The first meeting we had with Jehan at the cafe at Taj Lands End, she won us over with her smile and endless charm. She is like sunshine, carrying her sparks wherever she goes.
Jehan shares, “We had a cliched first meeting at a club where Farhan approached me when I was waiting for my friends at the end of the night. But, despite serious efforts on his part to strike a conversation with me, I remained pretty reserved and, of course, we lost touch quite quickly. But, I think destiny had other plans for us as 10 months later we bumped into each other again at a common friend’s place! And from then, there was no separating us as we started chatting regularly. Distance also played a great role in cementing our relationship as I had to fly to London for an assignment which extended unexpectedly. Unhindered by the distance, Farhan and I used to talk every day, and gradually, before we knew it, we were in love! And, eight months later we tied the knot.”
For their wedding venues, the duo decided to go local and chose popular properties that would cater to their every whim. However, for their nikah, the chose to go traditional with a mosque and a home ceremony. For the mehndi and haldi, the Otters Club in Bandra was chosen for its laid back and fun atmosphere. The glamorous reception was hosted at the Gallops Mahalaxmi and the Walimah took place at the sprawling JVPD Grounds.
From an uneventful first meeting to a magical wedding proposal, Jehan and Farhan’s journey of love culminated in a beautiful wedding. And this will always be remembered by us for a very long time because this was our last wedding, before Covid-19 entered our lives and wedding scenes.
Happy, cute, funny, merry and full of love. Please find the pictures enclosed with the said emotions 🙂
When two lawyers, Prasham & Namrata decided to get engaged it was all about celebrations and fun. And also dancing their hearts out. It was a beautiful occassion which we witnessed and documented last december. Intimate events are indeed so much joyous to capture, you get to witness and document the real raw moments as they happen.
Thank you Prasham & Namrata, for letting us into your special day and also into your lives, you two are adorable!
Mr. X has a great online wedding photography portfolio and spectacular equipment, and he is excited about an upcoming wedding shoot. He interacts with a Client, showcases his work and they are impressed. Consequently, the Client hires Mr. X. He arrives on the said wedding date, and shoots the wedding and then starts with post production work. He sends the Clients the deliverables.
But thereafter, issues arise with meeting the client’s expectations and leading to Mr. X’s balance payment not being cleared. Things like this often happen with Mr X, and he wonders even after fulfilling his obligations and sending out the deliverables, what goes wrong? The problem here is Mr X does not get a Contract/ Service Agreement signed from his Clients for his services of wedding photography.
A few discussions with some fellow photographers in the industry, we have realized that photographers struggle in meeting the client’s expectations, in the absence of a well drafted contract/service agreement. This blog post is an effort to address why contracting is so important if you want to succeed in your wedding photography business and want to reduce unnecessary stress and thereafter build lasting relationships with your clients.
What is a Wedding Photography Contract?
A Wedding Photography Contract is the agreement between The Wedding Photographer & The Client. The clients are typically the Bride & the Groom, whose wedding is about to happen. In some cases, the parents of the Bride or Groom are the Clients too.
The Contract or the Service Agreement absolutely covers everything which both the parties are responsible for, for the day(or days) of the wedding event. A well drafted contract covers the scope of work, deliverable, pricing, payment terms and schedule and also things like copyright, cancellation etc.
Learning to draft a wedding photography contract is not a part of the formal photography education leaving a lot of photographers having to struggle. A lot of them try to search templates online and wade through endless websites to draft a contract template, and still they are unable to safeguard themselves from all the contingencies that can arise in future. Here, we have made an attempt to simplify the essentials of a wedding photography contract.
Why is a Wedding Photography Contract so important?
Contract is basically documented to solve problems in the present as well as foresee the problems what can arise in future. Contracting is basically problem-solving. Being a Lawyer before becoming a Wedding Photographer, I have always stressed on having a well drafted contract. Our Wedding Photography Contract is basically the summary of our learnings, and the check-list of things to be taken care of, with our experience of being in the industry for over six years.
