Huma's Mehendi
Date - August 13th 2015
Location - Eskmill Glasshouse, Musselburgh, Edinburgh
Catering & Décor – Saffron Events
Makeup Artist – Saleema Ali
Henna Artist – Kashaf Latif
Entertainment – VIP Entertainments
Huma first got in touch with me around February 2015. One of my best friends sister Kashaf (who also happens to be the best mehendi artist we have come across) recommended she get it touch with us for wedding photography.
We were so excited to meet with Huma and her family, show them our albums and talk about her wedding events; how she wanted each day to unfold, what shots were important to her and any advice we could give her in terms of preparing for photo opportunities.
We managed to get the go ahead and arranged the paperwork, secured a deposit, arranged a venue visit and set up a group chat to throw our ideas around and keep in touch throughout as we do with all our clients.
I can’t explain how thrilled I was to get the thumbs up as this was going to be my first wedding in Edinburgh and could potentially open up so many other doors (which it did). We had lived in Edinburgh for just over one year and most of our wedding photography bookings were still from England. For us, word of mouth has always been our biggest contributing factor in our marketing.
So on the actual day of the mehendi, we arrived to the venue nice and early as we usually do. In fact we were so early that Saffron, the catering and décor company had just began setting up. Which was great because we had a nice relaxing start to the event and it was a pleasure to watch the build up of the décor, Hassan and his teams’ attention to detail was flawless.
With things running slightly late, we had plenty of venue and décor shots as well as some candid shots of the guests mingling around the mini reception. Once Huma arrived to the venue, we decided to make the most out of the setting sun and take some daylight shots outdoors with some off camera flash to fill in the shadows and really make the pictures pop. Huma also wanted some outdoor family portraits next to the large birdcage in the front gardens; thankfully the weather was perfect and the sunny day and clear skies brightened the whole atmosphere at her Mehendi.
By the time we had finished the family portraits, the venue and guests were ready for Huma’s big entrance. Kicked off with her sisters and bridesmaid performing a plate dance, which transformed the vibe of the evening and got everyone in the mood to party!
Once the ceremony/traditions swiftly ended and dinner was over with, the party went into fully swing. It began with choreographed dances by the bridesmaids and her sisters gradually moving to freestyle dance with Huma and her guests joining in the fun! My favorite part of the dance was when they initiated the ‘Rail Gari’, which had everyone on the dance floor by the end of the night.
VIP Entertainments did a fantastic job from start to finish – continuously maintaining the high energy in the room; they were extremely friendly and very easygoing. Would definitely recommend them for anyone looking for the best entertainment out there!
As always whenever given the opportunity, I try and get creative with off camera flash. During the event, for the stage shots, we had set up two umbrellas to spread out light evenly for the group shots. I used my two flash setup with a reflector for Huma’s headshots. Finally for lighting up the dance floor and to add a bit of pop to the subject, we used two umbrellas and a third light with a snoot and grid so the light wasn’t spreading everywhere.
Enjoy the photos guys.
Click on images for larger viewing
