An idea for our Ang Pao Box!

28th June 2008 - All along, both Meowvin and I had thought that the Ang Pao box is one of the most easily settled items in our list of wedding preparations. But as our wedding date draws nearer.... troublesome me thought it would be more meaningful to DIY/custom make our Ang Pao box. Probably its because our to-do list for our wedding preparation gets shorter as time goes by, subconsciously I try to think of things that will keep us busy???? Wahahahha siao huh?

Anyway, I casually brought up my idea to Meowvin, bracing for the "ni xian wo men bu gou mang ar, zuo website yi jing gou headache liao, xian zai you yao jia duo yi ge??" nag that I expected.

Translation: "you feel we are not busy enough is it, do website already headache enough, now still want to add one more item??"

Haha~!

Surprisingly, not only was he game for it, he even thought of a very cool idea! A very funny idea, I would say, something different definitely, but... the oldies may think it is kinda improper, I think. But then, what's the fun if we're gonna follow what other couples use - a boring old box? Heheh....

Anyway, we have decided on the plushies that must be part of our Ang Pao box decoration, haha! Got a lil problem with one of the plushies though, cos its not available. Gotta find ways and means to get hold of it. I love challenges~ :p

Recognise this?

now...

Look at this~! :p

Wahahahahahhahaa!

Look out for a major change over the next few months!


- Phebe

1st Fittting for my Evening gown~!

28th June 2008 - It's amazing to see how 2 big slabs of cloth transform into a beautiful evening gown. Yesterday, I went for my first fitting at Jazz in the afternoon after collecting Meowvin's suit from Suntec. After waiting with much anticipation, I finally got to see my evening gown!!!

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Jovy has not sewed on the beadings and lace yet, but the rest of the gown is beautiful!!! All my hard work of researching European gown designs has paid off! Initially, I had been a lil worried whether it would turn out ok, since I sort of mixed and matched the whole thing. Meaning to say, I like the hem of Gown 1, the beadings of Gown 2, the neckline of Gown 3, the cutting of Gown 4, the style of Gown 5... so on and so forth, then I printed and passed all my research items to Jovy who exclaimed a "Wah! So many?????", haha. Based on those, she sketched out a gown that incorporates bits and pieces of Gowns 1 to 5. Errm, something like that, if you get what I mean.

Anyway, it turned out better than what I had expected. I love the neckline!!!!!!!!!!! In a way, I got to thank Meowvin's tailor for this. If he had not lent me his magazine, I would not have stumbled upon a dress that I liked, and persistent me went into that designer's website and stumbled upon more pics, one of which displayed a neckline design that I really like!!!!!!!!

WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait for my 2nd fitting in 2 weeks time to try on the final product!!!!!!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I want a new diamond ring.


- Phebe

Suit Collection

28 Jun 08 - Today, Her Royal Majesty and I trudged down to Suntec City to collect my suit from Dickson Tailor. Our appointment had been scheduled for 11.45am, but we were busy sorting out the mayhem at home, and ended up reaching City Hall at about 12pm.

From past experience, we knew that the tailor, Mr Wong, was a stickler for punctuality and had no qualms showing his displeasure if you failed to show up on time. Therefore, Her Royal Majesty decreed that I should hotfoot over to the shop while she strolled down Citilink.

As expected, Mr Wong had his "I-eat-late-customers-for-lunch" face on. One of the first things he mentioned was that he had another customer coming in shortly, and said I might have to wait until he's done. I discreetly scooted out of his way, and avoided eye contact by suddenly taking on great interest in the bales of fabric littered around his shop.

When told that Her Royal Majesty would be arriving in 5 minutes, Mr Wong brought over my items and told me to try them on. I tried on a white tie-wrap and silver vest combo, and we promptly decided that this was to be my outfit during the day of my customary wedding.

In addition, we also rented a maroon tie-wrap for the tuxedo jacket that was supplied by Jazz Bridal. This matches Her Royal Majesty's custom-made evening gown. My oufit during the second march-in will comprise tuxedo jacket, black vest, black shirt and maroon tie-wrap.

The entire package fitted onto a hanger and it was encased in a suit cover to prevent it from getting dusty. We paid the remainder of the balance to Mr Wong and left happily, clutching my very first tailor-made suit tightly in my hand.


- Melvin

Preparing for our Photoshoot

22 June 2008 - Some updates...

Date of PS: 18th July 2008
Photographer: David from Jazz Bridal
Locations: TBA

Date of 1st fitting (Jazz): 28th June 2008
Date of Final fitting (Jazz): 14th July 2008

Date of fitting (Bridal Zone): 5th July 2008

Date of Hair colouring & treatment: 10th July 2008
Date of Mani-pedicure: 17th July 2008


- Phebe

Exploring Singapura

21 June 2008 - Today, Evelyn, Meowvin and I explored around Singapura, the island we all call home. Not that we've got nothing better else to do, but because Meowvin and I are searching for potential photoshoot locations.

