14th May 2011: My Wedding Day (AM)

It has been more than a month since my wedding day and I am finally able to sit down and start on my wedding day post. I thoroughly enjoyed my wedding day and though there were lots of hits and misses during the planning, things turned out well enough on the day itself. Mostly because of my wonderful Jiemeis and Xiongdis who helped us alot on that day itself so that I was able to just enjoy the day and being a beautiful bride. I'll let the pictures do the talking from here on ..

Peach Garden @ Orchid Country Club

Its high time I stopped procrastinating and started on my wedding day entries. We had our food tasting on 19th March and changed a couple of items in the cold dish and the prawn dish. We had to top up for the change but it was a good thing that we went for the food tasting if not my guests would have had fried food overload. Some places have the option of forgoing the food tasting and using that table on the AD itself. We had one extra table that was not used on the AD so we went down 2 weeks for an advanced fathers day celebration.


I had pretty good reviews from my guests and seems that many loved the Braised Ee-Fu noodles. My uncle even asked for 2nd helpings. At wedding dinners, guests will remember the food more than anything so I am glad that they enjoyed the food. The only grouse I have is the layout of the restaurant. I initially planned for 2 projectors to be used but the VGA cable was not long enough so had to make do with 1 projector and guests who were at both ends of the restaurant had very restricted views. 

For the cold dish, we changed the chives roll, and Chilled Century Egg Terrine to Fresh Prawn Salad and Seafood Mango Roll 

Peach Garden Combination

(Fresh Prawn Salad, Roast Pork, Crab Ball, Fried Beanskin Roll, Marinated Jellyfish and Seafood Mango Roll)

Braised Shark’s Fin with Seafood and Mushroom

The prawn dish was changed from Fried Crispy Prawn with Oats Cereal to 
Drunken Prawns with Chinese Wine

Steamed Soon Hock with Superior Soya Sayce

Braised Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw and Spinach

Roasted Crispy Chicken with Preserved Bean Paste

 Braised Ee-Fu Noodles with Chives and Mushroom

Chilled Jelly Royale with Julienne of Coconut

AD Cocktail Treats

For my AD reception, I wanted to have something different from the usual nuts and drinks for cocktail. Was blog hopping and getting inspirations for my wedding when I came across these Ferrero Rocher Pyramid and Personalised M&Ms on Rachel's blog. The Ferrero Rocher wrappers were in line with my colour theme and so I went out and bought 10 boxes of 30 pcs Ferrero Rocher and got my bridesmaids to stack them up into pyramids with the help of some clear film between layers. I did not get the M&Ms in the end though.

Post Wedding

I have not forgotten you, my dear readers.. The wedding is finally over and I've been back at work since last friday. Have been procrastinating in updating cause I've got truckloads to update on and I have no idea where to begin. 

Give me a few more days to get back my mojo and I will update soon on the frantic rush to get things done a few days before the wedding to the day itself and our mini mini-honeymoon to USS followed by a nights stay at Siloso Beach Resort kindly sponsored by 2 of my SILs. Soo many things to blog about and soo little time.. Will be getting my AD photos on Mon so my AD post will have lots of photos accompanying it!! 

Till my next post..

Single Digit Countdown ..

.. Starts now ..

9 more days till my big day.. I'm beginning to feel the excitement buildup such that I have been experiencing sleepless nights for the past week. I'll be running the lists of things that I have gotta do at the back of my mind while lying on my bed and before I know it, it'll be time to wake up for work. I'm am finally feeling the stress of the wedding preparations and my acnes are coming back. Been trying masks, nixoderms and whatnots to try to get them to subside. Hopefully it'll be gone by next sat. Keeping my fingers crossed..

AD Preparation Progress

Yippee!! I have just struck off one more pressing issue on my To-Do List --> Helpers List

Wedding preps heating up again with 18 days to go. Gotta order cakes for 过大礼 this weekend in time for the ceremony next Saturday and buy a splitter for the projectors. 

Going to meet up with my Jiemeis for high tea this Sat to discuss on their duties, gate crash and AD schedule. Hope all goes well. I've also began to slowly moving my stuffs over to J's place. So many things to do and soo little time.. And this stuffy/runny nose is not helping matters ..

Met up with my PG last evening to go through the schedule with him. Was able to make some amendments to my schedule to have a better time management on that day. So brides to be please remember to meet up with your PG to go through your schedule. They will be able to advice on the timing required from their experience so that you avoid have to rush to certain things and have too much time for others..

AD Reception Preview

A preview of what is in store for my guests on my AD reception ..

