Burn, baby burn! Nah.... not calories....maybe a hole in your pocket!!
Most of yesterday and today was spent burning, burning, burning and burning cds. If i dont backup this new pc, then it's like i'll procrastinate even longer. And then, i'll forget about it all together.
The most memorable files are of course photos. My studio wedding photos, Gordon's photos since birth, and lots more happy family moments. Talking about wedding photos. They invoked wonderful memories and fun during the photography session.
It's those typical wedding photography packages whereby you pay a few grands, choose your gowns and set a date to have them taken. I think i spent about 2k plus all in. That's it. I didnt hold any ceremony at all to commemorate the auspicious occasion. Those of you who've read my "How I Married My Man" post would know why.
Wedding photography packages are expensive these days. They usually start from a few hundred bucks to as high as 10k plus. They'll play with your emotional state of mind, they'll sweet-talk and tempt you endlessly with all the sexy and beautiful NEW gowns, those larger than life wall posters and tons of other frivolous stuffs.
Men going there with their fiancee had better be careful. Those chatterbox salesgirls are trained to milk you dry. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing mah, they'll reason with you. You only want the best for your wife, right.... blah, blah, blah. And somehow, men, they all want "face" and end up nodding and agreeing to what they propose. What more made easier with those 0% installment plans nowadays. Hence, you end up spending more than you really should.
As if on cue, the bride-to-be is almost automatically whisked to another room and made to try on gown after gown to somehow help seal the deal. It's like that. The trick is always to get the bride-to-be to put on the most expensive gown in the window display, doll her up a lil, and walk her down the staircase to meet her fiance.
I can tell you, the moment the men set eyes on their bride-to-be in one of those gowns, they'll drool and start paying through his nose.
There's not much of a difference whether you choose an economical or expensive package. What you end up with is almost always:
1) 2 albums - 1 big and 1 small for the in-laws.
The difference lies in the size of the large album and how many pieces of photos they'll hold. For the more expensive packages, the albums are encased in luggages and come in a set of 3 or 4 albums of various sizes. Almost all are Made In China. Some come with plastic ornamental mouldings stuck on them to fake glamour. It's in plastic, how glamourous can it be. Not 24 carat gold, k? And they will most likely drop off after a few months ofmishandling.
Be careful when choosing albums with lots of English wordings on them. As i said, Made In China, the English is also Made In China, bad grammar and wrong spelling. Avoid those by all means. Moreover, they'll most probably end up in their boxes after the wedding ceremony.
2) The quality of the photo printouts. Throw in a photoshopped cd or two for the more expensive packages.
During my time in year 2003, ALL studios make you choose your photos in their premises. They NEVER allow you to take home all those 3r samples to show your family members or for selection. They NEVER return the negatives to you, maybe only for those you've chosen for the final printouts. You simply have to con your way through. Plot before going.
I got lucky as the samples shown to me are in 3r prints on kodak paper. Enquire beforehand. I took mine home and have them all scanned in ultra high res. I'm sure all studios are aware of this, therefore, their reluctance to hand over the samples to you. Whether i have them photoshopped or not one fine day is my prerogative for now. At least i own every single one of those photos which i duly paid for.
Nowadays, thumbnails printouts on A4 paper are usually what you'd get. You can hardly see your face on those, and you can take them home, lol. Nevertheless, they'll assure you that all the final printouts will be breathtaking and you'll just have to take their word for it. *SIGH*
If you're not disciplined and did not stick to what you've initially agreed upon, they'll tempt you even further when you do your final selection. Dont go and take like 120 shoots when all you get to take home is about 30 printouts. It's gonna cost you another whopping 1k to have another album or 2. Worth it meh? For that amount of money, you can have another session during your anniversary. Maybe with junior too, if you're lucky.
3) A few framed-ups/posters/scrolls/wateva the latest fad may be.
Dont let them cajole you into parting more when you choose your frames. Your faces are supposed to stand out, the frames are to complement it. Not the other way round. The simpler the frame, the more elegant your photo will be. Especially with the emphasis on monochromatic shoots these days.
4) Some card-sized handouts for family and friends or wateva they have on offer.
5) And some ribbons to aquafy your car, hahaha.
Scrutinise the final bill. They are usually a lot of hidden charges that you may not be aware of. It could very well be double the initial price. During the make-up session, remember to ask them whether you'll be charged for the things they put on your face and hair, like those fake eye-lashes, face ampoules and god knows what else. Sometimes, in the middle of the actual photography session, they'll ask you whether you want additional shots in different formats. Be prepared to pay more if you agree.
And also, expect to breakout in pimples the very next day too. Imagine how many people used those stuffs before. Their applicators are definitely not those disposables types, you know. Thank god i did not. Did any of you experienced this?
The most important thing is to get a good night's sleep, drink lots of water and enjoy your session. It's gonna be a long day, make the most out of it. A happy couple makes the most beautiful photos, dont you all agree?
We certainly enjoyed ours tremendously and took us only a couple of hours to get it done. I did not opt for outdoor shots, too troublesome for me. When i'm in the mood, maybe i'll take Gordon for a round of family snapshots.
