We needed a new set of bedroom furniture as the number of “residents” in the room would increase to 2 (single upgraded to double… hehe). We looked around the Cheras and Puchong areas for a reasonable bedroom set.
Our room isn’t that big, so we decided not to get a king-sized bed. A queen-sized bed would probably be a more practical option. My sis, Fiona, had previously suggested that we get the bigger king-sized bed so that we could share the bed with our baby too when we have one. I thought it wasn’t such a great idea as a big bed would make our room more cramped. When baby comes along, we’ll see what we can do then.
As we were looking around, we came across a bed set manufactured by Batu Emas. Apparently, it was made of solid wood and looked good. Of course, it was also a little more expensive.
We continued to look around and found this shop called UMI Furnishing Design near Sze’s house in Puchong. The shop owner, Francis Chew, was a funny guy. He seemed quite honest and recommended several bedroom sets to us. We felt comfortable and our confidence in him grew which led to trust.
After thinking it over, we went back to the shop the next day and paid a deposit for a bed set which we mixed and matched from the catalog. In the end, we were quite happy and satisfied with the choice of bedroom furniture that we purchased.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Guest List, Card Distribution, RSVP and Seating Arrangement
It wasn’t too difficult for us to come up with our guest lists. Sze had been wondering how to get started and fortunately got his cousin Su to fax us the relatives guest list which she used for her sister’s wedding just a year earlier. It made a great reference as we were also inviting the same people (i.e. relatives).
As for me, I already knew exactly who I needed to invite, so I had no problems in coming up with my guest list. The only other question was to decide on which of our friends and office colleagues to invite.
The most tiring part was the distribution of invitation cards. Most of my relatives’ cards were distributed by hand one month before the wedding dinner, so we had to go from house to house to invite our honorable guests. Sze had the advantage of having his Muslim cousin Harris, organize a Hari Raya open house party at around the same time, so he took the opportunity to distribute most of his relatives’ cards at that gathering (which saved us many trips). Of course, colleagues were the easiest as we were all working in the same office while we also had to meet up or visit some old friends in order to “summon” them. ;)
After the card distribution, we had to find out if our invited guests would be able to make it for our wedding reception. Although some did call to confirm their attendance/non-attendance, not many would RSVP. So one week before the wedding, we would call most of them for confirmation.
Seating arrangement wasn’t that difficult either. We just seated our guests according to their relationships. Most of the juggling was to fit into each table, 10 people who got along the best. As we had used MS Excel spreadsheet program to help keep track of our guest list and RSVP status, cutting and pasting their names to slot into each table ensured that we didn’t miss out on anyone.
As for me, I already knew exactly who I needed to invite, so I had no problems in coming up with my guest list. The only other question was to decide on which of our friends and office colleagues to invite.
The most tiring part was the distribution of invitation cards. Most of my relatives’ cards were distributed by hand one month before the wedding dinner, so we had to go from house to house to invite our honorable guests. Sze had the advantage of having his Muslim cousin Harris, organize a Hari Raya open house party at around the same time, so he took the opportunity to distribute most of his relatives’ cards at that gathering (which saved us many trips). Of course, colleagues were the easiest as we were all working in the same office while we also had to meet up or visit some old friends in order to “summon” them. ;)
After the card distribution, we had to find out if our invited guests would be able to make it for our wedding reception. Although some did call to confirm their attendance/non-attendance, not many would RSVP. So one week before the wedding, we would call most of them for confirmation.
Seating arrangement wasn’t that difficult either. We just seated our guests according to their relationships. Most of the juggling was to fit into each table, 10 people who got along the best. As we had used MS Excel spreadsheet program to help keep track of our guest list and RSVP status, cutting and pasting their names to slot into each table ensured that we didn’t miss out on anyone.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Wedding Favor Ideas
We first thought of giving each of our guests a pair of chopsticks as a wedding favor. The varieties of Thai-style chopsticks were quite popular and were becoming increasingly common as wedding favor items. However, we would rather source for more unique chopsticks directly from Thailand (instead of the commonly imported varieties sold locally) but since no one was going there, we looked around and found another suitable wedding favor – heart-shaped soaps.
My sis told me that no one was going to cherish our wedding favor. Her boyfriend took home a pair of chopsticks from a wedding dinner and it had been left lying in a corner ever since. When I imagined my own chopsticks being treated that way, I felt that would be such a waste.
The little pieces of soap came in multiple colors and since they were more likely to be used than chopsticks, we decided to change our wedding favor to the heart-shaped soap instead.
I like organza bags as they look classy. Since I had some maroon organza ribbon left over from our DIY invitation cards, I thought we could make bags out of that. My Mom helped me sew the ribbon into little bags. We then inserted the soap into the organza bags and tied each bag with thin, pink satin ribbon.
