Pre-wedding Photoshoot locations

We spent a lot of effort for our pre-wedding photoshoot locations. Once in a lifetime, can't be too shabby about it since we spent so much on the album. We didn't want a storyline, we just wanted the shoot to feel like love, fun, happiness and reflect us. So we decided we didn't want a studio shoot which we felt look dated.

As we didn't have a car, we opted to rent the mini-bus from rico-a-mona bridal at $35/hour (price was as at Oct11). I think the price has increased to $45/hour now.

Botanical Gardens
Before the day of the shoot, we checked out Botanical Gardens as we saw many couples who went there for pretty shoots and I love greenery in photos. It was nice but we also got bitten alot by mosquitoes and sand flies. We felt the only place worth really shooting was the patch of greenery place that looked like an overseas picnic locaton, the 2 popular canopy shelters and the Halia restaurant area which looks like a hidden heaven. Other than that, the place fell short of our expectations. Furthermore, we weren't really big fans of nature, so perhaps that's why this location didn't really clicked with us.

Photos are from my iPhone 4S.

Then we visited Dempsey Hill which was nearby Botanical Gardens, the yuppies area. Jones the Grocer was our top pick coz they had everything we liked - coffee, food, casual restaurant setting that felt relaxing, meats/drinks section like a supermarket and a huge bookshelf filled with colorful books. I love the bookshelves look and he loves the cookbooks. We loved dining out and food was a major component in our relationship esp. given his background as a chef, so a restaurant like this definitely felt right too. We paid $100 just to have the photo shoot here. But it was all worth it.

Culina was nice too with the cold sections to shop around but a bit too cramped for photoshoot. Ben & Jerry looks nice but a little too dark. I couldn't really figure out how possible the angles to shoot the place but since we liked the colorful van and cows and location was just next to Jones the Grocer, it was a matter of convenience that we pick there too.

We loved staying home and hanging out with each other. Chat, watch movies on DVD and cook up simple dinners on weekends.So home was a place that felt like 'us'. But our own house wasn't ready yet. So the direct option was IKEA Tampines. It was very spacious with many more showrooms than Alexandra. We recce the place and found a few very nice spots, so IKEA was definitely in our list. The manager was so friendly too. We asked for permission for the shoot and they gave us a not so crowded timing at 11am.

It was easy to narrow our choices coz we wanted to shoot at places that felt like us. True enough, we didn't really pick outdoor locations besides Marina Barrage. We went there once and it was windy, people were flying kites and the green grass and sky were perfect for photoshoot. The other places that didn't work out were:

Kinokuniya - they only allowed photoshoot on their off-peak hours, which was 10-11am. 10am is not quite possible as I will only start my makeup at 8 or 9am. Any earlier meant I had to pay for the makeup-artist to work extra hours and bring him along to locations which cost another $300 or so. Not making it to kino was also another reason why we were willing to pay $100 for Jones the Grocer, coz of the bookshelves.

Marketplace at Paragon - a place we frequent whenever we are at orchard, they have a wonderful variety of veggies, herbs, bright colored fruits and meats. A place we both liked and looks perfect for photos. But unfortunately the company do not allow photoshoot at marketplace. They will only allow selected Cold Storage outlets which were more deserted and thus lessen the disturbances to patrons if we were to do our photoshoot. So this was out - we didn't want other supermarkets.

Given the rejections and trying to fit the locations into our schedule, so we decided the final photoshoot locations:
1. IKEA Tampines
2. Jones the Grocer Dempsey Hill
3. Ben & Jerry Dempsey Hill
4. Marina Barrage

We didn't use a lot of props coz the places we went to had many things going on in the background, it didn't need much props to spice the photos up. Barrage was meant to be scenic, very bridal and reflect more romance, so just the gown, suit and balloons were perfect.

A couple of other nice locations to share:
- Children's little museum
- Rider's cafe
- Coastal Settlement
- Spruce
- Fullhouse restaurant
- Balzac brasserie
- Carpenters and Cook
- The Plain Cafe

There are many more nice cafes, I read ladyironchef to get inspirations for food and they are usually bistros and restaurants with a nice decor.