Wedding Day - Part 1

p.s.: I've yet to receive the official photos from my photographers. The following photos were all taken by myself, friends and family haha.
update: Gotten the photos from Mojoideas already! Added in some :D

24.01.16 Sunday
I thought if I busied myself the whole of Saturday, I would eventually be tired and able to fall asleep easily that night.
I’ve heard too many instances where brides suffer from insomnia the night before their wedding day. And DAMNIT, me too :(

I don’t feel excited actually, more of thinking what else I missed out.. and I couldn’t sleep the whole night! And at 4 plus in the morning, my grandma knocked on my door. She woke up at 3am while I was trying to catch a wink. Guess she couldn’t sleep as well.
Mom told me she didn’t sleep much too cos she was too excited haha

But Sam slept like a log I think haha..
Good for him lol. Good he didn’t oversleep too haha.

My make-up artist was Keith from Digio. He’s quite renowned one I found out after that. Cos alot of people know him apparently. Even the MUA for the moms know him by name and my photographer and videographer called him when they met.

His assistant came 15 minutes earlier to prep my hair as Keith has an earlier appointment at 5am. He came over at 6am.
He is quite funny cos he stood at my door gate and shouted a very loud Helloooooo!” My mom walked to the door to ask him who’s he and what he wants. Lol! Then he said, “I’m the 化妆师!!”

My photographers were supposed to come at 6:30am but they arrived together with the MUA at 6am. Omg. I ask them don’t take photos of my nude face can? Haha..

This is the completed look ;)


Me and my MUA Keith.




My bridesmaids arrived around 615am.
This group photo was taken by dad at the swimming pool area before the gatecrash. They look so lovely, don't they? :D

WenSze, Cyndy, Esther, Elvina and Clara.

Sam and his brothers set off at 6:45am..

and reached my place around 7:15am.

My 2yo nephew, Ethan, was in charge of opening the car door and he was SUPER cute kicking the door before opening it, haha..





Sam and his band of brothers!



The brothers had to go through a series of games at the swimming pool area and the games were all very mild one.
Plus we would need to reach Sam’s place before 9:00am thus there was only like 45 minutes for the gate crash.
First game was passing 3 icing sugar and honey-coated tennis balls using the mouth from one brother to another. This was easy feat cos the guys are very close and wouldn’t mind kissing each other, haha.


The second game was imitating some gays dancing a Korean girl song. I did 6 sets of Hawaiian skirts using crepe paper the night before, and they have to don it before dancing.
Easy for them too.

The third game was to find the Key that was hidden in the swimming pool.
The sisters pasted the key to the side of the steps in the pool and the guys had a hard time trying to locate it.

End up, clues were given to them and they found it eventually. However, the key is not my house key wahaha… So they gave the sisters Ang Pow to open the door.

Inside the house, they had to go through the usual 酸甜苦辣 series.

Spicy was the popular fiery Korean ramen cup noodles, Lemons for the sourness, Bitter was just bittergourd and 苦茶 that I’ve gotten from the TCM. “Sweet” was already in Game 1 (honey coated tennis balls).

While all this time, i was in my bedroom listening to them and taking selfies, wahaha.
  

After the brothers have successfully consumed those stuff, Sam’s next task would be to SING A SONG. Lol..
Actually Sam has already warned me not to ask him to sing at the gatecrash as he feels he cannot sing and will xia suay. But what’s a gatecrash without challenging the groom’s greatest fear right? Lol.. No la, I never wanted to tekan him, but I really wanted to prove to him that his singing isn’t that bad la… plus we already planned this game before he ‘warned’ me. So too bad lo.
Anyway, he was game for it and sang very loudly haha.
Thumbs up for the effort!

So, my bedroom door was opened and I was surprised when he knelt down.
Apparently the videographer told him to do it and say a heart-warming speech haha.. Glad he made him do it cos he owed me one on my proposal.
There was a slight quiver in his voice. Not exactly sure whether he was too caught up in the emotions or too nervous, but no matter which, it was the first time he said something soooo touching and sincere.
T_T



After which videographer asked me why I wasn’t moved to tears, haha…
I won’t cry one la.i will only cry when I kena scolded / bullied one. lol

Group shot before leaving..


Took a shot in the car.


Me with my very pretty bouquet of roses, hydrangeas and baby's breath.
Like all my favourite flowers together hehe!


We went back to his place for some light snacks buffet and 敬茶 to Sam’s family.


