Hope this comes in useful! ~FM & Jas

Months before:

1. Exercise regime, especially for the girls
   • Slim down/ build up to look pretty for the pictures that last forever!
     (Jas did her abs exercise diligently, and ate lesser to slim down. Got rid of her little tummy and lost 5 kg!)
   • Exercise to tone up, but dun get obvious tan line. Maintain an even tone, dun go for beach activities before that! (although photoshop will take care of any ugly tan lines. ^_^)
2. Girls will want to start leaving your hair pretty long before meeting your Make-Up Artist (MUA) during trial make-up (depends on how fast your hair grows too, but longer is better than too short, of course; too long can always cut). Hair length around mid-back should be good (the setting of the hair to make the curls will shorten the hair a lot).

1 month before:

1. Grow your eyebrows so your MUA can trim it nicely. Or if you already have shaped eyebrows, maintain them neat.
2. SLEEP WELL. Nothing works better than many nights of good sleep to get rid of eye bags and dark eye rings.
   (Jas guai guai slept before 12mn for about 2 weeks before! ^_^)
3. Guys – time the cutting of your hair such that u’ll have hair that’s one+ week into a fresh cut. Neat but not overly short.
4. Girls – if u wanna go for manipedi, should start letting your nails grow longer, especially if you want to do French. Dun have your nails too rounded when u cut, slightly square nails are best.

A week before:

1. Trial makeup session should be around 1-2 weeks before the photoshoot. Ask your MUA how you should cut/color your hair to get the maximum impact for the PS. Layered hair would be good cos it’s easier to style.
2. Schedule to color your hair about a week before the PS.
   (Jas happened to have bleached golden hair at the last ~15cm of her hair. During the trial makeup, our MUA Angeline said to leave those alone. Then Jas went to Angeline’s shop, where Angeline layered her hair more into a sharp V-shape, and got Jas to highlight streaks of a similar bronze/golden color throughout her hair. These came into very good effect when Angeline styled her hair during the PS. Check out our pictures in the previous blog post for the full glory of her artwork!)
3. Ethnic costumes – should have chosen and reserved it previously, and make sure that the appropriate size is available.
   (We din do that during our trial makeup. but turned out all fine, cos Jas arrived early on the photoshoot day, and got to try the costumes and choose beforehand. The cheongsam was of the prefect size for Jas, so that was quite heng. But if we had wanted to have the kua, then there would be trouble, cos the kuas were all very huge in size.)
4. Groom’s suits – should have been chosen for each outfit to match, and decided beforehand.
   (We din do that but waited for the actual day of the photoshoot where FM decided on the spot what to wear and BZ gave him the appropriate matching suit/scarfs/ties/shoes, but all turned out well. )
5. Facial one week before, to make the face more radiant, and also supposed to make the powder/makeup stay and more longer-lasting.
   • no squeezing of pimples few days before the PS (or powder wun stick!)
   • some pple say can go for body scrub/ face masks before that. But do it at ur own discretion. If your haven been using these kinda stuff, DO NOT try new products at this time for fear of allergic reactions/breakouts!

   (About a week before, Jas went to Angeline for a deep cleansing facial (if interested, call Angeline to make an appointment beforehand) and FM went for a facial at Spa Elements (we had a Citibank promotion card). In general, we just make sure to not eat too much fried/chilli hot stuff. And no chocolates for FM until photoshoot is over! Heh.)

6. Additional: You may wanna look thru pple’s albums, think of some poses u might wanna do. The photographers will have ideas of their own, but probably will ask you to use your own creativity and pose on your own too.

Day before:

1. Manicure/pedicure for girls – for the neater simpler kind, go for French, additional artwork/glittery additions as u desire. Best to do in the evening, so u wun scratch your nails for the rest of the day.
   Guys, just go trim your nails short and neat.
2. Girls – Shave clean! You don’t want unsightly hair in ur pics!
   Guys – if u grow moustache/beard, trim neatly. If not, shave clean.

Packing for the photoshoot:

• Guys
  • white socks to wear with the white suit
  • shirts and ties of all colors, shades and stripes (so that the photographer/MUA can help you color-pick the best attire to match your bride.) Include one white shirt.
  • black leather shoes (the bridal studio should have a pair of white shoes to go with your white suit)
  • if you have your own MTM suit jacket, bring it and wear it.
    Yes, the bridal studio provides suits for you, and they have various sizes to fit your build. But still, nothing shows you off better than a MTM suit (assuming it was well-made) that is specifically cut to your build. More often than not, sleeve length will most likely be too long for you (suit sleeves should end at wrist, while shirt cuffs should end at base of thumb). Anyway, I dare say most guys would need at least one suit to wear on the rare occasions where it’s needed.
    (FM made his a year back and it has seen pretty good use this past year (more wear = value for money!))

Another important thing about guys and jackets is, DON’T BUTTON EVERYTHING! Jackets with 3 buttons in front only need the middle button fastened, while jackets with 4 buttons can have the middle 2 buttons fastened. Browsing through other people’s wedding albums, you can see some guys who look quite toot with all buttons fastened like a kid. Bad karma to the photographer for not informing those guys!

• Girls
  • Bridal shoes
  • Sandals to change into when you’re not taking pics. So you wun get tired wearing ur heels the entire day! (especially useful if you’re going to the beach)
  • Own jewellery if want, pretty (not too expensive) necklaces and earrings
  • Makeup kit – in case u need to patch up a little – but we din use

• In General
  • Wedding rings + engagement rings (if any)
  • Water bottle with drinking straw (although BZ had plenty to offer, and a good stock in the car too. )
  • Camera to capture preparation moments (we have pics for the earlier part of day, but less and less as we go along cuz we’re both too busy!)
  • Props – buy or dig out whatever other items of personal interest that you’re interested in including in the pictures. Many bring their motorbikes, cars, teddy bears, musical instruments etc.
    (For us, brought ring box, sparklers, proposal rose, balloons, rose petals amongst others)
  • Casual wear for the beach, or you can just wear one of your outdoor gowns to go kick water in the sea.
  • Lunch, or you can call-in fast food. Or the groom can go buy lunch from a coffeeshop nearby while the bride does her makeup, although I doubt its advisable to run around sweating with your makeup on. And if you’re interested, ask the photographer to take pictures while you two eat your lunch in the studio.
  • Light snacks if u’ll be hungry – although we din feel hungry at all, and wouldn’t have time to eat anyways due to our hectic schedule
  • Tissue paper/ wet tissue if u want, though we din end up using.
  • Umbrella – in case it rains
  • ~$100 to pay off your MUA for ampoules, fake eyelashes etc.

• DO NOT bring
  • Valuables. It’s a full day of hectic running around, digging for shirts and personal props, endless makeup etc. You won’t have time to look after your stuff. In addition to the bridal shop staff, there may also be another couple doing their photoshoot (BZ has two MUAs and two photogs and two studios, so two couples can take pics in parallel)

Morning of photoshoot:

1. DO not wash ur hair in the morning of the photoshoot! Supposed to leave hair dry for styling!
2. To wear for girls: button down/zip down top, so it’s easy to change w/o ruining ur makeup
3. Have a good breakfast!

We thoroughly enjoyed our photoshoot, although it stretched from 10am to 10pm, and we were tired at the end of the day. Photoshoots are fun: Just relax, be happy and enjoy yourselves to let the natural happiness shine! A great way to ensure pretty pics!