Photo Shooting in Taipei, Taiwan
Mike and I had engaged Lishe Wedding in Taiwan for our pre-wedding photo shoot. Both of us watched Taiwanese drama during our teens and I believe for late 80's and early 90's babies would've known Rainie Yang, Ariel Lin, Cyndi Wang, etc etc. before the K-pop wave took over around 2010's or earlier. How many of the local Singaporeans/ Malaysians still remembers 5566 or F4 (and can still hum along whenever their songs were played in the radio)? Don't be shy! C'mon, raise your hands!
So, having our photos shot in Taiwan was a lovely idea and Lishe Wedding provides the best first experience Mike and I can ever asked for.
Prior to our arrival to Taiwan, Lishe Wedding's representative, Mr Zhang was in charge liaising with us through email, and sometimes phone calls, to, hopefully, have the best arranged for us once we arrived in Taiwan.
When we'd arrived in Taiwan, Lishe Wedding already had someone waiting for us at the arrival hall. We were shown to our pick up driver who then drove us either to the hotel itself or to Lishe Wedding (you can decide where to alight) and since both our moms tagged along during this trip, we've decided to alight at the hotel to settle down before taking our own transport to Lishe Wedding. And by own transport, we meant a taxi or MRT.
The hotel was allocated by Lishe Wedding, which is near to Ximending, which means convenient eateries, shopping and souvenir hunting!
Our first day in Taiwan, other than devouring local delicacies, was gown fitting for me and suit selection for Mike. We were received by Ms Cindy and Ms Sandy upon our arrival at Lishe Wedding and they had bubble milk tea waiting for us! They first enquired on my likes and dislikes in choosing a gown and they will be suggesting styles that you should go for during the photo shoot. They then showed us locations for the photo shoot (we had full outdoor shooting instead of traditional indoor shooting) and we get the final say to choose the location we liked most.
We started with Mike trying on suits and tuxedos, neckties and bow ties. Alterations will be done and ready to be used the next morning for our shooting. Gown fitting starts when Ms Cindy went to pick out gowns that she thinks suits me best. And there I was, in and out of all the gowns and the amazing part is alterations can be done immediately depending on the conditions of gowns, (some cannot be altered, please check with the representatives for more information) and have them fitted on me again to ensure a perfect fit.
Gown fitting was time consuming and Ms Cindy was so caring, wondering if our moms would like some local snacks, and she sent someone to get us the famous local crispy chicken chop and some fried sweet potato as my mom is a vegetarian.
They had a photographer, whose photo taking style is closest to what we liked most, chosen for us and Ah Yao was our photographer for the day. Mike and I prefer our photos taken with huge smiles and bright backgrounds rather than artistic photos with low light background and modelling-like poses. Photographer Ah Yao had them captured all during the day before the sun setting and as you can see from the photos that I will be posting, they are exactly what Mike and I wanted.
Day two in Taiwan was when we are having our photos taken near the beach. From some of the backgrounds, you will never believe they managed to offer so much and they are literally next to the beach!
Lishe Wedding has a driver ready to pick us up to the photo shooting location that we had decided on and also to take-away local lunch boxes for us halfway during our shooting. Believe me, you get famished after standing out for hours though the weather was not too stuffy for a whole day outdoor photo shoot. I had always loved Japanese bento boxes but I think I'd developed a liking for Taiwanese lunch boxes too! (Mike agrees.)
Photographer Ah Yao never stops shooting. He had covered almost all of the beautiful spots and when we declined a suggestion, he never loses his temper. He let us decide the way we wanted our photos to be and he will be providing suggestions. He is all happy whether we takes his advice or not and still gave us his best effort throughout the day.
There we were, standing inside the church looking handsome and pretty but behind the scene, photographer Ah Yao and his lighting assistant were under the sun but still getting every shots perfect.
Some of the spots offer air-conditions so it was not just a break for Mike and I from the glaring sun but also a good opportunity for photographer Ah Yao and his assistant to escape from the bright sunlight and catch a glimpse of cool air.
Photographer Ah Yao had to climb a ladder to get this shot. I salute his dedication in his work and can never thank him enough for all the efforts he'd put in.
Some little things that you always do for your other half or vice versa are enough to burst your hearts with happiness. We understand sometimes you cannot contain the excitement you are feeling and have to share the love on Facebook or Instagram. Mike isn't always the person who likes taking selfies or photos of his daily activity hence we'd seldom post photos of us online just because he seldom takes photos with me. My family and friends will always see that I have photos of myself, photos with my mom, photos with my friends but it is hard to come by photos of Mike and I.
Photographer Ah Yao managed to capture these, moments of only Mike and I, moments where we are so used to that we'd never taken photos to keep a memory of. We appreciate all the hard work from the photographer and we are ever grateful for such beautiful photos.
We waited until the sun was setting before taking this shot with the pumpkin carriage and it made me felt all Cinderella. Lishe Wedding had arranged a driver waiting for us in the evening.
On our third day in Taiwan, we went back to Lishe Wedding to choose photos to be made into our photo album. A little trinket tray of sweets were placed on our table with hot fragrant tea. We are offered little gifts such as a ferris wheel photo frame, thank you cards, a desk photo frame, a palm-sized photo album identical to our original sized photo album, a poster and a bed frame wedding photo with no additional costs. Lishe Wedding is also generous to offer us a discount to purchase more edited copies and/or soft copies of the photos. As we were scrolling through the photos, Ms Cindy came and offered if we would like to try different local snacks. Mike and I felt so pampered, they never let us go thirsty nor hungry.
Later, Mr Zhang came to confirm our airport transfer from hotel on our departure date.
It was raining very heavily on the day of our departure. Fortunately, the same driver who picked us from the airport on our arrival day was allocated for us and he arrived earlier that said timing to wait for us at the hotel lobby.
This blog was written a week from our photo shoot. Lishe Wedding had replied us with the edited photos and I am now using them for this blog post. I am amazed at the speed they deliver their post-service. The impression they gave me was each and every one of their staff are devoted to their task and attempt to deliver the best to every couple that use their services. Now they had replied us with the edited photos, I am excited to see the photo album they will be designing and I believe Mike and I do not have to wait very long before Lishe Wedding gets back to us.