We have made up a list of potential locations for our photoshoot this coming July, and have decided to check out the places. The night before, Meowvin checked out google maps and mapped out the route we were going to take. Have I mentioned that streetdirectory.com is no longer available?

Anyway, we managed to find a couple of interesting places, thanks to Evelyn! One funny thing happened when we were at Ben & Jerry's. A lil kid no more than 3 years old was making his way out of the front door carrying a plastic cup filled with water. He missed his footing and landed on his bum, causing his hands to swing in an upward motion and the cup of water splashing directly onto his face! Wahahhaahhhaa it was soooooooooo funny that even the father had to control his laughter so as not to irritate his kid, who by then, got so irritated that he started whining and crying, waahahhahaha!

Ok, anyway, jokes aside, I'm so glad I'm not the male party in this wedding thing. As we got to each location, Meowvin got down and took photos while the 2 of us remained in the car. See? That's the privilege of being a woman.

Let the men do the dirty job.


- Phebe

Cheong Sam or Kua?

14 June 2008 - Haiz, I still can't make up my mind whether to wear a kua or cheong sam for the tea serving ceremony. Although I am not a very traditional person, there are certain things I prefer to follow the traditional way. As such, a tea dress is out of my consideration.

Actually, I have decided to wear the kua, but... I can't stand the colourful "gems" at the neckline of the collar. Too striking lah, like very "wayang"! So, the next choice of what I deem as a tradition outfit came into mind - a cheong sam.

Meowvin and I made our way to Holland V, where there was a little shop selling cheong sams. I have never thought that I would look good in a cheong sam, but surprisingly, not only did I manage to find one that I like, I also looked good in it! It seemed like the solution to my kua-cheong sam delima, until Mdm Yik said that its "too black". Arrrgh.

Honestly, I don't see how "too black" it was, with all the floral prints on the body of the dress. In fact, I think its cool, a good change from the usual bright red cheong sams! Mdm Yik agreed that it was very nice though, and suggested that I buy it to wear to wedding dinners in the future, lol. Haiz, sad... so many people said it was nice, yet I can't wear it during my wedding cos the older generation may make noise.

Haiz... sianz... now I got to go chong sam and kua hunting again. Sianz.

- Phebe

Suit Hunting (2)

14 Jun 08 - Having had my measurements taken on my first visit, the tailor got down to work, and soon informed me to see him again for the first fitting. This was also the first time I am tailoring my clothes, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the shirt, jacket and pants fit me. In fact, there wasn’t even any need for alterations, and we spent the most part of the visit seeking the tailor’s advice on our choice of outfits for the upcoming photoshoot.

I had also wanted to tailor an additional tuxedo shirt to match the jacket provided by Jazz Bridal. However, the tailor strongly advised against it as he felt that it was rather old-fashioned. I decided to follow his advice since he must have seen many fashion mistakes throughout his career, and it was also an opportunity to save some money.


- Melvin

Gown Selection at Jazz Bridal (2)

7 June 2008 – Went to Jazz again to select the remaining of my outdoor and indoor gowns, as well as to select Melvin’s suits. Not many choices for him anyway, and he selected his outfits within 15 mins, lol. Jovy showed me the materials she bought for my evening gown and now I am getting kinda excited… I hope it will turn out well!!


- Phebe

Fitting at Bridal Zone

31 May 2008 – Haha, decided to wear my ROM gown for our photo shoot in July, so we made an appointment with Bridal Zone again and went down for fitting. Luckily it is still available!


- Phebe

Gown Selection at Jazz Bridal

25 May 2008 - Meowvin and I went to Jazz yesterday afternoon for our 2nd appt with Jovy. This time, she brought out somemore of her new creations for me to try. Main intention is for me to select off the rack instead of MTM. Since they are new creations, I was thinking...why not? Can save money too, lol. Tried on a couple of wedding gowns and very quickly decided on the first one. Both Meowvin and Jovy said it makes me look slimmer (haha self deception?), so well, I'm fine with it. Jovy said it has the kinda victorian look, which made me wonder what was her definition of victorian....? My only concern - she better add more glittery stuff around the waist area.

Tried on her new evening gowns, but in the end decided to have my evening gown made-to-measure instead. I still can't get my mind off the drawing she drew 2 weeks ago. Discussed on the gown details and finally got it settled. A lil leak: The colour is shocking. Wahahahahaha~!

Sometimes I really wonder... how come French and Jazz, though under the same boss, differ so much in their gown designs? I mean, French is bigger yes, but the designs are so much lousier (to me). Kinda "standard” lor. I'm sooooooooo glad we switched over.