Good idea? We just hope our maroon organza bags will complement the light purple theme of our wedding dinner reception (more photos available in the Photo Gallery).
My sis told me that no one was going to cherish our wedding favor. Her boyfriend took home a pair of chopsticks from a wedding dinner and it had been left lying in a corner ever since. When I imagined my own chopsticks being treated that way, I felt that would be such a waste.
The little pieces of soap came in multiple colors and since they were more likely to be used than chopsticks, we decided to change our wedding favor to the heart-shaped soap instead.
I like organza bags as they look classy. Since I had some maroon organza ribbon left over from our DIY invitation cards, I thought we could make bags out of that. My Mom helped me sew the ribbon into little bags. We then inserted the soap into the organza bags and tied each bag with thin, pink satin ribbon.
Good idea? We just hope our maroon organza bags will complement the light purple theme of our wedding dinner reception (more photos available in the Photo Gallery).
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Dance Practice
Oh dear… this was the most difficult task of all in our wedding preparations – practicing our first dance. Neither of us were dancers but we wanted to make our dinner reception a fun event. So, we decided to provide a little surprise “entertainment” by having our first dance at the end of the dinner and then have the audience join us on the dance floor soon after.
We didn’t want to have a proper ballroom dance because if we got our steps wrong, it would be quite obvious. We wanted something more “freestyle” whereby even if we made mistakes, they wouldn’t be too noticeable… hehe. We also wanted a faster song as it would sound more lively, fun and different from a typically slow first dance. Besides, it would probably be easier to get the crowd to join in too later. So, in the end, we went for the song, “(I've Had) The Time Of My Life” by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes.
We started practicing our dance steps in early August 2007. Although we tried to work on it everyday, that was easier said than done. We missed practice every now and then ‘coz we were sometimes too tired or just didn’t have the time.
Being unskilled dancers, we had to take it slowly and choreographed the dance steps to fit our limited ability… hehe. The main thing was that the steps had to feel natural to us as we learnt them from a couple of videos that we found online.
As the wedding approached, we became even busier and missed practice for extended periods… we would forget our steps every now and then, so we would try to squeeze in a short practice session occasionally. Anyway, we just did our best and tried to have fun too!
We didn’t want to have a proper ballroom dance because if we got our steps wrong, it would be quite obvious. We wanted something more “freestyle” whereby even if we made mistakes, they wouldn’t be too noticeable… hehe. We also wanted a faster song as it would sound more lively, fun and different from a typically slow first dance. Besides, it would probably be easier to get the crowd to join in too later. So, in the end, we went for the song, “(I've Had) The Time Of My Life” by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes.
We started practicing our dance steps in early August 2007. Although we tried to work on it everyday, that was easier said than done. We missed practice every now and then ‘coz we were sometimes too tired or just didn’t have the time.
Being unskilled dancers, we had to take it slowly and choreographed the dance steps to fit our limited ability… hehe. The main thing was that the steps had to feel natural to us as we learnt them from a couple of videos that we found online.
As the wedding approached, we became even busier and missed practice for extended periods… we would forget our steps every now and then, so we would try to squeeze in a short practice session occasionally. Anyway, we just did our best and tried to have fun too!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Photo Selection
On Thursday, 26 July 2007, we went to Ivory Romance to see the result of our photo shoot. We were attended to by our photographer, Ah Mun. His job was to help us select matching shots to fit into our photo album and to also convince us to upgrade our album into a fully digital design album. Personally, I thought their digital designs were decent, not impressive, but on the other hand, we would also get more poses in the album. Hmm…
Cost was not the main issue in not buying his sales pitch. I believe that if the digital designs made the album look truly extraordinary, then it would automatically become a must-have, a necessity that no matter what, we would still want to upgrade our package for that awesome result. But that was not the case… and moreover, I don’t really like indoor photos that much.
As for Sze, he let me decide as he didn’t have a preference. Fiona was also with us to help in selecting the photos. We wanted more poses but didn’t want the digital designs. So, we came up with the idea of upgrading our mini album from identical poses (which was redundant anyway) to different poses, with a digital copy of all the photos (no touch-up) on CD-ROM. Poof! There goes the fat commission for Ah Mun - he wasn’t thrilled but helped us to finish up the process. Our album would be ready on 28 September 2007.
The physical mini album was not impressive but that was less important – the crucial point was that we would get the digital copy of the photos in JPEG format. That was like getting the film negative in the old days and we could then do anything we wanted from there. We didn’t want the bridal studio’s slideshow either as we wanted to do our own - the video slideshow of our Pre-Wedding Album has been posted earlier in the Video Gallery.
Cost was not the main issue in not buying his sales pitch. I believe that if the digital designs made the album look truly extraordinary, then it would automatically become a must-have, a necessity that no matter what, we would still want to upgrade our package for that awesome result. But that was not the case… and moreover, I don’t really like indoor photos that much.
