Studio Pictures?

[zdrastvootya]

This seems to be a big thing for Chinese couples I know here in Toronto. (I''m getting the impression that everyone has them done in Hong Kong.) They supply a tux/wedding gown to wear for the pictures (plus makeup for her) - pictures are usually taken a month or so before the wedding. Cost ~ $3000 Cdn.

Opinions? I find the cost hard to swallow. We''re already having a photographer and videographer on the wedding day. I find the studio pictures kind of "fake" looking. (The fact that they''re done way before the wedding makes it seem more fake to me.) Fiancee really wants this done. Her friends keep asking her why I''m opposed. It costs almost as much as our honeymoon. I hate the idea that somebody has convinced someone "you have to have it for your wedding", and then they tell their friends, etc., etc.

An acquaintance of a friend had them done, and the wedding never went through. She showed him the pictures. Weird.

Z.

 

[twinkletoes]

koreans do this as well.

engagement photos usually include:
2-3 casual outfit changes
2-3 different locations
and 1 day spent taking formal pre-wedding photos in a rented/borrowed dress and tux. most set up their makeup & hair trials on this day so that the look is complete.

most people use the same photographer for their wedding day so i think the complete package costs are far better than going with an american photographer with the amount of photos/albums you get.

can you compromise and get a cheaper package for these photos? try looking up korean photographers they may be cheaper/more fliexible than the chinese studios. i think some couples want nicer quality/fun photographs that they might not get from those taken on the actual wedding day when schedules/timing/etc aren''t always predictable.

you''d never get a photo like this on your actual wedding day. unless of course you have a rooftop reception. this is my friend and her now hubby. dress, boa, and jewelry was lent to her by the korean guy who was making her day of wedding dress. and i''m pretty certain she set up her hair and makeup trial for the morning before this shoot to save money.

 

[jaysonsmom]

My husband and I got it done (I''m chinese, he''s Korean), however, we did not spend a ton of money, It was about $450 I believe. You DON''T have to go with pre-set packages. We told them we wanted the a short phtoshoot session, and we don''t even want an album. We only wanted 24 poses (4x6) out of which we''ll pick one to be blown up and mounted. We went to pick up the pics about 2 weeks later, had only ONE blown up, and got the rest to take home to make our own album. The total included 2.5 hours of hair and makeup for me, tux and gown rentals (I had 3 different gowns), and all processing charges such as the blowing up and mounting....

Most of my friends who spent thousands of dollars and had several albums (one for themselves, one for the groom''s family, one for the bride''s famly) said that they don''t even look at their albums. I for one, have the HUGE mounted one in our foyer and look at it everyday.

 

[jaysonsmom]

BTW, one of my studio pics (that I did not blow up) can be found here

 

[drk]

Well, I''m not Chinese, so culturally I sure didn''t have the pressure to do this.

We spent about $700CDN (got married in Germany, but I''m from Toronto) on our photographer. He''s based in my husband''s hometown in Germany, and we met with him beforehand to see his work and talk about how we wanted to do the photos. He met up with us for the civil ceremony we had, did photojournalist photos of us and our families before, during and after the ceremony. Then he did portraits of us and various family groupings, as well as a couple shots of the whole group who were invited to the cermony. We had him do everything digital, and half our cost was what we paid to have him use Photoshop to touch up and balance the contrast in the portrait shots he took. If we wanted him to professionally print off any enlargements for us, we could, but we just had him provide us with a CD (or DVD?) with all the original photos, plus the best of the candid shots and the touched up best formal portraits. This way we were able to post a bunch on the web for our families to enjoy in both countries, and anyone who wants a copy can print off their favourite photos. We also had a number printed to send out in our thank you notes. We''ve found that we rarely look at photo albums, but do enjoy looking at slideshows of all our vacation photos on our computers.

I personally can''t see why anyone would want to pay that amount of money to have studio photos done beforehand in rented clothing. I can see getting some simple engagement shots done (that look pretty natural), but why would you want portraits done that don''t have you in your actual wedding outfits? I would so much rather save the cash for a second great holiday later in the year, towards a downpayment on a house, or to make the honeymoon something incredibly fantastic! I also don''t like studio pictures much either, as my favourite photos of us from our wedding were the less posed and more natural ones.

To me it would seem like having a photographer and videographer on the wedding day like you''ve planned would be more than enough. $3000 is crazy money for something like that. Maybe your fiancee would understand better if you said you feel strongly about securing your financial future together, and that you feel the money would be far better spent elsewhere. How much are your current photo/video plans going to run you?

Ah, the joys of wedding planning! Good luck convincing her they''re not necessary!!

 

[zdrastvootya]

drk,

Thanks for your response. Seems like our thoughts are very similar on this topic. We''re already spending $800 - $1200 Canadian for photographer & videographer for the wedding day (can''t remember exactly how much, now).

I think it''s a cultural thing. All her friends have them, think they''re great, couldn''t care less that they''re not wearing their real wedding outfits, don''t think the pictures look contrived, think that they look better than spontaneous pictures.

G.

 

[oldminer]

We do lots of things because of cultural backgrounds and peer pressure.

How many people would chase after costly diamonds without the advertising and peer pressure.
How many people dress formally for any normal events? What does a multi-thousand dollar wedding dress do? This is peer pressure and good advertising, not anything you will find a second use for.....we hope.

