Actual Day Itinerary

Its been a while since I've blogged a decent post so I've decided to do a double post today!

Here's a pretty accurate gauge of my actual day itinerary. I'm gonna pray everyone can be on time, no vehicle breakdowns etc cause we're really tight on schedule!

Time	Activity
0500-0515	Bride / Groom wake up
0515-0530	Wash up / Get ready
0530-0545	Brothers arrive at groom's place Sisters arrive at bride's place Makeup artist arrive at bride's place Videographer arrive at bride's place Photographer arrive at bride's place
0545-0600	Driver arrive at groom's place Sisters get ready "Groom's door opener" arrive at bride's place
0600-0615
0615-0630	Groom and brothers arrive at bride's place
0630-0645	Groom take photos with brothers
0645-0700	Gate crash start!
0700-0715	Gate crash
0715-0730	Gate crash
0730-0745	Take photos with brothers & sisters
0745-0800	Bride, groom, brothers & sisters leave for groom's place Bride's door opener arrive at groom's place
0800-0815
0815-0830	*****Groom & bride arrive at groom's place
0830-0845	Eat tangyuan, etc customary stuff
0845-0900	Brothers change into shirts and suits
0900-0915	Leave for Little Guilin photoshoot
0915-0930
0930-0945
0945-1000	Arrive back at groom's place
1000-1015	Chill / cool down
1015-1030
1030-1045
1045-1100
1100-1115	Start tea ceremony at groom's place
1115-1130
1130-1145
1145-1200
1200-1215
1215-1230	Bride change into tea dress Leave for bride's place
1230-1245
1245-1300	Start tea ceremony at bride's place
1300-1315
1315-1330
1330-1345
1345-1400	Leave for hotel
1400-1415	Check in hotel
1415-1430
1430-1445
1445-1500
1500-1515
1515-1530
1530-1545	Makeup artist arrive
1545-1600
1600-1615
1615-1630
1630-1645
1645-1700	*****Refer to setup checklist Brothers and sisters arrive at hotel to setup Bride's family arrive Groom's mother arrive
1700-1715	Bride's mother, sister and groom's mother do makeup
1715-1730	Makeup!
1730-1745	Photographer arrive at hotel Take some photos in hotel
1745-1800	Videographer arrive at hotel Rest of groom's family arrive Bride's brother family arrive
1800-1815	*****Refer to solemnisation guest list & plan Solemniser arrive Guest arrive
1815-1830	Solemnisation start
1830-1845
1845-1900	Move décor into ballroom Bride change into gown
1900-1915	*****Refer to dinner guest list & plan Groom await guests
1915-1930	Bride arrive downstairs
1930-1945	*****Refer to seating plan Guests be seated by 1945
1945-2000	*****Refer to dinner plan Dinner start Bride and groom 1st march in
2000-2015	Serve 1st dish
2015-2030	Groomsmen x 2 bring angbao boxes up to safe and lock Serve 2nd dish
2030-2045	Serve 3rd dish Bride & groom leave to change
2045-2100	Serve 4th dish
2100-2115	*****Refer to dinner plan Montage Bride & groom 2nd march in Serve 5th dish
2115-2130	Serve 6th dish Thank you speeches
2130-2145	Serve 7th dish Start going rounds to take photos
2145-2200	Serve 8th dish Take photos
2200-2215
2215-2230	Thank guests

To be updated with the solemnisation and dinner plan!

Bargains for your bridal package!

After reading a couple of older posts, I realized I haven't posted anything on the bridal packages. Here's a guideline of what you may request from the bridal studio you have decided on when bargaining in no sequential or order of importance. :)

1. Photos selection (Soft copy & printed). Its usually 30-36 photos for a mid range package.

2. Free design & re-designing of layout (How your photos are arranged, printed out, the effects etc)

3. Free addition of pages if you purchase/choose to have more photos printed and wish to have photos spread out. Some bridal studios charge $120 per page if you overflow into a new page. Therefore, if the album you've chosen has 4 folds x double sides (my case), it'll be $120 x 4 folds x 2 sides = $960. This is a trap you shouldn't allow yourself to fall into. - Refer to No. 36

4. Rental of OTR (Off-the-rack) x 1 Solemnisation dress

5. Rental of OTR x 1 Solemnisation suit

6. Rental of OTR x 1 Wedding gown (Actual day) - Refer to No. 14

7. Rental of OTR x 1 Tea dress / Kwa (Actual day) - Refer to No. 14

8. Rental of OTR x 2 Evening gowns (Actual day) - Refer to No. 14

9. MTM (Made-to-measure) gown if you don't find anything you like off their racks FOC

10. 4R photos x 100 pcs (Repeated ones from your selection in No. 1)

11. Mini album of selected photos (No. 1) x 1

12. Table portrait of selected photo from No. 1 x 1 with FRAME

13. Wedding portrait of selected photo from No. 1 x 1 with FRAME

14. Open choice of gowns (All ranges)

15. Open choice of covers and laminates or material used at no additional costs

16. Rental of wedding car (They usually charge $300 for a Mercz-300 with petrol & driver)

17. Pick your photographer

18. Pick your make up artist

19. Transportation for day of photoshoot

20. Free re-shoot if you're not satisfied with photos

21. 3-5 Outdoor locations

22. 2-3 Indoor shoots

23. Different makeup/looks for all outfits

24. MTM x 1 pants for groom

25. Rental of suits x 2 for groom (Actual day)

26. No charges for over-time shoot at night

27. No charges for early shoot - Both the photographer and makeup charged me $120 EACH for coming in 2 hours earlier. :(

28. Rental of suits for groomsmen (Actual day)

29. Rental of dresses for bridesmaids (Actual day)

30. Rental of suit x 1 for both fathers (Actual day)

31. Rental of dress x 1 for both mothers (Actual day)

32. Open choice of car decoration

33. Open choice of hand bouquet (Actual day)

34. Open choice of corsages for family and bridesmaids (Actual day)

35. Makeup and hairstyling x 2 for bride (Actual day)

36. Some bridal studios allow returning of ALL photoshoot soft copies - If not, "under-table" through your photographer.

37. Wedding banner x 1 (Actual day) - This is for placing at your wedding venue foyer to notify guests which ballroom/floor it is

38. Trial makeup x 2 (Day & Night makeup)

39. MTM shirt x 1 for groom - Not all bridal studios offer that

40. No early charges for makeup artist (Before 6-7am on actual day) - Mine charges $100 per hour you require her to come before 7am! *Slaps forehead*

41. No early charges for drivers (Actual day) before 7am too!

42. Photographer and videographer for actual day (I don't think the quality will be very good though) - Its easier for photographs to be captured if models hold still. But its a whole new ball game for candids and captures on the move. Just my two cents worth.

43. Open choice of flowers for all following cars (Actual day)

44. Outfits x 5-6 for bride on day of photoshoot - Refer to No. 14

45. Suits/Outfits x 2-3 for groom on day of photoshoot


I think that's all for a mid to high range bridal package. I didn't manage to get all of the above for mine. Didn't perform enough research before we settled on the package. Of course, this is just a guideline. However, my colleague managed to get ALL of the above for $3k-ish (I feel like bawling my eyes out!)

But, of course. It also depends on type of bridal studio you've engaged. A general rule of thumb is to view the gowns they have (usually prepared in an ipad) and photos of actual couples they have printed as samples before wasting time to bargain. Hahaha.

Hope this entry will help some poor brides-to-be in getting their moneys worth!