Wednesday 20 August 2014

How you Invite..Matters!

Weddings in India are always in a mix-up of traditions, emotions, dreams and desires. In this whole journey, one of the most important ingredients is the ‘WEDDING CARD’. Irrespective of era, the wedding cards have been given strong importance and value. Though the modern world is going digital and tech-savvy, Indians still hold on to the importance of traditionally done wedding cards. An Indian wedding, as we all know is a beautiful journey, bringing together not only a bride and a groom, but also families and friends. Right from religious activities, traditional values and attires, delicious cuisine and colorful musical atmosphere, the ‘wedding’ includes all! At the stage when it’s nearing the D- day, the utmost importance of the card is at display.

A wedding card to a guest is a wedding’s first impression. The color combination, a stroke of design highlighting the occasion and details of bride- groom, venue, date and time, the wedding card holds every important detail at one single beautiful piece. Wedding cards would be like a movie trailer, leaving the guest wondering how the wedding would be like.

Let’s proceed to the ‘looks’… A wedding card has an artistic design or two, sometimes artwork of Indian God and Goddess or sometimes designs of props used during weddings like table, dholak or shehnaii or (musical instruments played during wedding functions) or rings or even a small shadow image of the bride and groom like the ones we see on top of a cake. Combined with beautiful and auspicious palette of colors and creative fonts putting together vital information completes the picture. Depending on the budget, a wedding card can even be done on satin and can include laser cut artworks, unique motifs and a small piece of craft as a decorative. An Indian wedding event starting from two days can go up to a week of celebration, hence detailing of events through wedding cards becomes extremely important. Supporting this is a route map to the venue, which is usually placed at the back of card. This along with some assortment of sweets makes the look of the card complete. Gods are among the supreme invites in an Indian wedding. It’s only after their blessings that the distribution of the cards begins.

The distribution in itself is an auspicious event. Parents of both the bride and groom exchange their version of cards and invite each other humbly. For a Hindu wedding, by applying Kumkum (Saffron Powder) on each other’s forehead they mark the beginning of the celebrations and that marks a small part of the entire wedding preparations.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Treasuring your Moments

There are two types of people, those that make wedding photography their priority and those that don’t. It is hard to organize a wedding, visiting venues, arrange meetings with suppliers like florists, cake makers and wedding dress shops. And all this while you are at work during the day makes it especially hard, all your free time in the evenings and weekends become consumed by your wedding. It is another reason why Wedding Planners are available and when it comes to wedding photography you can become overwhelmed by the choices available and take the quickest and easiest option.

Here are six reasons why Wedding Photographs are important as well:

1. The most important thing for couples and their families after a wedding is to see great wedding photographs that captured the wedding day. You will be devastated if they are not what you expected because you decided to invest less and went for a cheap and inferior photographer or simply did not do your research. You only get one chance to get it right on your wedding day.

2. If it was you who were to perceive a wedding album and the quality is bad, you would by no means think that the wedding was organized in a beautiful venue, excellent arrangements etc. Instead, the photography speaks and tells its own story. It could have been a really beautiful wedding, but you don’t know that. Your wedding album should complement your wedding day with amazing images that tell your story.

3. Think about wedding photography in this context. How will you remember what the flowers looked like after they wilt, what will your lasting memories of the guests be on your wedding day, the amazing dress you wore for that one day and how everything was arranged so perfectly. You may not have been able to even witness the whole arrangement if it weren't for wedding photographers.

4. Relying on friends and family to capture your Big day would seem a little off track. They may or may not be able to understand how you would want those photographs to be taken and what every click would mean to you. Your wedding photography can understandably be all about money before the wedding but after the wedding, no amount of money can fix or replace it. It becomes priceless.

5. On your wedding day a really good wedding photographer will work seamlessly to get great shots in the least amount of time possible to let you get on with enjoying your day with guests and family. Great wedding photographers make it look easy and that is why they are great wedding photographers. If you have made the wrong decision, be it through budget or lack of research, your wedding day could be spoiled by a grumpy, slow, disorganized wedding photographer that reacts badly to pressure or takes up all of your wedding day taking photographs you don’t want or asked for.

6. The only people, besides your partner, that you spend the most important and enjoyable moments of your life with are the wedding photographers. If you have any conflicts with them or don’t feel comfortable in their presence it will show in the wedding images. It is important that you have total confidence in their ability and get on well with them.

Your wedding album is the only physical product that you receive from your wedding day, if you do not have this, how will you share with people in the future what it was like. Think of it as an investment for future generations to enjoy and not something to be embarrassed about.

                                            Your Wedding…Your Photos…Your Memory!

Dreaming of a Perfect Wedding?

A special day to mark the start of your “new life with the one” should be special, unique and well-planned. Planning a wedding is a major undertaking that can lead to stress and unhappiness for the soon to be married couple and their families. Many people think that there are no benefits to hiring a wedding planner, and that it is a luxury reserved for those with money to burn. This is purely a myth and these following reasons will show you why hiring a wedding planner is a good idea:

1. A great money saver
Wedding planners are usually considered as an extra expense and thus people fail to understand that they are actually cost cutters. The real fact about wedding planners are that they have access to special industry discounts with florist, bands, caters and almost any other service you wish to avail for your special day. A wedding planner also knows all of the options that are available to you, including the ones that may not be well known, which means they can find you a better deal on almost anything you might need. The information, ideas and discounts that a planner can provide, can easily shave 10-20 percent off of your memorable wedding expense, more than making them worth the money.

2. Organized and Stress-Free
Wedding planners tend to be well organized, and they can instantly give you the information that you require regarding anything you need to know about your wedding. This organization can help to keep you calm and stress free. Without the stress, you can stand back and enjoy the process of planning the minute details of your wedding.

3. A Stitch in Time
The only thing that might be better than a wedding planner saving you money, is the fact that they save you time. They schedule your events, plan a detailed layout and all you will need to do is show up and make the decisions. They will also help you get through hard decision making or suggest colours and themes when you are stagnant. Their ultimate goal is to make your wedding the best and their business remembered.

4. You Rule the Roost
Many of us have a wrong notion that once a wedding planner is in, your dream wedding would turn out to be something else or not as per your wishes and because of this many people tend to put them off. This is only a myth and the truth is that a wedding planner only makes arrangements and suggestions, the decisions are completely yours to make. In fact, it is likely that during this planning period, your wedding planner starts to understand and think more like you and understand your taste even before you mention it.

There are many advantages to hiring a wedding planner that makes them well worth the expense. Not only can they save you money, time, and eliminate stress, but they are a shoulder to lean on during one of the most hectic times of your life. A wedding planner takes the problems away, and makes wedding planning fun and an enjoyable experience. Also, you tend to get more ideas which one may not have thought about and the execution possibilities become easier to work-out. Once you hire the best wedding planner, at the end of your wedding, you are bound to leave a "Happy- Husband and Wife".