Good morning Dayre!
Finally got around to drafting my blog post on how to DIY one's pre wedding shoot! #dayrebrides who haven't taken yours yet, perhaps this might be useful?
Also selling my floral bouquets at the end of the post so scroll down if you're interested!
My personal favourite PG is Bobby Kiran Yeo, whose works I've been stalking for years. I always thought he'll be my wedding photographer for sure! But in the end, we realised his rates for my friend a few years ago was $600 for 2 hours, so a quick guess for this year's adjusted rate left us with $800.
You can read it first on www.sgbudgetbabe.com !
Here on Dayre, I wanted to add on to more of my personal experience on the PWS sourcing journey.
Is it really possible to do a PWS for less than $100?
Yes. There are a handful of brides who are lucky enough time to marry a photographer, so you could technically shoot it yourself using a tripod and timer shots. That's what I saw in recent interviews featuring budget couples and their tips.
If you check them out, you then realise these folks are selling their "budget PG" services π
Oh please, that's like how folks who marry into a family of bakers can say, "oh we got our wedding cake and cookies as wedding favours for free!" π
What about for the rest of us who aren't marrying a photographer then?
One of the tips I shared for those with a budget under $500 is that you can opt for a new photographer who's trying to build up his portfolio, as they usually charge a lower rate while starting out.
We wanted something bright, vibrant and colourful for our first PWS, and we found this in a photographer who was new to wedding scene but who had already been shooting youth events for 4 years prior.
Is a 2-hour shoot enough?
No. Unless you've had modelling experience before, or are super comfortable in front of the camera, you won't be able to get much nice shots in 2 hours alone.
Most of you will probably take some time warming up to the shots and getting used to the couple poses. If you take a 2 hour shoot, you would have essentially spent most of your time getting warmed up.
I personally think a 3-hour shoot is the minimum, or go for 6 to 8 hours if you can afford it.
Aim for $500 – $1000
$688 where to find you tell me.
This budget range is the sweet spot I feel, as it is significantly lesser than what studios or packaged deals will offer you, but still isn't too cheap such that you have to sacrifice too many elements.
I saw Cepheus Chan Photography is running a PWS giveaway now, but even without that giveaway, I think $688 for 2 hours of photography, full makeup and fresh florals are a really good deal. You can also pay to extend by another hour if you feel the duration is too short?
With this kind of budget, you'll be able to do quite a bit!
π· Get a good and professional photographer (albeit not the popular ones. Lightedpixels was another one of my top choices, but their charges of $1200 for 3 hours was way over my budget)
π Hire a professional makeup artist to help you look your best and style your hair (1 look is enough. The more popular ones like Cynderella charge $350 for 1 look, but I got mine done by Team Bride SG for just $150 and it was gorgeous).
π Get a professional bridal bouquet for your shoot consisting of fresh florals. You could get it from the wet market if you're realllllllly on a budget, otherwise Carousell offers quite a few good options too. Here on Dayre, there are a few talented florists as well like @jojobeans and @benita whose works I've also been stalking lol.
(For my own PWS though, we opted for fake floral bouquets (yes, plural!) I'll be selling them if you girls wanna get it off me??)
Let me find some photos of my fake floral bouquets to show y'all when I'm home later k. I wanna keep them as house decor but since our house won't be ready till 2019, I'd rather sell it off to another budget bride who can benefit from it in the meantime!
π° for gowns, you can rent them from budget places like The Warehouse Bridal (βthey haven't opened officially yet haha #insiderdeals but I've asked them to give me 10 tickets to my readers for their closed-doors launch this month if you guys wanna come with me!!β)
If renting isn't your thing, then you can buy used gowns off Carousell, or new ones from Taobao! (sizes and fit could be a problem though I warn you first cos that's what happened to me.)
πfor props, I found that buying them off other brides, borrowing from friends, or getting from Taobao to be the best ways to save! You can get buntings, fake floral crowns, balloons, Hollywood director signs, light box, fairy lights etc to make your shoot a little more magical. DIY your own teepee using bamboo sticks and curtains if you're feeling creative?
Or you can even engage event stylists such as Joie Styling (whom I worked with cos I won their PWS heh) to create even more magic.
I requested for a Cinderella theme and look what they did for me! That gorgeous pumpkin was handpainted by them, there's the glass slipper and mini Cinderella carriage, fairy lights and all… I was impressed by the level of detail that went into it!
Btw this set up really not easy omg the arch kept falling over so they had to fix it multiple times, the wind kept messing up the cloths, and it even rained halfway! π I was very impressed by their professionalism. Y'all can consider??
Excuse me for a min while I admire my PWS set up again… Look at how intricate the details are! This was a fantastic experience – even standing in the rain and wet sand, harsh winds and all. I really loved this magical set up. Very Disney right?!?
