Bridesmaid Filmers - an Artiste’s Tryst with Setting up a Wedding Photography Business
“I’m someone who never says no to opportunities—if something comes up, I’ll definitely take it up.”
Founder, Bridesmaid Filmers (a Meliora company)
What started off as an informal enquiry from one of her friends for her sister’s wedding photography became a full-blown profession and business for Medha.
While the enquiry was to tap into Medha’s contacts in the industry, photography being a passion of her own, she volunteered to cover her friend’s sister’s wedding photography needs. This was a spontaneous decision that just happened to come Medha’s way. Starting a photography company was never part of her big-picture until then.
On receiving the encouragement and support to cover the event, Medha completed her first wedding assignment, eventually birthing Bridesmaid Filmers. She also recognises her team’s efforts and talents in continuously pushing the brand forward.
The USP of Bridesmaid Filmers is that they complete and deliver the wedding photography album and videos within 20 days; once the photographs are picked and approved by the couple. She understands just how frustrating it is for couples to wait half a year to see their wedding album and worked on making this a reality with Bridesmaid Filmers.
Owing to Medha’s artistic eye, Bridesmaid Filmers creates wedding photographs that are a class apart. She believes in keeping away from the fads and creating a wedding album that will continue to exude grace and charm timelessly for years to come, which has come to become Bridesmaid Filmers’ niche.
She says, “It’s a one-person show at the moment—I market, I manage, I deal with clients. I do it all.”
While Medha herself loves weddings for the love of colours and couples celebrating in happiness, this talented team is not restricted to wedding photography alone. Belonging to Medha’s own parent company Meliora, their skills also extend to the domain of product shoots, 360° photography and family shoots as well. She has immense gratitude for her brilliant team’s continued support on wedding, commercial and corporate photography and videography, all of which fall under the Meliora banner.
Medha’s training in music began at the young age of 9. Following a short break, she resumed singing in her mid-teens when she would perform for stage shows and recordings across the UAE, receiving a push and encouragement from her then music teacher Raghunath C Kannur.
Becoming a singer was never a part of her life’s goals, but she believes she is lucky that things worked out the way they did. “I think I always wanted to do it, but I never had the courage to,” Medha says. She used to freeze with stage fright in the early years, but her passion for the craft overtook her fears, and she quickly overcame it with adequate exposure and practice.
Once she relocated to India and on concluding her IATA training and starting work, Medha knew she wasn’t cut out for a 9 to 5 job. She left behind her career with Air India, free of hesitation and with the unconditional support of her parents, once she got her first big break from renowned music director Rahul Raj to sing the theme song behind the lead actress for the movie Time. She recalls this song being promoted so well that it became a popular choice for ramp walks as well as the title song for a show on Kairali TV, too! She is the voice behind many of the famous jingles for advertisements of top brands in Kerala too. The feeling was incomparable for Medha. She began to get recognition for her musical talents. She received invitations to compère programs one by one on all of the leading Malayalam TV networks including Jeevan TV, IndiaVision, Asianet Plus and Kairali TV.
She is fond of old music and has been trained in both Carnatic music as well as Hindustani music under Raghunath Sir, Vishwanathan Sir, Remesh Narayan, Mohan Kumar, Vijayasenan, Sushanth and Fayas Khan. She prefers Hindustani music as it is a lot more flexible than Carnatic music. She has never considered herself being one to follow the rules. Thus it’s easy to ascertain why Hindustani music had her heart. She underwent the 7-year training and has even completed the Visharad exam for Hindustani music.
While she has a reasonably artistic family background, she is the first to venture out and pursue a career in singing. Speaking from her experience in singing, she says that in music, and any other artform, the learning never stops.
Over the past two years, Medha has also been training others in music as a way not to lose touch with one of the biggest passions of her life. Her parents have continued to be her most powerful support system, and they seem to enjoy watching and hearing her sing almost as much as she enjoys doing it herself! “I love singing and cannot live without music. So, when I wasn’t getting time to practice by myself, I began teaching students to sing,” she says. “I am delighted to sing, even if just two people are sitting to listen to me.”
Music may be her first love and photography may have grown into a passion and a profession, but these are not the only creative talents that Medha possesses.
As an extension of her singing skills, she is also trained in playing instruments, including the Veena. She even has put together a team of talented musicians as part of her band that performs at events.
To call her a danseuse would be an understatement- there was a point of time when she would practice Bharatanatyam for over 6 hours a day. It is her intention to complete her Bharatanatyam Arangetram in Guruvayoor, one that she hopes to fulfil soon.
Medha is an artist at her core and getting into the sphere of business posed its fair share of challenges for her. She had to learn to cope and make decisions using her head, not her heart, to forge the path ahead. Never one to back away from a challenge, she overcame her struggles and established herself as an entrepreneur, while never backing away from her love for the arts.
She is currently a member of BNI (Magnates) and believes that it is a brilliant forum to grow one’s business. It allows entrepreneurs to socialise and interact with other business owners who are just as serious about what they do.
She advises aspiring entrepreneurs to be true to themselves and what they do while being open to opportunities. She urges that once you allow your work to speak for itself, everything will fall into place, as it always has in her case!
