HN Wedding Photography Studio, Vancouver – Review

Hey, what a long review! I love love love looking at pre-wedding photos and everything about those studios!! I too went to HN, but it was for their gown rentals. Some reminded me of Pronovias. I agree, their gowns are original.

When are you doing your shoot? Are you doing the night shooting? Will it be in pitch darkness?? They didn’t show me samples of that when I was there.

Hi Xiaobee,

I’ll be doing the photoshoot on July 25. I so excited especially now that I’ve picked out my dresses!

They currently don’t have any examples of the night shooting in their gallery so I can’t refer any photos for you to see. But basically for night shooting, they wait till it’s all dark outside (for summer time we’re probably looking at 8:30-9:00pm) before starting to take pictures so the background is all dark and not early evening/sunset time. It’s tiring because you’ve already been taking photos all day and if you are doing it at places like Gastown or downtown where there are a lot of cars, they have to sometimes wait till there are no traffic to take photos of the street.

I’ve seen an example of a couple taking a picture with the Burrard Street Bridge at night. It’s very pretty! There’s also one where they were using sparklers to draw a heart!

Hi Jan,

My wedding is taking place around the same time as yours! It’ll be June 28th, 09. We, too, are currently looking for a wedding photographer. After visiting your site (which is a great help with loads of information, THANK YOU!), we have decided to check out HN and Wedding Story. We love the photo style at HN, especially when we saw the pics of the couple who had their wedding at The Seasons in the Park. I agree with you… Jackson is a master in maximizing natural light. We want to get pre-wedding and wedding days pics done at the same place. We are really attracted by the “metallic paper” used in their highest priced pre-wedding package, but to our surprise, there is no special rate or combined package if you book both the pre-wedding and wedding packages together. Also, they don’t have any package that includes videography… many of my friends who didn’t take videos for their weddings regret it so much! So, as a result, that brings us to quite a bit over our budget, so although we were really tempted to put a deposit, we’ve decided to wait and check out the other places too.

So we visited Wedding Story today. John greeted us and showed us his pics. He was very patient with us… and also showed us the videography department and the gowns. The one thing we LOVE about the Wedding Story is the VIDEO… the editing is done very professionally… and the audio capture and lighting was awesome. The pre-wedding pictures were not bad at all too. However, after having seen the wedding day pics at HN, we found that John’s (the chief photographer at Wedding Story) style for taking indoor pics when there isn’t enough light is not as natural. He relies more on flashlight… and it results in a lack of “warm” feeling to the picture.

So we are still debating about what we should do. We haven’t used your name as reference at HN… do you think that would perhaps help?

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for dropping by and I’m glad the site was useful for you. For videography, my friend used Love Story Media (http://www.lovestorymedia.com) for her wedding. Their pricing is pretty reasonable so maybe this could be one of your option if the photo studio you chose does not provide videography.

As for HN, feel free to mention my name to Vivian, hopefully that’d help a bit. Did you also inquire about the custom pre-wedding photo package, where they are able to tailor the items in the package to fit your needs? For example, we didn’t need the thank you cards, which shred about ~$50-75 off the pricing. In total, I’ve been to HN three times before paying the deposit. I let them know that I’ve checked out other photo studios, what I really want for my package and how much I’m willing to pay for it.

Hope this helps! I would love to hear back from you on your decision.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for your advice! We went back to HN a second time. This time we had already prepared ourselves to put a deposit. We had also made up our minds on the package… we were going to go with the smaller pre-wedding package without the “piano crystal” cover and metallic paper… cause it’s still really nice and $1000 less.

We talked with Sandy, who was really really helpful. We have worked out all the details with her.. to customize the package. She was more willing to tailor the package to our needs… like taking away the parents album and thank you cards, and substituting with more poses for the pre-wedding album (from 40 to 45 poses). She was also giving us an extra enlargement with a frame. In terms of the dresses, I was hoping she would include 1 bridesmade dress rental (since I only have 1), and the men’s tux if they don’t need alteration. In the end, she was willing to discount $30 (from $150 to $120) for the bridesmade’s rental.