THIS was my dream gown, apparently a European designer gown. It was love at first sight, but I had to walk away in the end cos the studio's rental price was $1600 for 3 days π
I also wanted a Tiffany blue gown! But this piece would have cost $880 to purchase and $500+ to rent, so it was totally out of my budget too π
It was really hard to find another gown that I truly loved, until I finally found THIS GOWN from The Warehouse Bridal. They're a new budget studio that hasn't opened yet, but because I had insider connections, my friend set me up with the lady boss for a fitting! I am truly blessed.
This gown is available for rental for just $150, a steep 90% discount π± to the European gown I loved so much. Great value for money right?!?
I'm super torn whether to replace my AD gown with this one now π
I've always had my eye on Bobby Kiran Yeo after being a fan of his works for so many years, and I absolutely adored the photos he shot for my friend @jaynetham (I koped the photos below from her Instagram feed) :
So so dreamy leh, looks like it is straight out of a fairytale right?
Love the romantic light rays.
Too much feelz π
But since N and I agreed from the start that we would not spend so much on the PWS (our funds are channeled towards AD stuff, remember my last post?) , there was no way we would be able to afford to have Bobby Kiran Yeo shoot for us. Well, maybe next time π
But BB, I don't even want to spend a few hundreds! Can teach me how to do for less than $100?
While I don't think someone with a budget of $100 is being realistic at all, but if you wanna make your PWS super cheap with no intention to spend on anything, here's how you can still achieve it within a budget of $100:
π π outfits / gowns / suits: use your own or borrow your mom's gown. Don't even bother renting from a friend cos to borrow without offering to help them pay for dry-cleaning is just rude and cheapo plz. Or just forget about getting a gown and wear a long white maxi dress. Same same but different.
π: accessories: buy a $2 bow tie from Daiso and a $2 floral crown from Bugis street. Forget about the rest.
π: buy fake flowers from NTUC (they're usually near the entrance / fruits section) and DIY your own bouquet. This should set you back by about $10 inclusive of ribbon.
π transport: you wanna take a taxi to your location shoot so you won't perspire? Plz la, with this kind of budget you can't even afford Grab or Uber unless there's some super good promo fare. Just take public transport. You DID say you wanna save money right? Beggars can't be choosers.
ππ makeup, hair and nails: do your own la you can't even afford to hire external help. Ask a friend for a favour? Your budget doesn't allow you to even decently treat two people for the favours they give you. Not sure how to DIY? Use nail stickers (peel and stick on. voila, instant design!) or ask YouTube for help on tutorials.
π· photography : THIS is where you'll be spending your money on. If you or your fiance is a photographer, use your own DSLR or borrow someone's one. If you're both not PGs, then ask a favour from a friend who has a semi-pro camera and some photography knowledge or experience to take photos for you. Your $100 budget should be spent on treating them to a good meal for helping you out. What, don't tell me you expected that favour for free? Don't be so cheap leh.
ππππππ
Selling my floral bouquets! #dayrebrides
Say hi to my handsome fiance! π
Selling this gorgeous princess bouquet for $20! The bottom part where you hold the bouquet is covered in (fake) diamond crystals and are super pretty!
I actually don't really want to sell this but no idea what to do with it either lol.
These photos were taken by the talented @cepheus !
Second rustic bouquet here for $15.
I also went on a mini PWS with BackAlley Creations cos we're discussing a readers' giveaway – the full story was that I wanted to strip off some items in his photography package which I felt were unnecessary, and asked for a token $100 discount in return for writing a post for him on my blog LOL (full disclosure man) . I would have done it anyway even if he didn't ask la haha but hey, every dollar saved counts ok π
It was also a great trial to see what style of photos we could expect on the actual day! I really love his works – fun fact, he took many of my dance profile photos before he switched to being a full-time PG, and he happens to be married to my good friend (I literally saw them from when he started chasing her till they got married la!)
Third bouquet for flowers going for $8. I really like the colours in this one!
My favourite shot from our night shoot series, featuring that fake floral bouquet. So pretty right!! Would you even know they weren't fresh flowers if I didn't tell you lol
One of my friends asked why I didn't haggle for a steeper discount since I'm blessed enough to count talented PGs as good friends. "Or ask them do for you for free la!"
I've known Ceph for over a decade, and Jootz for close to 5 years. But remember what I said earlier? There's a difference between being cheap and frugal leh. Asking someone for a favour when that's their rice bowl is just…plain rude. I always believe in paying full price, or at least 90%, to support a friend.
I also have a bouquet of blue roses that I never got to use for my shoot. Happy to give it free to another budget bride who needs it!
