30 Sept - Dress Tour
Jeju-do
Having arrived at Jeju only at 5.30 pm, we were late upon reaching our Hotel (Goodstay December Hotel) for check-in and our Wedding Ritz liaison (Yumi) was already outside the hotel waiting for us to arrive.
Feeling apologetic, I quickly did our check-in (NB was in another cab with the rest as I had to reach 1st to do up the hotel administrative stuff) and rushed out to meet Yumi.
She probably waited for us for approx 15mins but still greeted us while walking us to the main street to catch a cab.
Not the most chatty lady but gentle and sweet she was.
Guided us to the bridal studio to commence our dress tour!
Apparently, the one of the more popular bridal studio in Jeju (according to Yumi of course), it was a quick 10 mins drive away.
Not knowing what to expect, we followed Yumi in and met up with the friendly shop personnel!
They sat us down and showed us a couple of albums not without offering us "Tea, Coffee or Juice".(We chose their popular "juice" offering which is none other than Jeju Orange Juice!)
We also settled the remaining payment balance there and then.
After showing them some of the gowns I have in mind, they drew close the curtains and escorted me behind to change to a bralet with a robe and a baggy PJ pant.
Once done, an assistant came in and started combing, pinning up my hair, applying some light lipstick and clipping on earrings on me.
Then, they got me on a circular platform and brought out my first dress to fit!
The dress was what they proposed (out of what I had in mind) and I was quite surprise as the dress looks very new and pretty!
Of course, they went "ippuda" ("pretty" in Korean) as they turned me around, drew open the curtains for NB to see!
And Yumi quickly urged NB to take photos. (contrary to bridal shop rumors, we could take and keep the photos taken here! =D)
The first dress and tux tried!
Went on to try another 11 more dresses! According to Yumi, I was fortunate as usually, the dress tour only allows about 6 pcs to try. *yay!*
The reason I had so many to try was cause I managed to get them to throw in a short dress on top of my 2 white + 1 coloured gowns (making a total of 4 dresses!)
NB was initially allowed 1 suit but an additional suit was thrown in too =D
What surprised me was that they managed to sort of hit on the right nail when recommending dresses.
It turned out that their recommendations fit me better than those dress designs I have in mind.
I've initially condemned mermaid dresses and loved princess cut tulle dresses but they made me change my perception and so I chose a mermaid to show more curves instead...
Sadly, princess cut dresses make me look bigger at the bottom due to the cut.
Well... just got to trust the experts! =P
I decided quickly on my "big bottom" styled, short and colour dresses but couldn't decide on the slim cut dress. I was torn between a "sexy" dress which I didn't think flatters my fleshy figure and another simpler dress which unfortunately is similar to my coloured gown design.
Knowing that I couldn't decide, they went back to the dress room and pulled out another pretty piece!
I wanted to just take a look but they encouraged me to try once more so I can better decide.
Good decision and I finally chose my slim cut dress!
Taa-dah!!
Kudos to their patience as we took so much time, the tour ended past 7pm.
The studio there closes early and we were the last customers of the day but they didn't show signs of displeasure. =)
What further impressed NB was their attentiveness and eye for details.
As we bid them goodbye, they bow-ed and showed us to the door which had our shoes properly arranged, ready for our feet to slip in and go. They also called for cab for Yumi to drop us back at our hotel.
It was a great experience and definitely fun trying on all the dresses in stored!
Tips:
- Do not use hair conditioner the night before and on the day of photoshoot. Smooth hair makes it hard to set/ style.
- Drink enough water the day before or face will be bloated like mine =(
- Grooms may want to bring elevated shoes and it's necessary to bring own black socks.
- Brides do not have to worry about bringing your own ampoules/ fake lashes as all will be provided by the Koreans. No top up required! =D
- Bride shoes are provided but should you prefer your own, do bring on your own.
- Come with photos of preferred gown designs/ colours to make it easier for selection.
- Get ready your cameras so you can take pictures which makes it easy during selection process.
