We are just shy of 2 months from The Day! And the next task that needs to be tackled is the printing of our wedding invitation cards!

We decided on a mix of red and ivory cards, as B's parents preferred the red for their distribution, and B went down after work one day to collect them. I have to say Marina Mandarin takes care of things quite thoroughly, though they had originally misplaced our cards! The bag they gave us contained the cards, envelopes, and even the inserts! I understand that some hotels don't provide the inserts. We were initially also worried about being unable to tie a pretty butterfly bow on the cards to secure the inserts, but turns out MM had taken care of that for us too. All the cards came with a tied ribbon already. We just need to slot our inserts under the ribbon.

Onward to the actual printing. MM provided the business card for it's recommended printer, and I also did some research (read: forum-trawling). We shortlisted down to 3 choices - Kentrich Trade Press (MM recommendation), AXXA Design and Print, and T-Dragon. All had pretty good reviews, but for convenience we decided on T-Dragon since it's located near Cityhall MRT. The others are in ulu locations, and I honestly didn't see how far the prices could differ. Plus T-Dragon is an established name in wedding card printing.

We went there on Saturday afternoon, and honestly were kept waiting for quite a while. But we could see they were super busy, and evidently popular with wedding couples. When they attended to us, they did explain in detail what needed to be done, the meaning behind what will be included in the invitation wording, and even told us to save on the money of getting them to tie the butterfly bows for us as it was expensive and not worth our spending the extra money. I like it that they aren't just out to make a buck.

Anyway, within 2 working days, the initial artwork has been sent to us, and so far I've had a preliminary glance through and all details look correct. Now to print out for both sets of parents to review in detail. And then it'll be sent for printing! Can't wait!

Review of bridesmaids gathering next...

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...

It's been quite a while since my last post, but things are going well. Gowns have all been selected, our photoshoot taken, and now buckling down to the smaller (but no less important) aspects.

My family has been busy shopping for their outfits for the wedding, and I'm glad to say that it's pretty much settled. B and I took his parents out shopping yesterday as well, and bought his mum a purple gown and shoes.

Next on our list is to select the photos from our photoshoot for the album, as well as food tasting and printing of invitation cards. While I don't mind the occasional bowl of sharks fin, or Buddha Jumps over the Wall (which also contains sharks fin), B and I have made the decision not to serve sharks fin at our wedding. 350 bowls of sharks fin = the death of many sharks!! We're now waiting for the hotel to come back with non-sharks fin alternatives for the 2nd course.

I think we've pretty much been on track so far, and have fortunately avoided any of the skirmishes and unhappiness that so many wedding couples face, so we are lucky on that count.

I'm going to get a little gift for my bridesmaids. Something they will use on the actual day, and will hopefully want to keep afterwards :)

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...

Dad blurted out of the blue this morning, "Do you have time to go and look at bedsheets today?" Let me backtrack a little and explain...

The wedding dowry, also known as trousseau. Definition: the money, goods or estate that a woman brings to a marriage. For Chinese weddings, this includes a whole range of things to help the bride and groom start their new lives together. For instance, a tea set for the tea ceremony at the groom's side, wedding lamps, jewellery, apparently a luggage filled with 10-12 sets of new clothes for the bride's use etc.. And yes, bedsheets are one of the requirements as well.

So off to OG we went! Spent almost an hour choosing 2 sets of bedding that Mum bought for me - 1 wedding one for use when we 按床, and another normal set in gray and pink reversible for normal day use =) Pictures only up after we have done the 按床.

As mentioned, another component of dowry is a luggage filled with 10-12 items of new clothes for me. My mum's role is to buy the luggage, mine is to fill it! Muahahahaha sanctioned clothes shopping! :D:D I've already bought a top, a dress, a skirt and a blazer. Quite a well-balanced attempt if I do say so myself. Need to get a couple pairs of pants, and maybe a few more tops. The fun part is having the license to shop, the not-so-fun part is 'cos I'm not supposed to use these clothes till after the wedding :(

Must...resist... Hehe

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...

Guess what! We are exactly half a year away from the big day! Starting to get a little excited now :D

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...

Another busy weekend full of wedding-related errands.

Met up with my parents and in-laws on Saturday to go check out a 饼家 that specialises in traditional Teochew wedding cakes: Thye Lee confectionary at Lorong Ah Soo.

Box of traditional Teochew wedding cakes

Mum definitely wants to check out a few other shops though, as she recalled the cakes purchased for Xiaojiujiu's wedding were quite good. But then it has been 6 years ago, who knows how much has changed since then. So she'll let us know if she finds somewhere that she likes better.

Went for an early dinner together at B's uncle's stall at Old Airport Road food centre. I like it that our families can have a casual dinner together like this from time to time. Things aren't so awkward that way.

B and I then headed to City Plaza to check out jiemei dresses. Saw a number of pretty/cute ones that I would seriously consider :) Guess I gotta organise a jiemei gathering soon!

Sunday was less hectic. Just met up with our videographer Stan to pass him the photos for our montage. Still owe him a couple more though, 'cos the resolution wasn't ideal. And a couple of videos if we can dig them up as well.

Fortunately this coming weekend we haven't anything planned. I could use the break!

Labels: BB and me, Wedding

dance those blues away...

And with that, I've plunged into our joint wedding email account to file away the whole mountain of emails that can build up when you're planning a wedding. Quotes from various vendors for each requirement (hotel, photography, band etc), and then there's the eventual to-ing and fro-ing with your selected vendor(s) to refine the contracts.

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...

B and I have been planning our wedding for about 5 months now, and so far the tally stands thus:

Labels: Wedding

dance those blues away...