“Going Bananas”…. which normal person in their right mind would give their business such a crazy, totally out of the box and funky name? Two amazing people who thankfully agree with Marilyn Monroe’s profound words of wisdom that quote “Being normal is the most boring thing one can be!” And thank god for that! Two people who give ‘going bananas’ their own definition by being just as crazy and creative as what they decided to ‘name’ their passion! Yash and I started looking for wedding photographers about 6 months out from our wedding, since in true Bollywood style, it was
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“Going Bananas”…. which normal person in their right mind would give their business such a crazy, totally out of the box and funky name?
Two amazing people who thankfully agree with Marilyn Monroe’s profound words of wisdom that quote “Being normal is the most boring thing one can be!” And thank god for that! Two people who give ‘going bananas’ their own definition by being just as crazy and creative as what they decided to ‘name’ their passion!
Yash and I started looking for wedding photographers about 6 months out from our wedding, since in true Bollywood style, it was a fairly ‘chatt mangni patt vyah’ kinda situation. We missed out on a few really good photographers that we initially short listed since we were looking ‘too late’ for our dates… and while there was disappointment after disappointment as we got turned down, I now look back and thank god with folded hands for making me believe in ‘everything happens for a reason’….
GBP referred to us by another photographer we really wanted to work with and hesitantly Yash and I reached out… just as when I met my now husband the very first day and knew he would be the one I would spend the rest of my life with, our first communication with these two gave me the gut feeling that we had reached the end of our search, and HOW! Initial conversations revolved around requirements, offerings, prices and availability and very soon graduated to getting to know things about each other… common friends, common ‘homeland’ sadda kanedda, common sad sense of humour (namely Manyu and I) and of course a common love capturing beautiful memories in lots of even more beautiful photos! Being across the globe in Canada, in a completely different time zone from these guys, we were initially hesitant about whether or not we’d be able to communicate with them in a timely, effective manner, but they seemed to be available almost every single unreasonable hour we requested for a chat! It was astounding how freely I could share details of my life and love story with them! Like I was relaying deep secrets of my heart to some of my oldest, closest friends!
Throughout our distant communications, they patiently listened to us ramble on and on about how we both love good photos (who loves bad photos? Do tell!), how we consider ourselves amateur photographers (who in today’s world doesn’t? After all anyone with a DSLR is an ace photog, no?), my endless, constantly changing visions for almost every aspect of the wedding and just about anything including how frustrating work had been for me on some particular day! They made it a point to keep in touch, yet never in an overwhelming or overbearing way… By the time we got to Delhi, they seemed as excited about our upcoming wedding as we were!
Ok now to actually get to the praises I could rightfully shower them with… wait, you ask what about the thesis above? In that case, you ain’t heard nothing yet!
Guys, we are yet to receive the final product from you guys, but I want you both to know that you guys were a part of our small, special and intimate wedding just AS MUCH as our closest family members were… going wayyyyy above and beyond what your role demanded of you…. I will never forget how Manyu made it a point to check up on Yash’s pagdi every time he saw it coming loose. I will always remember how Prasheila was always around me like a sister/best friend making sure I had something to eat or drink and that my makeup and hair were still intact… I will also never forget my mother saying “Manyu should have been with all your brothers carrying your phoolon ki chaddar when you walked in”… (Un)Fortunately you were too busy taking awesome shots of my Dulha in waiting… and Prash, I can’t tell you how much it warmed my heart to hear you say, “oh you don’t worry, I know I can ask Maasi or Maami for that” and sure enough they were the exact people to go to! If you both remember, whenever I introduced you to anyone, I always said, “these are our friends who are also kindly photographing our wedding”… to me you guys were never a ‘vendor’ and us, ‘your client’… to me, you were my family, doing your very best at every given point in time and making sure you get us the best end result possible!
Also credit where due… the rest of your team was so soooo sweet, professional and hard working throughout! Whether I talk of Chetan or Mohit, they were always present with a smile, covering every little moment!
While no words, essays or reviews will ever be enough to thank you both, I want you to know, I am so grateful that you were a part of our families on those two most special days of our lives… thank you because I know very soon you will present us with the most mind-blowing photos and video of our most special moments (no pressure at all!)… thank you just for being two wonderful human beings and being those two drops in the ocean who reaffirm my faith that awesomeness still exists on this planet!
And yes, always remember whenever you visit BTown next, you will have a home ready and waiting! We wish you guys all the love, happiness and success in the future!
– Jyotika
How can one review 2 individuals and their team who are beyond passionate about their work?
How can one review 2 individuals and their team who go above and beyond in delivering for their clients and making them comfortable?
How can one review 2 individuals and their team who we met for the first time but felt as if we knew them forever?
How can one review 2 individuals and their team who take care of every minute detail in the madness of weddings and ensure sanity prevails in the end.
The answer in a nutshell is that you cannot, as no review can do justice to their efforts.
Jyotika and I have now been happily married for just over a month, but instead of writing you 1 couples review and getting on with it, we both wanted to pen our thoughts down as individuals and share them with you, as we both felt it’s the right thing to do whilst doing justice to your efforts.
I have not seen the final work, but if the samples are anything to go by, I can only imagine the awesome job you guys have done.
Having said that I did want to share my feelings with both of you as you deserved to know I felt about your presence on the probably one of the most special and definitely the most magical moments of my life. Marrying Jyotika was an honour, and having you guys cover the events was just the way I wanted. Without boring you here are my thoughts in a nutshell:
Vendors of any event can be tricky, notably when you do not know them. There are times that we do our research and then work on our gut with someone. When that gut feeling pays off, it’s the best feeling in the world. Relationships are based on trust, thank you for making our trust count from day 1.
May God Bless You Guys and your team, I don’t usually say God Bless easily to people as not many people deserve it. You guys do, all the way. It’s funny how people come in our lives, law of attraction ensured you guys were exactly what I had wanted.
The ease in which you guys mixed with the family was commendable. We did not have to watch over you in any way, as you guys took up the responsibility of being the official wedding photographers, friends and more with pride.
For a moment you guys actually made me think of going into the wedding photography business in Canada and even relocating back in India…..lol…..The reasoning is simple, I feel life is too short to do 1 job forever, I have always wanted to take my love of photography to a professional level and if I ever do that in the near or far future, I would have a near similar way of operating as you guys do, because your professionalism and work ethics are very similar to mine. For all you know Going Bananas could have a Toronto office in the near future called Going Maple Syrup….needless to say you guys can teach me a few skills along the way.
Your energy levels on all days was remarkable. Kudos to you for staying motivated and in the high energy zone from start to finish. It was our wedding but you were as excited as we were, that was good to see considering you cover so many other weddings throughout the year. It may have been an assignment for you, but you had a very personal touch in it, and that was awesome to see and experience.
– Yash
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