Sweetchimes magazine april 2016

APRIL 2016

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WELCOME TO WONDERFUL EARTH MONTH...

Dedicating this April issue to the planet upon which we all live, work, and play.

What can i do? What can you do? What can we do?

There is no one way to “correctly” commemorate Earth Day. Earth Day is a time to discovery, awareness, and collective investment.

This month, we offer new perspective about nature, earth, and loving her back. This edition is all about Pre-Wedding preparation with touch of all-earth themes and sharing my most favourite photographer Anup J Kattukaran Photography and his underwater photography.

Thanks to all contributors. We hope that you will enjoy this April issue and will look forward to see you on July.

Lots of love and Happy wedding planning!

Your with Love,

Vijayasri

VIJAYASRI Editor & Creative Director editor@sweetchimes.com

COVER PHOTO BY ANUP J KATTUKARAN

IN THE TEAM Syazareena

Advertising & Sales

Maria Bark Social Media

sya@sweetchimes.com Zulfadli Nasir For submission of Fashion Advisor real weddings and Special thanks to contributors, our advertisers and interesting products, please email

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Theme Colours We wanted to offer inspiration that would fit any time of the year despite the season or current trends. With this in mind, we have created this stunning palette of earth tones.

“Our inspiration was for a warm, neutral palette that could suit any time of year, but really drew inspiration from this transition of summer into fall.

The “red brick and ivy” color scheme really reflects that “Back to School” feeling, but the soft green, warm ivory, and natural earth tones would look beautiful in any season!”- SC

YZDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Top Wedding Photographer Johor|Malaysia How would you describe your style?

Learning with other wedding and portait photographers, while joining a lot of workshops I combined what i have learned from the workshop and blend in my own creativity.

What’s the best part of being a wedding photographer?

To experience the fun and happiness between the couples.

The hardest part of your job?

The weather. It is so unpredictable.

Things you say or do to put your clients at ease in front of the camera?

I will discuss with them before shooting any style that i am planning on and demostrate a style or two.

What’s a Pre Wedding Shoot?

Well, a pre-wedding shoot is a chance for us to get to know you guys as a couple. Designed to help put you at ease being in front of the camera, and having to look comfortable, spontaneous and of course in love.

5 Tips for an awesome Pre-Wedding Photoshoot * Book a photographer you love.

Every photographer has a unique way of seeing through his camera.A photographer creative style and vision can be seen on their pre-wedding photoshoot galley.Don’t just pick up any photographer, do your research,compare photographers work with each other for best pre wedding photoshoot and than decide on whose work you find the best. Look at a few highlight galleries of pre-wedding photoshoot from each photographer to get a sense of their quality and style. But realize that these are their best clips from multiple pre-weddings, so once you like someone, ask to see a full pre-wedding shot list.Next step is to check if chosen photographer is your price range and are free on your date you decide. * Kind of shoot or pictures you wish to have.

As they say, “A picture speaks a thousand words”, and your pre-wedding / wedding album can embody your love story.

Some couples choose to have their photoshoot at the place where their love story started, like a coffee shop or old monument where they use to meet or a garden or a place they love visiting. Pre wedding pictures are one of the best pictures you can get from your photographer as couple & photographer has ample time to decide the shoot details .Some couple just want some pictures to put on social networking websites and some want some want pictures that tell a story. Discuss all this with your photographer,be as open and comfortable with your photographers as they will be shooting pre wedding and later wedding documenting the best days of your life.The more you express on kind of pictures you wish,the better they will understand and provide you with the best of the pictures.

Best way to move forward is to have a shot list ready on must have sample kind of pictures you wish to have, share that with the photographer and take his views on them , ask him for his suggestions.

Below are some of the examples of kind of pictures you can have, * Sunrise & Sunset pics / silhouette kind of pictures,YES for these kind of pictures you need to get up early. * What outfit to wear for pre wedding shoot ?

Based on type of pictures you wish to have from above category , you can decide yourself or talk to your photographer.They are the best person to guide you for e.g, you if you want silhouette kind of pictures then best dress for that is slightly hugging clothes so that a nice body shape is seen,alternatively if going for a monument than a casual dress wont look nice , may be a tradtional outfit might look good.

