Booking · from abroad
Booking us from abroad
The agreement first, a small deposit second, and the rest when we meet.
The agreement first, a small deposit second, and the rest when we meet.
Couples write to us from Toronto, San Francisco, Melbourne and Singapore, and under the questions about locations and gowns there is almost always the same quiet one: how do I know this is real before I send money to a country I am not in yet. This page answers that one.
Ask us for the written agreement before you pay and we will send it. A deposit of USD 100 to 150 holds the date. Most couples send it with Wise or a similar app and it arrives in minutes; an ordinary bank transfer works too. We send you the account details directly when you are ready, not through this page. The balance is paid in person at your fitting, one or two days before the shoot. We do not take PayPal.
Booking a photographer in another country, months ahead, on the strength of a website, is a reasonable thing to be careful about. We would be careful too. So if you want the agreement in your hands before any money moves, say so and we will send it. Some couples would rather lock the date first and read it after; both are normal and neither is a problem.
Either way the agreement is specific: the date, where we will be, how many working hours, how many outfits, what the package includes and what it does not, the deposit and the balance, and the terms if the date moves or the booking is cancelled. If something in it does not match what we talked about, say so and we will fix it.
For couples booking from abroad it is a small share of the package, usually USD 100 to 150. Vietnamese couples sign a domestic contract with a much larger deposit. We ask you for less because you are committing from a long way off.
What it is for: the moment it lands, that date is closed. Not only for the photographer, but for the makeup artist and the assistant who work the same day. That is the whole reason the number exists, and it is why we cannot hold a date on a promise.
What it is not: a payment schedule. There is nothing else due until you are standing in our studio.
We do not put account details on a web page, and you should be wary of anyone who does. When you are ready, we send them to you directly, with the agreement.
What is useful to know before then is which route to use.
Wise, or a similar app such as Remitly, is the easy one. You send Vietnamese dong, and in our experience it arrives within minutes.
An ordinary international bank transfer also works, and we are happy to take it. Two honest caveats: it takes one to three working days, and your own bank sets the exchange rate, which in the transfers we have seen costs about three to four per cent more than the app would. On a deposit that is a few dollars. On a larger amount it is worth a thought.
We do not take PayPal. Not a policy preference: a Vietnamese PayPal account can no longer withdraw the money, so it would sit there helping nobody.
You get a handbook for the trip. The plan, the hours, what to bring, what we handle, and the answers to the questions couples ask in week three rather than week one.
Then we move the conversation to WhatsApp and stay there, so you are writing to a person and not into a form. The fitting is sixty minutes at our studio, usually one or two days before the shoot, and it is where you try everything on and settle the balance. After that the only thing left is the day.
We would rather you looked than took our word for it, so here is where to look.
| What | Included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit to hold a date | From abroad, a small share of the package, paid after you read the agreement | $100 to $150 |
| Pre-wedding, Hanoi | 6 hours, 2 locations, gowns and suit, makeup | $780 |
| Pre-wedding, Saigon | 6 hours, up to 2 city locations | $880 |
| Wedding day, photo and film | Our team, from getting ready to the party | from $3,000 |
Ask for three things from anyone you are considering, us included: a written agreement you can read, a business address you can look up, and work you can see in full rather than in highlights. We will send you the agreement whenever you ask for it, we have studios in Hanoi and Saigon you can find on a map, and we will send you complete galleries rather than a reel. If a studio will not do those three, that tells you something.
Yes, if you ask us for it. The agreement sets out the date, the locations, the hours, how many outfits, what the package includes, the deposit and the balance, and what happens if the date has to move. Some couples want to read it before any money moves and we send it then; others would rather hold a date that is filling up and read it straight after. Tell us which you prefer.
For couples booking from abroad it is a small share of the package, usually USD 100 to 150. It is not a payment towards the work so much as a date lock: the moment it lands we close that day for the photographer, the makeup artist and the assistant, and stop offering it to anyone else. The balance is paid later, in person.
Most couples use Wise or a similar app such as Remitly, sending Vietnamese dong, and it usually arrives within minutes. An ordinary international bank transfer also works; it takes one to three working days and your own bank's exchange rate usually costs about three to four per cent more. We send you the account details directly when you are ready, never on a web page. We no longer take PayPal, because a Vietnamese PayPal account cannot withdraw the money.
At the fitting, which is usually one or two days before the shoot, at our studio in Hanoi or Saigon. Cash or bank transfer, whichever suits you. Nothing is due between the deposit and that day.
You get the agreement and a handbook for your trip: the plan, the hours, what to bring and what we will handle. Then we move to WhatsApp and stay there, so you are not writing into an inbox. The fitting is sixty minutes, and the shoot follows.