The Chunni Ceremony
The chunni placed over the bride by the groom's family, an intimate pre-wedding tradition we photograph quietly among the mothers, aunts and grandmothers who lead it.
Sikh Wedding Photographer in Esher
Sikh and Punjabi wedding photography in Esher, from the mehndi henna to the choora and kalire, with the patience a long Sikh wedding day deserves.
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Wedding photography from £750
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The short answer
Your Sikh wedding photographer in Esher, at a glance
More than a thousand weddings in, Kaushik Bathia still photographs each Anand Karaj personally. Couples in Esher get an award winning Sikh specialist rather than whoever happens to be free that weekend. Jago and maiyan nights are photographed from the thick of it, the boliyan, the dancing, the plates of colour, without us ever directing the room. Inside the darbar hall we photograph the kirtan, the sikhia spoken to you both, each of the four laavan and the final ardas. Outside, the milni, the group portraits and the doli in Esher follow. Numbers only matter for what they buy you. More than a thousand weddings means the shape of your day already exists in our heads before you have finished describing it. For multi venue days a second photographer earns their place, and most couples also add a pre-wedding shoot and an album. Travel from the London base to Surrey and the rest of the UK is standard.
Esher station on the South West Main Line is about fourteen miles from Waterloo, which keeps an anand karaj reception here accessible for sangat coming out of London. At the gurdwara the four laavan, ardas and sikhia are photographed from the floor, heads covered and shoes off, the Guru Granth Sahib honoured as a living Guru. Sandown Park Racecourse takes the reception, and Claremont Landscape Garden gives the choora portraits before the doli. Hersham and Surbiton hold the rooms, and Oatlands Park Hotel is a further option for the meal.
Serving Esher
Sat sri akal from Esher
Esher is an affluent Surrey town with grand venues. Most Sikh couples in Surrey hold the Anand Karaj at a gurdwara in the morning and the reception at a hall or hotel that evening, and we have covered that pairing at venues right across Walton-on-Thames, Cobham and Thames Ditton. Arriving early at the gurdwara in Esher gives us time to photograph the hall, the flowers and the family greeting guests before the milni brings everyone together.
If the two of you would rather not pose at all, that suits us well; our whole method is built on watching rather than arranging. The karah prashad, the matha tek, the offerings at the palki, none of it is ever interrupted; we photograph the flow of worship from the edges of the hall. Flash stays off inside the gurdwara whenever the light allows, so the warmth of the hall and the colours of the outfits come through as they really were.
We understand how a wedding day runs in Esher. Esher is an affluent Surrey town with grand venues, and we bring that local knowledge to the gurdwara ceremony and the reception alike. We are at home at Esher-area venues such as Sandown Park Racecourse, Painshill Park and Oatlands Park Hotel.
Esher is an affluent town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey, historically a stagecoach stop on the old London to Portsmouth road, now the A3. Esher railway station on the South West Main Line, about 14 miles from London Waterloo, served by South Western Railway. For relaxed couple photographs, we like Claremont Landscape Garden, a National Trust garden with a turf amphitheatre and serpentine lake just outside Esher, and Sandown Park Racecourse, a well known horse racing venue in Esher gives the day a strong sense of Esher.
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What we offer
What is included in your Esher Sikh wedding coverage
The Four Laavan
Each laav is photographed as you walk around the Guru Granth Sahib, using longer lenses so the ceremony is covered closely without our ever stepping where we should not.
Getting Ready
The lehnga, the sherwani, the kalgi and the nerves. We cover both households on the morning of the wedding, so your album begins long before anyone reaches the gurdwara.
Every Sikh ritual
Where tradition meets your Esher wedding day
Hukamnama is taken after the ardas, and your faces as the day's order is read are worth more than any posed portrait, so we hold position and simply wait for them. Sitting cross-legged at the edge of the sangat, we photograph the ceremony at eye level, keeping a respectful distance from the Guru Granth Sahib throughout. Down in the langar hall we photograph the meal being served and shared, the volunteers, the children and the sense of community that finishes a Sikh wedding morning so well.
We photograph the jago pot itself, the lit candles or lights on the decorated gagar, before it disappears into the dancing and the noise of the procession. The kalire are tied above the choora with a shake and a wish, and we photograph the moment they are rattled over the unmarried girls to see who might be next. The reception cake, the toasts and the formal moments are all covered, but we stay just as alert to the unplanned ones, the uncle mid-bhangra and the cousins on shoulders.