Although that was still less than what we think she was able to do for us… we’ve decided that since it’s the picture quality and Jackson’s technique that we fell in love with… we were still going to go ahead. HOWEVER, just when we were about to say “go ahead”… Sandy mentioned something about VIP dresses. We were really surprised when she said that because Vivien told us we were able to use ALL the dresses upstairs for our pre wedding and wedding day rental. I questioned Sandy… then she said those dresses were only inclded for the most expensive package, not the one we were going with now. I told her that’s not what Vivien told us… she said no… if we were to wear the VIP dresses for wedding day, its $500 extra!!!

At that point.. both my fiance and I were felt really uncomfortable and lost our trust in the place. We immediately thought… what are the OTHER hidden costs? We have asked them so many times and they kept saying no hidden cost… You know, honestly, for a girl… if you saw a REALLY beautiful dress that you ABSOLUTELY LOVE on the day you pick your dress… you are kinda forced to pay the $500!! Cause at that time, all the other dresses would look ugly to you… and if you didn’t rent that dress that you love, you would for sure regret it!

I know I am a very picky person… and I know that would for sure happen to me! If they had been more up-front and just told us (like Bello that we inquired before) that certain dresses are extra cost, we would totally have no problem with it. We just feel so hesitant about the place now.

So I told Sandy the whole situation and asked her what the $500 was for. She said it’s for extra charge for the dry-cleaning and just in case someone damage those expensive dresses. So I said, to be fair, I am willing to pay the extra dry cleaning charge, be it $100, $200… and I am willing to pay $500 more DEPOSIT on the dress IF I happen to choose one that is VIP. I want myself to have the option of choosing a VIP dress if that’s the only dress I love. I think that is really reasonable.

She said no, we can’t do that because they have to make some money on the VIP dresses too. I think that kind of thinking is quite unacceptable. First of all, we were told that we could choose any dress we see upstairs. Secondly, that really seems like a scam in making extra few hundred bucks. And since we were given the wrong information, they should just not make that extra money off us if we chooses the VIP dress.

We argued with her for quite some time… she kept saying things that contradict what she said before… like she started saying that 1) even for the most expensive pre-wedding package, you need to add the extra $500 for the VIP dresses; 2) that not all VIP dresses are $500 extra… some are $600, others could be more… and what she could do for us was to put on the receipt that the charge on the VIP dress if we chose would be $500, not more. We were quite shocked! We really lost our trust and confidence in that place!

It is so unfortunate that the business practice there is so messed up. We absolutely LOVE the pictures, but we are not willing to be “robbed”. We want this to be a happy and joyful event… not one that we have to always worry about being taken advantage of. If the girls know more about what they are talking about… if we had felt confidence and professionalism…. we would have 100% gone ahead.

Anyway, we are probably going to get everything done at Wedding Story. We will just stop thinking about that horrible experience at HN and keep smiling!

Will keep you posted!

Hi Brenda, sorry to hear about your experience at HN. When are you planning to take the photos with Wedding Story? I’d love to see how they turn out!

I’m so curious about NH wedding as I heard it from my friends, but their website is super slow =(

My wedding is August 2nd, 2009, and we had a package with Whiteday which is a korean based wedding studio. The package covers pre-wedding and 10hrs wedding day photo section (our wedding starts from afternoon). They’ll provide a bride assistance on your wedding day. So I don’t have to worry about my makup, yay ^^ Plus The service is really good.

I passed by White Day a few times heading to the paper store in the area. I should go in and visit one day.

I find it very common for Korean photo studios to offer bride assistance for the wedding day. I’d like to know what the experience is like having someone follow you around all day doing hair and makeup touch ups.

Hi Jan,

I have read your blog for a while. I will be getting married next August2010, so I am currently doing some online research for the wedding. I am also an Asian and my bf is a caucasian. I read that the prewedding photos have to be taken 12-9 mos before the wedding day. Would it be a problem if I choose to take it just 4 months before that? I wanted to wait til next mar/april to take the shoots because of the cherry blossom.
Thanks!

