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The average concept of a videographer from what I have seen locally is one guy holding a consumer camera (not a professional one) and another guy holding a huge light which is shone in your face to whiten you out and bring up all the imperfections that layers of painstakingly applied foundation was meant to conceal.

In Fiji  with regards to videographers we have low end and high end videographers and not too many good value for money videographers to fill in the middle. None the less here is the name of a local company that does half decent work.

1. Skylight Productions (Suva)

I may stand corrected in this regard, I did meet a videographer at a Wedding I coordinated a few weeks ago and other then the initial introductions he was not seen again (as in he wasn't in everyone's way) will have a look at the final outcome if it is any good then I shall put the company's details on this page quick smart.

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Memory fades even of your most important day, so it is important to make sure you capture the images of your Wedding day. I recommend looking through carefully the photographer's portfolio and together with your fiancé decide on what style of photography you want for your Wedding photos then discuss this with your chosen photographer.

Personally I prefer a mix of posed and candid shots rather then the all staged photos, like all the choices in your Wedding your photographer will be someone that suits your taste, style and the all important budget.

Here in Fiji most photographers are not ‘qualified', there are a few but most are people with passion for photography which has developed over the years into their source of income. Again as with everything reliability is another important factor you must consider when choosing your photographer, last thing you need to worry about is delaying your wedding because there is no photographer in sight.

As in the case with everything before you even start looking at the photographers available, make sure you know what you can afford this will help guide you towards a photographer that is in your budgeted price range.

I have contacted the various photographers and will be updating this page soon with their costs and a few images from their portfolio to give you an idea of each photographer's style and cost.

Here are a list of photographers in Fiji, I have given you my opinion on them along with a basic rating 1 - Basic and 5 - You simply must use if he/ she is within your budget. Feel free to contact me with any other photographers that you have used and been happy with here in Fiji.

Biv Fiji

This couple is based in the second largest Island, Vanua Levu .I have not met them personally however we have exchanged a few friendly emails. They are best suited to weddings held in their region for obvious transport cost reasons so if you are planning on getting married at Namale, Taveuni Palms or any other resort based in the "North" as we call it, then Biv Fiji should be one of your first options to look into.

Rating: Unrated

Cainnes Jannif

A locally owned Suva based company that deals with photography, framing and printing. If anything major has happened in the last 10 years in Suva, Hemant their main photographer has been there to capture it. The photography style used is very basic, smile, flash, click.  None the less Hemant is a pleasant and easy going person to deal with.

Rating: 1

Grasskirt Photography

Adi  is a local Suva  based photographer, she  does a range of photography that includes weddings, she is an artistic person by nature and has the ability to catch some great shots. I have only been a wedding planner once where she was used, the couple was happy with her work.  Adi is easy to deal with, her and I worked together previously prior to her getting into professional photography, we remain personal friends.

Rating: 3

Ocean Studio

Yoshi is based in Nadi he services a number of hotels in his capacity as both a photographer and videographer. I have not worked with him yet on a wedding however I have seen his finished product in both CD and book form and they are exceptionally professionally produced, I think the A4 book package is great value for money.  He is pleasant and easy to deal.

Rating: 3

Pro Photo's Fiji

Talat is based in Suva and deals largely with commercial photography, none the less I thought I would put his details here incase you wish to contact him for your photography needs.

Rating: 2

Pro Shots

Bill is a Nadi based photographer that does both commercial (as in product shots for catalogues etc) and wedding photography. He has over 20 years of experience and has both certificates of qualification and membership to international professional photography associations; he has a photojournalistic style to his work and is very easy to deal with.

Rating: 3

 Tokman Imagez

Isoa is a local photographer based in Nadi who services a number of the nearby hotels and resorts. His professionalism and ability to get great candid shots has seen him grow a good reputation locally for his work.  I find him easy to deal with, however I do have the added advantage that a million years ago as teenagers we represented Fiji in the national swim team.  He is assisted by his beautiful wife Leilani who for many years was 'the face' of our National Airline Air Pacific. 

Rating: 3

Zoom  Fiji

Bruce is a Suva based photographer that also does a wide variety of photography including weddings, in some circles he is considered as Fiji's top photographer. His online profile looks excellent, however to date I have not had the pleasure of working with him on a wedding. None the less, meeting him in person he is a likeable individual who knows what he is talking about and doing when it comes to photography and I would imagine would be a great person to work with.  I would recommend booking Bruce in advance.

Rating: 4

SEM Photography

Laurence is a local Nadi based photographer, before I go any further I have to let you know he also happens to b e my brother, so total nepotism going on here but none the less this is my two cents. Laurence over the last few years has taken a real shine to photography; our mother was an enthusiast way back when and passed on her enthusiasm for colour, lighting and all the rest that goes with taking a great picture. Currently he does all the photo's for the weddings I coordinate and to date I have had nothing but great feedback from my clients. Just for the record I use him because he is totally professional, doesn't need constant direction once he has spoken to the client and understands what they want he quietly goes to work and last but certainly not least he comes in at an 'affordable price' with good quality images which in this current economic climate is what all couples are looking for.

