You live in London, Toronto or Singapore, and your wedding is in Chennai. The photographer you choose is someone you may meet for the first time on the wedding morning. Planning a wedding in Chennai from abroad means making that decision over video calls, across a time difference of up to 10 hours, while your parents do the running around at home.
We're Rohan and Puja. In 13 years and 500+ weddings, couples have planned with us from the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Dubai and France. This guide answers the questions they ask us most, from the first call to getting the album home.
How do we choose a photographer we can't meet in person?
You can judge a photographer well from abroad if you check three things.
Look at complete weddings, not highlight reels. Twenty best frames tell you very little. A full wedding shows whether the photographer caught the Kasi Yatra, the Oonjal and the grandmother in the third row. Our Real Weddings page has complete stories to go through start to finish.
Ask who will actually turn up. Will the person on this call be the person at your wedding? With us, yes. Rohan and Puja lead every wedding, and we take only one wedding a day, so nobody is handed over to a team they've never spoken to.
Read reviews from couples in your position. You'll find couples from the US, the UK, Canada and Singapore on our testimonials page.
Neelam and Arun booked us without meeting us first:
"Since my husband and I were both out of the country, all our bookings were done purely on past work (accessible online) and our gut feeling. After shortlisting a handful of photographers, we picked Rohan after trails of emails and phone calls. We happened to meet Rohan and Puja only at our engagement/reception ceremony."
How do we plan across the time difference?
We work around your hours, not ours.
Replies: usually within a few hours, on WhatsApp or email.
Calls: late evening or early morning India time, or a weekend slot if you're both working. Our late evening is early morning in the US and Canada, which is often when couples like to sit down and plan.
Not just before booking: the same access carries through the months of preparation, the wedding days themselves, and the weeks of editing after.
Our tip: keep written decisions on WhatsApp or email, and save calls for things that need a conversation. When you're answering at 7 am before work, a message you can scroll back to is easier than remembering a call.
Harini and Aswin, who planned with us from the US:
"In preparing for the event, Rohan patiently answered all of our questions and concerns over both email and WhatsApp; their pricing structure was very transparent and easy to work with."
Should the photographer talk to us or to our parents?
Both, but you two make the decisions.
How couples usually reach us: most find us through our work, talk to us over calls and Zoom, then ask us to meet their family in Chennai. Others are introduced by their parents, who heard about us from the family of a couple we photographed earlier.
Who we treat as the main contact: you. It's your wedding, and you're the decision makers.
Where parents come in: they're welcome to meet us in Chennai for anything they'd rather see in person, and we answer their questions as readily as yours.
Our tip: agree early who decides what. Families often lead on the rituals and the guest list, while the couple decides the style of photos and films. When that's clear, nobody waits on a message from the other side of the world.
How do pricing and payments work from abroad?
You'll know exactly what you're paying for before anything is signed.
Pricing and terms: we walk you through the package and payment terms on your consultation call.
How to pay: by bank transfer to our business account, either from your account abroad or by your family in India, whichever is easier.
Our tip: international transfers can take a few working days and carry bank charges, so check those with your bank before a due date.
Sanjana and Rajiv, who planned from the US:
"Being based outside of India, their transparency about pricing and ease of communication made everything smooth and stress-free."
When do we fit in a couple shoot on a short trip?
Most couples flying in have one or two weeks in India, so the couple shoot goes either just before the wedding or just after it. Both work. What matters is that you arrive at it rested.
Before the wedding: keep one or two days after you land to get over the jet lag. Tired eyes after a 20-hour journey show in photos, and no amount of editing gives you that sleep back.
After the wedding: if your functions run back to back for several days, take at least a day's break before the shoot. Smrithan and Sahana did their couple shoot at Marina Beach on day four, once the reception was behind them.
Where you live: if you'd rather shoot somewhere that's yours, we travel. We've done couple shoots in Dubai and in Canada.
You can see the kind of couple shoots we do on our pre-wedding shoots page.
How can family abroad watch the wedding live?
Most couples who plan from abroad add live streaming to their coverage.
Who it's for: grandparents who can't take a long flight, friends who couldn't get leave, cousins in three time zones.
How they watch: one link, on a phone or a computer, wherever they are.
