Ark Royal Tamil wedding | Nadina + Hayden
Ark Royal Tamil wedding by David Pullum
When my associate photographer Kabz recommends his cousin to book me for her wedding it's always a little bit nerve racking. Kabz is a great photographer and has worked for me for a number of years now, and I know he would have said some lovely things about my work.
Fulfilling those expectations creates pressure, but that's my job. You get one shot at a wedding, there is no going back to re do it and that's what I pride my work on, being in the right place at the right time and nailing the shots that matter most.
Nadina and I spoke for quite a while on the phone before she booked, she outlined what she wanted and expected and then I told her how I work. It was fairly obvious from the get go that her needs fitted with my style of work. No excessive posing, very little direction and most of all to create images that reflect them, their family and friends and to capture the essence of the day. Two families, one Tamil, one Jamaican coming together in a celebration of marriage.
Nadina started at her family's house in South London from which we we were to make what seemed like a short journey north to The Ark Royal Wedding Venue in North London. the 40 minute journey turned into a complete nightmare.
The Rotherhithe tunnel was experiencing huge delays so my SATNAV, and thankfully Nadina's chauffeurs SATNAV took us over Tower Bridge instead. The 40 minute journey turned into nearly 2 hours. In 15 years I have never been late, not even a minute. I pride myself on always being early therefore causing no stress to the bride and groom and their family.
This however had me worried, we sat still in traffic for 40 minutes before eventually getting above 3mph and arriving at the venue late, but in the knowledge that Nadina was 20 minutes behind us.I love a Tamil ceremony, I love the meaning of it, the fire ,the incense, the traditions, its beautiful to watch and lovely to photograph. I believe this was the first Indian ceremony that The Ark Royal had hosted, they did a quite magnificent job as the day flowed really well and everybody looked like they enjoyed themselves.
There were some great speeches by Hayden's boys and his sister, topped off with some impressive moves on the dancefloor.
A big thank you to Kabz for recommending me to Nadina, also to Mayuran for second shooting with me. I hope you enjoy the images.
David Pullum has recently been voted one of the best wedding photographers in the UK 2020