A well drafted contract benefits both the wedding photographer & the client ensuring fair treatment to everyone involved. Sometimes, clients can be hesitant to sign a wedding photography contract, it’s important to emphasize how its necessary to sign a contract for their benefit too. During a meeting or over a call, you need to make them understand how the contract ensures that they get all the deliverables what has been promised to them. It’s just like a script that both the parties follow so that the entire relationship runs as smoothly as possible. At any point of time, if there’s any question/difference about the service/scope of work/deliverable, there is a ready guideline at hand that can be pulled out and used as a checklist.
Lets face it Wedding Photography is not an easy job. You have to invest in latest equipment. You have to impress a client and get them on-board. Thereafter, you have to be meticulously on your toes throughout the shoot, and finally work tirelessly on the post production deliverables. A well drafted wedding photography contract ensures fair treatment for the photography team, their copyright & usage of the photographs, provisions for safe working environment, protection against cancellation due to act of god/last minute occurrences etc.
For Clients, a wedding photography contract offers them very firm reassurance that they’re going to get a return on their investment. Wedding photography is a big investment afterall, and clients who might be nervous about the amount of money they are going to spend for photography & film will feel a lot more secure if they have everything mentioned in the contract.
What all should a Wedding Photography Contract cover?
A good and well-drafted contract need to address a lot of points. In our case, as mentioned before, we have added points in our contract based on our experience and the learnings. The language in the contract is kept absolutely simple. Scroll down for the link to KnotsbyAMP Sample Agreement!
Lets take a look at some key clauses that your wedding photography contract must have :-
1. Scope of Work Setting up the scope of work and putting out your deliverable for photography and film is of utmost importance while drafting a wedding photography contract. The scope should be exhaustive & descriptive of what all you are going to deliver to the Client. The scope of work should also mention the team size comprising of no. of photographers & cinematographers.
The deliverables section would also require a lot of back and forth communication with the Client. But this will set the expectations of the Client, and thereafter no one can put any pressure about certain thing not being delivered. In case if any issue arises in the post-production stage, the parties should stick to what is mentioned in the scope of work.
2. Payment Payment is the next foremost important thing on your wedding photography contract. Put the total amount payable clearly, along with the bifurcation as to the “Advance Amount” & “Balance Payment”. Along with that mentioning about non-refundable amounts and payment schedule is crucial. Most of the wedding photographers start the post-production work only once all the pending payments are cleared by the client. This should be strictly followed by all wedding photographers, as keeping a certain percentage of amount (say 10%) on hold for later, have their own shortcomings. Save yourself from the hassles of constantly following up and other unpleasant experiences, by sticking to your irrevocable payment terms.
3. IPR & Copyright This governs for both the parties. Generally, the wedding photographer maintains the copyright of all the photos they’ve taken. The wedding photographer reserves his right to display the photos taken at the client’s wedding on their website, for their promotion and marketing. If there is any objection to use any particular photo, the client can mention that to the wedding photographer. The client gets the right for unlimited lifetime usage of the photographs for their personal usage.
4. Cancellation A contract comes to your rescue in situations of last minute cancellation or events getting cancelled due to Act of God. The scenario of weddings getting cancelled/postponed due to Covid 19, taught us a big lesson in terms of drafting a “force majeure” clause in the contract. The wedding photographers with the force majeure clause could retain the advance booking amount with credit for services later on when they happen in future. Its always advisable to anticipate worst possible scenarios that can ever arise and put them in the contract. For wedding photographers, this is their livelihood, and it needs to be ensured that you’re compensated fairly for your time and efforts. A sudden cancellation would mean a loss of income, so you need to make sure you’re protected.
If, however, there is a failure to perform the wedding photography contract on the wedding photographer’s part due to illness, injury, or other emergencies, then you can stipulate in that contract that you’ll either make an alternate arrangement or return the money to the client.
5. Working Hours for Photographers Wedding Photography is a demanding job, where you have to be on your toes throughout. Its important that you define reasonable working hours, ensuring gaps between two successive events.
