How to Book/Choose - A Photographer by Monir Ali

The last few months the media has been a buzz with nightmare stories about weddings and in particular the wedding photography or rather the photographers.  During the process of your wedding planning, you will at some point come across the unenviable task of choosing your wedding photographer! (if you want one).

So how do you choose? as a photographer, this is unbiased and objective advice from a me? I have tried to relate the answers to the questions I get asked, and also how I manage my client’s expectations.  

There are literately 1000s upon 1000s of potential people who want to take your photograph. Just type wedding photographer in Google (64 million results) and see for yourself. So how do you cut through the chaff and find the gem that will make you happy?

So whose right for you?

As a guesta mate based on membership of some photographic organisations, there’s around 8,000 potential photographers for you to hire.  One thing to bear in mind is that the wedding photography sector is one that has been faced with a lot of challenges, the biggest one being that there has been a surge of hobbyist photographer who shoot weddings.  Some are good, and some to dire to even think about it.

Identifying a good photographer is difficult, so where does one start, 70% of my clients come from recommendations. So start there, talk to work colleagues, friends see what kind of experience they had with their wedding photographer.

If none of your friends have got married recently do a web search, but be wise in your search terms, typing wedding photographer in Google will throw up over 62 million items. Be more precise “Asian wedding photographer Manchester” or even name your venue, this way the potential photographic suitor will have worked there too “Asian wedding photographer Capesthorne Hall”.

Have a good look at the photos, search around the galleries, have a look at their blog. Here’s the cool part, all photographers, myself included will dazzle you with the pick of the crop, the bride and groom shots. But does the photo gallery have more from the day. Are there group shots, reportage, and candid.

When you have shortlisted your photographers, go and see them, and make sure you have a look at a complete wedding, and not just the best shots he she wants you to see. If he /she can’t show you a full wedding WALK AWAY.   This goes for Wedding videographers too, its all to easy to see a highlight video but what will the other 4 hours be like.

Key Questions to ask:

Do you have any formal training as a photographer?

Do you have any qualifications as a photographer?

Are you a qualified member of a professional organisation?

(This is a tricky one as there are a lot of organisations out there, and some you organisations all you need to-do to be a member is pay a fee. If they are a qualified member then this has merit, being a member of a particular organisation does not make them a professional photographer.) 

Are you full time photographer? (this will effect how much you pay them)

Can you show me a full wedding album?  

Do you have Public liability and professional indemnity insurance?

Do you spend time on Continuing Professional Development?

How many weddings have you covered?

What is your style of photography (this will affect your ultimate choice as if there style is not what you’re looking for, this will create issues)

The rule of thumb is if they can answer yes to the first 7 questions then they should be in top of your shortlist, the other factors then become subjective choices.

How much should I pay?

That totally depends on your viewpoint of the value you place on your wedding memories.  It’s hard to say what an average price should be, as a business I know what my costs are to run the business, and that is taken into account when we price each wedding. But consider what else you are spending on then make an informed judgement. For example, if you’re spending £300 on a wedding car to take you to the venue from home, a journey which is 45 mins, then can you justify paying a professional fulltime photographer to cover your entire wedding day for £300 and then provide you with an album? 

Ultimately the final choice of photographer is dependant on a lot of factors, ask the right question, look at the right work and see if you get on with them personally, if you don’t then don’t book him or her even if they are cheap.

Article by Monir Ali of moniraliphotography.com

You can check out monir's facebook page here here and his blog here

Not Fair and Lovely ?? - Next Please....

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, started and Pakistan Fashion Design Council’s Sunsilk Fashion Week just ended, it seems throughout the year one fashion week starts and another ends. And the spotlight is firmly on the sub continent, which is a great thing, but beneath the super glossy exterior, it seem we are still backwards.  The telegraph reported that Indian models were accusing their own fashion industry of racism over the increased use of foreign white models over darker-skinned local girls.

Dipannita Sharma believes it will take years for prejudice in the Indian fashion industry to fade

Its not just the fashion industry though is it, In South Asian culture, were obsessed, in our quest to be fair, the british may have left India 60 odd years ago but did they leave us with a inferiority complex??  you just need to look at the sales of fair and lovely, pharmaclinix lightenex to know what i mean..

