For their Muslim wedding reception (Walima) Farha & Hamad chose the beautiful surroundings of their father’s house in Hampton-in-Arden in the heart of the West Midlands. Taking advantage of the summer weather, much of the reception was planned for outside with a large marquee set up in case the weather took a turn. Everything was beautifully decorated with flowers and draped cloths in the colour scheme of red & white. Our camera crew got to the site early in order to film the hustle and bustle of preparations. Meanwhile another camera was at the family home to capture lovely statements from the family for Farha & Hamad. We think they will enjoy reviewing these sentiments for years to come.
When the guests began to arrive at Hampton-in-Arden everything was set up and ready to greet them with platters of fresh fruit, small plates of food to nibble on, and a ready drink. As they milled about in the summer sun we got about with our video camera to capture footage of all the guests. We’ve seen some spectacular entrances over the years; however Hamad arriving by helicopter is definitely one that will stand out! When bride and groom were united, the wedding feast began. The guests enjoyed a wonderful dinner to celebrate Farha & Hamad’s union. Congratulations to you both!
For Manoj and Anupa, their Asian wedding had several components to it – so it was a pleasure for us to be invited along on the whole journey to document it for their long-term memories. For Anupa it all started with the helping hand of a make-up and hair professional to prepare her for her civil ceremony. When she was ready, a classic Rolls Royce pulled up to drive her to the wedding at Birmingham Botanical Gardens to meet up with Manoj for a large wedding ceremony. With plenty of family and friends arriving, the room was getting quite full and the anticipation was building. All eyes were on Anupa as she made her way up the aisle and she had a lovely warm smile with which to greet Manoj. As they left the Botanical Gardens, hand-in-hand and husband and wife, they were showered in flower petals and all their family snapped photographs of the happy couple. At the reception the couple cut into, and fed each other from, a lovely cake before taking to the dancefloor for a romantic first dance.
A week later they reconvened at the Shree Ram Mandir in West Midlands for a Hindu wedding ceremony. Once again Manoj and Anupa were the stars of the show beaming throughout the ceremony. We wish them much joy together and thank you both for allowing us to share in your special day.
Shahida & Asif celebrated their Muslim wedding at the Hilton Hotel in Warwick where they were able to surround themselves with their nearest and dearest to celebrate their union as man and wife. Shahida was upstairs in the hotel getting dressed for her wedding with a few helpers to aid her with some of the trickier bits. She was in great spirits and was clearly enjoying it all. It wasn’t long before their guests started to arrive to the hotel with their children in tow. Their theme of red and white even extended to a beautiful stack of decorated cakes – white with red ribbon. Asif had a drummer and dancers to escort him into the building with all the guests trailing behind him. With everyone gathered for the Nikah, they received the wedding sermon.
After, it was time for the Walima – the celebratory feast and the Hilton staff did a great job of laying on a lovely meal. Before eating, there was a chance for us to get around with our video camera to capture all the guests. Soon enough though the food started to arrive and people were ready to tuck in. We put our camera away while people were eating. Later in the evening, when it came time for Shahida & Asif to say goodbye, there were a few tears from family members bidding the couple off to begin their married life! We wish them all the best.
At Bloomsbury Films, we are pleased to see that our reputation for producing the UK’s finest wedding videos has really begun to spread. We now regularly receive enquiries from all over the UK and it doesn’t stop there. In 2009 we attracted interest from Italy, Netherlands, Norway, USA and even from the King of Bahrain!
No small wonder that Bloomsbury Films is now the videographer of choice for many society and VIP weddings, enjoying the backing of many prominent event planners. In the light of this demand we have begun to expand our resources so we are better placed to meet the demand we are receiving around the UK.
To help potential clients, we have put together some specific information about our wedding and event videography is some of our most popular locations. For more information, choose from the links below
Should your area not be listed above, don’t worry as we will still be able to provide our high quality service to you. To check availability and to discuss your needs, please contact us!
