Tips to prep your little one for his first photoshoot

Many photographers have called our little one lovely to work with. To be quite honest, we can get quite a nice bang for our bucks most of the time because he looks and poses straight to the camera. Unlike his old man, this little boy is not camera shy and even knows how to put his best face forward. 

I am not entirely sure if this is trained by me but I am happy to share a few tips and at the same time spam more photos. You know I love this collection from Bite Size Affair! Hehe.

1. Pick a good timing: Preferably pick a slot immediately after your child's nap. This would ensure that the child is in good mood and you have more awake time to attempt to capture the shoots you want.


2. Bring lots of snacks: This is a common but really handy advice. Most kids would settle down better as the are munching. We ended up with a lot of photos of our little red panda holding some snacks in his hand with a cheeky grin. It wasn't what we expected but the effect was pretty good. 


3. Pick a studio shoot: Personally I prefer that option especially when a cake smash is involved cos the aftermath cleaning is massive. I know some parents DIY but I totally can't imagine myself doing that. 





4.  Discuss on theme/ expectations: I think this is very important. A lot of parents end up being disappointed because they expect perfect shots. I do take a bit of photos of my boy at home but sometimes when the smile is right, the background is chaotic. Either that he is on the move. Realistically, perfect shots are hard to come by. Having said that, Bite Size Affair had so many hits. I am very pleased. 


5. Baby clothes: Generally, you have the option of wearing your own or going with the photographer's available wardrobe. We used our because I had this suit in our cupboard that was so appropriate for the woodland theme. Honestly, if you are ok with a slightly less fitting clothes, I think you should avoid using your own clothes especially when a cake smash is involved. It took me 3 washes before I could get all his cake off. #Exhausting 


6. It is not all about the baby: Remember to get some shoots together as a family too. I love this series as well because it captured the happy moments I have as a mother /parent amidst the bad, grouchy days. It also reminds me how much baby love me and I enjoy his company. 

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Quote "ba13yg" for an additional 10% off for a photoshoot with Bite Size Affair!

Bridemaid Duties: Awake for 19 Hours Part 2

The photos are finally out. So I am going to continue writing about Part 2 of the wedding from a bridesmaids perspective. Quite honestly, all the girls (even the bride) are either very exhasuted/ drained or has fallen ill.

Bridesmaid are like workers behind the scene haha. I just realised actually at the wedding dinner, we didn't really have much photos probably cos we were not in the banquet hall half the time. Yeap, like the bride we didn't get to eat much. Was famished a good deal of the time.

So now I know who decorates the place, the bridemaids too! The bride was kind enough to draw up the mock up plan, but still on the day, things didn't go as plan initially. Guests were early and attempted to stream in, table cloth were of a wrong shade. But in the end, the bridemaids saved the day! I think it is important to choose your close friends as your bridemaids cos they know you so well, they have truly and only your best interest at heart.

When the bride came down for reception to mingle with her guest, I watch her approvingly scrutinised the deco LOL. And smiled in satisfaction. Phew. Job done. Haha. In the end, I was assigned to make sure the guest book was signed. And I filled up 80% of the scroll. Talent or what man!!! Totally knock the KPI.

And here are the ladies behind the scene looking all dolled up for the day. This is the first time I really made an effort not to "漏气“. So yeap, we are the ladies who tell the bride's guest the table number and is entrusted with the ang pao money and packing of the props at the end of the day. Apart from that we also had to help the bride with the changing. She insisted she didn't need us at first, but as her loyal subjects we serve at all times. LOL!

Tough work but I guess a BFF gotcha do what a BFF needa do. My girls would have probably done the same for me anyway. Though I think I may be more chillax and have a lot less props (since I am not that artistically inclined anyway). I may banish grouchy people though LOL. #RedQueen

And I think what I am there for is to make sure the cheers don't 冷场。The brothers called us one of the noisiest, loudest sisters. In my defence, the bride gave me the look, which I call the don't "xia-suay" look. So we bobian really had to lose our glam, not that we choose to be high, but we have a duty to keep party high-spirited!

Though it may seem easy, but trust me when each "event" is one after the another, you have no time to rest. T.T I even didn't get to have my afternoon nap. With that, the bridemaid post comes to an end. And I would like to wish the couple a very blessed wedding. P.S. I am planning for the baby shower already. Enthusiastic babysitter, haha, no baby yet but pre-plan.

Here's my favourite photo of them. :D Once again, you can check out the other photos too! And they live happily ever after.

--- The End ---

Bridemaid Duties: Awake for 19 Hours Part 1

If you are a local or Chinese reader, you would know that Chinese weddings are more often than not burdened by tradition and is very, very exhausting. Because I managed to marry off another girlfriend, I was invited to be one of the bridemaids.

For all of you girls out there who has never been a bridemaid before, you would probably think that this is an all fun and games assignment tasked to you by your close girlfriends. Even I thought the same thing, how difficult can it get right? Just torture a few bestmen, hang a few props, ask for ang pao!!! How difficult can it get.

But planning starts weeks before the actual big day. *Gulps*. With exams and work, there was a point in time I thought "Maybe I shouldn't have committed. One of them had to go. Priorities. Priorities. Priorities." It even further solidify all my previous thoughts that "I am not going to have a traditional wedding ever."

My friend was honestly very nice and understanding for a Bride (until the night before the actual wedding when she asked to practice eyeliner at 11pm. #Bridezilla). The bridesmaid as a whole I felt wasn't tasked as much as other weddings. (I still ask around and do research.) :P And, I think because I had so many exams (and probably blur AF), my tasks always was always pair-work effort. Yeah!

Just to clarify that I do do important roles. I was one half of the heart balloon pumper on a 20 mins photoshoot ride (the whole car was on the verge of bursting with balloons), 1/5 of the props packer/ food maker, 1/4 of the tea ceremony cup bearers/ decorations. And the official time keeper of the gate crash. 不能误了时辰！

The day started off at 5am with us preparing to look pretty (eyeliner life skills as the bride puts it) and the torture food. I didn't really know the 2 other girls but at the end I have to say we did become closer (after being brutally bullied by the professional gatecrashers). The guys team were a lot stronger with max. record holder at 15 times. How to beat that?!? They can literally eat anything and play any games with ease.

For the girls side, our most experienced lady is 3 with a bunch of virgin bridemaids. LOL, they pass us ang pao we happily think can open door liao. (Thank god the videographer/ photographer told us to check for any wrong currencies). We received empty and weak currencies ang pao! Lol, and we thought we had a lot of ang pao. But I have to say it is important to have experienced people in the team. Cos the boys, okay man (all older than me), were very helpful during the tea ceremony to make sure all in order. Cos I think the process better than us after going through so many rounds of training and practice.

For us, our schedule was gate-crash -> photoshoot ->Tea ceremony by halfday. During the night, this photo was one of them being played in loop and people say I dazed liao. (Default dazed face please. LOL) The rest of the photo ain't up yet so there will be a part 2. You can check the album out. I thought the photographer was pretty sharp at capturing lots of nice photos. 

Just wanted to rant about my bridemaid dress saga a little here too cos I had such difficulty finding it. Every dress my friend approved and I liked just went OOS just when I made purchase. Even Zalora rejected my chosen dress on deficiency of quality after I happily made orders. Eventually settled on the Eline Asymmetrical Hem Midi Dress in Navy from Intoxiquette. The quality was pretty good so it is now one of my favourite store. You can check out the other photos to see how it looks on me!

---End Part 1---