When to plan it: early, at the same time as the photography, not the week before.
Share the link ahead: send it to family a few days before, with the timings converted to their time zones.
Tell us about the venue: if it's a temple or a hall with weak internet, let us know early so we can plan for it.
Harini and Aswin said the same:
"One big plus was that Rohan was able to arrange for drone photography and also live-streaming. I highly recommend asking for those amenities much in advance!"
We need photos for marriage registration or a spouse visa. How fast can we get them?
Usually within 10 to 12 days, and sooner if you tell us you need them.
Why it matters: many couples register their marriage before flying back, and spouse visa applications often ask for wedding photos that show the ceremony and the family.
Our standard timeline: your first look photos reach you within 10 to 12 days of the wedding.
If you need them sooner: tell us before the wedding. We've sent couples a few selected photos ahead of the first look when they needed them urgently, and we're always open to doing that.
Check your requirements: they differ by country and change over time. Ask your registrar or visa office what they need, then tell us what you need and by when.
How do we get our photos and album when we live abroad?
Everything after the wedding happens online, so it works the same from Chennai or California. Here's the order it runs in:
Your gallery: for a multi-day wedding, all your edited photos and films reach you in an online gallery around 10 to 12 weeks after the wedding. You can view and download them from anywhere, and share them with family.
Your favourites: you mark the photos you love right in the gallery. Your selection comes straight to us, and we start designing the album from it.
Your layout: we send the album layout as a PDF. You tell us what to change over WhatsApp, email or a call, and we send it back for your approval. As our contract puts it, "There are 3 rounds of album layout changes included in the package cost."
Printing: once you approve, the album takes 2 to 3 weeks to print.
Every guest gets their own photos
Guests travelling in from different cities and countries get their own photos, without you having to pick them out. AI face recognition is included in our packages.
Before the wedding: we give you a QR code. Your wedding planner can print it for display at the venue, and you can send it to guests on WhatsApp along with the invite.
Before or on the day: guests scan the QR code and upload a selfie. That’s all they need to do.
After editing: when your gallery goes live, every guest who registered automatically receives the photos they appear in, with 99.7% matching accuracy.
Why it helps: you don’t spend weeks sorting out photos for cousins in Dubai and friends in Toronto.
Getting the album home
Our albums are premium and come in a sturdy box, so the full set is heavy, and shipping it to the US or the UK costs a lot.
Most couples have it delivered to family in Chennai and carry it back on the next trip, which is cheaper and safer.
If you'd still like it shipped, we can arrange that.
Keeping your photos safe
The online gallery stays open until your album is delivered, unless you ask us for more time.
All your photos and films also come to you on a pen drive with the album.
Download everything early, and keep copies on at least two devices in two different places.
Yusra and Shuja moved to the US after their Chennai wedding, and we kept helping from here:
"Global Assistance: Post-move to the USA, their immense help with photo files and books, coupled with quick responses, exceeded expectations."
A few planning tips beyond photography
These aren't about photos, but they're worth sorting out early when you're planning from another country.
Book the key people early. The Thai month, mid-January to mid-February, is peak wedding season in Chennai, along with Vaikasi, Aani and Aavani. Venues, priests and photographers fill up first, so lock them in once your dates are fixed.
Plan one trip before the wedding trip. Many couples make one short visit a few months ahead for venue visits and fittings, then land 7 to 10 days before the first function.
Decide early where you'll register the marriage. You'll need the certificate for visas, name changes and joint accounts abroad, and the paperwork takes time you won't have during the wedding week.
Budget for the extras. International flights, rooms for guests flying in, currency conversion and transfer fees add up quickly and rarely sit in the first budget.
If you're still choosing a venue, our guide to destination wedding venues in Chennai, Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry is a good place to start.
Planning your Chennai wedding from abroad?
Send us three things:
Your wedding dates
Your venue, if you've chosen one
Where you're living now
We'll set up a call at a time that suits your morning or your evening, and walk you through how we'd cover your wedding. Even if you're still comparing photographers, we're happy to talk it through.
Talk to us. You can also read our FAQ or see how we cover Tamil Brahmin, Christian, Muslim and fusion weddings.