How ironic though in the western world, people want to be darker, "tanned" equals sexy and glowing, bronzed, and golden yet in  India and Pakistan, white is seen as beautiful and black as ugly, no wonder there is lack of darker skinned girls in our magazines and ramps.


Pranab Awasti of Delhi's Glitz Modelling agency, said Indians themselves preferred white skin to their own and craved "fair" complexions.


This time last year Indian Vogue run a cover entitled The Dawn of Dusk, it was in response to the growing market for skin-whitening creams caused by lighter-skinned film stars and models represented in Indian media. 

Vogue In. doing its part to dispel discrimination on the basis of skin colour by featuring five darker-skinned models on its cover

thoughts please...♥


read the full telegraph article here

The Awkward Bride ~ Published in Suhaag Magazine By Inspirational Laddu

Some times you read an article and can complete relate to the writer this is one of thoes instances...thanks to Samm @ Inspirational Laddu for letting me reblog this, you can see the article and more at her fab blog here

So not only am I published in Suhaag  but my article is featured on the cover!!! But rather than gush about it im going to try and act cool and share the first of my three articles in the latest issue of Suhaag Magazine! :)  

The Awkward Bride   

Your wedding will be the time of your life. Dressed to the hilt, bejewelled from head to toe, you will feel like royalty.

Not a person in sight will be able to take their eyes off you. You will be the belle of the ball. You will be the bride!

Except what if you’re not that bride? You’re not the girl who grew up fantasizing about the day you’ll walk down the proverbial aisle. What if you suddenly realize that you’re not comfortable having all eyes on you? And rather than the all encompassing glow that you’re supposed to feel, all you feel is extremely awkward!

I didn’t glide through the days leading up to my wedding, but rather stumbled across them kind of inelegantly. Sitting at the salon after the designers, stylists, jewellers and makeup artists had worked their magic on me, I felt more like a piece ready to be showcased at the museum than a bride “in her element”.  Most brides I knew had revelled in all the attention that was given to them. They had told me it would be wonderful. I saw them sashay gracefully through, pausing only to soak up the limelight and graciously smile and wave at their adoring fans. For me it didn’t feel so much a glamorous spotlight as it did an uncomfortable glare that made me squint while random strangers stared, or rather gawked at me. Yes, it was very awkward.

Now lets get one thing straight; I’m no shrinking violet. Far from it in fact. I’m the girl you can hear laughing across a crowded room. Nor am I a stranger to my fair share of the limelight. However, things were different this time. One of the glaring differences being that up until my wedding the limelight had been a result of an achievement that drew attention to my capabilities. And sitting pretty, with an unnatural amount of makeup on face, surrounded by an unnatural number of flowers on a stage was definitely not one of them. 

The pressure that goes along with being a bride doesn’t make the situation any easier. You’ve seen brides before you, your friends, your cousins, your acquaintances or rather your acquaintances’ wedding pictures on Facebook. You’ve sat back comfortably and critically analyzed the bride that should not have worn that outfit with those arms, and definitely not that color on that skin tone. And now that it’s your turn on the same sadistic pedestal, God help you, you will not make the same mistakes they did! Except that you don’t have the same arms or face structure or the same skin tone as any of those other brides, so how will you know what suits you?

 It’s one thing picking out your daily outfits and even that special occasion couture; you know how much makeup you can pull off in the daytime and you know how to accessorize some life into those blah work outfits. After all you’ve been doing it for years. This, however, is very different from what you’re used to. This, my friends, is not just an entirely different story; it’s an entirely different language. Now, unless you’re a fashion/makeup/style guru or you have planned out this day to the very last detail since you were 5 years old (which as I mentioned before I hadn’t), you are now officially in no man’s land. And the worst part about being a bride is that no matter what, EVERYONE will tell you that you look beautiful.