Avoid wearing green color as that color mixes with green present in nature, Couple can also wear complimenting colors to match a theme.You can also get various props available in the market likes Slates / pin up boards /Balloons / Bubbles, If you don’t wish to purchase these than some props are very simple to make at home like boards.All you need is a brown board/white chart paper/markers/bamboo stick/glue i.e remember in school days we used all such stuff and made awesome stuff.Make creative stuff based on your story or complimenting your attire.

Think of what outfit will you wear and what will your partner wear with it, for girls hairdo, makeup, accessories are important and always add a oohhh factor to pictures. Guys don’t worry on getting warm clothes likes blazers during a summer day for shoot, as you will be wearing it for less time so its ok, post pics you can get back to your normal clothes.To avoid clothes getting dirty, always carry a small bed sheet for shoots, so that instances where photographer ask you to sit somewhere, you don’t have to worry on dress getting dirty.

TIP Avoid large prints/ characters on t-shirts, try plain and bold colors if possible.Smart pair of shoes also adds value to over all look of the picture. * Locations for pre wedding shoots ?

Once you hand over sample shot list to your photographer, ask him for recommendations on locations.

Some locations are free of cost and some places ask for permissions. Some locations looks very beautiful at certain time of the day.Hence once you freeze on number of locations you wish to shoot, ask your photographer for Action plan for your shoot (What time we start/location of first shoot/dress which you will wear), this saves times during the time of shoot.If you dont have a close by location where you can change clothes then the bed sheet talked about in above article comes handy, put it over your car windows and now its a small changing room for you.

A good photographer will never complain about location, rather through his creative vision he can make any place looks nice.This can either be achieved by some some advance photography tricks and some unique photography gear.Yes its possible to create day into night inside camera without using photoshop. Different time zones of the day can give you different types of pictures.

Remember that no matter what time of the day you can a professional photographer can click an awesome picture for you.

Hence, I request to stop worrying on where to shoot and rather hire an experienced photographer who has all the years of experience and gear to create magic. You dont want to later regret of hiring a part time professional /newbie photographer who tells you that “The location was not that good or it was too sunny or their was hardly any light to click pictures” Some other location tips are old buildings/railway tracks/ mountains /parks/Museum, café / restaurant/ hotels/resorts. * Don’t make a mistake of having different photographer for pre-wedding and wedding day.

When you book a pre-wedding and wedding with same photographer, you will get a combo pack and discount.Also during pre-wedding shoot and all the interactions you had with your photographer earlier, by the time he will shoot your wedding, he understands you completely and will provide you gorgeous looking images from pre-wedding functions & wedding.When you book different photographers,most of the time you get some repeat poses..SC

5 Minutes With...

ANUP J KATTUKARAN

How would you describe your style?

I try to reinvent myself with every shoot. I believe that I am still finding my style.

I am always learning new techniques and different situations offer unique photographing opportunities. I take inspiration from everyday things.

Of late, I’ve been diving a lot. This has inspired me to take on more underwater shoots. I love getting newly weds into a pool and do a shoot underwater. They’re fun and exciting for both,the clients and myself.

What’s the best part of being a wedding photographer?

Wedding food!

Just kidding. Creative freedom is a luxury that I am thrilled to have. That being said, I have taken away so much more from the job.

I think one of the first things I learnt as a wedding photographer is punctuality. It’s also a great way to meet new people, and learn about new cultures. I think this line of work lends itself to selfdevelopment because you learn how to interact smoothly with people of different temperaments.

The hardest part of your job?

When weddings are so richly steeped in tradition and convention, it can be tricky to make each wedding look unique. But I love a good challenge.

I take the time to Recce locations and teach myself about specific customs so I can bring my A-game to a shoot. This is where reinventing myself with each shoot comes in handy. I work hard to give my clients their money’s worth.

5 Minutes With...

ANUP J KATTUKARAN PHOTOGRAPHY Where would your dream destination wedding be?

I tend to go diving to the Maldives a lot. The white sand beaches and rich blue of the ocean would make the perfect backdrop for a wedding. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph a wedding in this dreamy location yet and look forward to the day I can shoot one on the perfect 30x40ft white sandbanks of this tropical paradise and a hand full of guests.

Things you say or do to put your clients at ease in front of the camera: When I got married, I experienced first hand how wedding photographers can dampen the mood.

