On a fine day in mid-June we had the pleasure of filming the wedding of a premier league footballer and his lovely partner. It was hosted at Four Seasons Hampshire under the supervision of VIP wedding planner & designer Mark Niemierko.

We received the booking only the day before which meant we were a bit less prepared than usual, however we managed to co-ordinate the filming as we went along. The day started with the groom and his friends clay pigeon shooting whilst the bride and her entourage got ready. The wedding ceremony was held at a nearby church in the village of Dogmersfield. Mark’s team lavishly dressed the church to create a quintessential country feel and it was completely full for the ceremony!

Afterwards a drinks reception was held in the hotel’s fabulous Walled Garden. I’ve always believed that outdoor settings look better on film than indoor ones, and this garden really excels as a backdrop. Later on the wedding banquet was hosted inside the hotel with the cake cutting on the terrace accompanied by fireworks. The evening’s partying got off to a swing with a great band and the guests clearly enjoyed themselves. Below are highlights from the event.

Another Muslim wedding we filmed this year was Shazma & Omar’s Nikkah, held at the Dorchester Hotel, London in May. Attended by 500 guests, the couple booked our Premiere package which I supervised personally with our videographers Dan & Tunji. Dan began the day in Berkshire filming Shazma leaving her family home, whilst Tunji and I went over to Chigwell to film Omar and his family getting ready and conducting the Sehra Bandi. Its quite rare for us to film grooms getting ready, (usually this is domain of brides!), but Omar’s outfit and preparations were considerably more elaborate than most grooms. Indeed it tends to only be Sikh & Muslim grooms that really warrant the filming treatment, for example see this Sikh wedding video and this Muslim wedding video. Omar’s family were very welcoming and I had a particularly pleasant chat with Omar’s father.

After departing from their respective homes the two families descended upon the Dorchester Hotel in central London. From a filming perspective, the highlight of the day was the Baraat. Behind the hotel in a small street the groom pulled up in a Rolls Royce Phantom and mounted a beautifully decorated horse. 200 guests and a large professional band then proceeded behind the groom into Park Lane to the astonishment of many bystanders. Buses full with commuters were temporarily held up for the jaw dropping spectacle as the band and guests danced their way down Park Lane to hotel’s ballroom entrance. Here the families met and greeted one another, before two Scottish bag pipers took over and led the whole gathering into the hotel ballroom. It was a fabulous setting and after the Nikkah was completed an evening of food, speeches and entertainment provided a treat for all. You can see highlights from Shazma & Omar’s Muslim wedding celebrations below

On a warm Spring day towards the end of May two of our wedding videographers made their way down to one of our favourite venues the Four Seasons Hampshire to film the wedding of Deborah and Mark. It was a very tasteful and intimate wedding that provided a nice opportunity to create yet another very personal film. The couple were very open and I am sure soon forgot we were filming at all. I remember the best man’s speech as being particularly entertaining, surpassed only by the touching tribute from Deborah’s father. As with many weddings filmed at the Four Seasons the outdoor terraces provided a great backdrop for the drinks reception and the field of flames which laid out in the evening. I was happy when I first saw the footage and the video makes a good addition to our growing collection of weddings at the Four Seasons. We are currently editing two more weddings filmed at the Four Seasons Hampshire this Summer which will be uploaded in due course.

At the start of May we filmed Toby and Bhupinders Sikh wedding celebrations over 3 days including the family’s Mendhi and Ladies Sangeet events. It was our first job with the newly released Sony Z7 camera and Dan & Dusan had the honour of christening (or should I say Sikhisming?) the new cameras. I came and supervised the filming of the ceremony on the Sunday morning which was at Hounslow Gurdwara. What is unusual about this Sikh wedding is that Toby is a non-Sikh American guy who lives and works in the UK. He and Bhupinder were a really nice couple, representing a cross cultural marriage with a real sense of openness. Both families were very warm and friendly and Toby and his father grew the customary beards for the occasion. The Sikh wedding reception was held afterwards in the secret garden at Syon Park this proved a lovely setting for enjoyable event. To see highlights from their Sikh wedding video, click on the video below:

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:

In May we were booked by Helen and James to film their wedding at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. It was a great location for a wedding reception, although the staff were a little obstructive when it came to filming outside the main house. However the weather held and our wedding videographers Dan and David ensured we got plenty of good material. As you would expect from an Oxfordshire wedding video it was a very elegant affair with beautiful surroundings and lovely details. The couple endeared themselves to their guests with personal touches such rowing oars outside the church and a rehearsed first dance. For their wedding DVD we experimented with the use of black and white for some scenes, which I think looks good for church weddings where the bride is wearing white. You can see a trailer from the Oxfordshire wedding video below:

One of our favourite places for wedding videos in Hampshire is the Four Seasons Hotel in Dogmersfield, where we film many weddings each year. What is nice about the venue is the unstuffy warmth and hospitality of the staff combined a wonderful rural location. Our clients, Susan and David, opted to hold their wedding ceremony in the walled garden which is wonderful feature of the hotel and makes for a beautiful wedding video. David being a Kiwi decided to add a touch of his cultural heritage by having Maori dancers entertain his guests in the evening whilst a band also provided great entertainment. Our wedding videographer Dishad did a great job as always of filming the wedding and I am pleased with the results. You can see highlights of this Hampshire wedding video below:

One of the first London wedding videos we filmed this year was for Catherine and Christian a couple who married at Farm Street Church in Mayfair with a reception afterwards at Claridges Hotel. The service was conducted by Father William Pearsall a splendidly nice chap with a great sense of humour. Catherine looked wonderful in her dress entering into this fabulous catholic church and Christian gave a witty speech at the reception. Claridges is a very nice venue for a wedding and we have been there on many occasions now. Like all our wedding videos in London, we try to combine the elegance of the occasion with a sense of what being in London is all about. Dishad and Simon filmed the wedding using the Z1 camera on one of its last outings before we upgraded to the Z7, I must say Claridges uses very low lighting so it is a struggle for the Z1 camera and I am glad we won’t have to use camera lights so often in future. Use can see highlights of this London wedding video.

Back in April we were booked to produce a wedding video in Wiltshire for the lovely Andrew & Gemma. Dan and Dishad filmed the day which began at the church and then continued with a reception afterwards at Gemma’s family estate. Gemma’s dad is a well known BBC racing commentator, so it was no surprise they had plenty of horses in the fields. We have a thing in our company about filming animals and wildlife, you’ll see creatures appearing in many of the films we make – so with this one it is horses! Andrew & Gemma were a wonderful couple and Gemma’s father gave one of the most entertaining Father of the Bride speeches we’ve heard so far this year! Another unique feature of their wedding was a Ceilidh which not only entertained the guests but kept them warm on what was a rather cold evening! Like every film we’ve made this year, it was a pleasure to create something visual and entertaining. Highlights for their Wiltshire wedding video can be seen below.

One of the first Indian weddings we did this year was for Saj & Nuwan who held a reception at the fabulous Woburn Abbey. Like many of our Indian wedding videos, it was a very visual affair and the guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We worked with Aziz from Aira Photography, someone we really enjoy working with and recommend highly. I think that when you have a photographer and a videographer who both enjoy their creativity and get along well you can achieve super results. I particularly like this video because it shows how both the photographer and videographer have pushed each other on to get highly visual material material. It set a benchmark for the other Indian wedding videos we planned to do this year.