Mating season's just round the corner. Hope those shopping around will find these tips helpful. Remember: Be disciplined and know what you're paying for and getting at the end of the day. No matter what, dont ever regret it. It's the first step towards happy matrimonial financial planning. BE REALISTIC!!
Those who've gone through this before, kind enough to share your experience and anything that i've missed out on?
The most memorable files are of course photos. My studio wedding photos, Gordon's photos since birth, and lots more happy family moments. Talking about wedding photos. They invoked wonderful memories and fun during the photography session.
It's those typical wedding photography packages whereby you pay a few grands, choose your gowns and set a date to have them taken. I think i spent about 2k plus all in. That's it. I didnt hold any ceremony at all to commemorate the auspicious occasion. Those of you who've read my "How I Married My Man" post would know why.
Wedding photography packages are expensive these days. They usually start from a few hundred bucks to as high as 10k plus. They'll play with your emotional state of mind, they'll sweet-talk and tempt you endlessly with all the sexy and beautiful NEW gowns, those larger than life wall posters and tons of other frivolous stuffs.
Men going there with their fiancee had better be careful. Those chatterbox salesgirls are trained to milk you dry. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing mah, they'll reason with you. You only want the best for your wife, right.... blah, blah, blah. And somehow, men, they all want "face" and end up nodding and agreeing to what they propose. What more made easier with those 0% installment plans nowadays. Hence, you end up spending more than you really should.
As if on cue, the bride-to-be is almost automatically whisked to another room and made to try on gown after gown to somehow help seal the deal. It's like that. The trick is always to get the bride-to-be to put on the most expensive gown in the window display, doll her up a lil, and walk her down the staircase to meet her fiance.
I can tell you, the moment the men set eyes on their bride-to-be in one of those gowns, they'll drool and start paying through his nose.
There's not much of a difference whether you choose an economical or expensive package. What you end up with is almost always:
1) 2 albums - 1 big and 1 small for the in-laws.
The difference lies in the size of the large album and how many pieces of photos they'll hold. For the more expensive packages, the albums are encased in luggages and come in a set of 3 or 4 albums of various sizes. Almost all are Made In China. Some come with plastic ornamental mouldings stuck on them to fake glamour. It's in plastic, how glamourous can it be. Not 24 carat gold, k? And they will most likely drop off after a few months of
Be careful when choosing albums with lots of English wordings on them. As i said, Made In China, the English is also Made In China, bad grammar and wrong spelling. Avoid those by all means. Moreover, they'll most probably end up in their boxes after the wedding ceremony.
2) The quality of the photo printouts. Throw in a photoshopped cd or two for the more expensive packages.
During my time in year 2003, ALL studios make you choose your photos in their premises. They NEVER allow you to take home all those 3r samples to show your family members or for selection. They NEVER return the negatives to you, maybe only for those you've chosen for the final printouts. You simply have to con your way through. Plot before going.
I got lucky as the samples shown to me are in 3r prints on kodak paper. Enquire beforehand. I took mine home and have them all scanned in ultra high res. I'm sure all studios are aware of this, therefore, their reluctance to hand over the samples to you. Whether i have them photoshopped or not one fine day is my prerogative for now. At least i own every single one of those photos which i duly paid for.
Nowadays, thumbnails printouts on A4 paper are usually what you'd get. You can hardly see your face on those, and you can take them home, lol. Nevertheless, they'll assure you that all the final printouts will be breathtaking and you'll just have to take their word for it. *SIGH*
If you're not disciplined and did not stick to what you've initially agreed upon, they'll tempt you even further when you do your final selection. Dont go and take like 120 shoots when all you get to take home is about 30 printouts. It's gonna cost you another whopping 1k to have another album or 2. Worth it meh? For that amount of money, you can have another session during your anniversary. Maybe with junior too, if you're lucky.
3) A few framed-ups/posters/scrolls/wateva the latest fad may be.
Dont let them cajole you into parting more when you choose your frames. Your faces are supposed to stand out, the frames are to complement it. Not the other way round. The simpler the frame, the more elegant your photo will be. Especially with the emphasis on monochromatic shoots these days.
4) Some card-sized handouts for family and friends or wateva they have on offer.
5) And some ribbons to aquafy your car, hahaha.
Scrutinise the final bill. They are usually a lot of hidden charges that you may not be aware of. It could very well be double the initial price. During the make-up session, remember to ask them whether you'll be charged for the things they put on your face and hair, like those fake eye-lashes, face ampoules and god knows what else. Sometimes, in the middle of the actual photography session, they'll ask you whether you want additional shots in different formats. Be prepared to pay more if you agree.
And also, expect to breakout in pimples the very next day too. Imagine how many people used those stuffs before. Their applicators are definitely not those disposables types, you know. Thank god i did not. Did any of you experienced this?
The most important thing is to get a good night's sleep, drink lots of water and enjoy your session. It's gonna be a long day, make the most out of it. A happy couple makes the most beautiful photos, dont you all agree?
