I have always wanted to take my wedding outdoor shoot overseas and I thought it is so cool….. The weather must be cool so that one will be so enjoyable while doing all the poses, and not perspire with make up melting under the hot sun back home.
Europe will be an ideal choice but money is definitely a problem. You know, everything is 2 x more expensive against our currency. Finding a photographer who can speak English is also a headache. You can find one on the internet but you need to find the time to do it which I practically don’t have ! Next, I cannot do good make up…..
And so, after giving some thoughts, Macau is quite European as they are under Portuguese rule for many many years and it should be more economical. So, I got a trade friend who works for Macau tourism to do some recommendation and few days later, through her colleague who is a local Macanese, they recommended one which is more popular and with better comments.
So I email correspondence with the person and soon found that their package price is very reasonable MOP 4988 (approx. S$ 1000), which includes many many things…. Many friends I spoken too commented the package is very very reasonable and there is no way you can get so many things if you do it locally at that price.
They even provide both of us the gowns, make ups, accessories, etc, etc. In short, all you have to do is just to be there in person and probably a pair of black shoes for man.
And so, with the low fares and the hassle free photography package, coupled with excellent weather, we decided to go ahead and make it happens.
We arrive on a Sunday morning (12 midnight) due to flight constraint and caught on some sleep before going to the bridal boutique in the morning. We reach the boutique at about 11.30am and make our selection. The person-in charge went through the package again showing us samples of what we will get as mentioned in the package. We are also to see some sample pictures of the location we wish to choose. After that, I was put on to try at least 5 gowns and I was so tired. I shortlisted 3 pieces and finally chose a gold colour one. Because it has no can-can (will makes walking easy) and the colour is unique. A white or off-white will be too close to my actual gown.
Then, I settled for a green evening gown as the rest was a bit ti ‘can’ or the design too ‘kua chang’ for me….
And so this is how I looked in them…..
On the other hand, for the groom….. they given him many Victorian style, with big ties and matching vests, long tail jackets to try on…. I found Alvin so hilarious in them and he was very uncomfortable with them. He found the design very o-bit which I thought so too…. Finally he settled for a normal looking black jacket with faint white vertical stripes on it……
They did some alterations whereever needed and we are not to be seen until the next day… ha ha ha… reporting time 11.30am…. So by 1.30pm, we are free on our own. So, we visited Wynn and the new Grand Lisboa which was not ready 2 years ago.
We decided to go and eat ‘zhu pa bao’ and you can imagine my horror when it was closed when we are there. Many people like us was also disappointed and hang around the stall staring at the signboard. Apparently, they are said to be close for renovation for 7 days but there isn’t any sign of renovation going on….. We then went over to try the imitation one and definitely, I tell you, IT WAS NOT AT ALL ANY CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL ONE. The pork chop was drier and not as tasty and fragrance.
The next day, we reported promptly at 11.30am at the bridal boutique. We are the 2nd couple and there was already a couple doing their make up when we arrive. They took longer than needed and we have to wait for at least 30mins before its our turn…..
The make up artist did up my make up within 20 minutes and I can change into my gown – with my hair in curls. I am so not used to my make up as I felt it was overly done and I even joke I can go Sands to perform that evening…… Alvin commented he will died of heart attacked if he is going to see me in this state at night :<
With my hair done up, I felt even more drama……. Fifi said take photo must be exaggerating mah….so, I was game and gone ahead with it !
While the make up artist is doing up your hair, your ‘bao mu’ will moisturise your hands and shoulder with lotion, brush powder on you to give you the flawless look and I felt like a princess with so many people surrounding you to ensure you look pretty.
Finally I’m done !
And we had some time to wait while the first couple to come back and so we decided to take pictures which waiting…. The lady in black specs is the make-up artist.
And if you have notice between the pic when I try the gowns and this one, my boops grew.... 2 layers of padding, of coz will grow bigger lah !
Soon, we left for the first location ‘xing xing gong yuan’ with green colonial houses. It was one location with the most shoot. We felt so awkward and laughed so much when the photographer directed us to do the poses. We felt the some of the poses was very o-bit and was wondering did we make the wrong choice ….
Next was the lighthouse and we added 1 more location as Alvin like ‘xing xing gong yuan’ while I like the lighthouse. The last was the St. Paul’s Cathedral which I felt it’s a must. It’s an icon of Macau and if you dun take your pics there, why go all the way to Macau ! It was also the most stressed location as many tourists stared at you and took pics of you ! We felt so embarrassed and we keep asking ‘are we going to finish soon?’
See how happy I am what the day shoot is done !
All in all, it takes 2 hours only. We had 1.5 hours break and we were famished by then, so, we had some food but too much until my tummy bloated and I was worried I couldn’t fit into the evening gown. So, we decided to walk around in my casual wear but heavily make up with o-ba-san hairdo.
We are back by 5.45pm and was prepared for the night shoot. Alvin decided to go casual and he wore jeans which I thought was good too. And I look quite ‘Ye Shang Hai’ with that green flower on my head.
We thought we had to take the car again but no ! You actually walk to the location. It was just 2 mins walk away ! It didn’t take longer than 30mins and we are done for the day ! Yay !
We can go back to the boutique to view the pictures and make our selection the very next day. That’s how efficient they are ! The photographer already know where exactly you are to stand and what pose to do and that’s make the photo shoot very fast. If there are no indoor shoots by any couple, they can actually do 3 couples in a day. As they caters many HKG customers, that’s explain how efficient they are.
When viewing the pictures the next day, we could help but laughed at our obiang poses. We are still satisfied with many of the pics and we had no problem choosing 38 pics of them. I added 2 to make it 40.
And to relate more, after our arrival in HKG, our hotel was situated to a street full of bridal boutiques and after a good check out, we concluded that Macau was not o-bit or old fashion afterall. Coz, in HKG, those brides and their gowns, grooms and their attire, and the pictures and poses they had on the pictures and in the boutiques, are identical to Macau. Probably, that’s their likes of exaggerating, drama and European or Victorian styles as they are under British and Portuguese rule for so long, naturally the influence is there.
All in all, with optionals like extra pics, extra location, fake eyelashes…lotion to keep your make up tact and intact during outdoor shoot…. I paid MOP 5958 (approx. $1191) which I believe it’s a steal…….
It was fun plus tiring but at least we felt happier as we know no one knows us there so bumping into someone we know is almost zero. The weather (19 degree celsius) definitely play an important role to makes us felt more light-hearted when doing the poses. At least, we didn't perspire and make ourselves very 'pek chek'.
I’ll update more what I have when I receive the pics !
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