Our Taiwan Engagement Photos Part 1: Outdoors

In Taiwan, it’s super dooper popular to take all day engagement/wedding pictures where there are makeup artists and rented dresses galore.  My brother and cousins had gotten theirs taken previously at Sophia Ritz Studio in Taipei, Taiwan so I knew I wanted mine done there too, plus my aunt already knew a lot of the sales ladies there.  So we planned a trip to head to Taiwan in early April 2009, a month and a half before our wedding.  Since Marvin and I didn’t want to take too much vacation, we spent a week there, and between 50%-75% of our time was related to this session.  Here’s a breakdown:

Day 1 –  We got to the studio at 2PM.  I proceeded upstairs to the changing room where I had a lady help me the whole time.  She was so fun and bubbly and she even helped me put on my Nubra – Self Adhesive Silicone Bra.  Let me just say, the Nubra works wonders in terms of keeping up the perk, staying on ALL DAY, and it’s strapless.  If you don’t have one, you should probably get one, you won’t regret it, OK sorry I digressed.  Anyhow, I tried on about 10 colored dresses and finally decided on 3.  Then at 5PM, some friends of ours came and met up with Marvin and took him out while I tried on white wedding dresses (because I would rent two of them for our real wedding and I didn’t want him to see the reception dress beforehand)!  3 hours later I had found my ceremony and reception dress and the white dresses for the session.  Then we met with our photographer and told him what we were looking for in the pictures.  Then we went to a place called Gem to get tuxedos picked out for Marvin.  Grooms in Asia typically wear white tuxes, but we opted out of that and choose grey and black tuxes instead.  8 hours later and we were finally done with the outfit selections!  Then we hit up street food in the Night Markets before the BIG PHOTO DAY!

Day 2 – We arrived at the studio at 9AM where I proceeded to try on my dresses to make sure they fit (they were all altered the night before).  I then went to hair/makeup/nails which took another hour.  At 11AM, me, Marv, the photographer, his 2 assistants, the hairdresser and the driver headed Outdoors in the freezing cold weather!  For the first shoot, I wore a pink dress while Marv wore casual clothes.  We took pictures at a lake and they even brought their own personal swing for us (I really wanted swing pictures!)

Then I got changed into my white wedding dress (this is the same dress that I brought back for my wedding and wore for the reception) and they redid my hair and switched the flower.  We took these pictures at a forest, flower garden and lake at Yang Min San.

Then as the day was winding down, I changed to a green dress and Marv changed to a grey suit and we took pictures at Dan Shui beach!  It was SUPER WINDY and cold (I’m talking like 9 degrees Celsius, which I’m too lazy to convert to Fahrenheit for ya’ll, but trust me, that’s cold)!  But it was worth it for the pictures and to wear this gorgeous dress!  And of course, we had to do an “engagement” reenactment! 🙂

We were cold.  We were tired.  We were hungry.  But we had two more outfits to go!  Come back later for the Indoors set of pictures from this day!

50 Comments

  1. May 13, 2010 / 8:30 pm

    You look so beautiful!! love all your dresses.

  2. May 13, 2010 / 9:05 pm

    These are beautiful 🙂

  3. May 13, 2010 / 9:31 pm

    Sandy, I can’t tell you how joyful it is to see these photos!! Perfection!!! Thank you so, so much for sharing them! xo – g

  4. May 13, 2010 / 9:48 pm

    WHAAAAATTTT!! These are gorgeous!

  5. Caroline Hong
    May 13, 2010 / 11:06 pm

    gorgeous!

  6. May 13, 2010 / 11:31 pm

    Sandy, all of your photos are amazing. I love that last green dress — you totally look like a classic Hollywood scarlet in it. You must have had so much fun taking photos and wearing so many gorgeous dresses!

  7. May 13, 2010 / 11:44 pm

    Gorgeous gorgeous photos! I love the colors and textures of the outfits you chose to wear!

  8. May 14, 2010 / 12:35 am

    Sigh! These are soooo gorgeous!

  9. May 14, 2010 / 1:18 am

    OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can anyone look any more beautiful than you guys did!! I think NOT!!
    that pink dress!!! i got teary eyed!! lol! awwww!! i LOVE IT!

  10. May 14, 2010 / 1:31 am

    Sandy! These photos are gorgeous! Congrats on your upcoming wedding anniversary!
    Thanks so much for your kind words on my blog :]

  11. May 14, 2010 / 5:41 am

    These are amazing!! I mean amazing that pink dress is killer makes me think of Sex & the city.

  12. May 14, 2010 / 6:28 am

    OMG! those were absolutely amazing engagement pictures! you two make a beautiful couple and i loved all of the dresses, and all the different places they were shot. thanks so much for sharing! looking forward to the next set of pics!

  13. May 14, 2010 / 7:43 am

    WOW!! These photos are awesome! You guys are a seriously attractive couple and the scenery is just amazing! I guess I never really pictured Taiwan to look so… hilly and pastoral. It’s just stunning! And OMG, that pink dress is to die for. So do most Taiwanese couples do such elaborate engagement photo shoots? And what did you do with these photos? We had a 30-minute shoot of us in jeans and got some awesome shots but I haven’t even printed all of them!

  14. May 14, 2010 / 7:56 am

    O M Goodness, these are so beautiful! And it was absolutely the right decision to do the shoot. Both of you look so cute together and I like the “yelling” shot – I could totally hear it, “Holla!” *haha*

    Did you bring the green dress home?

