Wedding Story Photo Studio
Wedding Story, a Korean photo studio, was introduced to me by a friend who is also getting married in 2009. Like myself, she was also looking for a complete package where the photos and dresses would be all included for pre-wedding and wedding day. My research began by visiting their website and looking at their photography style. Al and I paid particular attention to the composition of the photo as well as the make up on both the bride and the groom. There were several photos we really liked on their website so we decided to pay them a visit. Be sure to book an appointment first to ensure that someone will be available to meet with you when you arrive.
John Paik, Chief Executive Photographer of Wedding Story, greeted us at the entrance of the building and took us up to the studio. The building is very old, kind of like an historic building, with a spiral staircase right outside the studio entrance. I thought it’d be pretty interesting to have a photo taken at the black spiral staircase since you don’t see those sitting around too often. The studio is not very big. The entrance leads straight to the open area where studio photos are shot. Each corner of the room is decorated with a different set of wall paper, chair and other decor. It was almost like having 3 rooms merging into one. The over all theme is very elegant and classy. It reminds me of those Victorian style photos. In the next room, there were rows of dresses and tuxedos hanging by the wall along with a make up table. A smaller room beyond that has a sewing machine and other stuff set up to alter the dresses and tuxes to fit each bride and groom.
Since John is a photographer, he was able to tell us how he composed the photos, such as the position and the lighting. He also mentioned that smiling is not very natural when you are nervous. A photographer’s job is not just to tell a couple to smile but to help them relax and feel confident in their surroundings. That way the photos will turn out more natural and realistic. He showed us several different albums, each of different sizes. All the albums are in square shapes, 12″ x 12″ or 10″ x 10″. They don’t really have a limit of how many photos you can put in the album so you can put in as many pictures as you like. The Wedding Story designer will help you in laying out each page of the album. The album itself is very nice. The leather cover usually has a place to insert one of your photos and the album pages are compressed (it’s really thick, like those children’s book with cardboard pages) and prints are bleed off the page (like a magazine).
So after looking at the album and the process of creating one, the big question is: How much does it cost? Wedding Story has several packages with different options that determines their pricing. Both Al and I find their pricing very reasonable, especially with what they include in the package. Each package will include either a rental of one or more wedding gowns and evening dresses. They also have traditional Korean clothing should you wish to wear it for your photos. Aside from dressing up the bride, they also provide tuxedo, hair and make up for the groom. The best part, is having a personal assistance for your wedding day. I was told that the personal assistance will basically follow the bride all day to ensure that her hair and make up is always perfect! Finally, many of the packages includes two parent albums. They are smaller version of your albums (with the nice cover and compressed pages) which you can give to your parents. Most photo studio do not include it in their photo package.
Since I am having the tea ceremony at my place to start the day, I had enquired whether they have a maximum time limit for the photographers. I was worried that if, for example, they only provides 8-10 hours of coverage during my wedding day, should I just have the photographers start at the ceremony? John had ensure me that Wedding Story have experience in doing Chinese weddings and that they do not have a time limit of how long the photographers work. They will have one photographer start at the bride’s house, when she begins her day. Another photographer will start at the groom’s location. This way both side is covered. The photographers end the day when the wedding celebration is over.
I had really enjoyed learning about Wedding Story. It was the first photo studio that Al and I went to. We were both very impressed with their photography style and almost had the urge to pay our deposit the same day to ensure we reserve our wedding date. However, I’m curious as to what other studios has to offer so decided to check out several other places before making a final decision.
Contact Information:
Wedding Story
#601-207 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC, V6B 1H7
Phone: 604.899.2140
Email: info@weddingstory.ca
Website: http://www.weddingstory.ca
Find this interesting? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Hi xiaobee, congrats on your wedding! When is it? Are you from Vancouver or flying out here from Toronto?
I actually ended up booking with HN Wedding, a Taiwanese photo studio. It was a tough decision between HN and Wedding Story but HN has better studio photos and they also do night shooting, which I’ve never seen before.
Hi Jan…congrats on your upcoming wedding too! When is it? Vancouver is our hometown, but both FI and I don’t live there anymore so I guess you could say we are flying out for the wedding!
I’ve been to HN before…I went upstairs to look at their dresses. What’s this night shooting you’re talking about?
Ours is on July 25, 2009. Still a long way away but I wanted to make sure most of the vendors are booked so I won’t have to scramble to find them next year.
HN is the only studio I saw that takes photos at night time, from about 7-11pm or sometimes later depending on the location. At other studios, the latest I’ve seen are sunset photos, nothing that late into the night.
Actually, I just had our photos taken at HN wedding. We were disappointed of the quality. We were surprised of the number of photos that were available for us to choose from. It sucks!
by the way, I am planning to find a friend to retake the photos for me. I should have gone to Taiwan and have them taken there!
Hi Bonny, thank you for sharing your experience. Did Jackson took the wedding photos for you? From the studios we’ve visited, thought HN was the best of them all. We’ve visited Lisange, Lovely Wedding and Wedding Story. I’ve heard bad experience from Charlies so we never went there.
Wow…cool site! I’m also having my wedding in Vancouver. I wish I heard about this studio earlier. Did you end up booking with them? If you want some other suggestions, let me know…I did some research.