Hi minibabay,

I think it would be doable but best is to ask the studio. I think the reason why they recommend you to take it so far ahead is because a lot of people want to take it in the summer and it takes about 2 – 3 months to get the pictures & albums ready and transport it over here.

Hope this helps

Hi Jan,

Thanks for your reply! Are you going to have HN to do the photographies on your wedding day as well? I wonder how much the whole package cost.

How about makeup? I would like to have sarah lin to do my makeup..i know that she is super busy..just in case i am not able to book her..i want to know what other options i can have.

I am having so much troubles in booking the reception. Im starting to get frustrated. I went to brockhouse,mayfair,ubc boathouse..and they are all booked up for next august..the only availability is Sunday or Brunch.
I tried to call Kirin @ starlight as well, they also told me that those dates that i want are all booked. And since I dont have lots of have (appx 100-150)..they will have to separate it with a petition..which is something i dont like about it.
I called Brix and the harthouse….15k in the evening min 100ppl and harthouse costs about 15k as well which includes the tent rental+ceremony.

I am afraid that if i dont book it soon..i will haev to settle for smth that i dont like. My wedding date is initially set to aug28/2010 or aug7/2010.

I hope you can give me some ideas.
Thanks a lot!

Oh one more thing…i am going to HN studio this saturday..would you mind if i use you as a referal? Since i read about them trough your blog.
thanks!

Hi minibaby,

Feel free to mention me when you’re at HN. I’m not sure if Vivian is there but Sandy should remember me.

As for venues for 100-150 people you are most likely going to get partitioned with most Chinese restaurants. I think Sea Harbour in Richmond’s maximum capacity is 180-190, so if you have 150 you might be able to negotiate with them for taking all the space. Another option might be Gingeri or maybe renting the Hycroft Manor and have the dinner catered? I noticed they have added a few other catering vendors to their preferred list.

Hi, thank you so much for all the feedback you got there for hm wedding. I called them and its abit pricy.. Do you have any other suggestions?? and also where was your reception?

Hi Anna,

I have to move my wedding to next year (hopefully!) but we have put a deposit for Victoria Chinese Restaurant in downtown. Since we have a lot of time left to plan the wedding and our guest list seemed to be growing with no end in sight we are also looking at the Kirin Restaurant in New Westminster. Do you need suggestions for wedding photo studios? I’ve posted a few in the blog (such as Lovely Wedding, Wedding Story, Lisage) but this year I might spend some time visiting Bello and iWed Wedding World.

Hi.. Thank you so much for your reply. I am soo depressed to plan my wedding next 10/10/2011. Do you know where I could rent a gown for all my bridesmaid? I called HN wedding and they said they only focus only for the bride (gown to be rented) but im sure that I will buy my gown for remembrance. I dont have any problem about tux since all the guys have their own tuxedo. My only problem is the reception (im looking for a reception with good asian food and that includes decoration) and also all the gown for all my girls and a good photographer. I talked to HN photographer but will ask me to wear my wedding gown for pre-wedding pic but as a filipino (we cant wear or try on our gown) we could only wear our gown on our wedding day.. please please help me.. by the way when is your wedding? When i read your blog i thought your wedding is done coz you seem to be “experience” already when it comes to a wedding prep. Again, thank you very much

Hi Anna,

When I went to Lisage (http://www.bridalvancouver.com/index.html) to inquire about wedding photos, the sales lady there told me they also rent out gowns for bridesmaids so maybe you can check with them? Aside from that I’m not sure where else since my bridesmaid got their gowns from Hong Kong.

As for restaurants, I’d suggest finding ones that can accommodate your number of guests first, then maybe go and have dinner there to sample their food. Some restaurants have the “double happiness” and the last names of the couple as decoration (the rest of the decoration is really up to you). Also most restaurants will have table numbers so you don’t need bring your own (unless of you don’t like the table number holder they are have). My personal preference is Gingeri at Lansdowne Mall and Kirin (New Westminster location).