So coming back to the day of my wedding, as I sat in my gorgeous shaadi ka jora, with more makeup on my face than I had ever had before (even for Halloween), I looked at the girl in the mirror and had no idea who I was looking at. This was my wedding and I was the bride. Where was the glow and the realization that today I was the most beautiful girl in the world? I had seen the Bollywood and the Hollywood films. The chickflicks as well as the chicklits had all confirmed that I would feel it right about now. But I didn’t. To be honest, I felt a little ridiculous and a whole lot self-conscious, so at that point I decided that I would smile, wave and fake it!

As I walked down the aisle towards the giant stage with the overwhelming number of flowers, and more importantly towards my husband-to-be, I wondered what he thought of my get-up. This definitely wasn’t the girl he had proposed to. But fortunately, he had been feeling just as awkward as me and was simply thrilled to have me by his side, to face the rest of our wedding together, in awkward harmony. 

By Samm @ www.inspirationalladdu.wordpress.com

Asian wedding and lifestyle show picture and Watch BBC one inside out - Tonight 730pm

Tonight BBC one Inside out - north west are doing on feature on Asian weddings.

Shows presenter Nazia Mogra was at the Asian wedding and lifestyle show that took place in Manchester at the end of last month.

A lot of talk about the overall exhibition, and quality of the catwalk has been made, i won’t go on to much about it, but are we right or even allowed to criticise? many of the people that went, would have got a free ticket that was on offer at numerous outlets. 


I had originally thought a lot of the fashion show was down to the designers later learning that they had simply supplied the clothes. 


There were some great clothes on show..and depending on what you were looking for you could have booked as some stall holder were just fab! 

I wanted to get married in a western style white gown when I was younger, so Raishma London’s style shown would be right up my street.

I haven't been in Manchester to long, so haven't shopped around allot but last year i did buy from Burooj, for my brothers wedding i bought outfits for my hubby and little brother, and they loved them simple yet classy! and the collection they showed i loved! 

I am as you can see working on my photography skills :) and in true amature fashion, my camera died half way through the show, i know pot calling the kettle black..

halal sweets kept me going!

Zara Bridal Studio

MakeupBase

MakeupBase

Bridgette's Florist

Raishma London

Hanayen

Rupali

Burooj

Hijab Centre Blackburn

You will be able to get more details on the clothes over at Asian fashion blog soon, blogger nazma who runs the site, will be featured in tonight's BBC one show, if your in the northwest you can watch the BBC one inside out programme tonight 7.30pm 

for the rest of the UK Sky channel 978 more details here it will be on BBC Iplayer once its aired, if you do miss it.


you can also check out the my review on the show here - shameless plug much :)

videos on you tube by lemonyfresh1234 here

Just For FUN - How To Write A Marriage CV (For Asian Females)

The following post is taken from a blog that i have just recently discovered  www.wellisntthatwizard.blogspot.com  
It made me laugh and I'm sure you will to, its tongue in cheek fun.
thank you to Rohima for sharing.

What is a 'marriage CV' I hear you ask? Well, it is literally a CV your family would use to find you a spouse. 

The method of exchanging CVs is prevalent within the Asian community because of arranged marriages. They are collected by the prospective bride's family (she never gives hers out first) and if she likes the look of one her information is provided in return. If there is mutual [CV] attraction then the couple and families take a step forward. 

Information provided on this document is everything you will need to make a formal introduction: general details, job, education and family background. A photograph is also required. 

Yes, it is a bit odd but on the plus side sifting out and rejecting the 'over my dead body' pile is made a whole lot easier. How? Because your parents do the rejecting for you. 

Also, arranging your marriage proposals in alphabetical order has never been easier!

Now, I don't have a CV. I have, however, handled a few and know quite well what most families look for. Below I will attempt to list a few tips to help you compose your very own marriage CV!!!

Of course, if you have any suggestions to add to the lists below feel free to share them by leaving a comment.

CV - do's and don'ts 

DO list your age if you are under 21.

DON'T list your age if you are over 21. Doctor your birth certificate and tell everyone you are 18.

