For Misc items below, all obtained from 1 shop, or mix from taobao?

Hi kisashi,

I have pre wedding photography package to let go. Let me know if you are interested

Dear Kisashi

Why crack your head for something that is suppose to be a fun, wonderful and memorable once in a life time thing to do. I understand that planning a wedding is no easy task. Is even harder or almost impossible if you have a very tight budget.

For your gown part, no doubt buying from taobao will sometimes be cheaper. But there is some horror stories that many wouldn't even want to share or mention about. But if you have the time and know what you are doing, by all means shop for your gown in taobao. But at the end of the day, are you actually saving on your cost? Not to mentioned the time and effort that you put into. And I have noticed that many brides who bought their own gowns, 2 or 3 of them will have a hard time storing them. And that leads to another problem, trying to sell it off. Another time consuming thing if you are working full time. In the end of the day, it really comes to whether is it worth all the effort and risk to save a few hundred bucks.

And if you got to have your pre wedding photo, you can set a side a budget. And choose the bridal house package according to your budget. Most bridal house basic package is slightly below 4k if you don't fall for the adding more photos, adding this and that syndrome. And that package will usually have most of what you need for your wedding. Gowns (during shooting and actual day), make up (during pre wedding photo shoot), accessories, man's attire, car flower decor, corsage, flower bouquet and others. Some even throw in a complimentary family portrait if you ask for it. But bare in mind that you will not be able to find a bridal house that is perfect. The key is to not put your expectation too high. And at the same time not to get cheated as well. Make sure that they gave you what is agreed upon during signing up. Is even better if you can get black and whites of the package. Something like an email conversation is even better. And try not to do those signing up today and shoot next year type of thing. The best is to sign up today and shoot ASAP while all the words and promises is still clear in yours and also the sales persons mind. In the end of the day, you just want to have your pre wedding photo shooting done in a budget. Is just like going to a restaurant just to fill up your stomach. We always notice that, the "happy ones are the ones who doesn't have high expectations".

(* Please note that this is not applicable for those who can afford for a lavish and grand gring grong pre wedding photo shooting)

Just my half cents worth......

[IMG]https://instagram.com/p/6ory6xIu0a/?taken-by=dress2u_kl[/url]

Evening dress for rent in KL

This post has been edited by DRESS2U: Sep 9 2015, 03:17 PM

Thank you for this thread! its so helpful especially for us who are budgeting for a wedding!

Yup you can get from pre-wedding studios too. But I thought that I could get my own gown at a much cheaper price and the gown belongs to me and perhaps I can sell them later and get back the same amount, maybe?

For my pre-wedding.. I opted for something simple, not from a bridal gallery, more of a half freelancer but they hv limited choices of gowns.
My package is like 2 gowns , 1 suit and 1 own casual attire. Indoor and outdoor shoot. The edited photos are about the same standard album, no limitation on poses (which I hate the most, prefer something more natural opting for quality photo more of just kept changing gowns) and all softcopies returned. Bridal gallery usually charge for each extra pieces that you want to add and your package from 3k would double fold. They're not the best, but I just wanted something simple. Actual day photography and videography is much more important, where I'm willing to fork out more for that.

Mostly above are from Taobao but some are local like teapots because they are fragile items.

Budget - Firstly do come up with a budget sheet from Day 1 and try to stick as close as possible. Commit to savings and agreed since day1 and have a joint account for savings and do no touch any of those funds that are meant for wedding purpose.

Taobao - I agreed and would say that I did put in a lot of efforts searching for gowns and I have the luxury of time because I have a gap of a year plus to plan the wedding and do not make any overnight decision. And horror story is when you just buy without reading reviews carefully and talking to the seller which they can advice you on the size and also customise to yours at a very small fee. Also, there are ratings with the seller and I normally only choose those with a lot of crowns. I have also purchase dust bags specially to store my gown where you can zip up and they will turn into a bag with handle. I don't know about resale value but since the price is cheap, getting to sell them or not won't be such a pain in the end. And also my mum is a tailor, therefore I do not need to spend any extra cent or worry much if alteration is required. That's why majority still opted for bridal gallery since they can feel and touch and even try it on. So don't take the risk if you're unfamiliar with taobao and the hassle to find a good tailor to get the job done.

Bridal gallery - the reason why I didn't go for them is also due to personal reason that I didn't wanted it to be just a photoshoot with limited poses based by just changing into a lot of gowns. Most of my friends in the end would pay double because you find it so frustrating to pick photos and just ended up with paying more instead of ended up with arguments and regrets.
Man's attire is easily available via zara and G2000 when they are having sales. I got his with RM700 (full suit from top to bottom including the shirt inside).
Car deco I wanted it to be something different without using fresh flowers and I plan to do this on my own
Decoration in the restaurant is not really necessary for me, because it's just a small place and will just use their existing deco except the photobooth and recep table.

hello....

just curious, when talking about weddings, which is more important in terms of budget, is it the wedding day budget itself, or the honeymoon?? which one??

oh, and princessgalaria, for your honeymoon, did you enjoy it with hubby just right after the day of your wedding, or waited for a few months after wedding day, then only honeymoon??

thx

That's totally depending on both of you. Every one have different preferences. I would split both equally due to commitments that I will have to do the wedding ceremony rather than just going for a holiday. Of course we both definitely want a honeymoon as well.

I've not completed my wedding yet. We didn't plan to go right after because there are still petty things that we might need to settle after the wedding. And after taking a few days leave off work, can't go off for that long due to work commitments. Only will go for honeymoon like 1-2 months after settling everything. Don't wanna just go off and then leave things unsettled and still receive like tons of phone calls.

waahh, your hubby should be proud to have such a responsible wife like you

oh, so you're in engagement phase isit?? okay alright...

thanks for your info, and i hope you and your hubby both the best in your endeavours

congratulations once again

thanks for the tips princessgalaria & flamephotography

Hmm we have already signed our papers just preparing for the wedding next year

Thanks

Double post

This post has been edited by chloe_yee87: Sep 16 2015, 11:23 PM

Thanks for sharing TS! Truly insightful, planning to get most stuff from Taobao as well but with the current exchange rate, not sure if getting locally will be cheaper.. Anyway, I have a question, is it more advisable to book restaurant banquet during wedding fair, ie cheaper than normal or actually just marketing?

Not just wedding banquet. How about other things offered during wedding fair as well? Is it really cheaper?

For me, not really. Wedding fairs make you fall for some impulsive decision especially those pre wedding packages, they will keep selling you that promo only valid for today and then at the end you bought and realise have to top up for a bit which is the same. If you really hv the time, I suggest you really sit back and consider and compare first.

The things for taobao already more expensive.. compared to when I first started years ago the exchange rate was /2 and now only /1.5
I bought most of my things when the exchange rate is still at /1.75

This is very true, same goes for those travel fair if you're planning for honeymoon. I went to Matta Fair to check out ticket price, and ask around, quite panic because flight tickets to where we plan to go are selling out fast, but decided not to buy at Matta fair. Ended up checking online, managed to get even cheaper flight, plus its direct flight.

This post has been edited by zhou86: Sep 17 2015, 04:02 PM

My honeymoon tickets to Australia from AA only costed RM800 for two way two person excluding insurance and luggage. Itinerary self plan one hahaha.. save money.

Nice!

Yeah itinerary for honeymoon better plan own self coz honeymoon is meant to be relaxing and casual, spending quality time with each other.