Sikh Wedding Photographer Edgware

The short answer

Your Sikh wedding photographer in Edgware, at a glance

More than a thousand weddings in, Kaushik Bathia still photographs each Anand Karaj personally. Couples in Edgware get an award winning Sikh specialist rather than whoever happens to be free that weekend. Group photographs are gathered briskly and warmly, working from a list agreed in advance, so nobody is kept standing about while the langar waits. Whether your celebration in Edgware is a single day or spread across the week, we cover the whole story, from the jago and the choora ceremony to the kirtan at the gurdwara and the reception that follows. Nothing about a large Punjabi family surprises us any more, including the group list that doubles on the morning itself, and we simply absorb it without the day slowing down. Nothing is bolted on afterwards. Second photographer, pre-wedding shoot and album are all discussed at the quote stage, as is the travel to Greater London, so the figure you agree is the figure you pay.

The Northern line terminates at Edgware, which puts an anand karaj reception here within one journey for much of north London's sangat. At the gurdwara, ragis carry the four laavan and the Guru Granth Sahib is attended as a living Guru; the photographer stays low, head covered and shoes off. Sehra bandi, milni and choora come earlier. The Hive London or Sangam Banqueting host, and Canons Park gives portraits before the doli. Queensbury and Hale hold the rooms, and Zareen Banqueting is a further option for the meal.

Serving Edgware

A warm welcome to Sikh couples in Edgware

Marrying in Edgware usually means two buildings and two quite separate photographic jobs. One of them is institutional: seating there serves worship, sightlines got settled by an architecture nobody consulted a photographer about, and nothing gets shifted about for the convenience of a lens. The other is a hired hall, where light, layout and running order all stay negotiable provided somebody asks in good time. Confusing the two costs you the afternoon.

Days fall apart at the join. Cars leave late, the sangat scatters across two postcodes, and a good hour of afternoon light evaporates in a car park. The schedule gets built around that gap instead of around the meal, so each building is asked separately for its access times and both answers go on one sheet together. The Hive London and Zareen Banqueting are further names in circulation here.

Check your date

What we offer

What is included in your Edgware Sikh wedding coverage

01

Kodak Gold Awards

02

The Langar

03

Family Groups

Every Sikh ritual

From the choora at dawn to the doli at dusk

Floor level, well back, long glass: that is our position throughout the darbar hall, and modesty for its own sake plays no part in the choice. The room orients on a single point, and any spot crossing the line that runs between that point and the couple is the wrong spot, whatever it might have yielded. Ragis sing; four circuits of the laavan take the couple round; the palla shows where pace is heading before the couple themselves do. Attending Sri Guru Granth Sahib is what the room exists for, and a camera is only a guest inside it.

Afterwards the day loosens. Milni happens in whatever space lies outside the door, often in flat mid-morning light with two families lining up to meet, and a step ladder earns its weight there more than anywhere else. Langar gets served. Jago and mehndi have already been and gone. The doli then closes everything at the least convenient moment for exposure, so a light stays on the car ready for it.

Wedding traditions photographed in Edgware

Why choose us

What twenty five years behind the camera brings

Anticipation, mostly. Since the laavan gets sung four times over, a first round can go on finding the frame and the remaining three on filling it properly. Twenty five years teaches a photographer to be standing correctly beforehand rather than reacting once something has already gone.

Good to know

Wedding photography in Edgware, frequently asked questions

How do you make sure our photographs are never lost?+

Two cards written simultaneously inside the camera, then a pair of copies on drives kept apart, done that same evening, one held elsewhere. Cards remain untouched until each copy has been opened and inspected.

What etiquette do you follow inside the darbar hall?+

We ask the granthi or the committee what they want from us ahead of any guest arriving, then follow that rather than our own habits. Past the observances everyone expects, it comes down to staying low and never crossing anybody's sightline.

What happens if the ceremony at the gurdwara runs longer than expected?+

We stay. A ceremony keeps its own time and ours does not start ticking against yours. Should the portrait window get eaten, your group list gets trimmed with you rather than hurrying anything that matters.

Will you stay to photograph the doli?+

Yes. Usually it comes last and often it is hardest, happening in a doorway at dusk with everybody crying and nobody posing. Light for it gets worked out during the afternoon, not on arrival.

Can we book you for the Anand Karaj only?+

You can. Plenty of couples cover only the ceremony and run their evening themselves. Say so early, because a ceremony-only booking still wants the same scouting beforehand and the same early arrival.