I would like to ask recent brides out there, if you had one piece of advice for someone planning their wedding now, what would it be?

I will start:

1) Decide on the ONE thing you want your wedding guests to always remember, and spend your planning time on that.
2) Fix a budget, and know what you will DIY, and what you will get professionals to do
3) Don't pinjam money just to finance your wedding dinner. Not worth it.

There is useful advice here from recent brides who had their wedding in KL (and some in SG too)

http://blog.recomn.com/our-brides-share-10...ing-day-part-i/

I agree with the Number 3 the most. Dont embark on a wonderful money based on hutang..Then for the next 5 years your arguments will be only about the hutang...Something beautiful should not start with something so wrong

Very true! There are some areas where it's not super necessary to spend a huge amount. I think the wedding card is one of them. A nice, elegant card will do, but I have received leather and wood-bound cards that have 8 pages or more. Awesome but crazy!

Dun't spend so much on the pre wedding photos!
Your albums will end up in the cabinets!

Just remember this is the beginning of the road, not ending. So dont spent beyond your capabilities.

After marriage, you will most likely has less money to spent anyway, if you understand what I mean.

Good tip but how would you suggest on the budget if the bride and groom want some (but not overboard) photos? Should they avoid going to a studio altogether because there they will be forced to buy more photos?

Work with suppliers that are easy to work with. The last thing you need is a vendor that is unreliable & rude to deal with amidst all the other things the bride (or groom) to be has to deal with

And Number 2 is very very important. No point bursting a budget for a 1 day event. Happy planning!

Very good advice! I second that!

To be honest, no 1 will actually force you to buy more photos'.....
Though the studio ppl will say It's once in the lifetime ma and bla bla bla..(it's their marketing strategies ok..)

The key points normally fall back to the bride's decision.normally the groom will always go with the brides 1..

I suggest both of them do some online survey before they really going to the studio. Malaysianbrides is a good platform.

P/S: Too much photos in the album doesn't really looks nice.If you really likes those photos, instead print and put in the album, it's better you ask for softcopies[ (b4 u sign the package)[/B] with the bridal shop.

Good luck!

One way is to take less shots. The more shots you took, the more likely you are going to add photo. Thats what happened to me too.

Personally men will find it way easier to lose photos, but its our wifes that kept going back and forth, wanting each photos.

Anyway, the best way to decide is count the photos for those albums you find amazing and then compare it to what they were offering. What they showed you is the best thing but not necessary what you are going to get. This is how they earn your money. Go as low as possible like 3-4K and prepare like 50% more to accommodate for extra photos and special dresses rental.

spend only the amount you are comfortable with and fully utilize the budget as in value.

totally agree !!!

you can refer to this

http://bashful-brides.blogspot.com/2012/10...-aivy-yong.html

ALWAYS PLAN AND KEEP PLANNING ur budget!

never think use Credit Card lor...yea right...my fren did that and he had to suffer for many years after that...his business went down, monthly payments were overdue and he had to go around asking money to pinjam from frens n family just to survive for that month...all frens end up running away from him...

This post has been edited by kaizer3000: Sep 10 2015, 10:34 AM

1. What is your dream wedding
2. effort that you will like to give in
3. financial

Married for 3+ years lol. But here's what I can tell you.
1. The wedding dinner will be a distant memory. Do not overspend.
2. The wedding photoshoot, yes, will be kept in cabinets forever. The framed ones are the ones that matter.
3. Focus on the important things - a) house, b) healthy joint bank account, c) keeping the inlaws happy, d) kids.
4. Kids will always come first, no matter what. Your life won't be that important anymore lol. You live for them, and will be glad that you did.
5. Take care of your own health, so that you can take care of others.

Please.. Please.. No sex before marriage..

" It's once in the lifetime .."

haha this one is always the biggest challenge

another lesson learnt is don't do house renovation + wedding planning at the same time....

tell you really busy till banging head to wall

This post has been edited by frequency: Oct 15 2015, 06:28 PM

My Wedding is next week but Ill share somethings I've learnt from my planning

1) I work in SG but my wedding is in KL, due to this I have to fly back and forth to do my wedding plans and that total money would have probably been enough for me to hire a wedding planner instead. So I would suggest if so happen you are doing a wedding in a different country, DIY might not be a very wise option (unless you take a very long leave)

2) Set a comfortable / affordable budget, but always allow room for minor payments you may miss on the way (flowers, wedding car, ang pao, GST, additional guests, travelling expenses, hotel room, make up artist, wedding performers)

3) The mind set of a DIY wedding planning should always be a fun activity rather than a stressful chore. Always support each other and work together.

4) With so many types and cuts of diamond in the market, its easy to get lost and confused. Depending on who are you pleasing in the future, a bigger diamond with an average clarity and average cut may be appreciated better compared to a smaller diamond with excellent clarity and excellent cut. Could be even cheaper too.

5) If you travel a lot you can save on beverage expenses by buying duty free and collecting them (provided if the restaurant allows)

6) Ask your wife to nego with mum in law to give you back a bigger portion of the dowry (in my case I got back almost 50%)

Just my 2 cents!

we purchase wedding gown for my wife and custom wedding suit for myself ended up, we have one big gown with cover in our room... lol

and i dont know where to wear my suite coz the color kinda silver..

SO just rent, don't buy...

my lessons so far

1) open a google spreadsheet share with your partner, put budget, expense list
2) must agree to fill in the expense, there are many many hidden unexpected thing though small amount , it might be ended up as a big cost end of the day
3) save the earth don't print too card, many young generation nowadays prefer e-card (ended up i have lot extra invitation card and also door gift)
4) it is always started with "Simple" but suddenly many friends and relatives appearing from nowhere and contribute extra ideas near the day

Provided u have the pre-wedding picture raw file, you have more option to do DIY (the reason we went freelance photographer)

5) Self printed photobook maybe cheap, but the paper is real thin
6) Canvas in photobook generally cost more than u get a printing shop to do it for u
7) Metal print in photobook really nice quality, watch out if the promotion ~70%
8) Allocate budget more to your canvas/wall hang picture (after all, you large heavy wedding album will be kept under cabinet ~ mine sudah kept in store room not even after 1 month
9) You may self create smaller wedding 6x6" or 8x8" album for viewing convenience which cost less than RM50 in photobook

Wedding dinner
1) Test the AV equipment of the restaurant (The restaurant we have chosen don't have HDMI for laptop, ended up I need to create DVD for all slides)
2) Arrange 1 friend specially for the slides, music (trust me the restaurant guy not going to help and you have no time for that
3) Recheck with your make up artist ,photographer for availability 1 week 2 week before (our MUA ffk us 2 week before the day, reason being he has better offer for the job on the same day..darn unprofessional)
4) Confirm with your guests for the attendance earlier and even 3 days before the day (we have 1 relative ffk us for the whole table 1 day before the dinner)
5) Negotiate with the restaurant, if you have extra table booked but unable to meet the number of guests. Can have the table food served in future (at least not wasting the food)