Was supposed to select my outdoor gown, remaining evening gown and kua, but I was feeling too sleepy to continue, so we fixed another appt to go down again. Somehow I always feel sleepy whenever I try on gowns. Boring. Perhaps, I am one of those people who have no patience in such things. Fixed a couple more appointments as well for my MTM gown fittings and Kitty's suits. Our weekends are going to be more and more packed in the coming months, haiz. All the way full until end July, and this is only the beginning.... . Meowvin brought along the laptop to work on our website. That's called making full use of whatever limited time we have, lol.


- Phebe

Jazz Bridal

6 May 2008 – We transferred over to Jazz Bridal (French’s sister company) in April. Phebe and I went to view the gown collection at French Bridal and found to our dismay that not a gown was worth taking a second look. Thankfully, our co-ordinator was based at Jazz Bridal and she suggested that we transfer over. We thus went to view the gown collection at Jazz and surprisingly, it was much better than French! Needless to say, we decided to switch over. The service over here at Jazz is much better too, with friendlier staff!

Our package includes 1 made-to-measure evening or wedding gown and to make sure that she had the gown of her dreams, she diligently bought almost every available bridal magazine months before the first appointment with the designer. She then took pictures of those designs which she preferred and painstakingly compiled them in a WORD document so that she could print it out and show them to the designer.

Having conveyed her preferences to the designer and tried on numerous gowns, we were rather disappointed when we were told that the designer was leaving Jazz Bridal. Fortunately, the new designer, Jovy, was also very experienced, and quickly figured out what Phebe was looking for in a gown.

She also pointed out several gowns for Phebe to try, and even advised her to pick out an off-the-rack gown if possible. This will allow us to spend more on extra photos if we would like to. Taking her advice, Phebe managed to select an off-the-rack wedding gown, but eventually still decided to have her evening gown custom-made.

- Melvin

Suit Hunting

27 Apr 08 - When was the last time you went shopping at Suntec City?

Chances are, if you have not made your home in the mountains, you would have stepped foot in this cavernous shopping mall cum convention centre in the last 1 - 2 months. As typical Singaporeans who have made the pursuit of good makan and good shopping our raison d'etre, Her Royal Majesty and I consider ourselves reasonably well-informed about the layouts of major shopping centres, including Suntec City.

As such, we were quite surprised to find out that there was a rather renowned tailor tucked away in a corner of the mall. We were strangely guilty that we had absolutely no idea of the existence of this tailor, despite the innumerable trips that we must have taken in the immediate vicinity of his shopfront.

Dickson Tailor, owned and operated by Mr Wong Ban Lee, had a steady following in online forums among bridegrooms-to-be who were scouting around for a good tailor for their wedding day suits. It was commonly mentioned in forum postings that Mr Wong's suits were of above average quality at reasonable prices. Acting on these recommendations, Her Royal Majesty and I dutifully made our way to Suntec City to get my suit done.

The tailor shop had a bright yellow signboard which was impossible to miss --- if you were looking in the right direction, that is. Unfortunately, Dickson Tailor was located behind the escalator, in the opposite direction from the rest of the cafes and restaurants at Basement 1. This also explains why we had failed to notice this shop throughout the years.

Rows upon rows of men's suits and pants lined up against the walls, forming a tiny corridor which only allowed customers to enter in single file. Mr Wong was serving another customer when we arrived, and while we waited for our turn, Her Royal Majesty quickly took the chance to browse through the many bridal magazines that were lying around. These magazines were in a foreign language (later we found out that this was Italian) and Her Royal Majesty had to restrain herself from squeaking in joy when she discovered several wedding gown designs that were not found in local magazines. Later, Mr Wong graciously offered to let us tear out these designs from the magazine, but we declined and instead asked him to lend us the magazine so that we can take pictures of the designs that we wanted.

The package offered by Mr Wong included a jacket, vest, shirt and pants, all at a very reasonable price. Some of the forum postings had stated almost the same price, but I had thought that this was only for the jacket. I also tried on some jackets and found a design that I liked, before having my measurements taken. The chosen design was probably not available off-the-rack at a major fashion retailer where most men, myself included, acquired their stock of office wear (read: G-X-X-X-X).

Throughout the process, Mr Wong also offered several suggestions about what was more popular and even agreed to lend me 2 tie wraps for no cost! I was starting to understand why this man was so widely recommended in the forums.

Next fitting will be in June, and hopefully, everything will be ready just in time for our photoshoot in July. Watch this space for more updates!

- Melvin

Honeymoon Prep: Shoe Hunting

26 Apr 08 - Do you ever worry about what your shoes say about you? My shoes now announce my status as an official member of "uncle-dom", you know, the state you're in when you're actually more concerned with comfort than whether the people you just walked past are discreetly snickering behind your back while pointing to your feet.

