Vineeth & Reshma - An intimate temple wedding in Kollam, Kerala

It was our first time travelling to Kollam. To our lovely surprise, Vineeth, the groom himself came to pick us up. Instead of straightaway heading to our hotel, he took us around showing the place that has been home to him for 25 years. We went to a small shop for breakfast, and my inner child was screaming in joy, since everything I had imagined Kerala to be, was coming to reality in front of my eyes: the gentle rains, a quaint, simple hotel, empty roads flanked by lush green cover, steaming hot puttu and kadala curry, and kattan, and a radio in the background playing an old Malayalam song. It set the tone for the rest of the day: full of rest and quiet, which in hindsight was such a big boon to have before busy shoot days started. And honestly, it set the tone for our entire experience shooting this laidback couple’s lovely, intimate wedding.

Our second day started with accompanying Vineeth to the railway station to pick Reshma up. The 3 of us (Pravin, Suriya, and I) were in the back seat of the car, hearing Vineeth & Reshma’s stories, and documenting bits and pieces of everything – something that continued until the very end of our journey with these two.

We got to shoot them with the sun right atop our heads, and sitting in a boat on a lake, overlooking the sunset. Right as we were wrapping up, Vineeth got a call to rush back home for the evening event, so we packed up and ran back with him to the village, like young boys rushing home before curfew, and what fun it was!

The following day, we travelled to Reshma’s house in Ernakulam, and post shoot, thulped a hearty banana leaf full of Kerala meals.

Day 4 was the wedding day. The weather was pleasant and calm through the day. It being the very first Kerala wedding we were witnessing, we were pleasantly surprised that the entire ceremony got over in 15 minutes flat. We got ample time to chill with the couple for portraits, got to hang out with their friends, partake in the laughs and all the merriment, shoot the reception that followed, right up until the couple got into their car and drove away, waving goodbye to their families and the wedding party.

In a lot of ways, shooting this beautiful wedding felt like a complete circle. We had worked with Vineeth (who is a part of the wedding film wing of Simple Pictures) as a fellow technician earlier, and we now got to be the main people shooting his own wedding. We were there to see, document and receive Reshma at the train station, and we were there to see, document and bid the newly married couple goodbye. We joined Simple Pictures as interns March of 2023, and June of 2023, we were full-time employees, being entrusted by both by the company and Vineeth to shoot a wedding all by ourselves, and we really couldn’t have asked for a better start to this incredible journey!

Shot by: Immanuel Joshua, Pravin, Suriya
Words & blog layout by: Immanuel Joshua