Something Gold..

Wedding Songs

* Edited

One of the items on our list that have to be decided soon is the March In songs.

Below are some of the songs that I have shortlisted in no order of preference..

1st March In

Shania Twain - From this Moment On

Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson - Tonight I Celebrate My Love

Bryan Adams & Barbra Streisand - I Finally Found Someone

For the 1st March In, we have decided on From This Moment On by Shania Twain

2nd March In

Taylor Swift - Today was a Fairytale

Taylor Swift - Love Story

A1 - Like a Rose

Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are

Chris DeBurg - The Lady in Red

We have not decided on the song for our 2nd March In but I just might chose The Lady in Red by Chris DeBurg or I Finally Found Someone by Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand.

P/S We have decided on I Finally Found Someone by Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand for our 2nd March In.

1 more month!!

Woah!! Where have the time went to? All of a sudden I am left with 1 more month till my wedding = 30 more days = 4 more weeks!! Oh Gosh!! I'm beginning to get the jitters just thinking of the impending date. I hope I don't miss out on any of the major stuffs that have to be done.

We met up with Rose, our event manager from Peach Garden last evening to finalise on the decos and also the number of tables and miscellaneous stuffs

When we first met up with Rose sometime last year to book the date, we were told that there was no themes and wedding favours for us to choose from. So it was a wonderful surprise for us when she told us that we had a choice for both items. They had 3 themes for us to choose from: Victorian (Lilac and Ivory), Oriental (Red and Ivory) and Garden (Gold/Garden Green and Ivory). We went with the Garden theme since it fitted into my wedding theme of Gold, Ivory and Brown. Decided on gold sashes for the VIP chairs and also the flower pedestals instead of the green ones. The flower pedestals and VIP centerpiece also had mini bird cages on them. For the wedding favours, we chose the oriental magnetic bottle cap openers and towels. 

Glad that we have some of the major stuffs confirmed. We are left with scourcing of the splitter for the projector, duties for Jiemeis and Xiongdis, and also choosing of our music for our 1st and 2nd march-in amoung other miscelleneous stuffs. 

Invitations have also been mailed out on yesterday. Left with those that will be hand delivered.

Invitations to be mailed out

Our pink invitation cards!

Gowns Selected!

A big load off my mind! Finally selected and confirmed my WG, EG and Kua and J's Blazer on Friday. Clarice took half day leave to accompany me to choose our gowns.

Had a quick lunch of frog porridge at the coffeeshop across the road from the BS and with our bellies filled, we proceeded with the daunting task of selecting my WG. Tried on no less than 8 WG's before shortlisting 2 gowns, 1 halter neck and 1 spag strap. Decided to KIV both and move on to the EGs.

While I was trying on WGs, J was choosing his coat. His was an easy choice as he did not want a white coat, and he already bought a black one for our ROM, he chose a silver one with black lining. The SA took his measurements for his MTM pants and he was good to go.

EGs were a big headache for me as the gowns that I chose to try were all too small so there was no way for me to know if I would look good in them. Thank god J and Clarice were there. They got the SA to give them the album for the EGs and started shortlisting gowns for the SA to get out for me to try. In the end, I was left with a halter maroon ball gown and a heartshaped neckline chili red ball gown. Could not decide on which to get so I decided to try on the Kuas first. The selection was fast and simple. The first one they got for me was too big and the second one was too small. Asked them for an in between size and they told me that there is no in between size. Kept on telling me that the bigger one was my size and that I looked good in it. Almost lost my temper trying to tell them that it was not my size and that I looked sloppy in it. In the end another SA came and got me the Kua in my size to try. True enough, I looked smarted wearing the one in my size. Confirmed that and went back to deciding on my WG and EG. In the end, I took the Halter WG and the heart shaped neckline EG. Pretty pleased with my selections.

Confirmed the colours for the car deco and design for the hand bouquet too and also the date for my 1st fitting too. Dad's coat will be chosen on that day too.

Gown Selection

I am finally going for my gown selection tomorrow afternoon at Seletar Broadway. Have to choose a WG and an EG. From my past experiences during gown selection, I look best in a halter, heart-shaped neckline gown. Off shoulder gowns makes me look bigger than I am although it can mask my big arms. Halter gowns can also hide that piece of flesh near the armpit that is the bane of all women's existence.

Heart-shaped gowns flatter my shape but strapless gowns are a big nono as the bust tends to fold over onto itself resulting in creases forming on the gown just below the bustline. Toga's also look good on me so I might be getting a Toga style for my EG. Empire or A line cutting is also a must to hide by big tummy and slim line my body shape. Keeping my fingers crossed that I am able to find the gowns that I like.

