Achieve a K-drama Themed Pre-Wedding Photoshoot in Korea!

Before I share this experience, I wanted to once again introduce myself. My name is Hazel; I write for the Annyeong Oppa. And now, I am about to marry my namchin a.k.a. Ryan Gold, from this write-up! 

Yes, mga bes, we’ve come to that age. (Lol!) At this point, I just wanted to thank my fiancé for keeping up with my shenanigans and for always saying yes to whatever I have in my fangirl mind…just like…setting a pre-wedding photoshoot in Korea.

We (but mostly I) wanted to have photos during the spring season with cherry blossoms, and it was made possible by our fairy godtographers from Pixels&Frames. We traveled last April 2024, and luckily, some areas around Seoul still have cherry blossoms! 

Now, I will get straight to the point and give you some guidelines on how we made this a reality. 

Finding the Right Team of Photographers

I joined a lot of Korea-travel Facebook groups and did my best to research to find well-recommended Korea-based photographers. The thing is, I wanted to be practical by finding Filipino photographers who are based in Korea to save on flight costs. Thankfully, I came across a lot of posts with the same concern as I have.

I came across several postings that repeatedly recommended Kuya Norman Lauson or his page, Pixels&Frames. Yes, we call him Kuya because he is a Filipino based in Korea, and I didn’t bother having second thoughts about contacting him.

There were a lot of recommendations, and some can be booked through Klook or Airbnb applications, but I was really drawn into Kuya Norman’s photography style and his outputs.

About Pixels&Frames

When I checked their Facebook page, I was already smiling because their photos are definitely what I had in mind. My fiancé and I were looking for casual photos with a dreamy ambiance that will make us feel that we are inside our own K-drama world.

For their services, they offer the following:

• Photo shoot (street/casual)—2-3 hours of service (1-2 locations depending on area)
• Pre-nup shoot (photo only) – whole day service (3 locations)
• Pre-nup shoot (photo + video)—whole day service (3 locations)

Their prices may have changed now, but we availed their services for only KRW 300,000 for a pre-wedding shoot photo-only service. We were lucky enough that Kuya Norman and his team booked us during their free time on a weekday! We were so grateful that during our trip, there was a local holiday. As per Kuya Norman, most of the time, their availability falls every weekend due to their full-time jobs.

Pre-wedding photoshoot in Korea…start!

To maximize the day and to pose to the fullest, our day started early. Kuya Norman was kind enough to give us instructions for our meet-up point and introduced to us his teammates, Kuya Kevin Santos, who, by the way, takes photos of our favorite celebrities, and Kuya Joma Delara. I just can’t commend enough how much we enjoyed their company. 

By the way, for our location, we asked them to bring us to places with cherry blossoms…and it was the best choice because we also toured places that are a bit far from the most common places to visit in Seoul, such as Myeongdong or Hongdae. 

We’ve visited the following places:

• Hwarangdae Railroad Park: A 400-meter interactive park that was a former station (Hwarangdae station). They have a train cafe that we really loved! Their tiramisu latte is a must-try!

• Chongjun Cherry Blossoms (Uicheon Stream): The place served as our picturesque backdrop. The combination of the stream, cherry blossom trees, and a bit of everything was so amazing!

• Banpo Bridge and Han River Park: A relaxing place overlooking the famous Han River. We were surprised to see lots of people holding picnics with their friends and the famed “personalized” ramyeon bowls! 

We ended at sunset approaching the Han River, and it was a perfect way to wrap-up our day. We had a great time with the whole team of Pixels&Frames. Honestly, it was such a relief to express what our expected outcome was because we were able to comfortably talk in Filipino.

The experience was surreal. And my great advice: start walking between 5,000 and 10,000 steps daily. During our shoot, I was surprised to see a record-breaking 30,000 steps. I was so tired the next day, but since visiting Korea is a rare opportunity, not even my tired feet will stop me from touring around.

Post-Session Tips: 

After our shoot, we bid farewell to the Pixels&Frames team. My fiancé and I waited patiently for 2 to 3 weeks before receiving the output. We were surprised with more than 150 photos that we cannot choose which to upload (lol)!

We’ve chosen a few to share here, and we’ll be keeping some for our family and friends to see and be displayed on our wedding day.

We hope that these shared photos will make you tag your yeobo a photoshoot or pre-nup in Korea with Pixels&Frames soon!

All photos are provided by me to be used and published for Annyeong Oppa.