Second Photographer
A Sikh wedding morning splits in two, with both families getting ready at once. A second photographer covers the other house, the baraat and the extra angles inside the darbar hall.
Sikh Wedding Photographer in Buckingham
Bringing calm and craft to Sikh weddings in Buckingham, from the first vatna to the last dance of the reception, in a natural, unposed style built over two and a half decades.
★★★★★ Rated 4.8 from 539 reviews
Wedding photography from £750
Bespoke packages · fast response · free consultation
The short answer
Your Sikh wedding photographer in Buckingham, at a glance
Working from a London base, Kaushik Bathia is an award winning Sikh wedding photographer and a Fellow of the BIPP and MPA, available for Anand Karaj and reception coverage in Buckingham. Our second photographer watches the families while the first stays with you, so the tears during the laavan are caught on both sides of the darbar hall. Morning preparations, the sehra being tied, the dhol leading the baraat to the gurdwara, the four laavan, and the tears of the doli are all part of standard wedding day coverage in Buckingham. Dhol players, DJs and videographers are colleagues rather than obstacles, and after so many weddings together we coordinate almost without speaking. Engagement portraits before the wedding, a second photographer on the day and a fine art album afterwards round out the package, and we are glad to travel from London to Buckinghamshire and beyond for it.
Buckingham has no railway station, so a Sikh wedding here is a driving day, with the A421 and A422 carrying the sangat between the gurdwara and Stowe House or Swanbourne House. In the darbar hall the coverage does not move: the four laavan, the palla, kirtan from the ragis and the closing ardas, heads covered, shoes off, the Guru Granth Sahib honoured as the living Guru. The reception then opens up for the milni, the kalire and the doli. Winslow, Padbury and Maids Moreton lie just outside.
Serving Buckingham
Where Buckingham Sikh couples find their photographer
Buckingham is a historic market town with country venues. A gurdwara ceremony followed by a banqueting hall reception is the usual shape of a Sikh wedding in Buckinghamshire, and we have photographed that day at venues scattered across Milton Keynes, Brackley and Bicester. Garlands are exchanged before the laavan begin, and we frame the jaimala with both mothers in the background, because their faces at that moment usually tell the story better than the couple's.
Sudden movement is the fastest way to disturb a ceremony, so we shift position only between stages, never during the ardas, and always at a pace that startles nobody seated behind us. Sound guides our timing, because the ragis signal the next laav before anybody rises, and hearing that change coming is how we are already framed for the walk. Our documentary style means the day is followed rather than staged, so your photographs show the wedding as it actually happened, laughter, tears and all.
We treat Buckingham as one of our regular patches. Buckingham is a historic market town with country venues, and we move easily between it and the neighbouring Bicester and Milton Keynes. Venues we know well in and near Buckingham include Stowe House and Swanbourne House.
Buckingham is a historic market town on the River Great Ouse and was formerly the county town of Buckinghamshire. Buckingham has no railway station and is served by the A421 and A422 roads linking it to Milton Keynes, Bicester and Banbury. For relaxed couple photographs, we like Stowe Landscape Gardens, the National Trust gardens about three miles north west of the town, and Buckingham Old Gaol, a landmark building in the town centre now used as a museum gives the day a strong sense of Buckingham.
Check your date
What we offer
What is included in your Buckingham Sikh wedding coverage
The Langar
The shared meal after the ceremony is part of the story, and we photograph the sangat, the sewadars and the two families eating together with the respect the tradition asks.
Kodak Gold Awards
Five European Kodak Gold awards sit behind our work, earned across decades of weddings, so the standard of your photographs is proven rather than promised.
Every Sikh ritual
Sacred mornings, told in pictures
Bowing before the Guru Granth Sahib on arrival, the matha tek, is often a family's first act of the morning, and we photograph it from the side, never from in front of the Guru. Jaikare ring out at the close of the ceremony, and we photograph the hall answering back, arms raised and voices lifted, because sound like that deserves to be visible in the album. Fathers give the palla, and the exchange takes perhaps eight seconds. Being pre-focused and already in position is the only way that moment ever ends up in an album.
The groom's side has its own jago and its own noise, and we can split our coverage across both houses so neither family's celebrations are missed. Ghodi charhna is short and noisy, and we photograph the groom mounting the mare while his sister holds the reins for the vaag phrai and collects her due before letting him go. Front-room evenings before the wedding, with an old dholki, a plate of sweets and songs learned from grandmothers, produce warmer pictures than any hired stage ever manages.