Also that’s why its important to have at least one assistant, along with you on the day, so they can take over photo duties while you’re on a bathroom/food break/ short break.
6. Travel, Accommodation & Food Expenses Mentioning expenses would be the next important thing. For outstation shoots, travel and accommodation expenses needs to be discussed at the starting conversation itself.
From our experience, we have realised that it’s important to ask for accomodation, if the shoot location is in the outskirts of the same city. If there are not much gap between two wedding events, its important that you check with client and get an accomodation or any other arrangement. All of these will not only ensure seamless coverage of the wedding, but also at the end of the day your goal to make your clients happy will be met successfully.
Food expenses for the team, even though being a basic requirement, should be highlighted in your agreement.
7. Safe Work Environment Lastly, do mention to your clients for providing a safe work environment. You will usually not find this clause in many contract templates for wedding photographers. But with our experience in the industry, we have incorporated this clause in our contract. Its important that the wedding photography team deserves a fair treatment, as they set out out to give so many happy memories to their clients. Also with Covid 19 scenario, its a risk on the lives of wedding photographers too. Hence, safe working environment is the need of the hour for the upcoming wedding shoots.
The signatures of the clients or an e-mail stating that they have gone through the agreement and are ok with everything, is the final part of all the hard work that you have put into drafting the contract. Once this is done, your job will get easier and the next step would be focusing on the shoot!
After a whirlwind romance across beautiful locations around the globe, Miloni and Nihar got married at Della Resorts, Lonavala. The best part – their pet son, Rancho was a part of the charming festivities spread across two days. It was a crazy affair, filled with happiness, joy and unlimited dances. Here is the story leading to #NVMilove.
About – Nihar & Miloni
Nihar, our groom, is a chemical engineer by profession. He grew up in Mumbai and moved to the states for university. Miloni, our bride is a psychologist by profession, and bakes cakes in her free time. Miloni grew up in Belgium and moved to London for university. Nihar and Miloni were introduced by Miloni’s best friend. Nihar was living in Dallas at the time and Miloni in Antwerp then. They connected over WhatsApp and FaceTime, and very early on they both were sure about each other. The first time Miloni and Nihar met in person was in Toronto, at Pearson International Airport. Miloni was attending a conference in Toronto, and Nihar decided to travel to see her. They had a magical time, including spending a day at Niagara Falls. They next met in Dallas, where Miloni met Nihar’s golden retriever, Rancho, for the first time. They were sure about being together, and they let their parents know of this. A few months later, both the families united in Antwerp. They were delighted to share Miloni and Nihar’s engagement to their family and friends. After all their travels and ventures abroad, Miloni and Nihar decided to settle in Mumbai.
Miloni and Nihar decided to tell their story chronologically through their wedding events. Each event was designed to be the cities they met and spent time in: – Welcome Lunch: Toronto, Canada – Mehendi: Dallas, USA – Sangeet: Antwerp, Belgium – London Lunch: London, UK – Wedding: Mumbai, India
Here is their very fun wedding film 🙂
Day 1 – Welcome & Haldi
Nihar’s side of the family put up at the Dukes Retreat, Lonavala, and Miloni’s side was put up at Della Resorts, Lonavala. The festivities started with Nihar and his parents welcoming guests, proceeded by dhol and crazy dance. Let us tell you that dance was the major highlight of this wedding, and loads of dance and craziness shall follow in this blog. Lets first start with the Welcome Dance.
Met our groom – Nihar: The one thing that will immediately strike you when you meet Nihar is that he is totally a people’s person, he is also the “center of attraction at every party” and also dance runs through his genes.
Nihar & his friends were a close-knit group. They were always there for Nihar, and up to crazy antics. We got to witness the crazy and warm side of Nihar’s friends throughout the wedding.
Post the welcome dances, it was time for Nihar’s Haldi. And our groom was not spared at all. We saw an epic Haldi where – Nihar’s clothes were torn, and thereafter his face was smeared with schezwan sauce, chutney, butter, raita and what not. Post the haldi aftermath, the friends were kind enough to escort our groom for a shower too.
