Bridal houses basically offers a packaged service which includes, bridal gowns, groom's suit/ tuxedo, professional photographer, make-up, photography, costumes (i.e. Korean costumes, Japanese kimono, sailor, paramilitary etc, gigantic photo frame, and whatever wild/wet dream and fantasy you and your spouse want, they will deliver it to you for a price.
There is never short of supply of bridal houses in Kuala Lumpur. Most of them are concentrated at Jalan Loke Yew and has extended their presence in SS2 in Petaling Jaya.
We did not engage the service of a bridal house but some of my married friends and family had they have paid between RM7,000 to RM10,000 for the combined services.
I am not sure why it would be so expensive because during one of my bridal fair tour, I noticed that the package prices starts from RM2,888 and I don’t see why my family and friends end up paying more than RM7,000. In any case, when we were preparing for our wedding, Kay and I dropped by at a few of this bridal houses to explore the possible opportunity to contract their services and to get a good deal. When we walked into Bridal Shop A, a heavy but bubbly man came bouncing out to the front door to receive us.
This is an excerpt of our conversation:
Bubbly man: Welcome to Bridal Shop Ah! Looks like we got a to-be married couple here. Before we go on, when is the eventful date? Where is it?
Kay: We are having it on xx day xx month xx year at Hotel X.
Bubbly man: Ohhhh. We have some slots from now to the event and I must say it is a lovely and grand hotel you have booked.
(Note: I have only come to realise towards the end of the conversation that Mr. Bubbly wants to know if we are having it at a hotel or a restaurant. A hotel and if it's a five-star hotel would indicate our wealth/ budget)
Bob: What sort of package do you have for us? We wanted something simp...
Bubbly man: Ohhh... we have a few packages.
Bubbly took out a blank piece of paper and started scribbling. This is real nice. A big established bridal house with no definite price list. Then he showed me the scribbled price list:
1) Package A cost RM1,988;
2) Package B RM2,888; and
3) Package C RM3,888.
The difference with each package is the number of photos we could put into the album, the quality of the bridal gown (package A bridal gown is for VIP, while package B is for VVIP and Package C is for VVVIP), the size of the photo frame, album quality etc.
And I thought, if I wanted it simple, I could take mid-range say Package B at RM2,800. How the hell did my friends manage to make it to RM10,000? Then it came clear to me.
Bubbly man: In Package B, we will take a minimum of 80 photo shots of both of you and we will take 20 of your best shots for the album. We will give you two albums which has identical shots. One for you and one for your wife's mum since you are taking her away...ha ha ha.
20 shots don’t sound too bad. I can make it simple. But Kay saw the problem almost immediately.
Kay: I don't think 20 photos is enough. If you take 80 shots and we could only choose 25% of the entire selection. What if some shots looks good on my husband but not me and vice-versa? Then we may end up choosing more photos than the provided 20.
Bubbly man: Don't worry, after the shot if you think you need more we will print more but you may have to pay extra because it is not in the package.
Bob: How much?
Bubbly man: RM60 for a photo.
What the f@*k? It doesn't cost much to print a photo? If I were to choose 10 extra photo it would cost me an extra RM600!
Kay: Are you going to give us the negative for the original 80 since you are not going to put all the photos in the album?
Bubbly man: So sorry. We can't. It is not in the package.
Kay: Ok fine (a little frustrated). By the way, can I see your gown?
Bubbly man was more than happy to bring us around the collection of gown. He showed us VVIP gown. We touched the material. Feels like it has been recycle from newspaper. Then he showed us the VVVIP version and Super VIP version (locked in a room with high level of security). The quality of these gowns was far better than the choice of our package.
Kay: If I wanted to maintain package B but take this Super VIP gown instead of what was in the package, how much would I have to pay?
Bubbly man: Ohh...you need to add an additional of RM1,000 just for that. But it is very nice indeed. I think you should try it on now just to have a feel.
Then it came clear to me how my friends and family paid RM7,000 to RM10,000 for pre-wedding photo shots. These bridal houses are engaging in physiological warfare. First, tempt you with the low cost package. Once you have signed in and taken your photos, extra cost kicks in. Even small things like the photo album cover. They could provide you something ugly and if you want something better quality...just topped-up your money. Why not since it's a once in a lifetime, (the so famously abused phrase), might as well go for the best and part your money foolishly.
Anyway, we walked out since we are not comfortable with such business tactics. At first we thought that only Bridal House A employs such tactic. Then when visit Bridal House B, C, D and all the way to Z, it's all the same tactic.
So the next time you pick up a good deal from a bridal house, think twice! You might end up paying more than you’ve envisage.
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