  15. May 14, 2010 / 8:17 am

    wow wow wow!!!! absolutely stunning! that pink dress… oh my, you look like a fairytale princess with your handsome prince. 🙂 love the pics with the reflection in the water. just beautiful!!!

  16. May 14, 2010 / 9:04 am

    Sandy, WOW!!! all of your photos are amazing. I love that last green dress — it’s beautiful on you 🙂 How fun that must have been to get to wear all these beautiful dresses!!!

  17. May 14, 2010 / 9:39 am

    Oh my gosh, Sandy!! These pictures are amazingly gorgeous!! Honestly all so beautiful, but you in that green dress? I would frame those photos all over your house if I were you! Stunning!

    • May 14, 2010 / 9:42 am

      @hip hip gin gin – thanks!! we do have one of those green dress photos framed… and a pink dress one and a white dress one! =)

  18. May 14, 2010 / 9:44 am

    wow lovely wedding outfits its great
    i love this blog

  19. May 14, 2010 / 10:32 am

    you guys look like you’re straight out of an asian drama! haha beautiful photos — you’re a super cute couple! ps. looks like our wedding days were only a couple weeks apart :]

  20. May 14, 2010 / 10:52 am

    Ohh, I love your choice in dresses! The green looks great on you!

    Lexi
    Love.Obsess.Inspire.

  21. May 14, 2010 / 11:26 am

    {sigh} they are so beautiful, Sandy :]

    love. love. love.

  22. May 14, 2010 / 11:35 am

    Oh, I love these so much! I have SO enjoyed looking at all your photos, you guys are so cute! I used to see couples having their engagement photos taken in Central Park, they were ALL decked out, and I loved it! I am so happy for you guys!

  23. May 14, 2010 / 1:42 pm

    So cute and really really tasteful! (some studios in Asia get a bit on the really really cheesy side and the editing is overdone) But it looks like they were really good at what they do and paid super attention to detail! Loooooove them!

  24. May 14, 2010 / 1:52 pm

    a. you are gorgeous
    b. these photos are AMAZING
    c. i must get to taiwan!

  25. May 14, 2010 / 2:34 pm

    Oh my wow! You’re so beautiful, what an amazing experience.

  26. May 14, 2010 / 3:51 pm

    Your pictures are gorgeous – what an event!!! You are going to make an absolutely beautiful bride!!!

    Thanks for your sweet comment about my Nikki the other day.

    – Lindsay

  27. May 14, 2010 / 5:02 pm

    Oh my gosh!!! I think these are literally the most gorgeous and romantic engagement photos I’ve ever seen–literally! I love the swing too, the engagement reenactment, the pink dress pics–love them all & all the cute poses you two are in! You look really pretty too!!!

    Ashley
    http://HoneysuckleChic.com

  28. May 14, 2010 / 7:13 pm

    i can’t even begin to imagine! the time, effort and money… but oh my… they are absolutely gorgeous! doesn’t hurt that the two of you are to handsome, too!! 🙂 can’t wait to see more….

  29. May 14, 2010 / 8:29 pm

    Wow, what a day!!

    You look absolutley breathtaking. You are both very photogenic, and such fantastic and creative photos.

    Have a great weekend 🙂

  30. May 14, 2010 / 9:47 pm

    There are no words. Each photo was more beautiful than the last. That pink..WOW!

  31. May 14, 2010 / 10:49 pm

    Oh, amazing!! How fun to get to spend a whole day being adorable with your husband -to-be!! We loved taking our engagement photos, and do them is such beautiful locations with amazing outfits! How lucky!!

  32. May 15, 2010 / 1:32 am

    Woooow! You look stunning, absolutely gorgeous! Congrats doll, so happy you’re happy. 🙂

  33. May 15, 2010 / 3:46 am

    Haha I remember always going to Taiwan and wanting to take these types of pictures ’cause it was the cool thing to do.

    Your pics look lovely xoxo

  34. May 15, 2010 / 11:28 am

    I am in awe. your dresses are stunning. you two look so in love:)

  35. May 15, 2010 / 4:14 pm

    The pink ruffles are to die for! Amazing how those look on you! That’s so crazy that you count temperature by CELSIUS! Me too!! My husband thinks I’m weird for that. I just used Celsius growing up in the Philippines. I still can’t think based on Fahrenheit.

  36. May 15, 2010 / 10:58 pm

    How amazing is that pink ruffly dress? LOVE. You two are adorable. Congrats.

  37. May 16, 2010 / 4:18 am

    Oh my gosh Sandy. Your photos are amazing. I just viewed both sets, indoors and outdoors and they are all so beautiful. Your dresses are to die for, can’t decide which one I like best. You look gorgeous inall of them and you and your husband make the cutest couple.

    Happy 1 Year Anniversary to you both. Hope you go and celebrate and have so much fun.

    {thank you so much for visiting my blog yesterday and commenting. it makes me happy you did and glad you liked the items from spool no. 72. also thank you for your reply to my last comment on the wonton soup, i can’t wait to make it. i will let you know how it turned out for me and my hubby.}

    oxox

  38. May 16, 2010 / 11:41 am

    Sandy these photos are all so amazing and special, thank you so much for sharing them with us! I love the shot of the two of you from above, with you in the pink dress and the red rose petals, just stunning!!

  39. July 19, 2010 / 12:13 am

    thanks for posting your pics! I’m traveling to Taiwan with my fiance in a month and it’s helpful to know what the experience is like!

    GORGEOUS photos! ^_^

  40. November 9, 2010 / 11:45 am

    the pink dress is sooo cute!

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