People who get married are not everyday models and are not always comfortable in front of the camera. I make it a point to understand a client’s personality so I can make them as relaxed as possible. I find vantage points from which I can shoot the important parts of the ceremony without being very noticeable.

The best photographer is an invisible photographer and that’s what I try to become. It also helps that I’m just a happy person and that tends to rub off onto my clients.

EARTH DAY SPECIAL

Showcasing some of the most breathtaking images...

ANUP J KATTUKARAN UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

GUY’S CORNER

“Why guys forget...

It’s genetic”

by Dr.Ajay Hotchandani

So my editor, the awesome Vijayasri, asked me if I had finished my article for this issue and of course I hadn’t completed it. Before we proceed any further, you know what makes Vijayasri awesome is that she has almost as many vowels in her name as she does consonance. But I digress. So the article is to cover guys and our frame of mind and what we are thinking and how we don’t realize the strange things we do at times (like notice how many vowels there are in someone’s name and work out the percentage). But, again, I digress. So the article is why guys, in general, are the way we are.

I had once written an article and I started off with a blanket statement stating “All guys are idiots”. I did this as a carte Blanche statement to absolve me, and my species, of anything we do wrong. Hey, I said I was an idiot, what more did you expect from me? When it comes to thought process and an eye for the obvious, again, I’m an idiot. Women are very complex creatures whose emotions have often been described as roller coaster in nature. What many fail to mention is that the roller coaster is in North Korea and sitting behind you is Kim Jung Un and his henchmen waiting for you to utter something insulting about his hairstyle.

I would like to sit here and write how guys are analytical and creative thinkers who are able to jump start a car using nothing more than empty bottle, cheese, a faded receipt and their cell phones, which I’ve sort of done before ( I was eating a cheese sandwich, holding an empty coke bottle with a old receipt stuck to the bottom of my shoes while on my cell phone to my mechanic asking for help), but the fact of the matter is there are times we will be able to pull off an almost impossible feat which often leaves you in awe of our brain, and five minutes later we prove to you that the moment of genius was just that, something lasting no longer than a moment.

So what makes us like this? If you are expecting to find the answer in the remainder of this article, well I hope this isn’t a surprise to you but there is no answer to that question. There is the obvious answer, we are guys and that often ends the search for further answers, but there are few who dare calculate vowel to consonance percentage and it is those few who really need to go see their psychiatrist or proctologist.

This magazine is about wedding and planning events. Ladies, based off what you just read it is best you keep in mind that your future husband will do some absolutely idiotic things leading up to the wedding and maybe even on the wedding day that will make you question, “What the hell am I getting myself into?”.

Keep in mind, it’s not just your man but everyone else’s man too, as we are all idiots. If you give him five different shades of purple to choose from and he says they all look the same, it’s because they all do look the same. If you ask his opinion and he tells you choose whatever makes you happy, it’s because he just really doesn’t mind any option that makes you happy and him being asked less questions.

So before you contemplate calling off the wedding cause your future husband is late to his own funeral, I mean wedding, just know you are getting sage advice from a guy who showed up to the wrong funeral.

This is where it gets a bit tricky because in certain religions you can be forgiven for all your sins within seconds (or a minute if your list is as long as mine), while in other religions you may spend a lifetime paying for those sins…..let’s get the forgiving thing over quickly before “BOOM” happens!

Photoshoot Pre-Wedding Dress Ideas

by Shoumik De Waiting for the shuttle cab in the noisy traffic Gaurav looked at his expensive Swatch wristwatch, it was already 10.15.I’ll be late for work again.

Boss is going to rip me apart if I don’t finish that presentation at the end of the day. Why… why can’t she understand? Why does she argues all the time? I missed the car-pool and now have to wait for the stupid shuttle cab to go to the office. I hate it.

It was getting really late. Gaurav looked at the watch again. It was the same watch that Neha gifted him in their last wedding anniversary. It was worth 12k, it was expensive indeed for Gaurav and Neha. They got married 2 year back. Gaurav met Neha about 3 and half years back in one of their company’s party. Even though they worked for the same company, but they have never met because they were in different departments. Neha was heading the PR and Gaurav was new kid on the block in Finance A year after going around both of them got married and soon after that shifted from their respective 2BHK flats to a three BHK posh apartment in Silver Spring society. Home loan is quite easy to get these days… you see. But what you don’t see is under the shadows of their yearly and bi-yearly increase in the interest rates, sitting a leach so vicious that it will suck the very last drop of happiness from your life.