Wine Selection for Banquet

What is a dinner banquet (酒席) without alcohol? As my banquet package does not include red wine, and the wine that the restaurant is offering us is on the high side, we have decided to source for our own wine.

I have checked out Carrefour and they have it on 30% consignment basis. Another one is Bottles & Bottles at Parkway Parade. Theirs is also on 30% consignment with minimum $400 spent. Being a complete novice on red wine, we bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to try on the recommendation of the sales girl.

We have not opened the bottle yet but I been reading up on red wines this morning and a lot of recommendation is for a German Riesling which is sweet and fruity to be paired with Cantonese cuisine. From what I learnt from the salesgirl, the Carbernet Sauvignon is more full bodied compared to the Merlot which is lighter and fruitier. The Merlot also compliments Peking dishes which features heavier meats like duck and beef. According to this article,

“There are a few wines that will work well paired with Chinese food. They are a medium-dry to lightly sweet Riesling, a Chardonnay, not too oaky, not too dry, and a mild, full-bodied Merlot with just the right amount of acidity. Riesling, Chardonnay and Merlot wines always go well with a variety of foods and are very safe to be among your choices when pairing a wine with Chinese food to enhance the experience.”

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/955731

Since we cannot serve white wine because the Chinese are superstitious as White is associated to death, and Red is associated with Weddings and happy occasions. I believe we will be taking the Merlot after all.

Bridal Shop

We have finally confirmed our bridal shop with just 2 months to go till our AD. 2 weeks back when I found out that Judy Wedding messed up our order and they promised to send me photos of the WGs and EGs (I have not received any calls or emails from them till date. This is what happens when you have paid full before collecting your items), I decided to have a backup plan since it was too late to MTM a gown with the cheapest contact that I could find previously.

I took a 1/2 day leave and went BS shopping with C. Our first stop was Bluebay at Delphi. Tried on a gown which I totally fell in love with. Super princessy and the Wow factor was there. I was not prepared to fork out another 2K for 2 gowns though. So the next stop we went to was GHA at Marina Square. The lady quoted a price which I was pretty comfortable with for 1 EG, 1 Kua and 1 WG but I still wanted to check out the gowns that they had over the weekend before committing. So I arranged to go down to their outlet at Yishun where they had more selections. Our last stop was at Graceful Image at Tan Quee Lan St. No doubt their gowns were pretty and the designer was very patient but 1 WG already exceeded my budget.

As luck would have it, while I was scanning through the SingaporeBrides forum, there is a section on exchange of BS. Decided to take a look and chanced upon this thread where the guy was looking to sell his comprehensive AD package (w/o PG and VG) from Seletar Braodway at a price much lower than when he bought it and the price happens to be slightly higher than my budget. Decided to head down to SB to check out their gowns and found that the gowns were pretty ok so we decided to buy over the package from the guy if he was able to decrease the price. And guess what? He agreed and we went down to the BS to do the exchange yesterday afternoon. Am a happy girl now cos the package also comes with a Bridal Car (which can be exchanged for $200 off my package if I am not using it) and accessories for me.

One more big item off my To-Do List and I am so looking forward to the day of our AD.

Disappointments

Pardon my lack of posts for the past week. Have not been in the mood to blog as I've been busy looking for a bridal shop for my gowns. Was orginally planning to get the gowns which I have tried from Taiwan but the BS (for those who do not know, my BS is Judy Wedding Taipei) lost my receipt and I do not have a copy of it. Only knew that they did not have any record when I asked them for the umpteen time to take a photo of the gowns for me to refresh my memory on what I have chosen. WTH! Although they said they will take some photos of other gowns for me to choose but seeing and wearing it is different. It might look nice but when I wear it it might be ok only. Giving me problems so close to my wedding day. Super pissed off now. Anyway it has been 5 days since they said they will send the photos to me and previously when they said they will call, they nv call. We have decided to write them off and get another local one asap so I am now scrutinizing the forums for cheap deals and hopefully I will be able to get a BS by next week.. On the bright side, at least they did not screw up my albums..

Double Digit Countdown ...

... Starts Now!!

99 more days to my wedding day..

