My Pre-Wedding Photography Experience

I haven't been blogged for.. 3 years? Time flies. LOL. I used to have another blog, but I thought I should start another new one now as my old blog seemed really pathetic. Don't want to be reminded of any of my unhappy past. And this is gonna be a long long blog.

Well, I have decided to blog (finally) to talk about the experience with the bridal shop - Two Of Us Signature Studio. I started surveying a few bridal shops early this year. It is a privilege for me as I am staying in SS2, where lots of bridal shops opened here since few years ago. So Two Of Us Signature Studio (SS2 branch) was my first one to visit as it was the nearest bridal shop from my house.

After talking to the staff there, R, who appeared to be one of the bosses of Two of Us, he told me that their shop is different from other bridal shops. And the bosses run the shop by themselves, one as a photographer, another one as a videographer etc. Therefore, they claim that they are able to provide good service as this is their own business. I saw their samples of photography, no doubt they were really good. The photos were unique, unlike other bridal shop where they take photos based on number of poses. They told me usually they will take up to 1000 shots per day. Everything seems good to me but only the package is a little expensive. I thought if they can provide good service and good photography, why not spend a lil' more?

Of course, not to make decision in a hurry, I went to survey the bridal fair in Midvalley too. But none of them interests me. In the end, around March, I went to sign the package at their Puchong branch, which was the first branch they opened. I looked through their gowns, honestly, there's only a limited selection of gowns. But the lady in charge there, K, told me that they are not like other bridal shops which have thousands of gowns for you to choose but not all are available. So I gained some trusts with them after hearing what they said, and expected to be really happy and satisfied. I signed only the most basic package, which already cost me nearly RM5k, and arranged for the gown fitting and photoshoot day. Their package basically only gives you 5 gowns, 3 for PS and 2 for AD. Only one album is given and one big photoframe. K gave me only free extra 5 images and 10 pcs extra photo gift cards. I regretted not to negotiate for more things before I signed the package! After that only I realised that the package did not include a banner and a guest book. :( It's a studio and not a bridal shop anyway.

When I went for the gown fitting in May, I thought it was K who was going to guide me through the whole process, but she was busy entertaining other customers and asked their makeup artist to choose the gowns together with me. I started to feel unhappy about it because I have discussed with K about the kind of gowns that I like, the types of photography that I prefer etc, but now I have to say it all over again with another new staff which I haven't met. But fine. I tell myself it's okay, I only do this once in my life time, I have to be happy.

It got worse during the photoshoot day! I don't feel good at all after I got home. I have prepared some props to use them during that day. But the photographer, C, told me to put aside first and continued with the photography. After that, both of us have forgotten about to use the props that we prepared. Wasted my effort on preparing them the few days before. Sigh. Despite all those, C and his assistant looked quite professional, and probably they really are, as it was not so bad throughout the whole process, it was quite relaxed and fun too. The best thing that happened on that day was we managed to get into the spelling station and took some photos with the horses there. But the horses were kept in the stable as these horses aren't like other horses in Putrajaya. These are race horses! They were all extremely huge, tall and beautiful!

Photoshooting day:

We didn't manage to take a lot of photos for the third image, as it rained. While we went home, we were caught in a very bad traffic too. We were so tired when we got home.

After a week or two, we went back to the studio to choose our photos. We need to choose 50 photos from as many as 400+ photos. Luckily we spent only an hour half. One good thing about them is they will never ask you to choose extra so that they can earn more money from you, just like some of other bridal shop. I was quite happy with the photos anyway.

Some of the photos that I like best:

In around October, I went to choose two gowns for my actual day in the Puchong branch. One white gown and one evening gown. Honestly, their gowns are really, really limited. There were none that I really liked. I have no choice but to go back to SS2's branch to get their designer gowns, which I have to pay extra to rent the gowns there. And it was there that I finally found my dream wedding dress! Their white gowns there are really pretty. But evening gowns are so-so only. After negotiating the price with them, they charged me cheaper than the displayed price, which is between RM1-2k for two gowns. Hmm.. I decided to pay for it since that day is the most important day of my life. I deserve to wear a wedding gown that I want! :P

I only got to see the layout of my album in mid-November, which is quite late as they have promised to give me my album on the first week of December, which is less than 2 weeks before my wedding. I requested a few months ago to get my album middle of November, they told me okay but I think they forgot about it and when I asked them why wasn't the album ready, the person in charge told me they follow according to the time planned. Ok fine. What if I have a lot of things to amend in the layout and how would they do it in time? But anyway, the layout turned out good. Was satisfied with it. At least I feel it is worthwhile after all the money we paid.

Well, that's all my experience. Now I'm only waiting for my big day! Which is in just less than 2 weeks. Kinda excited. Hopefully I have time to continue to blog about my wedding!