DO list your job title. However if you are a heart surgeon/rocket scientist/anything similar it will bring out your potential spouse's inferiority complex. Keep it simple - Just them you're a supermarket cashier.  

DON'T write more than a page. You're a girl. The main things they need to know is your name, ability to cook and clean and whether you have child bearing hips or not.

DO list your qualifications. Although if you have a Masters or a PhD it might be best to leave those out. See the above point for more information. Also, they probably don't want someone too 'smart'.

DON'T list 'going to the gym' as one of your hobbies unless you like the sweet feeling of rejection. Asians like 'meaty' girls. Besides, no sari is complete without a healthy muffin top.

DO keep it short and sweet. To be frank, they won't get round to reading your CV unless they like the look of your photo.

Photo - do's and don'ts

DO wear an Asian suit that is youthful and 'in' but nothing too fashionable or glitzy. You want to come across as homely and 'decent' not gaudy, 'western' or, God forbid, too outgoing.

DON'T pose with food - you don't want to seem glutinous or greedy. 

DO make sure the setting/background is clean. This will give off the impression that you are daughter-in-law material.

DON'T pose in a car (too outgoing - see rule 1.)

DO pose next to flowers (fake if possible) or some sort of shrubbery. It will make you look like such a sweet girl.

DON'T pose with men - fathers, brothers, boyfriends - nope. No men.

DO hold a baby in the photograph. Show them that you are wife/mother material. This will not work if baby is seen to be crying or worse, looking at you in fear.

DON'T pose with other women or girls unless: they are under 16; larger than you; shorter than you; can be mistaken for a man; is a baby.

DO stand in front of a window to give illusion of being whiter than white - this will allow people to think you are fair and therefore very beautiful and good enough for their son. Anything they find out about you which is not in your favour (e.g.; 3 arms, one eye, another husband) will hence forth be overlooked.

DON'T smile too much or too wide. This gives out the signal that you are naïve or dumb.

the original post can be seen here

Behind The Fairytale - By Aliyah Naeem-Dar

I can't help it.  Honestly, I try my best. 

But whenever I walk into a newsagents or any supermarket I immediately rush over to the magazines, scouring, searching, praying, that it will be there. Once I have it in my clutches, I can't wait to pour over the 500 pages or so of fashion, beauty, and most importantly weddings! (preferably with a steaming hot cup of tea). The allure of weddings still hasn't worn off, even eight weeks after I said "I do" or better yet "kabool hai".Now I just get my husband to do my dirty work for me.  

But when I (hubby) recently picked up said magazine, I couldn't help but feel...well disappointed. Nothing had changed, and let's face it, it probably never will. I guess this is what inspired me to write this. During the planning period of my wedding, I lived by this magazine, breathing in it's seductive promises and false hopes. Ripping out reams and reams of pages, I began collating a mood board of what my "fairytale" wedding was going to look like. Just like the magazine.

So, anyway, this issue failed to have the same "wow" factor that it did before my wedding. No doubt the clothes were gorgeous, but it doesn't tell you how to prepare for snobbish designers who humiliate you (think Pretty Woman) or other designers who give you your wedding clothes a day before your wedding without compensation or even an apology (I'm TOTALLY over that by the way). Or DJ's that try and sue you one week before your wedding (that really happened). I desperately tried to look past the pages hoping that someone had written about what it's REALLY like to plan a wedding, to actually live it and breathe it (while forcing some family members to live it and breathe it with you, no matter how much they resist).

So, I'm here to tell you what it's all about.

1) Wedding magazines are a great way to start planning your wedding, by don't live by them (my mistake). Remember they are trying to sell a product. Instead, talk to family and friends that you know you can trust because they can tell you first hand what so and so venue is like or what so and so make-up artist is like. But truth be told I booked two people on the basis of a friend's recommendation and they were the worst people I booked. So maybe my advice is a bit useless in this case.