Roasted pig


Took some group photos with the brothers and sisters,



before heading out to Punggol waterway for the outdoor shoot.

Love this shot.

It was taken at his void deck. Was calling our driver cos he dunno run until where again.

Actually hor, no need go all the way to Waterway since we only took photos at a road with some bushes and trees hahaa.


Our photographers posted this on their FB page ;D 
No photos of the brothers though.. or rather, i dont have them yet. haha

Sam’s brother, sis-in-law and his nephew + niece tagged along with us. His niece was such a sweetheart, helping me with my gown and making sure I was taken care of. She passed me tissue paper, drinks and helped me hold my phone and made sure I did not step on my gown and fall down, haha…

Love this shot by Clara :D


After the photoshoot, we went to our new house to cool down. Glad there was air-con there haha..

I had to change into my very 清凉 tea-dress before heading back to my mom’s.
Initially, we actually forgotten all about the tea-dress and we only realized it when we were at Sam’s place! OMG why I so blur! Somemore is dunno who reminded me one lor.
I had to last minute call cousin Bailin to ask if he’s okay to help me bring my tea-dress from home to my new house. So grateful for him and Kaya cos they both helped me bring my dress over. Phew!

We shot some videos at our new house too! So happy cos our new house so 美 haha! We spent a bomb on the renovation and furnishing (though it was still quite bare). Details in another blog post soon, haha..


Took some really nice shots!




My girls❤


By the time we returned to my mom’s place, all my aunties and uncles have gathered there already. We had lunch buffet from Neo Garden before the driver whisked Sam, Clara and myself to our hotel. The rest of the brothers and sisters headed back to their respective homes.
We had a complimentary helpers’ room at Swissotel and Clara even stayed for a night there! Hehe

This was our bridal suite on the 64th level! Enormous and very clean!

View from our window.

Glad that the balcony was locked cos of previous fatalities that occurred last year where people fell off the balcony!!! (on the lower levels, not our suite of cos).
I was also abit worried cos of the horror story @ Hilton. Especially when alcohol cannot be avoided at wedding dinners, particularly for the wedding couple.

super comfy bed and open bathtub ;D

the super spacious walkway at the shower area and toilet. There is a walk-in wardrobe too.

These photos were taken on the 2nd day of our stay cos first day really no time. Super rushed and i regretted not taking enough photos haha.

Washed up as we were so sweaty (and smelly) liao. Our Fairmont wedding coordinater, Lariza, was really good. Thumbs up for her excellent service! We really appreciate her help throughout our banquet and our 2 nights’ stay at Swissotel as she was there for us all the way!
We feel like the King and Queen throughout our stay!

Was served an early dinner at 4pm and they brought up the food to our suite. Look at the spread! Club sandwich or something haha

We purposely ordered something filling and oily, to prepare our stomachs for the alcohol later… but glad we didn’t get sabotaged!! PHEW. Details later haha..

For the morning highlights video,
Click this link to watch :)
morning highlights video

Okay, shall stop here and continue part 2 another time.
my friends are coming over for Hai Di Lao steamboat at our new home haha.. and i will need to get everything ready by then!

Cheers! Enjoy ur weekend peeps!

Wedding Preparation

The last few months, weeks and days have been super hectic.
Work was incredibly busy as well because our team has a shortage of manpower for the longest time. There can be only 1 person on leave at one time cos my team now only left me and another colleague, haha.. so pathetic right?

Anyway, I had to transfer to another department because Sam is also from the same franchise and the bank’s policy states that immediate family members cannot work together due to conflict of interest. Thank God there was a vacancy at the other department at the same time and the transition was smoother than I expected.
This issue has been worrying me from the start but I guess God has in place the perfect plan and timing. If it’s not Him, then who?
My colleague has pointed out the other day that she can see how God has blessed me with the right people, right timing and resources. And I think she is right. I believe God has really helped me through my career in the bank, blessing me richly through my 5 years here.
I know fully how inadequate I am to deserve all these. I trust that His plans for me are good.

Okay, back to the wedding. Hee..

There were a hundred and one things to take note.
Actual day itinerary, logistics, food, photography, deco..… and the list goes on and on.

Gown Selection 
3 months prior to the big day, we had to go down to our bridal studio (Digio) to select our gowns and suits.

My first gown selection session was very disappointing.
Spent like 3 hours trying to find a nice gown but there was none. Tried on a few but there wasn’t one I really loved / looked good in. I’m not especially fussy kind but I know exactly what I want.