Day – 1 Mehendi Ceremony
Post the Haldi, we headed to Della Resorts, where our gorgeous bride Miloni was getting ready for the Mehendi ceremony.
Meet our bride – Miloni: The one thing which is spectacular about Miloni is her smile, beautiful and genuine in every way. Her attention to detail is just remarkable and she goes out of her way to make her closed ones feel special.
The Mehendi ceremony celebrated the Texan culture of Dallas, where Nihar & Miloni met for the second time. Miloni wore a stunning lemon and pale blue Anita Dongre lehenga with multicolored motifs that matched the color palette of the decor. Nihar wore a green kurta with yellow waist-coat. Miloni & Nihar were delighted that Della Resort is dog-friendly that enabled their pet dog, Rancho to be a part of all their ceremonies. Rancho is a crucial part of their lives and complete their family now. It was quite obvious that we wanted to include Rancho for their couple shoot 🙂
And when Rancho joined them for their Mehendi ceremony entry, it was beautiful and overwhelming and beautiful in every way
Our bride and groom are really a riot, when they are together. The energy they bring out together is tremendous. They totally love each other’s company and enjoy making memories together
Friends and Family are truly the sunshine of Life. Nihar & Miloni’s wedding saw such great bonds of friendship – revisiting old ones while creating new ones. Also, time to introduce Niomi, Nihar’s sister who shares a great bond with Miloni.
The last photograph in this series is a proof.
Mehendi ceremony thereafter, saw performances and garba. It was beautiful as energetic performances went through the entire afternoon, till the wee hours of the evening. We were tired from back to back shoots the same week, but somehow the energy at the garba really got to us, and we had so much fun documenting the dance performances. Guess that’s the magic and beauty of garba and gujarati weddings!
Day 1 – Sangeet
The diamond capital of the planet, Antwerp, which has been Miloni’s home was the perfect inspiration for the glitzy sangeet night with shimmering crystals, twinkling lights, and a glamorous blue glow that ruled the evening of dance and music, and of course Belgian waffles. This is how the evening started as we started documenting stories from Miloni’s room. Miloni has two beautiful sisters – Pasmi & Saloni, who were by her side throughout along with her mom.
Miloni’s embellished blue lehenga by Seema Gujral was chosen to sync in with the theme colour of the sangeet night – blue. And she looked stunning in every way.
This is how Nihar and Miloni entered and all the eyes, undoubtedly were on them.
Dance was the major highlight of this wedding, we repeat ourselves again. The evening saw some amazing next-level performances. Here is how the first half of the evening looked like. Starting with our groom, Nihar who rocked the stage.
Followed by our bride, Miloni who really danced away all her happiness with killer thumkas.
We also got to witness some family moments and family performances.
And then followed by performances of the friends.
Our bride and groom were surely having a great time.
The next performance was featuring the couple themselves. And, they surely won many hearts with their special performance.
Time for our bride to put her feelings through her solo performance through the song “Teri Ore”
Finally, after all the energetic performances came to an end with the favourite song of the season ” Sauda Khara Khara
The audience kept cheering for more.
Soon, the stage was taken over by Singer Dilesh Doshi, and he ensured that the rocking evening continues.
We also witnessed Nihar singing and everyone cheered through. Surely, it was amazing.
And the night ended with all happy memories. Along with them, we too danced a bit.
Day 2 – London Lunch
A British-themed lunch was hosted the following day to celebrate Nihar and Miloni’s time in London.
The day began with our bride basking in the glorious morning sun.
Nihar’s side at Dukes Retreat Resort saw a very fun morning with some interesting games – Banjo and Bingo
Day 2 – Wedding
Nihar’s Getting Ready Story : The mood at Nihar’s room was very chilled out, filled with hustle and bustle, and ofcourse had Rancho who kept everyone around happy and entertained
Thereafter, our groom started getting ready in the company of his friends and Rancho.