A few months ago we decided to launch our own Facebook Page as a way of interacting with past, present and future clients. We now upload highlights of different jobs to the page as they are completed, so visitors can see our range of work and make comments in an easy, friendly environment. I am pleased to say it is very popular, with clients taking a keen interest in the videos and newcomers watching these as a source of inspiration. Indeed our videos seem to not only serve as an example of good videography, but provide an excellent source of ideas for planning their wedding or event!
We heartily welcome comments from prospective clients, whether they are wondering about how to achieve the best videography, which photographers we recommend or what venues to book. As film-makers we know a lot about making things look good, so our advice is sought after on many subjects. Meanwhile the ‘Discussions‘ section of our Facebook page has a number of topics that are being widely shared. We’ve also included some general tips and advice which we hope our clients enjoy.
If you haven’t already subscribed to our Facebook page or know a friend who might like to check it out, please don’t hesitate to look it up at The Bloomsbury Films’ Facebook Page
At the start of this month Bloomsbury Films was neatly packed up into boxes and moved across town to a new studio location in London’s trendy East End. Taking advantage of the hard hit property market on the periphery of London’s financial district, we were lucky to find a 1500 sqft unit in a converted warehouse that would suit our needs now and in the foreseeable future.
New Bloomsbury Films Office
A stone’s throw from Brick Lane, it is conveniently close to Aldgate & Aldgate East tube stations as well as Tower Gateway DLR. From these new offices we continue to operate our sales & administration, video kit storage and maintenance, production planning where our director’s overseeing all our projects. Over the coming months we shall also be introducing additional in-house studio facilities that will enable us to extend our range of services.
We’re very excited about the move, especially as we continue to expand the range of services provided by Bloomsbury Films. Although wedding videos are still currently our biggest market, we are beginning to attract more types of live event filming including interest from businesses for conference filming. We hope you will be able to pay us a visit sometime!
Perhaps this a reflection of being based in London, but perhaps also it shows the growing acceptance in our society for marriage based on love and like-mindedness, rather than seeking a cultural safety net. A particularly good example of this is Shahara & Christophers wedding which we filmed at York House, Richmond in early August. Shahara is from a Muslim Bengali family and Christopher from a traditional English one. In marrying Shahara, Christopher not only adopted a new family, but a new (Muslim) name. When I met them both months prior to their wedding, it was clear they were both very much in love and that whilst Christopher may not have have grown up in a Muslim/Bengali lifestyle, he was more than willing to adopt one.
I like their video very much, and the trailer shows their coming together well. They had splendid weather on the day and I am glad that there was a lot of opportunities for filming outdoors – which I always believe looks so much better than filming indoors! We have done several Bengali wedding videos of late including a stunning Bengali wedding in Newcastle, but this is the first mixed Anglo-Bengali marriage I am aware of filming. I therefore wish Christopher and Shahara all the very best in the future! Below are highlights from their day:
Whilst Dan & David were filming in Oxfordshire (see this post), I was accompanying Dishad and Eva filming Manjit & Anju’s wedding at Coventry Gurdwara. The day started for Eva and I in Barking, Essex capturing Manjit getting ready before the whole entourage left for Coventry. One thing I always like to do when I am on a shoot to is film the baraat en route. This can be more difficult than you imagine because you not only have to speed after them and cut through traffic, but you then need to keep the camera steady long enough to capture footage from a moving vehicle. For this particular Sikh wedding video we decided to go one step further that we did in Amrita & Benji’s Sikh wedding video and stop at a service station along the M1 and film from a foot bridge. We’d hardly been in position for more than a minute when the bus carrying all of Manjit’s family went past. Although only one shot, it gave a lift to the film which I believe makes it feel like a TV documentary. Thanks to our sat nav we arrived in Coventry just ahead of the bus and was ready to film the arrival of the baraat and milni before the ceremony commenced. The reception was a bit hectic, not helped by traffic diversions on the two centre, but I am proud of the film we managed to pull off for Manjit & Anju. You can see highlights of their Sikh wedding video below:
