How you’d love to be a fly on the wall at some of the most uber luxe weddings that have taken place in celebrityville! Siddharth Sharma, founder of House on The Clouds has had the inside look and not just that, he decides how to share it with the world. The famed lensman has documented the most high-profile weddings of celebrity couples from Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor to Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, designers Arpita Mehta and Kunal Rawal, as well as Alanna Panday and Ivor McCray, Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha. In his lens, the nuptials tell their story, with emotion, effortless charm and a candidly beautiful perspective.
In a chat with Manifest, Sharma, IT engineer-turned-photographer and filmmaker, shares why those silences and little gestures matter, why he prefers imperfection over forced styling and how the Big Indian Wedding has evolved…
Manifest (M): From Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor to Parineeti Chopra-Raghav Chadha and Rashmika Mandanna-Vijay Deverakonda, you’ve documented the biggest day in celebrity couples’ lives. Do let us in on the brief they share with you for it.
(SS): Interestingly, the brief is rarely about creating iconic photographs. It’s about creating honest ones.
Every couple comes with their own personality and priorities, but there’s one thing they all seem to share: they want to feel like themselves. They want photographs to reflect the people they are, not the public image the world has built around them.
That’s where our conversations usually begin. We spend less time talking about poses or references, and more time understanding their relationship, what makes them comfortable, what kind of energy they want the day to hold, and what they hope to feel when they revisit these images years later.
(M): What goes behind making such well-known folks disappear behind the fame and simply appear as two individuals getting married?
(SS): Fame usually exists outside the wedding, not within it. Once the rituals begin and they’re surrounded by the people they love, what remains is simply two people experiencing one of the most emotional days of their lives. Our job is to protect that space.
We do that by keeping the process as unobtrusive as possible. A smaller crew, minimal direction, and enough time for the couple to settle into the moment instead of performing for the camera. We don’t try to manufacture emotion; we simply create the conditions for it to surface naturally.
More importantly, we never photograph the public persona. We photograph the relationship. We pay attention to the glances, the silences, the nervous laughter, the instinctive gestures that exist regardless of who the couple is.
(M): What are the key elements that must work in sync when filming India’s most talked-about celebrity weddings?
(SS): Celebrity weddings demand far more than just beautiful photography. Everything has to work in quiet synchrony: trust, discretion, timing, and instinct.
The logistics are naturally more complex, with security protocols, tighter timelines, and carefully controlled access. But once we’re behind the camera, those things have to disappear. If we’re thinking about the scale of the wedding, we’ve already lost sight of what matters.
(M): Celebrity weddings often become internet moments within minutes. Does that pressure influence how you shoot?
(SS): Not really. If we start thinking about how the internet will react while we’re shooting, we stop paying attention to what’s actually unfolding in front of us.
Every celebrity wedding today is consumed almost instantly, but our responsibility isn’t to create viral images. It’s to create honest ones. The photographs that people remember are rarely the ones designed for attention; they’re the ones that carry genuine emotion.
(M): Are celebs keener to try something new? And what is your approach like?
(SS): Interestingly, celebrities are often more open to experimentation because they’re used to being photographed. They know when something feels forced. Our approach is never overly directive. We create a relaxed environment, offer gentle guidance where needed, and then leave enough room for the unexpected. The best frames usually arrive when people forget the camera is even there.
(M): Do share the smallest of details that go into a wedding photo. There are key moments, but do the in-between candid moments make all the difference?
(SS): Absolutely. A photograph is rarely made by the headline moment alone. It’s the hand reaching for another, someone adjusting a dupatta, a grandparent watching quietly from a corner, a shared glance before the ceremony begins. Those details create emotional context.
(M): What goes into earning the trust required to capture such intimate celebrations?
Trust starts long before the wedding day. It’s built through conversations, consistency, and respecting people's boundaries. We don’t arrive with an agenda to impose our style. We spend time understanding who they are, and once people know they're being seen rather than directed, they naturally begin to let their guard down.
(M): Is there an unwritten etiquette your team follows when documenting high-profile weddings?
(SS): Always be present, never intrusive. We move quietly, respect private moments, never interrupt emotions for a photograph, and remember that we’re guests in someone’s most personal celebration. Discretion is just as important as creativity.
(M): How did HOTC come about in 2016? You were in a different field and were a qualified engineer. Leap of faith?
(SS): It definitely was. I was working in IT when photography slowly became impossible to ignore. One wedding turned into another, and eventually I reached a point where I realised I was far more fulfilled creating stories than writing code. House On The Clouds was born from that decision, not because it felt safe, but because it felt honest.
(M): What is HOTC’s signature aesthetic? Is it slow, non-rehearsed luxury?
(SS): I’d describe it as understated, emotionally driven, and instinctive. We love refinement, but never at the cost of authenticity. If luxury exists in our work, it's in giving people the space to simply be themselves.
(M): Tell us about the evolution of Indian weddings that you have witnessed, what were they like even seven years ago and what are they like today?
(SS): Earlier, weddings were largely family-led celebrations. Today, they’re far more personal. Couples are shaping every detail themselves, from the music to the rituals to the visual identity of the day. They’re no longer asking, “What should a wedding look like?” They’re asking, “What feels like us?”
(M): Do you look for perfection in wedding photography or does an imperfect photo often out to be a powerful one?
(SS): We’re far more interested in honesty than perfection. Sometimes a slightly blurred frame filled with genuine emotion says far more than a technically flawless photograph. Imperfection often reminds us that the moment was real.
(M): Do destination weddings have the biggest impact on wedding photography? What are some of the most scenic places you have shot at?
(SS): Every destination brings its own character, but location alone never makes a photograph memorable. We’ve been fortunate to photograph weddings in places like Paris, Monte Carlo, Jordan, Dubai, Tuscany, and across Europe. Beautiful landscapes certainly make the experience, but it’s always the people who complete the frame.
(M): Before you arrive at a wedding, how much planning goes into creating the visual narrative?
(SS): There’s definitely a fair amount of preparation before we arrive. We spend time understanding the couple, their personalities, the flow of the celebrations, the people who matter most to them, and the overall mood they want to create. Sometimes that involves conversations, mood boards, or simply getting to know them better, but that preparation is never about pre-planning the photographs themselves. It’s about arriving with enough understanding that, when the wedding begins, we can respond instinctively to what’s unfolding. The visual narrative is shaped as much by the unexpected moments as it is by the preparation that comes before them.
(M): Does light play an important role—whether at an indoor mandap setup or a beach destination wedding?
(SS): Light shapes emotion as much as it shapes an image. We don’t chase perfect light; we respond to it. Sometimes harsh afternoon light tells the story best. Sometimes the softness of dawn or candlelight changes everything. Understanding light is less about controlling it and more about listening to it.
(M): Luxury weddings have become increasingly immersive. How closely do you collaborate with planners, designers and décor teams?
(SS): Very closely. Good collaboration allows everyone to do their best work without compromising the couple’s experience. We work alongside planners and designers to understand the flow of the day while ensuring photography remains responsive rather than overly choreographed.
(M): Have wedding photographers evolved into creative directors rather than just documentarians?
In many ways, yes. Today’s photographers are involved much earlier, helping shape timelines, suggesting locations, advising on light, and thinking about the visual flow of the day. But no matter how involved we become, the role is still to serve the story, not control it.
(M): How has the rise of content creators at weddings changed your role?
(SS): I see them as serving different purposes. Content creators are focused on capturing and delivering moments almost instantly, while our responsibility is to build a cohesive body of work that will hold meaning long after the wedding is over. The processes, pace and end products are fundamentally different, so I don’t really see them as replacing one another.
(M): Which wedding has emotionally stayed with you long after you packed your cameras away?
(SS): It’s difficult to choose just one because, in different ways, most weddings stay with us long after deliveries. Some remain because of the people we met, others because of the conversations we had, the cultures we experienced, or the emotions we witnessed. There are weddings where the scale is unforgettable, and others where the quietest moments leave the deepest impression.
(M): What are three photographs every couple should insist on having—regardless of trends?
(SS): I don’t think there are three specific photographs every couple should insist on. Every wedding, every family, and every relationship is different. What I do believe every couple should have are photographs that capture three things: the people they love, the emotions they experienced, and the atmosphere of the day. Years from now, those are the images that will matter most.
(M): Finish this sentence: "The best wedding photographs are the ones that..."
(SS): That brings you back, not just to how the day looked, but to how it felt.