Rating: 3

 If you are interested in booking any of the above listed photographer's contact us today for a quotation. 

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So important! Your make up and hair for your Wedding day. A good makeup artist should make you look like a natural blushing bride and not like a drag queen. Some of us are just better at applying make up then others, I for one, know I do a half decent job on myself however I know I have a long way to go in comparison to some of my friends who apply makeup with such flair and precision.

If you are one of the lucky ones that does a good job yourself then I would recommend doing your own make up for the big day. Having said that I recommend practice in the weeks leading up to your Wedding and make sure you have a full stock of everything you need (bonus you keep the make up you use if you do it yourself, and we all know good makeup ain't cheap).

The last thing you need is for your foundation to run out after you have only applied it to half of your face or something drastic.

Trust me, its those little things that we take for granted that have run out or cannot be found when you need it, as well as that chances are if you run out on the day and make a dash to the local retailers to get "Product xyz" you are more then likely to get the response "Sorry we are out of stock" followed by "I have no idea when the next shipment is due".

Those exact phrases I have been on the receiving end from a particular retailer (no names mentioned of course" from December 2007 when I first walked in to get a refill of "Product xyz" and believe it or not June arrives, I trotted along to the same retailer thinking 6 months for an international brand surely is plenty of time for re-stocking. Can you take a wild guess as to the responses I received when I made my request?

Anyway getting back to the point check and double check on the little things such as lipstick, gloss, foundation etc if you are doing it youself practice and make sure you have everything you need (full bottles & tubes).

Now the same goes for hair, you can do it yourself, however I actually love getting my hair done it makes me feel special and you are special, it is your special day it's your Wedding day. So I recommend getting a hairdresser in to make sure your hair looks fabulous.

Locals

Make sure you let your hairdresser know the occasion that is happening after your booking as in "I am getting married you are going to make me in to a beautiful bride"...no pressure of course. I would recommend checking out other hairdressers as back up I have a very good reason for this its called reliability.

Short story: I had to MC a launch event, my fabulous hairdresser was fully booked for that particular day so I asked around an was recommended another hairdresser who was supposed to be excellent with styling for functions. Fine, I make my booking for the day of the event at 3.00pm I think it was because the event started at 6pm and the plan was I go straight from the hairdressers to the event as they were near each other. So here I am, I turn up at 2.45pm for my 3pm looking fabulous minus the hair of course. I advise the receptionist that I am here for my 3pm appointment then take a seat and look for the latest trashy magazine to read.

Lots of whispering and consulting (staff at the salon I am referring to here) later they advise me that they cannot do my hair as the person booked to do my hair (who might I add is also the owner of the salon) has not turned up for work today and all other hairdressers were midway through appointments and would not be able to get my hair done in time (I have very thick, long hair). Calls to the mobile of "missing in action" hairdresser proved futile, and finally after 10 minutes of my huffing and puffing the receptionist told me it was pointless as "missing in action" hairdresser was last seen ‘full cut at a local watering hole the night before" (Fiji Guest translation: Full Cut can also be described as: drunk, wasted, intoxicated, plastered) and that the same thing happened the previous weekend.

I asked "what about the other appointments for that day?.. what happened to them?" Response: A shug of the shoulders followed by "Can't do much".

Happy Ending: I ran over to my Fabulous Hairdresser Elaine(heavily pregnant at the time) who was just locking up after her last customer. Elaine saved the day by doing something fabulous (what exactly I don't know) but the end result was only 10 minutes later and it was great. Moral of story: Make sure they are reliable, ask around and get a back up hairdresser just in case.

Fiji Guests

If you need to get your highlights touched up or your color needs a bit of a lift I recommend getting it done at home with your local hair dresser who knows what you want, what you like, what you are used to at least 1 or 2 weeks before you depart for your Fabulous Fiji Wedding! I have had my hair done in Brisbane, Sydney and London and I would still chose my fabulous local hair dresser Elaine over any other, so the same would apply to you, finding a good hair dress is no easy feat so stick with what works. I would still recommend getting a hairdresser for your Fabulous Fiji Wedding just for styling for the day.

• Edge Hair Design (Complete bias here, this is Elaine my fabulous hair dresser's salon)

Many faith's are practiced in Fiji with the most predominate being Christianity, Hinduism and the Muslim faith.

Being a practicing member of your faith, you are already aware of the traditions and customs. Having said that I do still strongly recommend getting in touch with your church for an initial meeting to discuss your Wedding plans before beginning any ‘Wedding Planning' for a number of reasons' availability and clarification of traditions being the most important.

