Muslim · A minute, sometimes less
Ijab and qabool
The offer is made, and it is accepted. That pair of sentences is the marriage.
Hold a locked frame on the person speaking. Do not cross the room because the other angle looks better. Names, the offer, the acceptance. A lav on the officiant, agreed beforehand, is the line you will use.
Sikh · Four circuits
The four laavan
Each circuit is one lav. The fourth is not a spare.
A locked camera from the side. Count the circuits yourself. If you look down at a battery on the third, you will miss the fourth. No flash.
Hindu · A few minutes
Kanyadaan
Her parents place her hand in his. The hands are the shot.
No flash. No one standing up in front of the fire to ‘get the detail’. The detail is the hands, and you are already framed for them.
Hindu · Four or seven circuits
The pheras
They walk around the fire. The number is the family’s, not yours.
Locked wide so the fire and both of them stay in the geometry. A second camera on a long lens for the face, from a seat. The knot of her dupatta in his hand is the detail, if you can take it without moving.
Hindu · Seconds
Sindoor
Red is put in the parting of her hair. Blink and it is done.
One frame of the hand, one of her face, if you have two cameras. If you have one, take the hand and the face together, wide enough that a small movement does not lose either.
Tamil · The muhurtham, and then a moment
Tying the thali
The thali is tied. For many Tamil families, that is the marriage.
Long lens, already focused, as the hands come to her neck. Jasmine, the knot, her face. No flash.
Bengali · Seven circles
Saat paak
She circles him, often seven times. It is not a phera around a fire.
A locked wide that can hold all seven circles without you walking with her. If she is carried, the carriers are in the frame. They are not an obstacle.
Hindu · Under a minute
Jaimala
Each places a garland on the other. Sometimes he is lifted.
Do not orbit. The aisle is full. A gimbal in the middle gets neither garland.
Sikh · A list
Milni
Men of the two families meet, pair by pair, and garland each other.
A long lens. Each pair gets a garland and a hold. The father meeting the father is the one you do not talk over.
Sikh · A few minutes, at home
Sehra bandi
The veil of flowers is tied over his face, before he leaves.
The tying, then a still frame of him before the street. The flowers will move. Focus on the knot, then on his eye behind it.
Muslim · The length of a goodbye
Rukhsati
She leaves her family. It is not a photo call.
One take. If someone blocks you, you live with the edge of the frame. You do not push through a mother.
Hindu · The length of a goodbye
Vidaai
She leaves the house she grew up in. The car door is the scene.
Parent and bride together. If you only have her face, you have missed the rite. No second performance.