We certainly enjoyed ours tremendously and took us only a couple of hours to get it done. I did not opt for outdoor shots, too troublesome for me. When i'm in the mood, maybe i'll take Gordon for a round of family snapshots.
Mating season's just round the corner. Hope those shopping around will find these tips helpful. Remember: Be disciplined and know what you're paying for and getting at the end of the day. No matter what, dont ever regret it. It's the first step towards happy matrimonial financial planning. BE REALISTIC!!
Those who've gone through this before, kind enough to share your experience and anything that i've missed out on?
12 comments:
What about those nude/semi-nude shots that are available? Their sales pitch is.. better capture your hotness on record before you turn old and wrinkly!! aw
Oh, yes, I remember those. Some with themes like "Tarzan & Jane" some more, lolz. Clad you in some leaves thingy and hang off some branches or swing from a rope.
wah, samm, 2003? I have to use my fingers to count how many years ago I got married lah. Even back then, they never allowed us to take home any prints. But I must add that King n I enjoyed the photo session. It was good fun and we laughed ourselves silly!
Heh heh I threw away everything my first time around.(my 1st hubby) Anyway, back then it was really ugly. The 2nd time around with John, I wise up and u know what, bought my own wedding gown for RM300(used) and took our own wedding pics in the house. That was fun.
I dun know if paying a few thousand bucks for the wedding album is worth it. If u can afford it, then I guess it's OK. For John and I, we rather spend the few thousand go honeymoon.
king's wife - we definitely must enjoy it. i saw a man walking out on his wife in the middle of a session when i was there to enquire about the packages on offer.
helen - the photography session was the only thing i spent on for my wedding. din hold any party/dinner. sien.
I remembered my photo session clearly, for the fact that it was DEAD tiring. We started at 8 am sharp. although got to choose our own dedicated personal photographer, we still had to share the indoor studio with a few other couples so that really took a long time. dragged on until 1++ pm for the 60-odd shot. Had a late lunch and rushed off to the outdoor shots. first stop was at the famous penang francis light cemetary (yeah yeah, i figured some of you might say "choy choy choy, what are you doing in a cemetary on your wedding occasion but the photographer convinced us that she just wanted to capture those "bunga melur" trees which was her specialty, no graves included !). anyhow i think the shots turned out ok. next stop at the penang maybank tower for some modern "feel" photography with the tower and her brand new CRV as background. after that off to the beach at batu feringghi. the shots here were really dissapointing. definitely not worth the 40 minute drive just to get to the beach. i was expecting the beach and sea as background but most of the shots she took had big rocks which blocked out most of the sea view (i guess rocks must be her specialty as well). also, by that time it was late evening and we were dead tired, so overall the shots turned out pretty bad.
as samm mentioned, they tried to induce us to spend more money with some of the tactics in the blog but having been forewarned by some of our more experienced friends, we were wise enough to avoid most of the traps. but we did increase the number of photos chosen by 20 pcs becoz, as usual, they would only give us those samples which we selected for the album. that cost an additional ~1k. thankfully tho' a lot of other stuff which was mentioned by Samm like the car decoration, miniature cards for relatives, ampoules for makeup, etc were already included in the original package.
I love it when they say "once in a life time experience" as i will counter that by saying divorse is also a once in a life time experience. so is testing the coffin.
I know of 2 couples (friends lah) who chose the RM888 package but end up paying a total of over RM4k and RM5k respectively. Indeed a once in a lifetime experience.
Wat happened to their photos now? One set is collecting dust in the attic. As for the other couple, I understand the female has torn all the photos and burnt the albums. They got divorced 3 years later.
arkane - we booked our photographer on a weekday. smart eh. and we axed off all those car deco and mini cards for friend & relatives. Not needed mah as not holding any ceremony, hehe.
ipoh mali - the most important thing is to enjoy the session mah, hoh. Mine's beneath the cupboard out of Gordon's reach, lol. But he enjoys looking at it everytime i take it out to show him.
Wahkahkah, all RM180! 17 years ago. No shit! For my wedding dinner, we pay for RM18 buffet dinner. Earn back from angpows. No money for any furniture, no jewellery, not even a wedding bed! Wait I write some saucy details when my wedding anni gets nearer. I tell ya, men are going to look for wives like me!
i'm so waiting to read all that.
That's typical of bridal wedding studios. But really, if one were to look deeper into the market, there are actually photographers who can actually take your bridal photos AND your actual wedding day photographs for RM1.5K-RM4.5K. The best part is that you get to have 200 - 300 photographs with the nice albums similarly given by the bridal studios instead of the measly 20-30 photos. On top of that, the pictures are more natural instead of "posed". Sian-lah.
These types of photographers are hard to come by especially in Ipoh. There was one in by the name of Elite Slide Images but they have closed. There is another one but I'm not too sure about his work yet but he is based in Ipoh. Got his card from Jusco. Website is www.jetfynn.fotopic.net
hi star1390, thx for dropping by. Yes, Elite's closed. Gone back to UK. His price is quite steep but also depends on what you want lah. Naturally, if people wants large printouts, definitely the price will be high. I've not heard of the other one. I'll have to check him out. Gotta take some family potraits. Thanks for the link.
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