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Mani and Jussi’s Summer Wedding took place in the beautiful city of Winnipeg. A traditional Sikh wedding ceremony at Singh Sabha Gurdwara.

Although the summer heat was at full force and the sun was blazing down Mani and Jussi both kept positive and continued to shoot . This resulted in truly beautiful vibrant pictures!  To them it was well worth it in the end. Mani had a smile on his face throughout the whole wedding, which was captured by our camera many times. A true testament to how happy he must be setting into the future with Jussi by his side.

July is one of our busiest months to shoot weddings. As a creative professional it’s always exciting for me to have the opportunity to travel and shoot in a new environment. My team and I were looking forward to being a part of Mani and Jussi’s big day.

Even from their initial email the couple were so excited to book us. It’s great to work with a couple who is so passionate about photography. It creates a unique bond that really makes the process exciting for everyone involved. It fosters a type of positive creative energy and spirit of team work. When we arrived at their residence we were treated like family and felt a part of the wedding house mayhem. Getting ready for such an important event requires a whole team of creatives, friends and family to work together.

Mani and Jussi’s reception was an interesting mix of eclecticism and tradition! The theme was Starwars meets Bollywood. This was reflected throughout all aspects of the reception from their dramatic entrance even to their wedding cake design.

Jussi’s make up was done by Nicole. Hair style crafted by Jane. Videography was done by Sean Phillips from A Moving Picture Studio. Lighting and music by Elite Lighting , decor by Rick, catering was done by Clay Oven Restaurant.

 

The groom chose a trendy handlebar moustache to coordinate with his modern outfit.  This was certainly a highlight on the wedding day. His saaliyan curling his moustache was a cute touch to the Doli ceremony.

JC and Pumpy’s wedding took place on a beautiful fall weekend. JC and I have been friends  for the past 10 years, it was a pleasure and honor to be a part of their special day. A traditional Sikh wedding was held on October 3^rd 2009 at Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Malton. After the couple was pronounced Mr. and Mrs., an elaborate lunch was set up at Premium Banquet Hall where all their guests enjoyed the amazing food by the chefs from Spice Cuisine. The following evening the couple was joined by all their loved ones for one of the biggest receptions of the year at the beautiful Embassy Grand.

The morning of the wedding day is a war zone at the bride’s house. As I walked into Pumpy’s house everyone was busy running around doing the last minute preparations. Pumpy was seated in front of the mirror as Shirley Wu was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. Pumpy looked absolutely stunning in her Red and Cream Lehnga from Bombay Trendz, jewellery and accessories from Banglez added a glamorous touch to the bride.

After shooting Pumpy’s pictures I arrived at the Great Punjab Plaza where JC’s baraat was assembling for their grand entrance. I was in awe to see JC’s entourage of 40 Groomsmen, which consisted of his cousins, soccer team, and his friends all wearing specific colored kurta’s from Men of India. JC’s groomsmen plus Pumpy’s bridesmaids concluded the biggest bridal party that I have ever shot.

What’s a baraat without Bhangra and a Dholi? But having Jassi Sidhu performing JC’s favorite song Veer Ji Veyon Chaliya was a moment like no other and is still talked about today.

The following evening JC and Pumpy’s reception was held at the Embassy Grand. As I was approaching the hall I could see the sky trackers (by BB Blanc) lighting up the sky. Décor by Hidden Treasures and Khazana Creations made the interior of the hall look very rich and elegant. David from LPM kept the crowd dancing all night long with all the latest hits.

The highlight of the night was Jassi Sidhu performing live in front of all of the guests. The whole hall’s atmosphere turned into a concert.  A very touching moment for me was when JC’s dad got emotional after watching the wedding highlights slideshow that I had created the night before. He gave me a big hug and thanked me for capturing such beautiful moments of his son’s wedding.

Pumpy super excited doing Bhangra on her wedding day.

JC’s one of a kind Sherwani by Men of India.

Jassi Sidhu performing “Veer Ji Veyon”.

JC’s friends and family dancing away.

JC’s soccer team wearing customized kurta’s with their  jersey numbers on the back.

JC by the bar, his favorite place to be.

Sky Trackers

Beautiful cake by Amica.

Never seen before Corona Jago by JC’s boys.

Dekh ke savere Jija khali hoye “batuey” nu tori wangu muh lamka ke beh jayi na.

Here is what JC & Pumpy wrote:

“Pumpy and I met in early 2009 through our dads being very close friends, we started talking and getting together and we realized very quickly that this was one of those LIFE DEFINING moments.  We decided to get married that same year and started to move forward with planning a fall wedding.  With both families being involved in businesses and various social networks, our guest list was obviously not on the smaller end, 1500 to be exact.  With me and my family being involved in the wedding industry for the better part of my life, I was thankful to get a lot of support from a lot of my close business associates.  One of those associates was Kuljit Rehal from Creative Vision Photography.

With the wedding being as grand as it was, we needed our photographer on point to make sure each and every moment was captured the way it really happened.  In order to achieve this, you need a photographer that is creative, dedicated, punctual, and most important PATIENT, because we all know how Indian weddings can get over-the-top crazy. Kuljit has a creative eye like no other.  He understands the bride and groom, gets to know their personalities and creates the environment that brings it all out of them, a definite trait only found in a passionate photographer.  He was ready for each and every shoot/wedding event way before the event was even going to take place just in case there was that rare chance an Indian bride and groom may be ready on time.  Regardless we were never on time but knowing our photographer was on point made us a lot more comfortable and we were able to focus on the event at hand.

It can be a very uncomfortable moment with all the attention on the bride and groom and having a guy like Kuljit, who over the course of years in the photography business, by your side can be a definite bonus. We, honestly, had a blast with each of our photo shoots. From dressing up like pure pendus, to GQ shoots in Yorkville, casual shoots in downtown, after ceremony shoots and the reception shoots, it was all incredibly fun.  We laughed, joked the entire way, some of the shoots Kuljit came up with was very creative and definitely made us a laugh much more often that we would have thought.

We were thrilled to see a lot of the key moments we planned in our wedding were captured by Kuljit and his crew.  From Jassi Sidhu singing live during the barat and reception, to the 72 people involved in our immediate bridal party.  Kuljit had a great idea and that was to create 3.5ft by 7ft individual posters outside the venue beside the main doors which instantly became an eye-catcher as people pulled to the banquet hall. We pulled up in a 1967 Rolls Royce and before I could even think about calling someone to get the photographer, Kuljit was already standing outside waiting for the vehicle to approach.

We entered the hall to bright lights, people clapping and of course “TERI ORE”, which at that time was a blockbuster song.  The wedding reception just flew by, I remember all the fun stuff, like my friends doing a special jago dance routine, our sisters and cousins doing two dances respectively, but you honestly live through the photos and videos.  The evening goes so quickly like a big blur.  We were very very happy and relieved to go with Kuljit. He went over and above to help us through the whole thing and his excellent photography skills have helped us relive the big day like it was yesterday whenever we want.”

- JC & Pumpy