2) Shop around for unbeknown caterers or lesser known designers if you want to stray away from the norm. It can give your Big Day that extra oompf.  If you're not willing to take such a risk on this important day, stick with what you know or at least what you've heard. But tread carefully with "famous" designers or make-up artists because they usually come with a large entourage - their ego that is. I went for the former (mistake no.2)

3) When you go and meet these above mentioned people, they will be falling all over you, they will crave your attention and once you have succumbed to their charms and  booked them, the ink on the cheque will barely have dried and they don't want to know you. If you try to call them, they're too busy. But BE PERSISTENT.

4) Try to keep things as professional as possible, you are paying somebody to deliver a top-notch service on your special day. Becoming over-friendly with someone may hinder this as it may seem like a you're attacking your best friend. Even today, I have that "shoulda, woulda, coulda" moment and when I'm explaining to people why my wedding was such a cock-up, which is more often than they would like, my usual response is "I felt bad", "I didn't know how to tell them" or I would find some excuse to defend them! But that might just be my lack of balls.

5) When I was planning my wedding, I met so many different people. I mostly went to these meetings alone, and in my personal opinion I felt that the people I met, who were 99.9 per cent of the time men, looked at me and thought "Yes! Let's rob her blind!" - which 99.9 per cent of the time they did. So, my advice to all you B2B's out there, take someone with you, take everyone with you! And don't leave that room until you get those extra perks you deserve on the most important day of your life.

Let me tell you something that happened on the afternoon that I was getting married. My make-up artist, who I had just written an article on, walked in and the first thing she asked me was "do you have the money?". I handed over the money and in exchange she gave me a set of eyeshadows as a thank you for writing the story on her which was to be published internationally. The eyeshadows were of the Sunday market quality. See when I asked her for a cheeky discount she firmly said no because it was wedding season and she couldn't 'afford' to give any discount whatsoever*, but when she needed me to write a story on her raving about how much of a fabulous make-up artist she was, I asked if it was paid and she said no. But I, like her should have been persistent and said no. But I didn't. In her defence, she is an astute businesswoman and I am a mere mortal. *make-up artist, photographers, videographers will all say they need you to make a decision asap because they're in high demand. They're lying. Take your time and really think about every decision you make, even if it means potentially losing someone you thought you liked because they were on the front cover of a magazine.

Back to the Big Day, everything is going fine until my photographer arrives. They got to chatting, exchanging stories, people they have in common, shoots they've done (this industry is very small) and before you know it she's bodged up my hair because she was too distracted. Ladies, when getting your make-up done on your wedding, it should just be you and your make-up artist. Her attention needs to be solely on you and nobody else. After admitting that she was at fault (whilst laughing) , she didn't undo my hair to rectify the mistake she made. I refused to have a doughnut in my hair, because I was sure that my duputta was really light, and that was me trying to take another risk where risks should be deemed dangerous. Like I had expected, the dupatta didn't sit right and she didn't know how to pin it either. She's meant to be a stylist as well. I told her I wasn't comfortable and I was on the verge of tears, but she was more like "I told you so" instead of "don't worry, we'll fix this." I'm pretty sure she had somewhere else to be as she unwillingly shoved a doughnut in my messy curls. She was already packing her things to leave while I was left to pick up the pieces. Oh did I forget to mention, she didn't have safety pins and text me asking me if I had any. Erm...hello! I borrowed one of the guy at the hotel reception.

 This whole hair business could have been resolved if we had had a dress rehearsal like she promised, but my wedding dress didn't arrive in time (that's another story) and because my dress hadn't arrived, I couldn't buy my jewellery, and because my jewellery hadn't arrived I couldn't have the rehearsal. When all of these things finally did arrive, I called her a couple of weeks before and she said she was "too busy" and that it was "too late" for a rehearsal. This is what I'm saying, get what you paid for and don't settle for anything less. To make a long story short, I would never recommend her to anybody and would never categorise her as "high-end" like she so easily described herself. I can easily reveal the names of every single person in this article. But what would be the point?

People say your wedding day is just that - one day. Marriage is forever and that's what you have to work on every single day. But every girl dreams of their perfect day, especially me, and most things didn't go accordingly. Although, my family did help a lot and I would have been lost without them. I am slowly albeit very slowly getting over the fact that not everything went to plan. Trust me, nothing will go as how you have planned it in your head. So don't have such high expectations, because when something goes wrong you'll only blame yourself. Why not hire a wedding planner, and blame them!