The lady explained that many gowns were unavailable as that particular weekend 10-10-15 was a good date to get hitched so the nicer ones have already been rented out.
OK fine, so we fixed another date for gown selection in November, 2 months prior my wedding.

These are the gowns which I selected to try on.

Ugly hahahaa..
I remember one blogger saying, must find a dress that you love 10/10. Nothing less because wedding day is the most important day of a woman’s life and she has to look most beautiful in.

I had more luck on my 2nd gown selection day.

The initial package includes 1 wedding gown, 1 evening gown, a Tea-dress/Kua and 2 groom suits (not including the inner shirt).
I told Amy (lady boss) that I don’t wan the tea-dress / Kua, so can I get another wedding gown for free? She say cannot haha but gave me a 50% discount on the rental so I still need to top up 700 bucks for an additional wedding gown.

The reason why I wanted 2 gowns was, I don’t wanna wear back the gown I wore in the morning as it would be dirty and smelly (cfm sweat like mad one ma, esp going around under the sun for photoshoot).
So I chose 2 day white gowns and one evening gown. Selection was much simpler as there were more choices now. I chose back my first love (the one I tried on the very first day we stepped into Digio and even before signing the package).

The girls there asked why I don’t want their New Arrivals. My rationale very simple. I want something I liked and looked good in, instead of something new but doesn’t suit me perfect, so I insisted on getting that. They also agreed the old dress looks best haha.. yeah

The second gown which I selected for 1st march in (dinner) was a corset tie back ball gown with sweetheart bodice too.
Something I super love is the soft blue/lilac tulle bottom. Sam says it’s the unicorn lollipop dress haha. Somewhat magical, somewhat colourful. Don’t really like the top part as it’s not as fitting as my morning gown. The girls said cos the material for the latter is slightly elastic, thus maybe got the bodycon-fit lor, haha. It makes my waist look so tiny, wahaha…

I know a few colours that can never go wrong under my skin tone. Turquoise, grey, navy, pink. I cannot go for cobalt blue / fire red as it will not flatter my skin colour.
There was no nice turquoise gowns and grey looks very much like white. So I chose Navy. I also wanted another style, maybe mermaid as my white gowns are already ball gowns liao.

The girl, Carmen, took 2 navy mermaid gowns for me to try.
The first one’s low back was WOW, super super love BUT the front looks abit dated though… wear liao like old cos the jewels are small and black in colour.

Not nice.

The second one also has low back but not as sexy as the first, but the front looks better.
Got bling silver jewels at the bust area and looks much modern than the first.
Very fast, I confirmed it.

:)


As for the guys, very standard one. White / Black suits are the safe bets.
Unless you want to go for bolder colours or materials like maroon or checkered / tweed. Of cos the bride has to select her gowns first before matching them with the groom’s suits.
Digio's suits are so limited, unlike those at Bluebay Taiwan.
Bluebay even has inner shirts, accessories as well as white shoes for groom to rent. Who on earth would wear white shoes to work? Haha so no point buying for just that 1 day.

We chose one black and one white suit (Black not in the photos).


Wedding Bands
We went band shopping only around 3 months before the big day, and it was considered very late. Some brands would actually need to ship the correct size / design from overseas and it may take 3 to 6 months' time. Thus, no harm starting to source earlier.
We visited Cartier, Love & Co., Lee Hwa, Goldheart etc. but i only had eyes for the Cartier rings that were engraved with the word 'Cartier'. To me, they look so classic and timeless :)

Wedding Favours 
Dreamweavers is the vendor for Fairmont hotel and these 2 were the gifts i've chosen for our banquet guests. Christine, my colleague who also held her banquet at Fairmont 2 years back told me her guests all loved the pen, so i must choose the pen for one of the favours. Lol..
As for the measuring spoons, i find them really cute. Both gifts are more for ladies i feel. But Sam says it doesn't matter cos usually guys don't take or keep them. They will just pass it to the girls. haha

Blue ballpoint pen.

:) Sam told me his colleagues said the pen is very smooth to write :) YAY

ROM appointment
Our appointment at the Registry of Marriage was on 18th Jan, Monday at 10:30am to 11am.

Basically, we just need to bring our identification documents for verification, sompba to declare that all information is true.
After that, we were given a free pass to take a photo at the instant photo print booth. Lol

The photo not nice one. It's either the lighting very dim or the printer colour chui haha.
So we took our own.

After collecting our documents, Sam went back to work while i went home cos i took leave for the whole week.