The following is a list of the places of worship for the main faiths across Fiji:

(Church Details from the Yellow Pages, Capacity information provided by Father Matai Cokonasiga of St. Christopher's Church, Nadi)

Methodist Church

At the time of the uploading of this site, I have called several times for this information however I have not had a response, as soon as it is provided to me I will upload Church details.

Catholic Church

At the time of the uploading of this site I have spoken to the HQ of the church in Suva who will be getting back to me with the information requested. As soon as I have it will be uploaded. (Request date: Thursday 19^th June 2008)

  Image: Courtesy of Island Hoppers

Carried to your Wedding Ceremony by Fijian Warriors? Arrive in your own charted helicopter? Turn up in a 'Grunting' speed boat or simply turn up in a chauffeur driven Mercedes Benz.

You do have a number of options for your Wedding Transportation here in Fiji, the key deciding factors in determining this is YOUR BUDGET and the accessibility and availability of your chosen mode of transport depending on the location of your celebration. For example if you are getting married at an Island Resort the option of being dropped off in a chauffeur driven Mercedes Benz is automatically ruled out, on the same token if you love the sea and wish to arrive at your ceremony by boat then getting married on an island resort certainly makes this dream easier to achieve.

Fiji's largest main island is Viti Levu were Nadi Airport is situated and you are more then likely to arrive in Fiji here as it is our only International Airport. Getting to your hotel from the airport if you are staying at a hotel on Viti Levu which includes Nadi, Coral Coast, Suva area's is by bus or private car. If you are staying at any of the outer Island resorts then you will travel by vehicle to Denerau Marina where you can catch a sea transfer to your Island Resort, alternatively some outer island resorts can be reached by Sea Plane or Helicopter.

Transportation is an important part of your wedding however if you are getting married in Fiji and it is a destination wedding for you then I recommend choosing the resort you wish to get married at first and the transportation can be a secondary decision, which will inevitably be decided by your wedding location choice as I mentioned before.

CONTACTS

Avis Rental Car           Contact: 6722233

Thrifty Rental Cars     Contact: 6722935

Hertz Rental Car         Contact: 6723466

Coral Sun Fiji               Contact: 6723105

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(Image: Courtesy of Adi Nacola, Rings from Fiji Wedding's Coordinated Wedding)

For locals, the usual suspects is a good place to start in your search for your wedding rings Tappoo, Prouds, Lord's Jeweller's and Boomerang. (If you know of any others please email me so I can add to the list) the responsibility of looking after the rings before the weddings falls in the very capable (we hope) lap of the Best Man.

When you think of it, the Best Man has two of the most important roles in any wedding firstly the safe keeping of the symbol of your love, the wedding rings then followed by the all important Best Man's speech which will either leave your guests rolling in laughter or wondering who on earth is this drunk blithering idiot.

Once you are engaged and decided on a date for your wedding, it is important that you make an appointment with your local church/ place of worship to discuss your wedding plans and preparations with the priest. This is important to ensure that both the priest and church are available on the date you have set for your Wedding.

Should you wish to get married outside of the church at a venue where both the ceremony and reception are being held (this is becoming more popular) you can either request that your local priest officiate the ceremony at the venue (ask them first, do not assume that they are able to do so) or you can hire a celebrant to officiate your wedding ceremony.

Having a celebrant officiate your wedding ceremony is the most commonly practiced option, however if you a visitor to Fiji and are interested in getting married at a church of your religious denomination ask your local wedding planner to find out if this is possible.

Once your Marriage license is issued you can now take part in your wedding ceremony where you will be given a Wedding Certificate which is signed by:
Bride & Groom
Witnesses
Officiate of the ceremony (Priest/ Celebrant)

Obviously this is an important document so I recommend having a folder for it and give the responsibility to the Maid of Honor to look after it, leaving it on the head table during the reception is just begging for food and wine to be spilt on it.

Overseas visitors intending to get married in Fiji are required by law to obtain and sign a marriage license from the nearest marriage registry prior to the marriage ceremony with an average of 36 hours in advance. Special arrangements can also be organized. The couple must provide the following personal documents to the Registrar for verification purposes at least two weeks before the wedding:

• Original birth certificates for the bride and groom
• Valid passport
• If applicable, divorce papers
• If previous spouse is deceased, a death certificate
• Certificate of Single Status or Certificate of No Legal Impediment must be produced if:
  • Marriage between a Fiji citizen and a foreign citizen
  • Marriage by former citizens of Fiji
  • Marriage between foreign citizens residing in Fiji
• Marriage applicants with visitors' visas or bona fide tourists to Fiji from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, and EEC countries are exempted from the above requirement. Different rules apply for some other countries.
• Marriage applicants from Japan must produce the Koseki-Shouhon to certify their personal details.
• Written parental consent is required if either party is under 21 years of age

• Two witnesses who are 21years of age and over must be present

(Information courtesy of Fiji Visitors Bureau)

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