Special mention here to Atish, who is Nihar’s best friend and best man, and was there for him throughout. Even when our groom needed band-aid
Nihar was very particular that he would not take portraits alone. And he didn’t let us take his solo portraits on the first day. But we convinced and managed his portraits on the wedding day. We are sure he doesn’t regret now for the same
The party thereafter proceeded inside for a few rituals and some fun photos
Miloni’s Getting Ready Story : Miloni had her best friend Bhavi inside her room, while she got ready. Bhavi is also the one who played cupid and made the match of Nihar & Miloni
Also, we made couple portrait of Nihar and Miloni, in the nick of time just before Nihar headed for his baraat. We swear the second photograph was impromptu, thanks to our bride Miloni
We made portraits with Miloni and Rancho. For the wedding, Miloni wore a pastel Kalki Lehenga. It’s interesting to mention that Rancho also matched his outfit with his mommy. Rancho’s customized sherwani was designed by Miloni. Don’t they look cutest?
Miloni’s girl gang kept her entertained throughout, and we had to make some photos with them.
Nihar’s baraat was one of the most epic baraats we have ever witnessed. The baraat went on for almost three hours. The friends and family danced their way to begin Nihar’s new journey.
It was so overwhelming to see the family bonding at the baraat.
We also documented Miloni as she waited for her groom to come, who indeed made her wait for long. But she spent the time with her girls, smiling and laughing all throughout.
We proceeded now to the Jaimaal finally. And it was a surreal moment in the evening dusky sky as Nihar & Miloni exchanged garlands.
Day 2 – Wedding
And the finale – Here’s to love, laughter & happily ever after. The theme city was Mumbai, where Miloni & Nihar would finally settle.
An emotional moment for Miloni and her mom. Her sister, Saloni also joins in. From Antwerp to Mumbai, Miloni’s life is going to change now.
But, all is well that ends with a “ladoo” & “photo” 🙂
Wait there is more. Its the same day Miloni got her PhD (Doctorate) degree. She joked later, that she got degree & dulha the same day.
Like an amazing husband, Nihar broke out the news to everyone present there. Kudos to Miloni’s hard-work, and the celebrations just doubled, and her wedding day will be memorable forever. This is how the festivities ended 🙂
Thank you Miloni & Nihar, and the entire Sanghvi & Vakil families for all the love. It was absolutely great to be a part of your wedding.
Advice for Couples Miloni shares, “The entire experience became smooth sailing once we identified our strengths and focused on those. Nihar managed the technical aspects, and I took lead on all things creative. This joint effort helped to pull our wedding together without chaos. Learn to pick your battles instead of locking horns over every decision.”
Harsh & Alisha got married in a very colourful and vibrant wedding at Pluz Resort in Silvassa in a two-day festivities.
We met Harsh & Alisha at Starbucks, BKC and saw their cute, effortless and chivalrous chemistry and knew its going to be really fun capturing their wedding. Harsh knew about Alisha’s existence through his tution classes, when he was in his 8th std. Alisha was in 3rd std then. Thereafter, while they were in college NM and NMIMS, Alisha in NM and Harsh in NMIMS respectively, they bumped into each other. Chatting over texts and calls, going on car rides, they knew this was “meant to be”. Thereafter, they tied the knot in December last year, and we had the good fortune of documenting their big day. Here is their wedding story. But before proceeding to their photo-set, check out their wedding film.
The wedding festivities started with Haldi. Harsh & Alisha made an entry wearing matching outfits. Thereafter, a crazy haldi followed. Harsh wasn’t spared at all. Thereafter, the day led to the sangeet. From co-ordinating outfits to matching their joys, the happy couple along with friends and family danced their hearts out. The next day the beautiful dreamy wedding happened followed by a happening reception. The celebrations galore is what we loved the most about this wedding. Don’t miss Alisha’s fur baby – Aura. In this lockdown time, this wedding story will surely take you back to the joys and happiness of weddings & celebrations nostalgia.