My daughter had wonderful photos at her wedding and did not miss having posed photos some time ahead. It all depends on what makes YOU happy and what you can afford to do. Doing something just because of your peers is what frequently happens, but if you ever want to get ahead in today''s world, you will have to make some difficult financial decisions about how to save a little money here and there. Make a reasonable plan and stick to it. Don''t do everything just because others are doing it. Keep some flexibility in your plan,too. You can''t forsee every possible problem.

 

[lili]

TwinkleToes,

That is a great picture of your friend. They look like they were having a very care-free time.

 

[zdrastvootya]

Thanks, oldminer. Wise words.

It''s funny how spending a lot of money on a piece of rock is acceptable to me, but spending a lot of money on photos isn''t. One could argue that there''s more to see in photos than in a rock (even if it is sparkly!).

Z.

 

[twinkletoes]

she really wants them done.

you really don''t want them done.

compromise compromise compromise.

 

[zdrastvootya]

TT,

So are you saying we should compromise?

Z.

ps. like your Kill Bill costume! Cool.

 

[sasa]

Date: 7/12/2005 3:37:11 PM
Author:zdrastvootya
This seems to be a big thing for Chinese couples I know here in Toronto. (I''m getting the impression that everyone has them done in Hong Kong.) They supply a tux/wedding gown to wear for the pictures (plus makeup for her) - pictures are usually taken a month or so before the wedding. Cost ~ $3000 Cdn.


Opinions? I find the cost hard to swallow. We''re already having a photographer and videographer on the wedding day. I find the studio pictures kind of ''fake'' looking. (The fact that they''re done way before the wedding makes it seem more fake to me.) Fiancee really wants this done. Her friends keep asking her why I''m opposed. It costs almost as much as our honeymoon. I hate the idea that somebody has convinced someone ''you have to have it for your wedding'', and then they tell their friends, etc., etc.


An acquaintance of a friend had them done, and the wedding never went through. She showed him the pictures. Weird.


Z.

Hi zdrastvootya, I know exactly what you are talking about. It''s a big thing in Taiwan, everybody does it. My sister is getting marry Oct. She and her fiancŽ flew back to Taiwan back in May for their "wedding picture". BF and I have been talking about this, since we''re going back Oct. should we just take the photos while we are there. BF don''t want to take the studio photos, he feel it''s pretty fake. I on the other hand feel half and half. Like Oldminer said, it''s peer pressure. Everyone around us did it...so we feel we should do it too. I told my sister that maybe we won''t take the studio photo because we are hiring photographer on the wedding day. She said "what are you going to show on ur wedding day? (at the reception, couple usually pick a photo they like, blow, fram it and place it at the entrance of the reception area. The album will be next to it for the guest to view, it''s sort of like a guide for the guest letting them know that this is the wedding reception area.)

 

[jaysonsmom]

Date: 7/13/2005 5:45:47 PM
Author: zdrastvootya
TT,

So are you saying we should compromise?

Z.

ps. like your Kill Bill costume! Cool.

Of course. That''s the first rule of a happy marriage. I wanted them, my husband did not, so our situation was a compromise.

 

[flopkins]

A few ppl I know did this too. My FI and I aren''t doing it, but the price seems similar to what I''ve heard quoted around. As some of the others have said, I find them a bit contrived, but at the same time they look fun. But the cost is rather prohibitive.

One option you might consider as a compromise is to ask your wedding day photographer if they will do studio shots with you as ''engagement photos''. My photog does this complimentary with the package, so he can get to know us better and see how we are in front of the camera. I plan to do my makeup and hair trial that day too.

Good luck w/your decision!

 

[fire&ice]

It is customary in the South for the Bride to sit for a "portrait" in her own wedding gown. I can''t remember how much we spent - but I know it was no more than $500.00.

 

[diamondlil]

Date: 7/13/2005 3:52:16 PM
Author: zdrastvootya
Thanks, oldminer. Wise words.

It''s funny how spending a lot of money on a piece of rock is acceptable to me, but spending a lot of money on photos isn''t. One could argue that there''s more to see in photos than in a rock (even if it is sparkly!).

Z.

Kind of unrelated, but it just popped in my head: I''ve always told my kids and husband that if there is ever a fire, the only thing we MUST save is our photographs. Everything else IMO (excepty maybe my original wedding band with no diamonds at all) is replaceable.

If you''ve got a great photographer lined up for the wedding, I think he will be able to pull off a few studio-ish-looking pictures on the day of the wedding. I also would not want a picture of me or us on display in my house, probably for the rest of my life, in a wedding gown that was not the one I wore. That in itself seems very odd to me. Just my 2 cents though . . .

 

[zdrastvootya]

I''ve heard about needing a big picture at the entrance to the reception. Other receptions I''ve been to had just the names on a sign. Didn''t seem so bad, but that''s just my opinion. Which reminds me about having a poster size wedding picture in the new home. Good for some. Not my personal preference.

Fiancee''s concern is if wedding day pictures don''t turn out. I suggested that in that case, we could go to the studio after, which to me doesn''t seem much different that going a month ahead and wearing some else''s wedding clothes. Have to admit, going after is pretty weird, too. Anyways, we''ll work it out.

Peer pressure has never been a good reason for me to do things. Lots of bad or stupid things have been done because of peer pressure. I think we each need to find what is best. But not all of us hold up well to incessant questioning: "why aren''t you doing this?". "Are you sure you don''t want to do this?"

Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions!

Z.