Knowing that there has been interest in taking pre-wedding photos in Taiwan, and more inquiries on our wedding photoshoot experience with Vivi Bride in Taipei, we decided to share more information for interested couples.
As I was frequently in Taipei for business, it was easy for me to visit the 婚纱街 in Taipei (中山北路二段), I made visits to the different bridal studios. Some of the studios in Taiwan has photography styles that are considered quite old-fashioned and were clearly out of the picture for us. We have short-listed Vivi prior to visiting the 婚纱街 because of a friend's wonderful photo and experience. True enough, the visit to Vivi was also much better than visits to other studios. Their albums look more stylish, colours were vibrant and photography styles were more in line with what we could accept.
Our key contact for negotiating the package was with 史店长, who was able to call the shots and improve the package for us. Subsequently, 佳琪 helped to follow through with our requests, fittings and photo selection. Given that we specially came from Singapore (with friend's recommendation), and where they do not have shop presence, they do take care of us, which we really appreciate.
For those of you keen to discuss with her over the phone, you could call them from Singapore before visiting Taiwan. Here are their cards:
Many have asked what we get covered in our Taiwan wedding photography package, but due to my agreement with Vivi Bride, I cannot release my package publicly. Broadly, they cover the following items:
a) 18" album witth 30 photos. additional photos depend on your bargaining power (basic album is 帖本 style, UV treated, but if you pay more, you could get 无缝, which is nicer finishing. This you can decide when you see the different styles in their Taipei studio)
b) 2 boxes of thank you cards (with your wedding photo + names)
c) CD of selected photos
d) 30" photo in frame
e) Smaller photo album
f) Autograph scroll
g) 12" photo + frame
h) 60" poster
i) music box bearing the photos
(These items, I collected them each time I was in Taipei, but for rest of you, it may be better to have them shipped back to Singapore costing approximately S$100+).
Taiwan wedding photoshoot will cover the following items:
a) Gowns/ other costumes -- 4 sets (but i managed to ask for 6)
b) Men's suit -- 2 sets of white and black (exclude vest)
c) Bride's make-up, hair-styling, accessories and manicure (but i suggest you do your own manicure either in Singapore or in Taipei)
d) Groom's make-up and styling
e) Props like balloons and flowers
Additional costs to cater for:
a) Car rental ($300++ for 5 hours, additional hour at $60+ per hour)
b) Rental of vest
c) Rental of venue or more elaborate props (like boat, piano, horse)
d) Ampoule
e) Accompanying MUA (this is very worth-it, never save money on this because their MUA are really very 厉害!)
As for what to take note of for photography and preparation required, you may find the following useful.
Here's a little tip on what to take note of when doing wedding photoshoot in Taiwan. When selecting photos (likely to be the following day), allow yourself ample time (say 2 hours?). For us, the photo shoot from 10am to 10pm, we took about 400 photos, hence selection was tough. In addition, Taiwanese sales are really pushy and convincing, so like us, you may be influenced to add many photos. At this point, if you are not able to return to Taiwan anytime soon, do take the opportunity to communicate with them your preferred style for album layout as this will be challenging to do so from overseas.
Following are some examples of layout which we are not too happy and requested them to be changed:
We prefer simpler, stylish layouts that will be less likely to be out-of-fashion as time goes by.
Hope you find the above sharing on our wedding photography experience in Taiwan useful :)
