bridal studio :: Lings Photographic and Bridal Services

Hapi - 07/10/2008 Awful
Be Awear of Hidden Fees.
If you want to take the photos there, ask how much they charge per digital first. cos they tried to charge me $35/digital file.
Qi Pao looks ok, but too pricey!
Good luck!

JDWeddingDay - 03/05/2008 Awesome
This past weekend, my mom and I went to Oakland's Chinatown to see about getting a custom cheongsam made for the wedding. I wasn't expecting much after having visited Dragon Seed Bridal in SF a couple of months ago - although Dragon Seed is where all the Chinese beauty pageant queens go to get their cheongsams made, I thought the salespeople were pushy (surprise surprise) and the selection slim. The shop was cramped, and I only got to try on a single gown after persistently asking. I think I may have also been suffering from shell shock, after finding out that custom cheongsams in the U.S. cost far more than they would in Hong Kong. Ling's Photography and Bridal Services was a pleasant surprise, and we actually had a lot of fun while we were there! The salon was clean and spacious, and there were tons of styles of gowns to choose from - from more traditional and elaborate to more Western and modern. Gwen encouraged me to look through the racks to see which styles appealed to me, and then helped me put on each one so that I could see how they looked and fit. After we had decided on a silhouette, Gwen and Connie helped me look through the different fabrics and choose which I wanted as the base of the cheongsam. The fact that she handled all the material so carefully so as not to get it dirty really revealed the salon's commitment to quality and cleanliness - something that I've noticed a couple of Western bridal salons lack. She also showed me a variety of optional details, including the different types and numbers of piping ($70.00 for single piping, and $70.00 for each additional level of piping - this is about $10.00 less than Dragon Seed, which charges $80.00 for single piping and $150.00 for double) and button placement ($15.00 per pair of fancy clasps - actually $5.00 less than Dragon Seed), but told me that I wouldn't even need to decide on any of these details until after my first fitting, where I could better envision the entire product. The whole time I never felt any pressure to make a commitment (unlike at Dragon Seed), and Connie even volunteered that I would be entitled to a $50 per cheongsam discount because I was planning on ordering six months in advance of my wedding date - SCORE! (Base price of a custom cheongsam is normally $350.00 before the discount.) When I called Connie the next day to place my order, she remembered who I was and helped me set a day for my first fitting - June 14! I never thought I'd be excited about getting a cheongsam made, but the whole experience at Ling's made me truly believe that the Ling's team is going to do its best to make me look amazing on my wedding day! Woohoo!

I'll be sure to write an update after I get the final product.

whong - 05/26/2006 Good
I ordered qipaos for my myself, my mother and MIL. Their work is excellent. I didn't get suckered into getting the trim and buttons from them (extra $$). If you just ordered a regular qipao, it is cheaper than Dragon Seed's in SF.

BTW, the button charges were exhorbitant. We got our buttons at Dragon Seed for about $3 compared to the $12 they wanted to charge us.

Great work!

bac - 04/04/2006 Good
Carole Li did a great job on my hair & makeup on my wedding day. I got my qipao and one for my mom here but it was very expensive. I didn't do my pictures here but I have several friends who did and they all ended up spending $100s to $1000s more than they expected because they couldn't decide on which pics they wanted. The prices of the albums are expensive (that's how they get you!).