Wedding Gown: Should I go 'all-in'?

It is surprising that I have not written an article on wedding gown. Should a bride go 'all-in' for a wedding gown? My answer has always been '100% yes' until recently. It's been 4 years since my wedding and I have been regretting that I did not spend more to pick an even nicer dress since then. (For your reference, I spent $2500 on a Justina McCaffrey dress.) Now, my husband and I start to have a hard time remembering our wedding anniversary, and this is the time when I realize I could have done a lot with that $2500.

I am not saying you should buy a cheap dress. NEVER buy a cheap wedding gown, as you will look cheap real-time and on your photos! I am saying there can be ways to buy a premiere designer gown with less.

One store I like which sells discounted bridal couture:

Glamour Closet in San Francisco, where you can get excellent labels for less. The nice thing is no appointment is required. This is what I called the 'win-win' situation - wear a nice gown on your wedding, while saving the money to do other things that are valuable in your life.

Makeup & Hair: a few personal recommendations

This may be my biased opinion -- invest in a good makeup & hair artist! As mentioned in my previous article Wedding Makeup, it is exceptionally difficult to find a good makeup & hair artist in the bay area. Regardless of how good the photographer and how nice the venue is, these are all useless if you do not look good on the wedding day.

Below are a few personal recommendations:

Evan Huang (styleevan@yahoo.com): Evan helped on my own wedding; and after that, 5+ friends also hired him for theirs. I think he is the best full-service makeup and hair artist whom you can find in California. He is super skilled and fun. I would recommend him to all my friends. You need to book him really early since he travels around the world to work on fashion shows, etc.

Jessie Wang (weddingbyjessie@yahoo.com): I have seen Jessie's work in 2 weddings, and the brides looked stunning! Jessie does a superb job!

Hair & Makeup by Masami: Masami is a rare Japanese hair and makeup artist serving weddings in the Bay Area. Japan has always been well-known for its clean and elegant hair and makeup styles. It is definitely worthy to make a trial appointment with her.

Christine Makeup & Hair Design: Another decent Asian makeup and hair artist serving Bay Area weddings.

Other popular choices:

Professional Makeup Artistry: Maria is a well-known and popular makeup and hair artist in the Bay Area. You can't go wrong to hire her.


Taylor Pham: Taylor is an Asian makeup guru in the high end.




Makeupnv by Nam Vo: Nam is another Asian makeup guru in the high end.

Photographer: a few personal reccomendations

Photography is an item you cannot save too much on. Couples easily spend $4000+ for whole day coverage, I think it worths the money. Below are a few recommendation on photographers:

Jay Kelly photography: Jay is a hidden treasure. He does not get himself advertised on any of the popular wedding sites, and he is already fully booked with clients via referrals. Jay's shots are fun and unique, and he is very nice and easy to work with.


Jade Studio Production: Philippe helped at my own wedding, and I highly recommend him due to his professionalism, skills, and pleasant personality. Philippe also helped on 2 other close friends' weddings, and the pictures turned out to be all awesome.

Photomomento: Michelle is a fun and talented young artist. Her work is beautiful and candid.

Videographer: a personal recommendation

Videography is not as insignificant as most people think. You will be surprised how often you will be watching the video even long after your wedding. If you have a tight budget, hire someone to shoot and and deliver the raw tapes. Asking a friend to do it may not be a good idea, as the friend will unlikely to be able to enjoy the wedding. Below is a personal recommendation:

TruVision Media: Albert and Eric helped on my wedding. They are very 'quick-actioned', and uses really nice and unique shooting angles. Their post-production DVD was delivered within 2 weeks after the wedding, and quality was very good - simple and elegant!

Florists: a few personal recommendations

Is floral arrangement a potential area to cut budget on? Hard to tell. You don't want to be holding a cheap looking bouquet on your wedding day; at the same time, it may not make sense to pay a fortunate to fill your ceremony hall with exotic flowers.

How would I save money? My suggestion is , at the minimum, you need to hire a florist for your personal flowers. Fortunately, most of the time, only minimal floral decoration of the venue is required. Less is more. Altar and aisle are usually the places you want to spend some money on decorating. Again, hire a professional! It is too risky to DIY in those highly visible areas. On the other hand, it is totally feasible and fun to make the banquet table centerpieces yourself! A typical Asian wedding can easily involve 10+ banquet tables. A LOT of money will be saved if you DIY. You just need to buy simple glass holders and flowers from Costco, and prepare the centerpieces the night before. At the end of day, you can even ask your guests to take the centerpieces home if they like.

Below are a few florists in the Bay Area whom my friends and I recommend:

1. Mints Workshop: Canna and her team is very creative and is great at bringing uniqueness to floral arrangements. Though their price range is not on the low end side, their work is awesome. I personally saw one of her arch designs at a friend's wedding, and I was stunned.

2. Huong Pham (4150.668.9215): Huong creates floral arrangements out of her own home. She is phenomenal at her job and can re-create any arrangement from a photo you provide. She offers suggestions on what works well together and has pictures you can choose from if you don't have something in mind. My friend brought a photo of a bouquet from a Martha Stewart magazine and she was able to create it exactly as it appeared in the picture. Some friends even said her bouquet arrangement looked better than the photo. She also charges reasonable prices.

3. Le Bouquetier: Jacklyn helped on a friend's wedding. Her flowers were one of the most beautiful among the work of all the vendors that I have seen so far. Her style was simple, clean, and contemporary.

Transportation planning: More than just the Rolls Royce

When it comes to transportation planning for your wedding, probably the first question that comes to mind would be "Should we get a Rolls Royce which holds just the two of us, or a stretched limo so that we can enjoy the ride with the bridal party?" Indeed, transportation planning can be much more than this. Asian weddings can be more like our parents' shows; i.e. making relatives happy is way more important than everything else. I have met brides who rented tour buses FULL DAY to transport relatives and guests between hotels and venues, and the family and friends were thrilled to be served!

Missing out the transportation arrangement for relatives was the biggest regret I had for my own wedding. Though the bus rental cost can be daunting, I really think it worths every penny. If you haven't, make a good transportation plan for your beloved relatives and friends.

Wedding Makeup

I often hear from Asian brides-to-be that it is very challenging finding a good makeup artist specializing in Asian makeup in Bay Area. It is interesting that western-style makeup gives the Asian brides a more 'mature' and elegant look; while asian-style makeup gives them a more natural and 'cute' look. I observed that western-style makeup in general uses heavier eye shadow and darker lip color, and focuses on highlighting Asian brides' facial features; while modern asian-style makeup uses light-color and illuminating foundation and blush, lip gloss, and 'non-traditional' eyeshadow colors. I suggest, so do many married Asian women, Asian brides to have an asian-style makeup. However, your groom-to-be may have a different opinion, especially if he is a non-Asian. After all, your wedding makeup is 50% for the groom, 30% for yourself, and 20% for your guests. Make a good judgment!