sacred acts, not one photograph, and we tell it as the story it is, from the first ritual to the last.
Across a long day we keep watching the edges of the room, where a grandmother's tears or two cousins laughing often say more than the staged group. We arrive early, stay late and keep pace with every part of the celebration. We are calm and unhurried, gathering the whole story without ever getting in the way.
We travel across Essex for weddings of every tradition, and Chigwell is an affluent Essex village with grand venues, which makes it a straightforward and welcome destination. We also cover nearby Brentwood and Chelmsford. Venues we know well in and near Chigwell include Woolston Manor and Prince Regent Hotel.
Chigwell is an affluent Essex village in the Epping Forest district known for its leafy streets and period homes. Chigwell station is on the Hainault Loop of the London Underground Central line. For relaxed couple photographs, we like Hainault Forest Country Park, part of the ancient Forest of Essex, and St Mary's Church and the historic Chigwell School gives the day a strong sense of Chigwell.
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What we offer
The dhol, the dancing and the groom's joyful arrival, photographed with all of its energy.
We photograph the signing, the vows and the quiet words between families with the care the ceremony calls for.
From the speeches to the first dance and the late-night floor, we stay with the evening until the very last song.
Every tradition
We know the order of the rituals in each tradition, so we are always in position. We keep our distance during the most solemn moments and step in only for the joyful ones. From the kanyadaan to the saptapadi, or the first laav to the last, the ceremony tells its own story and we follow it.
The sangeet is an evening of music and rehearsed dance, and we capture all of its energy. A sangeet belongs to the family, all rehearsed dances and gentle teasing, and we keep pace with its energy late into the night. The engagement or roka often opens the journey months ahead, and we are happy to be there from that first gathering whenever families ask.

The whole celebration
As the bride's mehndi is drawn, time slows in the nicest way, and we use those hours to gather the softer portraits that a busy ceremony day rarely allows. The days before the wedding often hold the most relaxed, candid moments of the whole celebration.
Long days test everyone, so we keep our footing calm and our timing steady, catching the guru's words, the shared glances and the quiet exhale once the vows are done. Ceremonies with many small rites need a photographer who knows what is coming, and years of these days mean we rarely miss the exchange, the blessing or the tears behind it.
Why choose us
Knowing the running order of a Sikh Anand Karaj, a Gujarati hastamelap or a Tamil muhurtham means we are never caught out by a sudden change of pace. One studio comfortable across Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Gujarati and Tamil weddings means you brief one experienced team, not several, for the whole celebration.
We are London-based but rarely in London; much of our work takes us across the Home Counties. We will travel to your temple, gurdwara, mosque, reception and pre-wedding events, wherever they are held.

Where we travel
We cover the whole of the UK for Asian weddings, so distance never stands in the way. We are based in London and think nothing of the drive across Essex, so travelling to your venues is simply part of how we work.
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Good to know
Absolutely, on hundreds of occasions. Dhol players, DJs, decorators and caterers are all part of the Asian wedding world we work in, and we know how to weave around them without treading on toes. When everyone cooperates well, the day runs beautifully and we are always ready for the next moment.
Of course. Many families ask us to follow the celebration from the mehndi and sangeet right through to the main ceremony and reception, which gives the finished collection a single, flowing narrative. Where the mehndi is kept to the ladies, a female photographer can take care of it for you.
Yes. Alongside your album we provide an online gallery of your edited images, easy to share with family whether they live near Chigwell or overseas. Relatives who could not make the wedding can then see the day and, where you wish, order prints of their own.
We are happy to. For celebrations in Chigwell where the women's events are held privately, or where a female photographer suits the bridal getting-ready, we will include one in your coverage. Just flag it when you get in touch, and we will plan the team accordingly.
Yes, gladly. Meeting for a pre-wedding or engagement shoot somewhere around Chigwell lets us build a rapport before your wedding, and you come away with a set of portraits in a place that means something to you. Most couples feel noticeably more comfortable in front of the lens afterwards.
The final number depends on how many events fill your calendar, but a multi-day Asian wedding usually yields several hundred finished images once the whole collection is edited. We carefully choose and refine each frame instead of handing over the lot, so what you keep is the true story of your days.
Absolutely, and it ranks among the parts of a Chigwell celebration we enjoy most. The dhol, the dancing, the groom's arrival and the milni as the families greet one another are all captured by us, so none of the procession's lively spirit is lost.
More in Chigwell
The same team, experience and care across every wedding and service we cover in Chigwell. For weddings of every tradition in Chigwell, see our wedding photographer in Chigwell page. Browse our Asian wedding photography page, the wedding photography overview, all areas we serve, or nearby Brentwood and Chelmsford. We also photograph Asian weddings across Essex, including Brentwood, Grays, Colchester, Chelmsford, Harlow and Billericay.
Recent weddings
Hindu · Sikh · Gujarati · Muslim · Tamil
Tell us about your celebration and we will send availability, ideas and pricing, wherever it takes place.
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