I don't know if this piece has given anyone any insight into the ups and downs of wedding planning, but I had to get it all down otherwise I would have exploded. I had this vision of getting this piece published. But that's just wishful thinking.

The wedding magazine? It's here on my coffee table barely noticeable underneath all the letters and bills.

It's back to reality.

Aliyah Naeem-Dar

Freelance Journalist 

Aliyah on her Big Day...unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

Top Tips to make the most of wedding exhibitions

Going to the wedding exhibition last weekend made me think how confusing it must be for a bride to be, some where their with the whole khandaan (family) other with their fiancés and some with friends, some even browsing on there own, but all with one thing in common, hands full of bags and flyer's.
One things for sure if your not organised then going will not help much, you'll meet so many people and may come away even more confused than when you went in, but with a little planning going to an exhibition can be the most useful and resourceful thing you'll do, especially considering so many vendors are all under one roof! so i refer you to the article below wrote by Nazma @ Asian Fashion Blog. 

Fashions Shows are a must at a wedding exhibitions

It’s that time of year again, wedding exhibitions and shows are happening every weekend up and down the country. Should you attend them all? Are they worth the entry free? There’s no right or wrong answer…some of them are good, some are bad but from personal experience, I went to at least 5 wedding exhibitions the year I got married and I’m glad I did. Here are my top tips for getting the most out of these shows:

1. Don’t take the whole world with you!

If you’re serious about planning your wedding and finding some suppliers then you need to be selective in who you take with you. I’d say limit your group to 4 or 5 people maximum, because any more than that and the group will restrict your browsing and probably get in the way of all the other attendees. If you absolutely must take the whole family and all of your friends, split up when you’re checking out the exhibitors so you can talk to suppliers without your posse standing around looking bored!

2. Have a rough idea of what you’re looking for before you go.

Are you looking for a venue? A dress? A make-up artist? Has your rich uncle already agreed to let you use his Bentley? Knowing what you need will help you decide which stands to check out, plus if you know that you’ve already got something sorted then there’s no need to waste time by browsing exhibitors who offer that service or product (unless of course you want to take a look anyway!)

3. Be patient

Some exhibition stands will be busier than others, at the Asiana Show in Birmingham this year there was hardly any room to move at the Parisa Accessories stand because people were buying all their sparkly products! If you like the look of something it’s worth the wait to talk to them, even if you have to go for a walk and then come back.

4. Don’t be shy – ask lots of questions and show an interest

After you’ve waited patiently to speak to someone, or even if you didn’t have to wait, don’t be shy! Tell them what you’re looking for, ask them their prices, availability, locations covered and if you like their product/service then say so. In order to get people to make a booking, a lot of the exhibitors offer discounts or offers to people they speak to on the day so show an interest and you might get something in return. This is how I got a 10% off voucher from Arinder Bhullar for my wedding outfit, and more recently at the Asiana Birmingham show one of the exhibitors was promoting an upcoming wedding exhibition in Manchester, I was speaking to them and mentioned I was planning to go and he gave me two complimentary tickets! I saved myself £15 there

5. Make notes

Take a pen and paper with you. You will undoubtedly be given millions of leaflets and flyers but these won’t necessarily tell you all info you’ve gathered from talking to people…and after a long day of looking at loads of wedding stuff it can be hard to remember who you spoke to and what they said. Making a few notes will help you remember who designed that amazing dress you saw in the 3rd part of the catwalk show, or which florist made those centre-pieces that you fell in love with and must have!

6. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t find what you want

All of the exhibitors at the shows are in the wedding business, and most of them will have a lot of contacts. So if you can’t find the extremely rare hire car you want, or the portable indoor water feature you’ve always dreamed of for your wedding, ask around because the chances are somebody there will know a supplier who can get it for you.

this article was originally wrote for www.theasianwedding.co.uk

also check out nazma's independent fashion blog, great for news and reviews www.asianfashionblog.co.uk