Pre-Wedding Photography

So, what’s next after the proposal? We made the announcement right after the awkward situation. Mum was still smiling from cheek-to-cheek. Apparently, she knew about Kent’s plan to propose that night. That explained why she is giving me that kind of smile (from the bottom of her heart)

The first thing that got into my mind is Photography. Set aside the parents meet-up, setting the date, hunting down a venue, etc; Photography is another important task to sort out.

Well, no argument on actual day photography cos that’s something that you will definately appreciate at the end of the day; that will remind you of the very special day in your life. Well, as long as your professional photographers are professional enough to capture every special moments on that day. You know pictures that capture ‘feeling’. I am lucky to have found one for our important day =)

What about pre-wedding photo? Seriously, what is the purpose of spending a bomb for pre-wedding photos when it all ends up in the wardrobe anyway? If not because of the slideshow for the banquet session; to keep our guest ‘entertained’, we wouldn’t really need one. (Cut the crap, we still need one for goodness sake). We decided to go for a more casual pre-wedding shoot and not those ‘full-force-pre-wedding photo’. At least those that my future children wouldn’t laugh at.(LOL, cos I was teasing my parent's wedding photos)

I never fancy Wedding Studio. Other than monetary matter; the main reason is that I heard all kinds of reviews from people around me. Just to mention a few:-

·       Salesperson promised that you could choose any gown…

In actual case, you can choose any gown....from selected category which ranges from normal, vip, vvip, vvvip to vvvvip (WTH). Those in the lower categories are usually Halloween Best Costume! You will most probably ends up paying extra just to gain ‘access’ for a more presentable gown which you may/may not like.

 

·       Sales person offer you an exceptionally good bargain

That evil FOUR letter word may ends you up with even higher price due to excluded items from the packages or Top-Up items that you cannot runway. I wouldn’t say that all Studios are the same. Some of my friends did get very good deal and it all depends on your bargain skills and determination.

 

·       Poor services after signing package

You were treated like king & queen before signing the package and things turn upside down right after that (Eg. Refuse to edit your photo further and give you all sorts of reasons not to do so)

 

·       Promised to return all softcopy

You might think you are smart enough to request for all the original softcopy until you realized that they are all in low resolution and there’s nothing you can do about it

 

·       The Sample Album is just too perfect

You may be looking at some great work of a superb photographer who is no longer attached to the Studio. That’s tricky and you will not realized until you found out that your album doesn’t turn out to be very much like what you are expecting. While you may have the same gown, same hairstyle, same location, same pose, same angle, same colour scheme but it just doesn’t seem to be the same! Now, don’t blame the camera, is just 'you' that doesn’t look as good as the model in the sample photo.

 

Since I am super bad in bargaining and we wouldn’t want to risk having bad experience with any of them (and yet still have to pay for the bomb), we opt for freelance photographer. Of course not just any freelancers are experienced enough to produce ‘wow’ wedding photos. You got to really look for one that meet your requirement. At least you should be happy with their work. You know, the feels, the colour, the angle, etc

To go with a freelance pre-wedding photo isn’t an easy task I would say. You may end up to almost the same price as going to Wedding Studio. The main point here is that :-

·       We want to enjoy the whole photography process

 

·       We want to avoid ending up with unhappy situation that will bug us whenever we look back at the photo album. We wouldn’t want to remember the salesperson when we look into our album!

·       We have total freedom and control of what we want

·       We will get a customized photo album. Unlike Wedding Studio, you may end up having almost the same album with your friend who signs the same package.

·       You get a one-to-one photographer who will cater all your needs

Having been through the ‘painfully slow preparation time’, i could say that it is a challenging task. You must be ready to spend extra time and effort if you decided to go the freelancer way. Here’s a simple but not so simple list that you need to prepare for that one day photo shooting:-

·       Hire a make-up artist. Again, satisfy yourself with their work sample.

·       Prepare your own attire. Either buy or rent. There’s definitely some risk (Cutting, Quality, Size, Colour) if you are buying online. was lucky that everything turns out to be fine. Renting is expensive (about Rm500/gown and it can goes up to Rm1000+/gown for new items).

·       Decide on the photo shooting venue and get permission (if any).

·       Plan the flow of venue so that you don’t lose too much time travelling

·       Arrange for a time where your team is free and this is the most difficult task especially during peak season

·       Imagine the theme you wanna achieve from each background. Then match it with your attire

·       Prepare your props. Okay, this was kind of fun if you ask.

·       Once shooting is done, you need to decide your album layout. I guess this is more like a plus-point cos our photographer will send us his proposal and what we need to do is basically to comment. If you were to take Studio Package, you will most likely have to spend whole day selecting which photos/pose/gown you want and then another round of painful time to arrange the photos. This is normally the time when unnecessary top-up cost occurs.

