How to Plan Yourself an Overseas Wedding Photography Session

Pre-Wedding Photography can be just as important as the Actual Day Photography as part of your beautiful memories. Why? Because after a few years or decades has passed, 2 main things remain. One: your wedding bands (rings), and two: your wedding photos. So get good ones for both. I grew up seeing my parents’ studio-shot wedding photo in their bedroom. Somehow it felt meaningful, gazing upon the youthful and loving picture as my parents aged gracefully. When many years have passed, what was served on the dinner menu or how fantastic your shoes were does not matter anymore.

Pre-Wedding Photography is common in Singapore. Charming studio shots and outdoor photography on bounded albums and projected multi-media/montages are usually a highlighted display at wedding dinners and receptions. Couples are increasingly adventurous and creative, wanting their wedding to be extra special and somehow different than others. As Singapore is a small country, guests could expect to see the same outdoor photography locations commonly used. Therefore overseas wedding photography makes an interesting impact for everyone, and has gained popularity in the recent years. Even those pre-wedding photographs taken in Singapore endeavor to look as though they were not taken in Singapore! To meet the demand, “Overseas Wedding Photography Packages” are pieced together by professionals. These can be expensive. With the advent of the age of information technology, you may have an alternative.

How to plan an Overseas Wedding Photography Session by yourself:

1. Pray and Research at least 6 months in before the shoot.
This is going to be a lot of work, so if you have more than 6 months, that would be good. Praying together as a couple keeps you focused, and guide your instincts to make a decision. Sure, you would need a fair bit of data collection (whereby google will be your best friend). Still, decision making and hoping that everything will fall into place will take a leap of faith. Another important decision to make is the “theme” of the entire shoot. This will guide your choice of makeup, hairstyle, clothes, flowers, and shooting location.
Left: Fay Wray uploaded by star1950, lead actress of King Kong (1933 film)


Far Left: King Kong(1933 film) taken from Cynthia('s blog).

I decided on a “Urban 1930s” feel, and researched on the art and fashion of that era. It was a time where women had fingerwaves and other glamorous curly hairstyles, King Kong was climbing the Empire State Building… you get the picture. But this is of course just a guide, and I did not follow it strictly so that I don’t look too dated.

2. Decide on location and duration of your overseas trip.
Apply for leave, book air tickets and accommodation. At least 2 weeks would be good, so that you can narrow down to the day with the best forecasted weather nearer to the shoot. It’s also good to have time before and after the shoot to relax. Try to find something with little or no cancellation fees, or try to reserve and give payment at the latest date possible.

My hubby and I chose NYC, as it was meaningful to us, and it fulfilled our theme because much of the Manhattan landscape today existed in the 1930s.

3. Decide on what to wear, to rent or buy.
Using your theme, decide on what you and your husband are going to wear. You could rent a gown from Singapore and bring it over but this will surely rack up your bill. I bought two gowns from other Singaporeans and had them altered to my size, and it costs me less than $400 in total. I made sure the style was versatile enough so that I can look different on my wedding day. Decide on your shoes and other thematic accessories (such as a hat, or clip-on suspenders).

4. Decide on your hairstyle and makeup artist
To follow my theme, it was essential to me that my hair and makeup artist was skilled in doing something from the “1930s”. I chose Matt Yeandle because he has experience in doing fingerwaves, as seen in his sample portfolio online. He was a very skilled professional, providing hair and makeup support to film, TV and print, and did a lot of work on my hair for me. Confirm a few available dates and times with your hair and makeup artist, so that you can offer estimated times to the photographer.
Far Left: Top view of my hair

Left: Side view of my hair

5. Decide on your photographer
There are much more photography portfolios online than there are portfolios for hair and makeup artists. So you may find yourself with too many choices! The best way to decide who to choose is to communicate with them via email. Tell them your theme ideas, and budget, and see what their artistic ideas and suggestions of locations are (since they probably know the area/country better than you do). It’s easy to choose the one that matches your needs most by communicating with them. I chose Willi Wong Photography as I found them to be a good match, and I am thankful that I did. I love their work, and my experience with them was enjoyable.

6. Decide on your bouquet
You could get a fresh bouquet few days before the shoot, but that would add to your things to do when you arrive. I surfed online but did not find a picture of a fresh bouquet that I liked. I was also worried that the flowers would wilt/crush/damage before and during the shoot. Silk flowers were my answer, and they were re-usable as bouquets for my bridesmaids on my actual wedding day. Make sure you choose silk flowers that look as real as possible! Afloral.com was good with that, and a number of relatives and my mother mistook my bridesmaids’ bouquets to be real. You can see us in the picture below. Only my bouquet was real, and it wilt terribly towards the night.

Actual Wedding Day Photograph by Adam L.

I wrapped the stem differently with ribbons and other accessories. The one taken in NYC was wrapped with shiny red ribbon, pearls, and I randomly stuffed red petals and red feathers amongst the flowers. (You will later see that this same bouquet was used again in Ithaca, wrapped in blue flowing ribbons.)









7. Adapt to final changes/ improvements.
Check the weather, confirm the appointed date and time with your stylist and photographer, make any last minute purchases if you find something that does not match or fit. Make sure your handphone is fully charged and have mobile reception. Bring along tissue, blotters and lipstick. Flat shoes/sandals is a MUST. You can’t walk around in heels all day and still produce a fresh smile for the camera.
Above: Me changing from my Birkenstocks into my stilettos.

Left: Us taking public transport.




Draft your route plan (map out your destinations) for the day, and consult your photographer. This will of course change again during the shoot, so you’ll just have to go with the artistic flow and be flexible. In NYC it was better for us to travel via public transport, whereas in Ithaca the car was an important transportation mode for us. If your photographer knows the area well, you could leave the destinations to him, but if he doesn’t know the area well, you have to map it out on your own using whatever you can find on the internet, if you have no time to recce the area out yourself prior to the shoot.

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I hope that the above steps would help you achieve beautiful and less costly overseas pre-wedding photography. I later repeated all those steps to have another photo shoot in Cornell University in Ithaca, upstate New York. As you can see in the photos below, it is the same white gown in a new “Garden Fairytale” theme. I did my own hair, re-ribboned the same white bouquet and hired an upstate photographer, Michelle Neumayer. I chose her because I love her artistic style. Very dreamy and beautiful.

Things cost less in the suburbs than in the city, but that’s the same for everything else including real estate and food right? If you’re looking for more high end services (especially for makeup), the city provides better. Not because those in the suburbs are no good, but because there is alot more competition and variety in the city to suit your needs. My makeup artist in Ithaca had never done makeup for Asians before, and she also had no idea how to put on false eyelashes for me. Sometimes she messed up and had to re-do my eye makeup a few times. Almost everyone in the salon had to chip in to help with the false eyelashes.

Buying a second hand gown, wrapping your own re-usable silk bouquet, hiring local hair and makeup artists and photographers rather than flying them over from Singapore cuts down expenses. Staying at a smaller hotel, renting a place, or staying with a relative/friend also helps. Less urban locations and services are cheaper. Do your own hair (or even makeup) if you have the skills. To cut down costs further, you could also opt not to print the photos or create an album. Just keep the softcopies, make montages or online photo albums. A professionally made hard cover album can cost several hundreds, and you can always create them later on after the wedding when you can afford it.

Wishing you Peace & Love.