JF SQUARED FILMS | WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY » We film weddings and love our brides!

Where do I begin? Our 2015 wedding season brought us 18 gorgeous couples that allowed us to document their special moment. Here’s to one of our personal favorites featuring Kartik & Nivedita. Earlier last year Kartik reached out to me over email, with no hesitation in his mind that I had to document his wedding – no ifs, ands or buts! Needless to say both Kartik and Nivedita were excited from the jump and their wedding proved to be one of the best experiences during the 2015 season. These two lovebirds celebrated a beautiful fusion wedding ceremony that highlighted South Indian Tamil Iyer Hindu traditions and Bengali Hindu Traditions. We rarely get the chance to document Tamil Hindu weddings but when Kartik mentioned in conversation that he was an Iyer – my eyes peaked. Tamil Hindu ceremonies vary by culture and most often we shoot Sri Lankan Hindu Tamil weddings. Brahmin/Iyer Hindu weddings present different ceremonial components during the actual ceremony itself when compared to a Sri Lankan Hindu ceremony. This along with the vibrant ceremonies that Nivedita’s Bengali culture had to give, was nothing short of something beautiful to be a part of and witness.

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Kartik and Nivedita had one request when we talked about their wedding trailer – to use something instrumental with no lyrics and I was happy to rise to the challenge. Two big shout outs also go to the photo team (Kulvinder + Gurpreet) MANNS PRODUCTIONS and one of my favorite MUAs, Rav and her daughter from Rav B Beauty Concepts.

Another huge heartfelt thank you to both Kartik & Nivedita’s families for being so kind, warm and welcoming to the team and I during all days of your wedding.

P.S – this wedding was graciously featured by the kind folks over at the Secret Wedding Blog! Read about it here on how the couple worked to integrate their individual customs and cultural traditions, into their wedding ceremony.

With that I present you with their wedding trailer that documents their initial engagement, gaye holud and their fusion wedding ceremony!

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New York | Phong & Nabila – LOVE |

2014 was one insane rollercoaster of a year for both me and for the brand. I was lucky to have documented so many weddings, travel and complete school. I welcomed in a new nephew to the family while grieving over my grandfather who passed just a few days after. It was last year in the summer when I got wind that Nabila was an avid vimeo user and video junky much like myself. She traveled quite a bit and as a result she filmed most of her travels and posted her finished pieces on vimeo. Vimeo is a great community filled with visual creatives that span from wedding filmmakers to animators to production companies to freelance artists. To my surprise that’s where Nabila found me and was able to connect with me.

Fast forward to December 7th – 10th, 2014 I found myself back in New York City and that feeling of being in city like New York is one like no other. Lights are always flashing, you can ALWAYS count on having the best food and it’s definitely a sight that I can never get out of my head. When Phong and Nabila got in touch and approached me about creating a Portrait {Film} my biggest concern were logistics. I’ve traveled to NYC before but filming in an area that wasn’t 100% native to me was both scary and just made me nervous. What could go wrong? Would weather become an issue? Were our ideas and ambitions for this project just too big? We spoke about different locations, used Google Maps & a Pinterest board to gather ideas and concepts in an effort to bridge the gap that distance created but we made it work. I remember Nabila telling me that Phong was a tad camera shy but after our 1st day of shooting (the day I flew in actually) aka “Day 0” seeing that we were supposed to shoot the day after – he warmed up to the camera just fine! We visited some iconic spots from Dubmo, Brooklyn, Lincoln Centre Plaza to Grand Central Station and one of my favorite places – American Museum of Natural History. A huge thank you to Phong & Nabila for spoiling me rotten from the moment I arrived up until I left, for being the ultimate tour guides and for trusting my vision. Less words more moving still images ~

Virginia & George

I can officially say we’ve covered 3 types of Bengali weddings from Muslim and Hindu to Catholic-Bengali weddings as of last year. Our 2014 season kept me busy as ever and was full of some great moments! I remember speaking with Virginia & George over email first and then meeting up in person shortly after. Virginia and George have been together for a long time and I had no doubt in my mind that their love and appreciation for one another was true and genuine. They made one thing clear to me after a few minutes and it was that A LOT was going to happen on day 1 and I needed to be on my A-game! Bengali weddings remind me of traditional Tamil weddings because of the vibrant colors, plethora of ceremonies and did I forget to mention that they can SERIOUSLY GET DOWN on the dance floor? This was no different for Virginia & George’s 2-day wedding last summer.

Day 1 commenced with 2 Gaye Holud ceremonies, one for Virginia and the other for George. This was both a tough, exhausting and busy day to manage but we pulled through and made it out alive. Logistics can sometimes make or break you, during a busy multi-day wedding. So a huge kudos goes out to George and Virginia for living it up and enjoying this day in particular. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stressed or that I wasn’t worried we wouldn’t have enough time moving from the 1st to the 2nd Gaye Holud, only to go into another long day of morning prep + ceremony and a reception but like I said – WE MADE IT. The 2nd day started with bride and groom prep followed by a wonderful Catholic wedding ceremony and a pretty awesome reception at Paramount. From great speeches, a 1st dance and a crazy night of dancing with music provided by DJ LUNE – as tired as myself and my crew were, it was SO worth it. A huge thank you to the both of your families and entire wedding party for being so awesome and free spirited during both days :)! Congratulations to Virginia & George!

Photography ~ LTL Studios

Cathy & Arnold | #Dinnerfor2

This was probably the best experience and one of the best shoots I’ve had in a while – Cathy and Arnold were so genuinely in love, Arnold really knew how to make us laugh when we got tired and did I forget to mention that they’re huge FOODIES and can seriously throw down in the kitchen?!

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Earlier in the summer we had the chance to catch up with Cathy & Arnold before heading into their oh so intimate wedding nearing the start of September this year! Cozy up to one of our favorite Portrait {Films} this year with a cup of warm hot chocolate ~ #Dinnerfor2

Rikhia & Harpreet

I don’t think I can forget how well Rikhia, Harpeet and I got along after our first meeting! After months of planning, their engagement had come and gone & it was just days before their epic 2-day wedding bonanza! Day 1 consisted of a busy set of ceremonies with a Sikh ceremony to commence the day and a Hindu-Bengali ceremony to end the evening with. The next day followed with a pretty awesome, fun filled reception at Woodbine Banquet and Convention Hall. We can’t forget to mention that Rikhia looked flawless on both days with the assistance of the oh so dope, momma&daughter-duo from RavbBeautyConcepts. Another shoutout goes to the fellas from Paul & Will Photography who were a blast to work with. Enjoy the visuals from Rikhia & Harpreet’s wedding that filmed back in early August!