More S’porean couples going overseas for wedding photoshoots

SINGAPORE: More Singaporean couples are setting their sights overseas for their wedding photoshoots. Some industry players have seen a 20 per cent increase in the past year alone.

An expansive landscape and cool weather are some of the things driving Singaporean couples overseas in search of the perfect backdrop for their wedding photos.

Andrew Mok, creative director, Moomedia, said: "Every couple is the same, they all want to be different. Yes we have beautiful gardens and reservoirs, but it’s been done to death. It’s no longer just about the photos, it’s about the whole experience and that involves people going to exotic countries they’ve never been to."

Yu Hsin, photographer, Tiny Dot Photography, said: "Going overseas they get less distractions, they don’t get phone calls in the middle of the day from the office. They’d do things they wouldn’t normally do in Singapore because people don’t know them anyway."

Some of the more popular destinations are Bali and Australia.

But there are couples who prefer more exotic destinations.

Newly—weds Nicholas Lim and Huang Sisi spent nine days in three cities in Europe in March.

They spent nearly S$16,000 on their pre—wedding shoot alone.

"Everybody was like, ’that’s exorbitant!’ But I guess since we decided to go for the better pictures, we might as well pay a little bit more for the quality," said Ms Huang.

Mr Lim said: "I could say it’s value for money, you get a ’wow’ here and you get a ’wow’ at your wedding as well. Some people go for S$8,000 cheongsams for their evening gowns. Sadly, I could not offer that to my wife. Some people want to spend S$1,000 on their suit, (but) I went for a more affordable alternative. So there’s some give and take."

"Those pictures will be with us for the next 30, 40 years. That’s what I’m going to show my kids," added Ms Huang.

But it’s not just Singaporean couples who are jetsetting around the world for their wedding photo shoots.

Local photographers said they’ve received more requests from foreign couples for their services.

Mr Yu said: "I think Singaporean photographers are fairly underrated. In the western world, they don’t really do pre—wedding (shoots) so we do have an advantage in that sense. So when clients look for these kind of things, the overseas wedding photographers may not be able to deliver something like that."

With more couples looking to capture their special day in a special way, photographers expect demand for such photoshoots to grow further in the next few years.

— CNA/cc