A packed Maruti van came and stopped near Gaurav, he sprinted towards it.

Gaurav got inside the van with little difficulty. He adjusted his heavy laptop bag and kept on his lap, stretched the legs a bit, rested his back in the seat. There were already five more people sitting inside in the cramped space. There were three people sitting opposite him, and right opposite him was sitting a man who Gaurav recognised as he worked in his office, but in a different department. When he finished inspecting the surroundings his eyes met the man eye who was right opposite him. That man smiled, Gaurav smirked and looked out at a heavy traffic . Perhaps that’s has filled up his life now, pollution, noise, and heavy traffic.

The phone started ringing. Gaurav reached for it in his left pant pocket with some difficulty and…

“Hello, Yes tell me?” he said and continued “On my way to the office in this stupid stinking shuttle cab and I am already late… have to finish the presentation today.”

“I can’t believe I missed the carpool today, all because of her…. Neha who else.”

“Again had a huge fight… you know the same old story. I told her this time when I’ll get the appraisal and the bonus we will buy Honda City.

I hate that stupid Maruti 800, it’s so embarrassing. In Silver Spring, everyone has a big car and plus I am the assistant financial advisor doesn’t look good that I drive that stupid 800 to work. People laugh at my back…. But No! She wants to save for the future, for the baby and wants to clear up the home load first. That can happen in due course of time. I am taking care of that…. And more over we need another car… as it is the 800 is reserved for her since the time she’s been pregnant. …. “ “No why should I say sorry? She started it. I didn’t even finish the breakfast. I’ll never say sorry I didn’t say anything wrong…. Now you don’t take her side now ok… you know how difficult it is to commute in this city without a car. … you won’t get it… I don’t want to talk about it right now… I have t go now… Bye.” As Gaurav disconnected the phone and kept it back in his pocket, the man sitting opposite said “I think you should say sorry to your wife” Gaurav looked up in disbelief. This is the first time he saw him carefully… a good looking handsome man, may be at his late 30’s, clean shaved, hair neatly combed, wearing a business suit.

“Excuse me!” said Gaurav.

“Well, I said you should say sorry to your wife.” That man repeated.

“Look I don’t want to be rude but it’s none of your business and I don’t even know you?” Gaurav said.

“No you don’t and it doesn’t even matter if you know me or not what matters is if you know what are you doing? You are losing something much more important things in your life for such petty materialistic things.”

“What am I losing?”

“Love, peace, and happiness! Think about your life in the early days of your married life and compare it with today. You will know what you missed.”

Gaurav couldn’t stop wondering, those days came flashing in front of his eyes… how Neha would wake him up in the morning and he would want to pull her back in the bed, and now when she wakes him up he would check his cell phone first.

How beautiful were those small loving glances in the breakfast table and now it is lost somewhere between business section and sports pages in the newspaper. How he would not want to go to office and Neha had to literally push him out of the door and now there are just slamming the door at each other face.

Gaurav closed his eyes shut, a small drop of a tear was ready to jump out of the corner of his eyes, but he quickly used his handkerchief to clear it. It didn’t go unnoticed to that man.

He said “My friend in our lives we run behind the bigger happiness, like promotions, bonus, car, luxury and totally ignore the small one’s like looking into each other’s eyes, holding hands while walking, cooking for each other, doing stupid little thing just to see him/her smile, exchanging romantic glances while on the dinner table filled with people or laying down together on a Sunday afternoon meaninglessly and not doing anything yet feeling so fulfilled… etc. If we can gather all these small happiness and weight against the one we run after then you’d be surprised to know that all these small happiness would be heavier then the bigger ones. Don’t wait for special moments but make every moment special.”

Amidst the cloud of chaos, you sometimes fail to see the beauty of simplicity that is around you.

Right then the cab stopped. Gaurav didn’t know what to say, he was in awe!! That man started to climb down the cab. He said, “Are you not coming?” Gaurav smiled at him and said “No, I need to get back to my wife and tell her I love her more than anything. Thank you, I owe you one.” Turned to the driver Gaurav said, “Could you please drop me back to the place you picked me up?”

EARTH DAY SPECIAL