Sikh Weddings

“They are not said to be husband and wife, who merely sit together. Rather they alone are called husband and wife, who have one soul in two bodies.” (Guru Amar Das, Pauri, pg. 788)”

Sikh Wedding Overview

The Sikh marriage ceremony is also known as Anand Karaj meaning “blissful union”. Anand Karaj consists of the couple orbiting Guru Granth Sahib Ji four times as the ‘Laava’ (Marriage Hymns) are being recited, making commitment with the Guru as a witness. The orbiting signifies that Guru is the center of the couple’s life,.

Autograph Weddings understand the importance of the Sikh religious ceremony including all the significant events when in the Gurdwara.

The Sikh wedding can be a long day with a very early start – but we like to be there from the beginning to capture your key moments. We often arrive up to an hour to ensure we get key bridal shots and family shots.

And then on to the Gurdwara where we already have a team onset awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom….

The ceremony often begins with the Kurmai (officially an engagement ceremony, but often held on the same day as the marriage ceremony).

The Sikh Wedding Ceremony – Our Approach

As a professional film and Photography production company we understand the importance of upholding respect when working in religious places of worship as the Gurdwara at a Sikh Wedding. We employ a live production methodology to film the ceremony with multiple cameras (3/4 cameras) with a team of 2 photographers. Each experienced team member is given a detailed brief to ahead of the ceremony to ensure that the clients wishes and requests are kept in mind during the whole ceremony. . Optionally, we may use our production Crane during the ceremony, which allows us to shoot the wedding from unique angles and allows us to achieve a high production feel for the final film.

No two weddings are the same, hence no two Gurdwaras are the same. We have extensive experience with working in Gurdwaras across the UK including Birmingham, London, Southampton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, and Leeds We learn something new from each wedding. Experience has prepared us for such things as dealing with indoor low lighting issues and poor audio quality (from Gurdwars PA), so we know have additional equipment that we bring along to all weddings which we can lean on if required. In addition, we always come with back up equipment in the unlikely event anything should fail on the day.