Don't Fall Into Them! Pre-Wedding Shoot Traps You Might Not Notice.

Hey all! It's mid-week yay!

Today I'll be sharing with you my thoughts on the processes after your pre-wedding shoot.

I wrote about the 'before' and 'during' of pre-wedding photoshoot here. So do check it out if you haven't! :)

So… you are done with your photoshoot. What's next?

To give you a rough idea, this was our timeline for the whole process with The Gown Warehouse:

• 19 March: Photoshoot.
• 9 April: Raw pictures sent to us for photo selection.
• 13 April:  Replied our selection.
• 30 April: Editing + layout of album done. Sent to us for approval.
• 2 May: Sent our approval (could be on the same day she sent us but we forgot oops).
• 6 May: Edited photos sent to us.

And Tadaa, our album!

We only collected our album on 4 June, because it's the same day we go down to pick up our gowns and suits so that was the most convenient. But as you can see, they did it within 2.5 months. I believe on average most bridal or photography studios take around 2.5 - 3 months to get the album out.

Now, we shall look at the different stages in details.

1. Photo Selection

As mentioned in my review of The Gown Warehouse, the best thing about our pre-wedding shoot with them is that they sent me all the curated photos (over 400 photos) in high-enough-resolution JPEG format, and allowed us a week to take our time in choosing the photos. Therefore the hubs and I had the luxury of time to discuss for a few times, eliminate photos and finally come to a consensus.

Curated photos, around 430 of them, returned to us. :)

I thought that was the norm, because it's logical and efficient, but I was wrong. To my horror, many fellow brides told me that most bridal studios make you go down to their studio, sit down and stare at their PC to decide on the spot which 30 photos you want. Yes, no photos returned. Now even a low-res one. And this seems to be good sales tactic as couples are forced to make rushed decision, which often leads to impulse purchases of extra photos.

Additional photos tend to range from $60 to $100, often $80. And some studios don't even give you the digital copy even after you've paid! So the price is only for adding one more picture in your album. And most brides will tell you that the album will end up collecting dust in the storeroom.

Where my album went immediately after the wedding. /guilty/
It's probably shivering in there every night.

Another sales tactic bridal studio sales personel tend to use is to use the magic phrase:

Once in a Life Time!

...

Please, do not fall for this! 

Yes, it is true that weddings are once in a life time affairs so we want it to be perfect. But there are things that really do not play much significance in your wedding, and probably not at all in your marriage. 

Photos are great for capturing memories. I'm not going to deny that. Plus you might not have another opportunity to have an MUA doll you up and a proffesional photographer take great photos of you again. I personally never had a photoshoot before nor have a MUA do my makeup, so I was so excited and emotionally moved when I first saw my wedding album. But still, you wouldn't need more than 30 photos to help you with those memories. 

Plus you should know your own financial situation best. Don't let pushy sales tell you what to do.

Some fellow brides shared that their bridal studio guilt tripped them into buying extra photos. They say things like "But your photographer spent so much effort on it!" or even "If you don't buy them the photographer might get upset/angry!"

Remember, you have already paid him for the job. They did not do it for free out of goodwill. You do not owe them anything. Also, most of the time the sales who say these things are just making things up.

For us, it was easy to keep to 30 because we only opted for 1 gown and suit. If you do have many different gowns or outfits for your shoot, be sure to choose your photos wisely. You really do not need the same pose for all different gowns. Have a variety, yet balanced choice and fix a limit. Say if you have 5 different outfits/locations, and can choose 30 photos, stick to 6 photos per outfit/location, then adjust from there.

One of my friend shared that she attended a wedding where the couple had two thick albums. And she got bored flipping through it because it all looked the same after the first few pages. 

We all have inferior complexes that we tend to notice, no matter how minor it is. We also know our body and face too well and have an idea of how we like ourselves to look. But others can't really tell the differences.

For example, I was complaining about my skin tone difference in a photo that I actually really like. My back is fairer than my arms, it just looked weird to me. So I wanted to choose that one for how beautiful the whole picture looked, then another similar one that I thought had a more balanced skin tone but not as beautifully taken.

To me it was two very different photos. But nobody seems to be able to tell the skintone difference even after I pointed it out.



I know the differences between them, but to others they all look the same.
So you only need one of those really.

And yes, I decided to just stick to the former.

So we tend to choose photos that might look different to us, but the same to others. 

As I had the luxury of time and am a very systematic person, I actually created an Excel Spreadsheet so I could track the number of similar poses we were choosing. 

My thought process while doing the Excel sheet was something like…

Groom smells Bride's ears pose… Under flower arch… Groom smells Bride's ears pose… Fountain… Groom smells Bride's ears pose… Among the trees…Groom smells Bride's ears pose… In hotel... Eh! How many Groom smells Bride's ears?!

Haha!

How the Excel Spreadsheet looks like. Sometimes I think I'm crazy. But hey, it works!

I swear, this really did helped us realise our mistakes and eliminated some photos. 

If you ask me, I would say it's not worth it to buy more photos. No matter how many kinds of photos you have, your memories are the same. The most important thing is to enjoy the photoshoot, so you make good memories with your future spouse. :) 

But if there is really this particular one or two photos you just can't let go, and you can afford the extra cost, then go for it.

2. Photo Editing & Spreads. Photoshop or Not?

After you've selected your photos, they will be edited and placed onto spreads. These spreads will allow you to see how each page will look like in the album.

This is the spread sent to us.

And this is how it looks like in the album.

So if you are not satisfied with the editing, you can alert your coordinator or even photographer directly for the smaller studios.

Then comes the question...

How much should you photoshop?

I personally did not request for any photoshop, so you could see my tummy folds, fat arms and fat back in my wedding photos. When I first saw them I was very insecure and wanted to request for them to be photoshopped away. But after some thoughts I decided to leave them in their most natural state.

My two main reasons are firstly, I want the pictures to capture the most real state of us at that moment so that my memories are aligned to the pictures. I wouldn't want to flip open the album for memories, but end up seeing someone that I know is not the real me and cannot relate to.

And secondly, I want it to be a motivation for me to work hard to look better than I was. Instead of "wow, you used to look so good", I hope the reaction people have when they see my album in the future can be "wow you look even better now!" This sounds a little superficial but I got this idea when we were at a colleague's house. While looking through her wedding photos we were so amazed that she looks even better now than 20 years ago!

I'm not entirely against photoshopping though. Because I understand how horrible insecurities can make you feel. But just remember don't overdo it. Because sometimes when you see the end product it can make your self-esteem even lower.

After attending some weddings, I'm sure you might have come across some overly edited photos where the bride and/or groom are not recognisable anymore. I've even heard guests who says things like "eh, how come different from the photos ah?" while looking at the bride. Ruuude.

You really don't need an album with photos of someone that don't look like you. It just doesn't reflect your memories accurately. So love yourself for who you are and what you have, don't overdo with the photoshopping. Like I've mentioned in my previous posts, all brides are beautiful. So don't worry about it!

And that's it!

So when you are selecting photos or contemplating whether to request for photoshop, think about what you want this album to be. Is it an album of your memories? Or a fancy piece for guests to browse through? Or a travelougue (for overseas shoot)? This will help you with photos selection.

Do you have any horror bridal studio stories to share? Or have a question? Leave a comment below!