Some of the stuffs which I have settled since my last update:

• My new wardrobe have been bought and delivered to his place - Not the one from Ikea that we were initially thinking of getting but one from the neighbourhood furniture shops. Cheap, about the same quality as tt from Ikea and has free delivery. So good enough in my opinion.
• 80% of 兄弟s and 姐妹s confirmed.
• Bought the gold ties from the push cart at Bugis Junction.
• Bought cloth in the same colour as the ties from shop in Chinatown complex - Have to sew it into sashes for the 姐妹s.
• Shoes and pants for J .
• Trial makeup for AD - Did the trial on 30th Jan. Had a good discussion with Angela on my preferences and some of my concerns which she tried to address during the trial. Liked what I see during my trial so I trust that I will be in good hands on my big day.
• Bought my shoes to match my white gown - I'm thinking of selling the pair that I bought from Anna Nucci. Read here. There's no occasion that I can wear it and its just taking up a space and collecting dust in the storeroom.

Pretty happy with how things have been coming along. My To-Do list is slowly but surely getting shorter. I've been learning to take things easy and not be a bridezilla. Some things which are not in my control I try not to let it bother me. I'm thankful that I have J beside me along the way. Though he usually prefers to take a backseat in these nitty gritty stuffs. I know that I still can count on him to make the big decisions and be there for me when I need his opinions or support.

Big Ticket Items Confirmed

It is 143 days to our wedding and we have finally confirmed the last of our big ticket items

-Photographer and Videographer
-MUA
-Possibly gowns too

We have also bought our lamps on Monday from Ikea.
I'm a happy girl!!

Wedding Themes: Ivory and Gold

I have began to look at wedding themes for my AD in about 5 months time.

I have decided on Ivory and Gold with or without Pink/Purple. I'll probably be going with just the Ivory and Gold theme though for a classy and elegant feel. And since the restaurant doesn't have any themes for me to choose from, I'll just have to work with what they have now which is Ivory, Gold and Brown. I can live with that. Just have to add in abit of personal touch to up the Classiness and Elegance.

Here are some inspirations that I got from Dessy.com.

AD - Wedding Lamp

One of the items that we would have to get for our 过大礼 are Chinese Wedding Lamps to be placed at our bedside table. The significance of the lamps are to shower the couple with blessings and for them to have many sons.

Significance of Chinese Wedding Lamps

The Chinese culture revolves around auspicious sounding items and sons! In every Chinese wedding, the couple are always showered with blessings for them to have many sons to carry on the family name. Lamps in Chinese (“deng”) has a similar sound to sons (“ding”). So the symbolic gesture of lighting the wedding lamps signifies the addition of sons to the family. The brightness of the pair of lamps also symbolises a long and bright life ahead for the couple.

How Long Should I Light The Lamps For?

The wedding lamps are usually lit by the auspicious lady who installed the marriage bed or the parents. There are several variations to the custom on how long they should be kept lit for. Some say the lamps should be lit on the day of the bed installation and kept on until the wedding night. Other variations recommend for the lamps to be lit only before the wedding day and kept burning for 3 days and 3 nights after the wedding to illuminate the new couple’s life. Both variations are valid. However, if you have elders in the family you might want to check with them and follow their recommendations.

Source: http://myweddingplanningtips.com/

We didn't want to get the traditional oil lamps as we would only be using it on the wedding itself and will be kept in storage after that. Furthermore, it will be a fire hazard. We wanted something that is modern and functional yet would be acceptable by the elders. On our foray for furnitures a few weeks back at ikea, we chanced upon this beautiful, red Knubbig Lamp. It is red. It runs on electricity. It is chic and nice. It fulfills my criteria. We have decided to get a pair of this for our wedding once his mom gives the go ahead.

Less than 6 months

OMG!! I just realised that I have less than 6 months left till my AD. And I have not decided on my themes, bridesmaids, bridegroom, PG, VG, MUA etc. So much not done yet. And I have been regretting my decision to get my gowns from Taiwan.. :( Although I have chosen the gowns during my last trip there in April, I have problems remembering the design that I chose and fitting will be a problem. ARGHHH!! I blogged about the seamstress I found to do the required alterations. But I keep having this nagging feeling that the gown would not be what I remembered. Have been toying with the idea of getting a Singapore BS for the gowns but they are way expensive and hubs is not supportive. *Pulls hair*  HOW??!!??

The Best Birthday Present This Year

Our PS albums and frames are finally here.

A sneak peak..

2 huge boxes totalling 30kg arrived.. The big and flat one is our 床头照 and the smaller one containes the albums (1 big and 1 small) and 1 behind the scenes album, table top photo, canvas wall photo and signing scroll.

The first box

Our 床头照 .. Love that they bubble wrapped everything nicely ..

The second box

Album bag, albums, scroll etc.. all individually packed..

My album.. Guests will get to see this at the dinner next year..