So your wedding date sneaked in on you faster than 2022, and now you urgently need to start collecting RSVPs. But you have no electronic invitations, no graphic design skills, and most importantly no matching photos.
As a last minute bride who decided to change her wedding schedule to secure a particular venue before it finally closed, I sometimes wish I had started earlier so I could have a chance to do some of our pre-wedding shoots Photos (PWS) to use for our electronic invitations.
Still, there is no point wallowing in regret. Either I could hire a wedding coordinator to help us find a graphic designer and photographer at the last minute, or I could save time and money by just doing the e-invitations myself.
Using DIY photo booths and online graphic design platforms, creating your own e-invitation is both inexpensive and dummy-safe. How to start:
Photography – Use a self photo studio
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVPRIQQhP7v/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
We used to have neoprints. Today everything revolves around self-photo studios. By now you’ve likely seen at least one couple post black and white photos from Fotomat on Instagram, but at least a dozen of them have sprung up in Singapore.
Base prices are typically under $ 40 for 30 minutes (typically 15 minutes of recording followed by 15 minutes of photo selection) with no small top-up for soft copies. Below is a non-exhaustive list of what to consider:
Fotomat: The upper floor. Singapore’s first black and white self-photo studio on Keong Saik Road has starting prices of $ 30 for a 30-minute session, with a $ 30 top-up required for all digital copies.
Photobytes: This pet-friendly studio on Haji Lane has colored lighting and moody backgrounds for couples who want a moody setting. Pets are also allowed! Prices start at $ 35 for 30 minutes without a $ 25 top-up for all digital copies.
Byte size at home: For couples who want casual and cozy PWS-style photos without actually having a PWS, consider getting their photos taken in a home studio. Prices start at $ 48 per pair for 45 minutes, with an additional charge of $ 58 for all raw files.
Self Photo Studio: With seven different themed studios in Singapore, Self Photo Studio is the best option for couples who are, well, looking for options and not struggling with decision paralysis like my fiancé and I.
Photomatic in Funan even offers costumes! Prices for studios within this franchise start at $ 30 for 20 minutes with no top-ups for digital copies.
My fiance and I ultimately settled on Photobytes, and while the process was quick, cheap, and easy, it wasn’t entirely painless. We took 89 photos in 15 minutes, and in the end only three were passable due to our lack of preparation and general awkwardness in front of cameras.
Here’s what I would have done to prepare if we could try our photos again:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVpzws_vnFf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
1. Plan and rehearse the poses. These 15 minutes pass quickly. Unless you and your SO are influencers, regularly take tons of couple photos, or are naturally adept at posing, you’re going to waste precious seconds looking cute while reaching your best angles.
For best results, pre-select a few poses and practice them at home in front of a full-length mirror a few days before the photo shoot. You can even do a test run with your smartphone camera self-timer to see how they develop.
Not only will you look a lot less stiff (and feel less panicked) on the day itself, but you’ll also eliminate most of your repeated attempts to get just one pose right.
2. Wear non-restrictive clothing. I chose a pretty tight cheongsam, which made it difficult for me to do anything other than sit and stand in our photos.
3. Don’t worry about hiding the remote control. Think of it as a prop! Posing is hard enough in itself that anyone taking the photo will feel much more relaxed when they can use the clicker without having to worry about it not being visible.
4. Speaking of being relaxed … Relax. It only took my fiancé and I three minutes of NG and NG recordings to realize that we’re pretty terrible at such things.
Unfortunately, I even scolded him a little for not being able to smile properly when he clicked the remote control, only to find that I couldn’t either. By the end of our 15 minutes we basically gave up and went full Derp, and guess what?
That was the funniest part of the shoot. Instead of striving for perfection, have fun and make each other laugh because that will convey the love you feel for one another much more than even the most model poses ever could.
Create the e-invitation
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHfI_XLJgN3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Online graphic design platforms are a dozen, but Canvas’s versatility, ease of use, and the abundance of free fonts and templates make it my first choice.
I created the electronic invitation below in just 10 minutes using a template and an archive photo. Choosing a template can take a while due to #decisionparalysis. So I recommend reserving some time to choose templates before starting your e-invitation.
You can tweak the colors and adjust the design elements without worrying about layers, brushes or stencils. Just peasy when you want something that looks good that doesn’t take five hours.
Bonus: If you want to save yourself the hassle of creating completely new paper invitations, you can convert your electronic invitation into a physical invitation with Canva Print!
If you don’t like Canva, there are plenty of other online apps you can check out such as Pixlr and Adobe Spark. Or choose Adobe InDesign if you are particularly ambitious and don’t want to use a template.
Submit your invitation
Photos, done. Graphics, done. What now? You and your future spouse must decide how best to collect RSVPs.
Wedding websites like Zola and WithJoy make collecting and compiling answers a breeze – just put your guests’ names into the system along with some RSVP questions like “Are you attending” and “Are you fully vaccinated”, and the Website helps you keep track of how many people are attending (a very useful feature now that we have to micro-manage group size).
Once you’ve set up your website, simply send the e-invitation with an RSVP link and a short personalized message to your invitees and you’re good to go!
“But what about my parents? My Ah Gong and my aunts will not use this leh.”
Yes, yes, it’s kind of weird to send your 75 year old grandfather an e-invitation with an RSVP link. Work with your parents to find out how best to verbally invite your older relatives to the big day before you give them the physical invitation.
If anything, you can send them the e-invite card via WhatsApp, but verbally invite or send a personal message. Once they have replied, you can manually enter their reply into your wedding website’s attendance tracker.
Have fun planning and have fun!
This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.