“They are not said to be husband and wife who merely sit together. Rather they alone are called husband and wife who have one soul in two bodies.” An ancient Sikh proverb resonating through the ages, is befitting enough for the wedding of Jagdeep and Amrit, a Sikh couple whose single soul-searching journeys found themselves with each a soulmate, a wonderful wedding ceremony and a life made complete, in full Sikh tradition. Ancient wisdom and modern technology working in twain would be the catalysts to Jagdeep and Amrit’s fateful first meet, from an online message to a lifetime marriage. The couple had first met through a popular Indian website, and instantly hit it off, proving that any avenue, whether new or old, will lead to true love, even where you least expect it. A shared tradition, though, would be the main vehicle to bring the two down the long path of life together. The Sikh wedding ceremony was held at Ontario Khalsa Darbar, Mississauga’s most notable Sikh Gurdwara (temple) and one of the largest in Canada, and a lively reception in the spacious Woodbine Banquet & Convention Hall afterward, all on October 12, 2013. We at SDE Weddings, Toronto’s premier wedding videography and cinematography group, are ever and always proud to fulfill a part in capturing these once in a lifetime memories in our media, and are glad to partake in many wedding customs from around the world.

For our wedding videographers & cinematographers, the day began early with filming the preparatory measures for the long day ahead. Jagdeep, ready for one of life’s many trials, looked dapper in an ornamented deep red Dastar (sikh turban), a cultural cornerstone of the Sikh wedding tradition, representing honor and courage, which Jagdeep undoubtedly needed for among the most important days of his life. On the other side, Amrit donned herself an elaborately adorned red and orange sari, a dress almost ubiquitous in any and all South Asian traditions, yet never fails to charm our videographers with all the multifaceted styles we’ve encountered, almost mirroring the diversity of the Indian subcontinent itself, all in Toronto’s multicultural backdrop. In the large congregation that formed outside the gurdwara, one could see a crowd of red and yellow dastars and long flowing beards, old men of the families looking like wise sages descending on an enlightened pilgrimage. The formal wedding took place right at noon, a ring exchange preceding the ‘sagan’ ceremony of gift-giving, a symbolic ceremony that signifies the creation of a bond between two families. The rest of the afternoon procession would be a sequence of Punjabi post-wedding rituals that echoed centuries of Sikh customs. Jagdeep is greeted by the bride’s family at Amrit’s house (the ‘doli’ ceremony), and concluding with the welcoming of Amrit to her new household (‘pani vaarna’). All this in turn to solidify the union of two families as one cohesive whole, and to reinforce the vows of love between the newlyweds on their special day.

To bring a joyous end to the night, our beloved newlyweds and the wedding celebrants proper made their trek to the roomy Woodbine Convention Centre for an evening filled with dance and liveliness. In particular, the ‘jago’ dance ceremony performed by the women of the crowd in celebration of the bride’s marriage was a fantastical sight to be seen. One might think that the rigid rituals performed earlier was all in preparation for the euphoria of dancing that would take place later on, and from the vantage point of our videographers’ lenses, the overflowing happiness that filled the ballroom to commemorate a marriage made reality would attest to this sentiment. We at SDE Weddings, Toronto’s premier wedding videography and cinematography group, are always overjoyed by the end-of-night festivities that top off a day’s worth of heavy-hearted emotions, especially since our task first and foremost is vividly documenting these very same emotions in their purest unadulterated forms. Jagdeep and Amrit’s wedding night concluded with a towering atmosphere of joviality that left a lasting impression on our videographers’ work. In the end, our overarching goal here at SDE Weddings is to create timepieces of life’s precious moments, and we hope that through our work that the memories left behind by Jagdeep and Amrit’s wedding day will remain with them all throughout their lives.

Wedding Ceremony Venue: Ontario Khalsa Dabar | 7080 Dixie Road, Mississauga. Ontario L5S IB7
Reception Venue: Woodbine Banquet and Convention Hall | 30 Vice Regent Blvd Etobicoke, ON M9W 7A4
Wedding Photographer: Radisson Photography | Pravin
DJ: DJ KSR