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August 2017

The Best Shoot Ever – Mongolia 2017 Is The Pre-Wedding Photography Reality TV Show You’ve Always Wanted

By Tansey Tang

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Five couples have just arrived in Mongolia for an experience of a lifetime with Moomedia. They will compete to create the most compelling pre-wedding shots and win other cultural challenges, to walk away with an all-expenses paid trip!

The Challenge

Sunday, 27 August marks the start of the Best Shoot Ever 2017! The reality TV-style competition was dreamed up by Andrew Mok of Moomedia to give couples an unforgettable and unique pre-wedding photoshoot experience, in the exotic landscape of Mongolia. The contest will take place from 27 August to 2 September 2017, when five adventurous couples will each team up with a photographer to compete in various tasks, focused on creating the most compelling photos and videos.

Today, the contestants and crew are all here in Mongolia, gearing up for gers and magnificent Mongolian landscapes! SingaporeBrides is here as Official Online Media, and our Editor Michelle Tay is also on the panel of judges who will determine the winners of each challenge, along with Andrew Mok from Moomedia, Willy Foo from Live! Studios, and Anna from Spellbound Weddings.

Having been on crash courses in makeup, the couples are prepared for any challenge in the Best Shoot Ever. After five days of exciting competition in the beautiful grassland of Mongolia, the winning couple will be awarded the whole trip all expenses paid, while the five competing photographers stand to win prizes from Canon and Profoto. Winners or not, every couple is guaranteed an experience like no other!

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The Experience

“Mongolia was chosen for the Best Shoot Ever 2017 simply because the location has a lot to offer,” shares the Moomedia team. “It is rich in history, tradition, culture and has breathtaking landscapes to behold. Furthermore, it is a unique place, less travelled, especially for couples on their pre-wedding photoshoot.” From exploring Mongolia’s vast grasslands, to sleeping in a traditional ger, the contestants of the Best Shoot Ever can expect an exciting and exotic time. With the tasks and locations of the competitions yet to be revealed, suspense is mounting for the big adventure, and Moomedia promises a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The Contestants

Magdalene and Zonghan

Bride: Magdalene Sim, 29, Consultant
Three words that describe her: Witty, generous, energetic
Hobbies: Dancing, drawing

Groom: Chen Zonghan, 34, Doctor
Three words that describe him: Inquisitive, hardworking, kind
Hobbies: Singing, playing basketball

What qualities make your partner a great teammate for the Best Shoot Ever contest?

Magdalene: Zonghan is a calm and analytical person. He loves playing strategic games. He can be useful in solving puzzles that requires logic and calculation.

Zonghan: Mag is creative and street-smart. She will be able to help me circumvent challenges that require us to think out of the box.

What are you most excited to experience in Mongolia?

We have never been to Mongolia. We both love to eat and travel together, and we are looking forward to experience Mongolia’s unique culture and landscape.

What do you expect from the challenges?

Challenges will likely involve activities that we don’t normally do, and will also be greatly influenced by the environment and culture of Mongolia. These may include horse riding, pitching a tent, starting a fire, make up and hairstyling for each other, etc.

Charissa and Bryan

Bride: Charissa, 30, Communications Manager
Three words that describe her: Fun-loving, intuitive, genuine
Hobbies: Learning new things like floral arrangement, brush lettering, singing

Groom: Bryan, 33, Senior Sales Manager
Three words that describe him: Thoughtful, reliable, analytical
Hobbies: Playing sports, especially basketball

What do you love doing together?

We love doing Pilates to start our weekend, challenging ourselves with different levels of difficulty. Our competitive natures also make us rivals in console games where we try to beat each other! We especially enjoy travelling together, going shopping, exploring new places, and trying out delicious food!

What qualities make your partner a great teammate for the Best Shoot Ever?

Charissa: He is patient, and supportive, and would do his best to make me feel at ease to enjoy the process. I am sure his analytical nature will also serve us well in analysing any given situation to provide the best options and course of action!

Bryan: She is very detailed in nature, and would ensure that we not miss out anything in the preparation process. She also takes the initiative to find out or research the things needed, and is very willing to share the workload of tasks with me.

What do you expect from the challenges?