Gown Fitting
And 4 days before the big day, we went down for fitting.
The lady boss helped replace newer lace on the old dress and it looks perfect. I also requested soft tulle to be sewn on at the shoulders so the dress becomes off-shoulder instead of sweetheart tube top. Hehe. Perfect!
All my favourites in one dress= Off-shoulder, low back, translucent lace bodice and soft tulle ball gown. Princessy! Yay!!

My mom complained that I would actually need to a tea-dress cos I cannot wear back the same gown to ‘return home’. Sam’s mom also said the same thing, so on the day of gown fitting I told Amy I would actually need to rent a tea-dress.
I was told to choose from the rack. I don’t like short tulle dresses and I reckon they would make me look stunted. Also look cute, I don’t like.

I rejected a few which the girl took out, and ended up finding a fitted short dress instead.
Sam prefers the first one but i took the 2nd instead haha.

Fits perfectly and super love and the organza details at the neckline!
It’s simple and not like the elaborated tea-dresses that are O' so common.
Am super happy with my choice!

Sam came over after work and tried on the white and black suits+pants, but they seemed too loose for him. So we got them to get a smaller size and also altered the pants to make them more tapered.
After that, we went for dinner at the famous Japanese ramen place across the street (Tras Street).

We then took our gowns and suits back to our homes respectively. My ahma say cannot meet a few days before the wedding, so we busied with our own stuff until Sunday.
The day before our wedding, Sam went over to the bridal studio with his bro and sis-in-law to collect the hand bouquet. The hand bouquet so pretty please!!
I requested for hydrangeas and white roses and they make such a beautiful bouquet !


We also hired a driver and his Audi A5 for our big day. Price $488. 8 hours, 7am to 3pm.

He had to go to the bridal studio for the flowers to be tied onto his car a day before.
Sis-in-law took this photo and sent to me via whatsapp.
Just so overwhelmed looking at this photo.. Like everything is materializing into reality, lol.. i think i busy until cannot feel the excitement lol

The schedule the day before = Do my mani and pedicure @ Glitzy fingers (Chinatown point branch), go home pack my room, write my vows and dinner speech.

Manicure 
Glitzy Fingers’ nail art is damn awesome and the gellish nails stay the longest time!!
Just let it grow out (~2 to 3 months) and u slowly cut it away, it doesn’t chip off unless you do a lot of tough housework. Lol.
So basically you pay for a whole 3 months of nice nails. Worth it!!
This was mine. I did a bridal set in August for my photoshoot and I honestly liked the former better as I prefer all nails French manicure style (white) instead of the glitter.
See the 3D rose?
The girl made it. They insist no stickers and everything is drawn on / handmade. Amazing!

Price for gellish nail-art manicure and express pedicure cost me $160. I already asked them to reduce the number of crystals so that the damage on my wallet isn't as huge, haha.


Hair 
I went to my trusted stylist, Dylan from De Hair-Tique as usual.
Told him I wanted to dye my hair and he suggested me going bold since it’s a once in a lifetime event.
I wanted ash and he said he can do gradient style which is very trendy now. Ash at the bottom and he will touch up with brown from my roots.

Ta-dah….


To be honest, I was Shocked at the end result.
Cos the bottom part of my hair was so light! Like suddenly change to very obvious colour.
I wanted ash-brown de ash. He really did Ash white de ash D:


My friend say very ah-lian, Sam say i like can liao. I was apprehensive. I know my mom will surely scream at me….but miraculously she didn't! :D Phew….
I wasn’t too comfortable with it, maybe not used to it la haha.. but was re-assured by the ladies at Digio and my videographers.
As in, I didn’t purposely ask them if my hair was nice to get a politically correct answer. But they just complimented it without me asking, means it’s nice right? Wahahaa

Bridesmaids
I’ve 6 in total, and one last min cannot come. So 5.
Ordered bridesmaid dress for each of them from Love & Bravery. Each cost around 50 bucks. It’s pink with a light tulle bottom and I think it’s really sweet.

My criteria is, dress must be long, feminine and classy.

i packed the dresses and a Stila lip gloss in each paper bag for my girlies. Also handmade corsages to be worn on actual day :) pretty right? hehe

Sam has 6 brothers and i ordered 6 tweed plaid bow ties for them (from taobao, hehe) Cheap and nice!

i wanted to continue blogging but it's late and i need to sleep. haha.
Sorry for the abrupt stop haha.

Continue soon.. Good night! Muacks~