"Studio Photo" Clarification

Hehe, I thought I'd clarify. A lot of you Americans don't know what I mean when I say studio shots. You think I just mean cheesy wedding photos like you always see: close ups of the rings, the bride getting ready, the couple gazing lovingly at each other in the rosy haze of dusk. I know everyone's expected to take those photos. Oh, no no no, I'm talking about Chinese style studio photos. I submit two example:

This one is modern and toned down, if you can call it that. Some might even say the couple didn't take this process far enough.

This one is traditional.

Basically, you're expected to spend an entire day at a photographer's studio. The studio has a costume and props collection, sets, makeup artist, and hair stylist. You pick a package and go for it. Costumes include:

• Costumes from every dynasty in Chinese history
• Kimonos
• Hanboks (Korean--sorry if I've botched the spelling)
• modern Western ballgowns
• Colonial American attire
• Medieval attire
• Napoleon-era military attire for man (complete with sword), Marie Antoinette for woman
• Disney attire (princess of choice + prince charming)
• Asian pop star attire (usually ony for female--crazy hair and glitzy skimpy dress)
• Multiple white wedding dreses
• Any costumes or clothing you bring of your own that you want to memorialize in photograph form
• Ironically, the dress(es) you're going to wear on the actual day of the wedding are usually not photographed on this day

It's like playing dress up on acid and a budget that just won't quit. A finished album costs from $1000 to goodness knows how much. When I look at the photos or even imagine myself doing it, I usually end up smirking or flat out giggling out loud. It's too ludicrous. I can't even be angry at it, because it's laughable.

As for the other stuff, I've achieved some zen after a night of sleep. I'm just going to do what I've done all my life--do things my way and wait for naggy people to come around. I'm not so immature and my taste is not so poor that what I pick is going to be flat out bad. People just get antsy when my ideas clash with their vision of "perfect," which means no one's ever going to agree. But at the same time, out of a set of reasonable choices, everyone will probably be happy with whatever I actually end up picking.

Bottom line is this: how often do you go to a wedding and say "Well, that was nice"? Probably almost always, unless someone really screwed up. How often do you go to a wedding and think "Wow, that was my dream come true, I would do it exactly like that?" Probably never. Ever.