I’ve recently been helping out on the SingaporeBrides forum, giving advice (and promoting Bridal Zone!) to all BTBs who are seeking out bridal shops and packages to sign up with. A common question which came out is how to get a good deal for the bridal package… so here are some general tips and advice about how you can come out satisfied with your package at the end of the day, regardless of which bridal shop you end up signing with.

Everyone has their own preferences, desiring some things on the package more than others. Bridal shops are generally willing to negotiate, taking things out (wedding car, portrait, etc) and replacing them with others, especially getting more photos into the album.

1. Before stepping into any bridal shop, be sure to discuss with your FH about your max budget possible and expectations of the package, so you’ll not end up tearing each other apart in front of the bridal shop staff. :p you don’t have to tell the wedding coordinator upfront what your max budget is, to give yourself leeway to add more pictures in the future. E.g. if your max budget is $4000, go look for a ~$3000 package, since almost everyone will add tons of pictures after the photoshoot.
2. While discussing the package details, the wedding coordinator will write on a package detail sheet to keep track of your personalized package. Make sure everything that you’ve agreed upon is written down in black and white. Empty talk does not count! You can keep things open as well – e.g. if you’re not sure if you need to rent their wedding car on ur AD, ask them to keep it as a possible cash deduction (e.g. -$200 if you decide to skip the car later on) or exchange for more photos to the package (e.g. 4 more pics in exchange for the car). But again, have it written down on the contract.
3. Most things are set in stone after your sign your package with the details written down. The one thing which remains open for substantial negotiation is the topping up of pictures, and getting the soft copy of photos back. One major reason we were drawn towards BZ is that we could get the soft copy of all pictures back with a minimum top-up of 20 pictures.
4. When you are done with your photoshoot and go down to the shop to select your pictures, the coordinator will NO DOUBT try to entice you in getting more pictures. Grace tried to get us to add more pictures to our package, but she wasn’t pushy at all. In fact, she maintained that we should see how much we were willing to spend, and constantly tried to give us better deals. We were given various bundle options of topping up 20/30/50 pictures, and with increasing number of pictures she would throw in some more stuff, including reducing the top-up price per picture, and even throw in another big “bedroom” portrait for the 50 picture top-up. We also requested for the full resolution soft copy of pictures back in CD after topping up many pictures eventually (they were only willing to give back the low resolution copy that was good enough for web-viewing with the minimum 20 picture top-up)
5. If you end up topping up a considerable amount (say >80 pictures total) can try asking to split into 2 albums instead of one.

VERY IMPORTANT: While negotiating, it’s alright to bargain for more stuff, and be firm in rejecting offers to top up, but do not get pissy and loud with the coordinator! After all, the bridal shops are also trying to make a living! =) be nice and reasonable about it, and in that way, everyone will be happy and satisfied in a win-win situation!

Below is a list of things that you should ask when meeting your wedding boutique coordinator. I modified this off the original list by Roxy in Singaporebrides and this page in myshopping.sg.

• Album
  • No of photos – this is most impt. As far as I know, can usually bargain to about 30
  • Cost of additional photos – $65 – $80 is standard mkt price. We did managed to get $50 per piece
  • Photo album size – the usual is 15” or 18” album.
  • Mini-album included? BZ gave us the Taiwan storybook mini-version instead of the normal full page 5R album
  • Digital ( magazine ) style or normal full-page pictures?
  • Do they do digital touch up on your photos?
  • Portrait picture – most BS give 1 picture or 3-in-1 as options
• Gowns
  • MTM or OTR?
  • How many pieces are u allowed to have on your actual day? Eg 1 kua/tea dress, 1 bridal gown and 1 evening dress?
  • Groom’s jacket. How many pieces?
  • Can the actual day gown be different from photoshoot gown? Usually no, but in our case, we did the photoshoot way before the AD, so we’ll get to pick again for AD gowns
  • If my customary and wedding dinner is on 2 diff days, any additional costs?
  • Any restrictions in choosing the gowns? Or you can choose any gown in the shop?
  • Need to top up extra for more embroidery or lace?
  • Will BS provide accessories for my photoshoot and also actual day? How many sets can I rent?
• Photoshoot
  • How many changes in style you’ll have? Change in make up also?
  • Do u need to provide transport for photoshoot?
  • If you want to have photoshoot spread over 2 days, how much extra u’ll have to pay?
  • If it rains for outdoor photoshoot and need to reschedule on another day, is there a charge for the MUA and photographer? How many times rescheduling is allowed and when will they start charging? BZ does not charge no matter how many times you need to reschedule cos of bad weather.
  • Able to get back soft copies? And when?
  • Need to pay MUA for $20 collagen & $15 false eyelashes for photoshoot?
  • Fake or real bridal bouquet on actual day?
• Make-up
  • Any additional costs to MUA besides $20 for collagen & $15 for false eyelashes?
  • Need to give MUA transport costs?
  • If MUA needs to reach my house before 6am, any additional charge?
  • No of makeup sessions
  • Same MUA for photoshoot & actual day?
  • If my customary & wedding dinner is 2 diff days, any additional costs for MUA?
• Car
  • free car rental & what make & model?
  • if downgrade to lower make/model, can change for more photos?
  • If dun want car, how many more pieces or reduction in package price?
    Driver provided?
• Others that you may want to bargain for (though not every BS may have):
  • No of 8R tabletop photos (We got 2 instead of one, so each of our families can have one)
  • No of corsages for parents and brothers
  • Rental of teadress for sisters
  • Father and father-in-law jackets
  • Any wrist corsages for bride or sisters
  • Guest book
  • Borrow ring pillow for ROM ceremony