The whole celebration
From the first vatna to the last dance
Getting into a lehnga is a full production, and we photograph it from outside the door and through the mirror, keeping the coverage complete without ever making anyone uncomfortable. A jago night is one of our favourite things to cover, with the decorated pot carried on a head, the sticks banging on doors and the whole family singing.
The day moves quickly once the baraat sets off, and we stay close so the milni, the ceremony and the langar are all covered without gaps. Timings slip, always, and our answer is simply to stay. A ceremony that starts an hour late does not shorten the coverage, and nobody should watch the clock at their own wedding.
Why choose us
Preparation that pays off on your Esher wedding morning
Large guest lists hold no fear for us; a reception of five or six hundred is a normal working day after a quarter century of Punjabi weddings. The connection between the maiyan, the anand karaj and the reception is something we photograph as one continuous story, because we have seen how the days belong together.
Bad weather and closed motorways are exactly why we build slack into every journey, and for a wedding in Surrey we would rather wait an hour in a car park than arrive as the ceremony begins. Two or three days of events at different venues is normal for the Sikh weddings we cover, and we arrange our trips into Surrey around every one of them.
Where we travel
Serving Esher and the wider Surrey
Weekend celebrations that run Friday to Sunday are welcome, and for events across Surrey we will plan the stay so we are present for each function rather than commuting between them. Our diary regularly takes us the length of the country from London, so a multi-venue Sikh wedding in Surrey sits comfortably within our reach.
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Good to know
Wedding photography in Esher, frequently asked questions
Absolutely. When a group runs to fifty or more, we pick an area with space and flattering light, use steps or a raised level if one is available, and give warm, decisive direction so it wraps in minutes not half an hour. With the large guest numbers typical of Sikh weddings in Esher, we handle big groups all the time and still show every face.
Absolutely, and these are some of our favourite functions to photograph. The turmeric and laughter of the maiyan, the jago carried through the house to singing, and the emotional choora ceremony with the maternal family every one of them photographs beautifully. There is a knock-on benefit as well, since by the wedding day your family already knows us. Around Esher we have photographed at Sandown Park Racecourse and Painshill Park.
Beforehand we agree a list, then work briskly through it alongside a nominated cousin or sibling who recognises all the faces. Sikh weddings gather large extended families, so we generally take the groups outside the Esher gurdwara after the Anand Karaj and once more at the reception, so nobody who could only make one of the two gets left out.
A full wedding day yields several hundred finished images, and a complete multi-day celebration considerably more, because the mehndi night, the jago and the ceremony all bring their own moments. We deliver the whole story rather than a slim highlights reel, so the langar queue and the aunties dancing make it in alongside the laavan. Esher is easy to reach: Esher railway station on the South West Main Line, about 14 miles from London Waterloo, served by South Western Railway.
Very happily, dhol players make some of our best pictures. We talk to them before the baraat so we know when the big moments will come, then position ourselves to catch the drummers, the dancing and the reactions together. At receptions around Esher we photograph the dhol entrance and the moment the floor fills. Energy like that photographs itself; we just stay close.
Yes, regularly, and we handle them with care. We take time to explain the Anand Karaj to the non-Sikh family, covering everything from head coverings to sitting on the darbar hall floor, so everyone is at ease, and we photograph each side of the family as fully as the other. Two traditions under one roof make for a wonderfully layered set of images. Esher landmarks we photograph near include Sandown Park Racecourse, a well known horse racing venue in Esher.
It may well not be. Confirming the gurdwara and hall later than hoped is something families often do, and we take it in our stride. Get in touch the instant your date is fixed and we will look at availability immediately. If we truly cannot make it work, we will be straight with you and, where possible, suggest photographers we trust. This applies across Esher and Claygate, Hersham and Surbiton.
More in Esher
More wedding & photography services in Esher
The same team, experience and care across every wedding and service we cover in Esher. For weddings of every tradition in Esher, see our wedding photographer in Esher page. Browse our Sikh wedding photography page, the wedding photography overview, all areas we serve, or nearby Cobham and Kingston upon Thames. We also photograph Sikh weddings across Surrey, including Epsom, Camberley, Guildford, Reigate, Cobham and Redhill.
Guides
Wedding guides for Esher couples
Recent weddings
Recent Sikh weddings near Esher
Milni · Anand Karaj · Laavan · Mehndi · Jago
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