We think that the challenges might include the groom applying makeup on his bride and styling her hair, finding creative poses against different landscapes, and perhaps trying to converse with the locals for directions to unique locations and spots. Possibly, there might also be some challenges testing our chemistry and compatibility in figuring out solutions together, and whether we are resourceful in finding an alternative solution. We hope they won’t ask us to milk the sheep or start a fire in the middle of the desert!

What are you most excited to experience in Mongolia?

This will be our first time in Mongolia. We wish to experience the local culture, see the beautiful landscapes, and try horse-riding for the first time! It would be an absolute dream come true to see the beautiful night sky filled with countless stars and the wide expanse of the desert. We would also love to experience staying in the Mongolian ger.

Phoebe and William

Bride: Phoebe, 29, Medical Product Specialist
Three words that describe her: Bubbly, persistent, confident
Hobbies: Reading, listening to music

Groom: William, 32, Sales Manager
Three words that describe him: Quiet, adventurous, dependable
Hobbies: Games, travelling

What qualities make your partner a great teammate for the Best Shoot Ever?

William: Phoebe is persistent, and will not give up easily.

Phoebe: William is dependable, and willing to do whatever it takes to win.

What do you expect from the challenges?

Building a yurt, doing each other’s make up, horse riding, archery—there are so many possible challenges! We’ll definitely put in our best effort for each of the activities, to win!

What are you most excited to experience in Mongolia?

Both of us have not been to Mongolia before. As we love travelling, exploring new places, and finding out new things, we are very excited to experience the life over there, and explore new cultures!

Kara-Anne and Nicholas

Bride: Kara-Anne, 25, Doctor
Three words that describe her: Grounded, opportunistic, strong-headed
Hobbies: Travelling, wakeboarding, snowboarding, road tripping, diving

Groom: Nicholas, 29, Financial Planner
Three words that describe him: Adventurous, resourceful, actually 10 years old
Hobbies: Travelling, wakeboarding, snowboarding, road tripping, diving

What qualities make your partner a great teammate for the Best Shoot Ever?

Nic: Kara is spontaneous, adventurous, game to take on any challenge, quick to react, ballsy, resourceful, creative, and competitive!

Kara: Nic is sociable, sporting, keeps calm in stressful situations, optimistic, supportive, enthusiastic, and fun-loving!

What do you expect from the challenges?

We think there will be challenges unique to Mongolia like horse riding, wearing their native costumes, cooking or eating their local cuisine, and maybe best make up, best photos? The gown-pairing session we had was so unexpected and fun, we’re really looking forward to what’s ahead!

What are you most excited to experience in Mongolia?

We’re excited to be in such a beautiful landscape, and hopefully, we will be able to ride horses, see some eagles, and eat some interesting food!

Han Yee and Shawn

Bride: Wong Han Yee, 32, Property Agent
Three words that describe her: Spontaneous, inquisitive, fickle-minded
Hobbies: Travelling, enjoying good food, watching TV series, playing board games

Groom: Shawn Kwa, 35, Finance
Three words that describe him: Meticulous, young at heart, dependable
Hobbies: Travelling, enjoying good food, watching TV series, playing board games

What qualities make your partner a great teammate for the Best Shoot Ever?

We’ve travelled together many times and have even taken a six-month-long multi-continent trip together. We know each other’s needs and habits when we travel, so we should understand each other as teammates in this contest.

Shawn: We also have certain contrasting qualities that may complement each other at times. For instance, Han Yee is more spontaneous and will encourage me to step out of my comfort zone, whereas I’m more meticulous and will think through a situation before acting on it.

Mongolia has been on our travel list for some time, and we had already originally intended to visit this country this year or next! We opted for this contest because for us, it is also about the experience of travelling. To do our photoshoot and also visit Mongolia is a double win for us!

What do you expect from the challenges?

Best hairstyle by the groom on their partner, maybe? Picking up horse poop contest! I think we would be best at an eating competition, haha!

What are you most excited to experience in Mongolia?

We want to stay in the gers and also have barbecues in the open fields at night, where the stars would be shining overhead!

So far when we travel, we have managed to take selfies and shots that are pretty, but not astounding. Many times, our photos did not do justice to the beautiful landscape we tried to capture. It would be amazing if we could capture our moments together professionally!

If we had more time, we would also want to trek around the Altai Mountains, and of course explore more of the nature that Mongolia has for us!

Follow us at @singaporebridesweddings and #BSE2017 for glimpses behind the scenes of the Best Shoot Ever 2017 adventure!

Credits: Images by Moomedia.