Wedding Photographers to catch the different wedding Customs

Sydney is a melting pot and traditional wedding customs vary across the cultures.

An important part of the build-up to the wedding in many parts of South Asia is the mehndi ceremony when the bride and women closely related to her has traditional and very intricate henna patterns applied to her hands and feet.

Hindu weddings, for example, can last for several days and involve hundreds of guests. The actual ceremony is performed at a sacred fire and traditionally the end of the rituals the bride and groom circle the fire seven times.  The traditional colours for the bride’s wedding sari are red and gold.

Moroccan brides wear elaborate kaftans and jewellery and there is also a tradition of applying henna patterns to the hands as in S Asia.

At a traditional Scottish wedding it may be that all the men wear the kilt while at a traditional Chinese wedding the bride is presented to the groom in a red wedding carriage.

In traditional muslim weddings the formalities of the marriage contract are carried out, the nikah, with the bride and groom in different rooms or different parts of the room. The walima, the equivalent of the western reception, may also be one where men and the women celebrate separately and it may also be that taking photographs of the bride is not allowed.  It is only at the end of the walima that the bride and groom are seated next to each other, generally with the bride still veiled.

There are all sorts of customs associated with weddings and these can also include mass weddings when several couples are married at the same celebration.

Whatever their origins most couples want to be sure they have a photographic or video record of their big day to remember and treasure long after the event.

If a professional photographer is to be engaged to record a wedding that contains elements and traditions from different cultures they will need to be given proper guidance and information on the aspects of the wedding that it is essential to capture in their photographs, and equally those aspects that should not be photographed.

A meeting with the photographer well in advance of the event is therefore important.  In order to plan properly, organise the equipment that will be needed and provide an accurate costing.

The photographer will need to know when they need to be available, especially if the various elements of the marriage celebrations will take part over several days and what it is permitted to photograph and what is not.

Deyan Wedding Photography Sydney specialises in the art of beautiful, photojournalistic, pre wedding photography, digital, wedding and family portrait photography, including video NSW, Noosa, Italy, Hong Kong.