As for Sze, he let me decide as he didn’t have a preference. Fiona was also with us to help in selecting the photos. We wanted more poses but didn’t want the digital designs. So, we came up with the idea of upgrading our mini album from identical poses (which was redundant anyway) to different poses, with a digital copy of all the photos (no touch-up) on CD-ROM. Poof! There goes the fat commission for Ah Mun - he wasn’t thrilled but helped us to finish up the process. Our album would be ready on 28 September 2007.
The physical mini album was not impressive but that was less important – the crucial point was that we would get the digital copy of the photos in JPEG format. That was like getting the film negative in the old days and we could then do anything we wanted from there. We didn’t want the bridal studio’s slideshow either as we wanted to do our own - the video slideshow of our Pre-Wedding Album has been posted earlier in the Video Gallery.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Pre-wedding Photo Shoot
It was Sunday, 8 July 2007. Our appointment for the photo shoot was at 11am. Even though lunch would be provided, we were afraid we might get hungry (oops… you now know that we’re both big eaters)! So, we prepared some food and drinks to bring along for tea time.
By the time we arrived at the bridal studio, it was already 11.30am. Risley, our make-up artist, took an hour to get us (actually, it was mostly me) ready for the first session – our outdoor shoot.
By the time we arrived at the bridal studio, it was already 11.30am. Risley, our make-up artist, took an hour to get us (actually, it was mostly me) ready for the first session – our outdoor shoot.
We went to Muzium Telekom and its surrounding area at the Jalan Gereja-Jalan Raja Chulan junction for our photo session.
We were afraid there would be many people staring at us during the shooting. But it was a Sunday and thankfully the area was quite deserted. A few girls staying up in a nearby apartment block were watching us and waved when we looked up. A short while later, someone looked out from a passing car and said, “Hello!” We waved back. Well, guess it wasn’t so bad after all to be watched by others during our outdoor shoot. :)
In the midst of our photo session, it started to rain. So we didn’t get to take as many outdoor shots as I would have liked. We then proceeded back to the studio and had lunch there.
Next, we continued with the indoor studio photos. We had many different poses in various settings till we lost track of what we did.
We ended the photo session with the Rococo Rose backdrop, the traditional Chinese and the Japanese costumes. The entire session finished at around 9.30pm. It had been a long and tiring day for us.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Buying Shoes
A few weeks before the pre-wedding photo shoot, we went shopping for Sze’s shoes. His old shoes were already scratched and worn out. Being as fussy as he is, it was not easy to find a suitable pair. For weeks, we went around to many places but just didn’t find anything that both of us liked.
One day, we took my 6th Uncle from Kedah out for shopping as well as to meet with Naomi, my younger sis who was working at The Curve at that time. 6th Uncle wanted to enjoy relaxing in a massage chair, so we left him at Ogawa.
We continued our window shopping and wandered into Metrojaya. While looking around, we came across a black pair of long and unique-looking shoes. It was a Valentino Rudy of Italy. Sze thought it looked quite nice and different while I thought it looked much better than the other shoes in the store. Ah, agreement at last… so that was how we settled on Sze’s Valentino Rudy.
One day, we took my 6th Uncle from Kedah out for shopping as well as to meet with Naomi, my younger sis who was working at The Curve at that time. 6th Uncle wanted to enjoy relaxing in a massage chair, so we left him at Ogawa.
We continued our window shopping and wandered into Metrojaya. While looking around, we came across a black pair of long and unique-looking shoes. It was a Valentino Rudy of Italy. Sze thought it looked quite nice and different while I thought it looked much better than the other shoes in the store. Ah, agreement at last… so that was how we settled on Sze’s Valentino Rudy.
As we continued window shopping, I also found a pair of shoes for myself at Edward Forrest. I wanted a pair of silver shoes as they would easily match any dress. But unfortunately, they didn’t have my size… as usual :(
Before long, the weekend of our photo shoot was already approaching. I had totally forgotten about my shoes. When Sze reminded me about it, I panicked as there was only one weekend left!
Fiona, Naomi and me then went to Sungei Wang Plaza to look for my shoes. While we were looking around, we went into an evening/wedding gown shop called SA Creative. So instead of a pair of shoes, I bought a knee-length dress for my wedding dinner. Many brides might not accept the idea of having a short dress for their dinner reception, but I really liked it, more so when I think of how the skirt will float when I make a turn during the dance… hehe.
Time was running out fast for me. I started going into almost every shoe shop in Sg. Wang and finally found a pair which was quite decent. I took it immediately to get it over with. Moreover, Naomi was already complaining of feeling hungry, so we ended our shopping trip with lunch at Kim Gary.
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