signed bridal package within the SAME day + TIPS!!

do I have any regrets signing a wedding bridal package within the same day? our answer is.... NO!!! NO REGRETS AT ALL 🥰 I will be giving some tips in this post so read on~ ps I'm a long winded person so I will type some background context first 😂

some disclaimer before I move on, this post is entirely my opinion and experience. your experience and opinions are valid too 🫶🏻 I have finished selecting my pre wedding photo shoot gowns/suits, done my pre wedding photo shoot and have selected our photos to be in our wedding albums. yes there is more than 1 album 🤭 our wedding is in Q4 2024, so I cannot comment about my actual day gown/suit, make up and photography 😶‍🌫️

not sure about others, but both my fiancé and I were very lost. so what now after the proposal? 😅 we didn't know how to start our wedding planning at all. we are both chinese, so the only thing that we have done was deep down into our chinese roots - to select our auspicious wedding date 🫠 but this actually helped us to have a smooth wedding planning 🤗 both of us were lost, so we started seeking for advices. most people told us to look for individual vendors, meaning to look for a bridal studio for gowns/suits, another separate make up artist, a photography/videography company etc. we were told that price will be slightly cheaper, and we can choose all our favourites. they said that packages are bad because there will be a lot of restrictions such as limited gown designs or limited choices of make up artists. welp, we did not follow the advice at all 🤡 I have posted about this, so here's the link!

both of us decided to sign a wedding bridal package on the very same day that we went for the wedding fair🤓 actually sometimes I do think about this, were we too rash with signing the package? After several thoughts after signing the package (I'm a clown for only thinking about it AFTER signing 🤡), we actually did not really make a rash decision. we have talked to each other a lot and aligned our expectations. tbf, we did not really research on any bridal studios. I just scrolled through Instagram and Pinterest to find what gowns I love. I talked to my fiancé A LOT. People always joked that grooms are the side kicks, but I really want him to be involved (so that the indecisive me don't need to make too many decisions top 🤪). After talking a lot, we knew what each other wanted. so here are some mini tips that I hope will be helpful to you couple's who are also lost!

Tip 1: talk to each other to know what each of you want!!

this is something I cannot emphasise enough!!! talk to each other to know what both of you want. both my fiancé and I were very clear with our wants. I told him I wanted to be a princess (yes cringe all you want but that's my supressed girly girl dream!!!! 😫), which means I want a ballgown dress. I didn't really mind what design, I just want to feel like a princess with my prince charming 🤡 I talked to my fiancé to see what type of suit he wants. it may seem like all suits are the same, but there are several cuttings and colours. my man here has old man taste. he like black suits only. but after talking, he took the challenge to wear navy blue and grey. welp even though still dark colours but at least that's a small achievement 🤭 and we both LOVE PHOTOS. people told us wedding albums are a waste of money, but we LOVE LOVE photos!!! his room and my room are filled with photos, and I cannot explain how much we love photos. we made it clear - we want nice photos, wedding ballgown choices and dull coloured (😶‍🌫️) suits. it became so much easier afterwards!

Tip 2: go to wedding fairs!! + have a secret signal!

there's so many options there for you to choose. you don't need to always sign on the spot if you feel uncomfortable or forced. if you ever feel forced, that's already a red flag and you should LEAVE! between the dynamics of my fiancé and I, I get pressurised very easily but he's very firm with his choices. use secret signals with each other so you know when to leave. don't worry the sales person will not remember you, so just leave hahahaha 😉

Tip 3: if you want to select packages instead, know what you want!

similar to tip 1, it is important what the both of you want. example, is gown selection or photography more important? you need to align your understanding with your partner so that while negotiating, both will know what direction to negotiate in front of the sales person. for us, we really wanted to have really nice photo albums. i felt that wedding gowns are similar in design, and all wedding gown will look great if it fits your body. the sales person will always "attack" the females first by giving a lot of gown choices. let them "attack" all the way!! don't feel paiseh when they keep giving you freebies because ultimately you're paying few thousands for their package! 🤪 then slowly add in what you want and your package will be A M A Z I N G.

Tip 4: research what entails in a wedding

this helps a lot in negotiation of the package. for example, if there is anything missing in the package, you can always requests to add them in such as corsages for parents, blazers for fathers, bridal car flowers etc. always ask, requests, and ask! don't be paiseh because like what I said, you are paying thousands. another flower corsage won't cause the bridal studio to go bankrupt. also, the sales person knows their limit with the amount of "freebies" that they can give. so negotiate all the way!

Tip 5: budgeting is very important too

set a proper budget for yourself and talk within each other very clearly on likes and dislikes. anything that goes beyond your budget, either not get them, or change alternatives. for my example, we initially hope for videography. but considering our budget, we decided to let go. people will say: eh for memories ma, very important. but I think the aunties and uncles will be recording every moment, so we'll just take their videos. idm if they are bad quality, because I just need the memories right? 😉

there are always pros and cons with our decision. I'll list some here, and you will pick what's best for you!

pros on our package: very flexible with neogitation (we got many freebies!!!), lots of customer sample photos for us to refer, very sincere towards us, the package covers everything from pws till our wedding day, including gowns, suits, bouquet, bridal car flowers, photography, make up (almost whatever you can think of except for videography)

cons on our package: cannot choose photographers, cannot choose make up artist (thus no make up trial), limited gowns to choose from for pws (but we managed to negotiate for better options for AD gowns!!), fixed price (so you can only ask for upgrades or freebies, no discounted prices), need to sign the package at the same day (no time to think so might make a "rash" decision. the sales person was very flexible, she told us we can come back to sign that negotiated package later, and told us to walk around. she was very sure that her package was very good). spoiler, it was really good haha

so in the end, my fiancé and i talked to each other afterwards. as a lazy person, im too lazy to coordinate individual vendors or continue to look for other vendors. so we signed 💀

another disclaimer!!! this package was signed during the very early of 2023, which means their sales tactics may change, prices may also change (due to GST etc). so no guarantee that things will remain the same!! please talk to them and negotiate the best that you can 🥰

bridal studio that we signed with:

My Dream Wedding

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#wedding #weddingplanning #Adulting101 #adulting #Lemon8SG