As for photographer, maybe an engagement photo shoot would be better for you than prewedding? I know most prewedding photo shoot involves the bride-to-be in a wedding gown but engagement ones are more casual (at least from the ones I’ve seen). I didn’t do any research in this area so I can’t recommend a photographer but you could start off asking the studio if they would take prewedding photos in only evening gowns or casual clothing (usually the package includes both evening and wedding gowns in the photo shoot). Other than that maybe you can look for other photographers (I’m sure you will be able to find alot from Google) that specialize in engagement photography.

As for my own wedding we’re planning to have it in 2011. The date is not set yet. I do events planning as a part of my job so maybe that’s why it seems like I have experience. ^_^

PS: Since you mentioned that you will be buying your own wedding gown, if you do get a prewedding photo package (say at studios such as HN which I know the prewedding photo package includes wedding gown rental for the day of the wedding), see if you can negotiate down the price a bit.

Before I dealt with HN Wedding in Richmond, they’re a photography place for brides, I thought they were the best.

This is until my fiance and I took the wedding photos, were unhappy with the quality, and Vivian, the owner (she pretends she’s just an employee to manipulate her clients and push any difficult decisions to “Sorry, my boss says ‘No’” when she’s THE BOSS) would not let us retake our photos NO MATTER WHAT. She does this trick where she will find out, “What is it about the photo that you don’t like?” And most often than not, it is lighting. If you complain about the facial expression due to poor artistic directions, then she will blame that “That’s your face and that’s how you are. How can I change that?” And if it’s lighting, she blames it on the weather as opposed to the photographer and the assistant’s poor abilities to do lighting…

During the photoshoot, the photographer told me to walk through some rose bushes. My wedding dress got caught in the thorns but we did not realize until a bit later that I had actually caused a little torn. No. Instead of taking responsibility, they blamed ME and said that I was not careful. Consequently, they asked me to pay $500 on top of the $6000 package I had already signed up for, to pay for a new train.

To make matter worse, the makeup artist changed my style during the photoshoot. But I had no mirror. So I didn’t know that she had made my hair into a crow’s nest – yes – it WAS THAT BAD! I had no say in my own style b/c I was never given the mirror. And so that whole set of shots went down to the toilet ON TOP of the set with the POOR LIGHTING (which they blamed on the weather / and the lack of sunlight – b/c I had taken my pictures in the winter).

NOW. GET THIS! My engagement was later called off. At this point, I had already put in $2000. Remember, we were already not happy with our photos but were MADE to pay the $2000. No retakes. No refunds. We decided to leave the situation b/c my fiance and I were both having cold feet and we didn’t have the energy to deal with this. So the engagement was called off. And I told Vivian. Instead of being helpful, she told me that “by contract, you still owe us another $4000!). “But the wedding is off!!! And I’ve already paid $2000 for one day of shooting and you haven’t even given me ANYTHING!” “It doesn’t matter. It’s on the contract. If you don’t pay, we’ll take you to court.”

So there you go. Do you really want to deal with this company? They may have nice dresses and Vivian may seem nice. But TRUST ME, that’s how I got suckered in too until things did not turn out the way it was promised…

Hi Ashley,

Sorry to hear that you had such a poor experience.

I had also inquired about the refund as my wedding was called off 7 months before the wedding date. In the contact it had stated clearly that there will be no refund but I was able to negotiate a change of date. However the condition is to pay the difference in pricing as the cost of the wedding day photo shoot goes up in price every year. I had signed the contract in 2008 but since the wedding is now moved to 2011, I had to pay a bit extra as the pricing for 2011 photo shoot is more than when I first signed the contract. I think this is fair and I can understand why they have a no refund policy. What I’d be interested in knowing is whether you’d be able to use the deposit you paid as credits for something else (like other photo shoot) if you do cancel the wedding or have decided to go with another studio.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. As I’ve stated in a comment in this post, if you have any concerns, be sure to have the vendor clear it up before making any commitments. I’m sure your experience will raise questions and concerns for a lot of people who are researching on HN Wedding. Hopefully having those questions answered by HN will help them decide whether this studio is right for them or not.