The whole celebration
From the jago to the doli
Pinning the chunni takes three people and ten minutes, and we photograph the whole negotiation rather than only the finished result, since the fussing is where the affection shows. Mehndi from the night before is checked, admired and photographed properly in daylight, when the colour has darkened and the patterns finally look the way the artist intended them to.
Reception rooms photograph best empty, so where a second photographer is booked, one of us goes ahead to record the tables, the flowers and the room exactly as the planners intended. Two venues, several hundred guests and a fourteen-hour day is a normal Saturday for us, and the pacing that makes it work has been learned across twenty-five years of them.
Why choose us
Why Sikh couples in Buckingham choose us
Because we have covered so many anand karaj ceremonies, we know when the kirtan signals the next laav and are settled before the walk begins. Video crews, planners, decorators and DJs are all part of a Sikh wedding day now, and a long career means we already know how to share a hall without anybody blocking anybody.
We are London based and travel wherever your wedding takes us, planning the stay around your events for celebrations further afield. Venue access rules differ everywhere, so before travelling to Buckinghamshire we contact the gurdwara and the reception venue to confirm what is permitted and where we may work.
Where we travel
Reaching Buckingham and beyond
We are used to long days that cross several postcodes, so a Sikh wedding in Buckinghamshire with a morning ceremony and an evening reception elsewhere holds no logistical fears for us. Two or three days of events at different venues is normal for the Sikh weddings we cover, and we arrange our trips into Buckinghamshire around every one of them.
Check your date
Good to know
Wedding photography in Buckingham, frequently asked questions
Protection starts at the shutter, with every image recorded to dual cards in-camera. Back at the studio we copy everything to multiple separate drives before any card is cleared, and the files stay in more than one place until your gallery is delivered and downloaded. Your wedding exists in several copies from the first evening onwards. In and around Buckingham that has included Stowe House and Swanbourne House.
Very happily. Some of the warmest pictures of the whole week come from the maiyan, the vatna applied by aunties and cousins, the laughter, the mothers, turmeric paste on everything. Because these Buckingham home ceremonies are so relaxed and intimate, we photograph them candidly, in a documentary way, letting the family carry on around us as we quietly collect it all.
Yes. Most Sikh weddings move to a separate banqueting venue for the reception, and we treat it as a full chapter of the story, not an afterthought. The entrances, the speeches, the cake, the first dance and the bhangra all get proper attention. You can book the reception with the ceremony or on its own. Buckingham and neighbouring Winslow, Padbury and Maids Moreton are all covered.
Comfortably. Large guest counts are normal in our diary, and over a thousand weddings have taught us how to cover a packed darbar hall and a full banqueting suite without missing the people who matter. We bring a second photographer for big weddings in Buckingham, so while one of us follows you, the other gathers the guests, the details and the dance floor.
Yes, if you would like us to. Langar is a beautiful part of the day, the sangat sitting together and the sewadars serving everyone equally, and it says so much about the spirit of a Sikh wedding. We photograph it discreetly and always check with the gurdwara first, since some prefer no photography in the langar hall itself. Locally in Buckingham that takes in Buckingham Old Gaol, a landmark building in the town centre now used as a museum.
In Buckingham and the wider Greater London area, travel usually comes included in the package as standard. Only when a venue is a good deal further afield, or an early baraat makes an overnight stay sensible, do we add a modest and clearly stated amount, agreed upfront. You will never find a travel surprise waiting on your final bill.
Often, and with real care. We help the non-Sikh family understand what will happen during the Anand Karaj, from covering heads to sitting on the darbar hall floor, so everyone feels comfortable, and we photograph both sides of the family equally. Blended celebrations, with two sets of traditions in one wedding, make especially rich photo stories. For outdoor photographs in Buckingham we often use Stowe Landscape Gardens, the National Trust gardens about three miles north west of the town.
More in Buckingham
More wedding & photography services in Buckingham
The same team, experience and care across every wedding and service we cover in Buckingham. For weddings of every tradition in Buckingham, see our wedding photographer in Buckingham page. Browse our Sikh wedding photography page, the wedding photography overview, all areas we serve, or nearby Bicester and Milton Keynes. We also photograph Sikh weddings across Buckinghamshire, including Chalfont St Giles, Beaconsfield, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury, Chesham and Bourne End.
Guides
Wedding guides for Buckingham couples
Recent weddings
Recent Sikh weddings near Buckingham
Milni · Anand Karaj · Laavan · Mehndi · Jago
Planning a Sikh wedding in Buckingham?
Tell us about your celebration and we will send availability, ideas and pricing, wherever it takes place.
Check your date