With all that, my itchy butt still suggesting something more. I want to have some short video clips of the making in slide show! Of course I will need to hire my little brother as the amateur videographer. Now, the challenging part is to edit and crop and convert the video file into something that my photographer, Alan can use. I had been spending nights (working in daytime ma) to edit those clips and I could not be happier with the result.

Link for more photos of us

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The Proposal

I can be quite certain that all girls (maybe some guys) between the age of 27 to 30 had gone through almost the same awkward conversation like this during family gathering :-

 

Me : Hi Aunty/Uncle

XX : Hi dear! It's been some time since i last see you. How old are you now?

Me : 27

XX : Oh...you have any boyfriend/girlfriend?

Me : Um...yes..

XX : When are you getting married?

Me : ........ (smile)

XX : (suspicious look) It's better to get married now you know. At your age is just nice for babies after married. Too old very difficult to get pregnant...bla bla bla

Me : .......ahahahahah..... (please leave me alone =_=!! )

 

Sincerely, thanks for reminding but that's not really a girl's call, at least not for me. One part of me is hoping for that day to come due to all the invisible pressures. The other part of me is rejecting the idea all together because getting married means having to leave my home, leaving my family, starting a new family which no one knows how it’s gonna be. After marriage, I will have to assume responsibility of a grown up. Doing house chores, cooking ???! cleaning, doing the laundry etc. What if I couldn’t get along with MIL?

 

See, that's how simply complicated thing can get inside my tiny little head. Dilemma is what you call it. Why do I want to get married? Is it because everyone think I should be married at this age? Or is it because I am a bit concern of late pregnancy? Well, no. I don’t wish to rush it because I don’t think I am ready at all. But all those pressures just kept hitting me like machine gun and it left me no choice but to transfer that to my other half =P

 

We talk about it sometimes, just as little as you can imagine. Sometimes I tried to hint that we should get married. Sometimes I refuse to talk about it assuming that I am not getting married anytime soon. Sometimes I created a bit of uneasy situation quoting that you might/might not be the one just to look less desperate (LOL). So, life goes on as usual and we are back enjoying our dating time. Forgetting totally of getting married and stuffs like that. Why keep the pressure exerted by outsider who has no control over what we can chose to do? =)

 

Alright, enough for cover up (lol). The day came after all. It was on my 28th Birthday that Kent send flower to my workplace for the first time. There’s nothing to hoo-haa about receiving flowers on your birthday but I was really, really surprised. It has always been my little secret to receive flowers in office. I used to hope that the flower dispatch guy would call for my name whenever they came to send flowers. Envying the lucky girl who received the bouquet while on the other hand thinking about the sad moment that the flowers may eventually die. Dilemma. Dilemma. Dilemma.

 

He asked what I would like to have for my birthday dinner and I replied home cooked food? And there we are, having a customized candle light dinner. I could barely remember all the details other than a heartwarming meal. My next wish is to be back at my own home for a good shower and rest. So, he sent me home without much complaint which he usually did. Well, maybe because it’s my birthday.

 

So, I walk into the house with Kent carrying the bouquet behind. (It was a heavy bouquet). Mum was at the living hall when I was home. She was smiling at me so happily that I can barely see her eyes. I was like “ Huh? Why are you so happy?” and she diverted her eye contact to Kent. Well, stupid enough, I never felt anything fishy, just tired. So I went straight to my room and Kent followed.

 

I was less than 3m from my room that I saw something on my bed. It was pitch dark and all I could think of is “OMG! My undies are all over my room this morning! I can’t let him see this?!?!” But it was too late. I switched on the light while trying to divert his attention away and again another surprised

 

It was another bouquet of flower and a Proposal Ring!!

I was stunned. Kent walk ahead, grab the flowers and in a second he’s on his knee.

Me : ….. (Surprised+Stunned+Happy+Shy+Lost)

Kent : (He looked shy and not so serious. Most probably nervous too) Will you marry me?

Me : ….. (Stunned+Lost+Worried)

Kent : I know I may not…..(I can’t remember what he said! I was like living in my own world that moment

Me (In my mind) : (Blank for 1 minute. Hold on. What is this? I am getting married?? I have to leave this home? This family?) (Start to Sob)

Kent : (Continue to convince me)

Me : (Stared at him for a moment) Can I say no?

Kent : (Confused)

Me : I am not ready yet…(nervous)

We talked about other things in between that is irrelevant until a point

Kent : So, can I stand up now?

Me : Hahahahha…..but if you stand up means I agreed??

 

Now that explained why there’s no video, no picture and no outsiders are involve in the proposal. Kent had predicted that this is how things gonna turn out to be (awkwardness)

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