I am now the proud owner of a pair of Clarks leather shoes. The brand that ignited my parents' fashion imaginations and which, naturally, came highly recommended each time I went shoe-shopping during the past 20 years or so.

After holding out for 2 decades, my resistance finally crumbled last Saturday. Her Royal Majesty and I had gone to Queensway to shop for walking/hiking shoes for our honeymoon in Europe. After consulting a friend who had backpacked across Europe, my goal was to find a pair which was waterproof and had good traction.

Looking around the many shops littered throughout the complex, we found out that the only ones which fit my criteria were those Timberland-type hiking boots. There were other brands available of course, but generally the styles were all very similar --- brown/grey high cut boots with hard rubber soles. Somehow they just don't seem to go well with jeans, which was what I intended to have on for most parts of the trip.

We gave up on the first level, and trudged upstairs where we had caught a glimpse of even more shoe shops. The second level seemed gloomier and most of the shops sold leather business shoes, with one or two odd ones with cowboy boots in their windows. We eventually ended up at this shop called Boots and Decks, where the shop-owner, a guy who looked like he was in his late twenties, talked to us about his own experience travelling in the winter season.

Apparently, he managed reasonably well in normal running shoes, even in minus-zero-degree weather. With that in mind, he suggested that a good pair of leather shoes will probably do the job nicely. Especially since we didn't really have extreme outdoor activities lined up in our itinerary.

I tried on the Clarkes, and they were probably more comfortable than most leather shoes I have worn. Plus, they went well with jeans. It was the last pair, and we quickly pounced on the chance to shave a hefty $30 off the original selling price. The shop-owner was also probably eager to get rid of his stock and agreed after doing some quick calculations.

It was only later at home that I realised that the shoe box wasn't even from Clarkes! But I wasn't too bothered, and in fact, was kind of glad that shoe hunting season is officially over.

- Melvin

Honeymoon Prep: Luggages settled~!

22 Apr 2008 - Being typical kiasu Singaporeans, we went to Chinatown yesterday after work to check out exchange rates for Euros and pounds since their rates have been appreciating. Decided to change $1k first since the rate was good. Will change more within the next week. Better to make separate trips I reckon, don't feel save carrying too much cash around. I never understand why people always say that the chinese money changer at the corner (the one with super long queue) is good. I always end up getting my currencies from the Indian money changer inside since the latter's rates are much better!

Shopped for luggages as well. Big ones. Decided that our matching 25" luggages just ain't big enough to house 19 days worth of clothes, lol. Had wanted to purchase the spiral design Pierre Cardin luggage, but then it seems like it isn't as good as Eminent. The casing is thinner as compared to Eminent or Lojel (manufactured by Eminent too). Too bad, cos its a good 30"!

Anyway, the shop owner was saying that its better to buy luggages that have the label "TSA002", since security checks in the States are very stringent now and if the luggage is "TSA002" approved, the US side have the master key to open your luggage when conducting checks. If it is not TSA002 approved and the alarm sounds when the luggage goes through the scanner, they will just force open your luggage, damaging it.

Since we do have plans to go to the States (after our Europe trip of cos) within the next 2 years, we reckoned it would be better to buy lugagges that have the TSA002 label. Haha, so we bought 2 such luggages, the newest range of Eminent. Bought matching ones too! Really like the colours! I got the slight shimmery lavender while he got the light shimmery greenish. 4 wheels, 360 deg swivel. So easy to manouver around even though they are 29"! Best of all, they are cheap. We got it for $200 each! At OG, they are selling close to $300, wahahahahhahaa~! Yay luggages settled too!

Our new matching Eminent luggages. Byebye to the old ones!

This is what I mean. Only the US authorities will have the key to the lugagge, not even us.

- Phebe

Honeymoon Prep: Last hotel settled!

22 Apr 2008 - Yay! We managed to book our hotel in Santorini!!!! Hotel hunt is over!!!!!!!!!


- Phebe

Honeymoon Prep: Challenges & Satisfaction

21 April 2008 - Since March, Hb and I have been religiously pouring through travel books and planning for our Europe trip. I'm so glad we have more or less settled our wedding stuff last year, cos this honeymoon thing is taking up so much of our time! Planning for our Japan honeymoon last year was already a headache, and that was only one Tokyo. This time, we are planning to visit 5 countries, it ain't easy. Challenging and quite tough at the beginning.

1) Decide on which countries to visit and the duration to spend at each (19 days in total)

2) Decide on what are the attractions we want to visit.

3) Check out flight details.

4) Check out timings for Eurostar and Eurail for travelling between countries.

5) Check out internal flight details (e.g. Rome to Athens, Athens to Santorini...etc)

6) Search for NINE hotels.

7) Check out and make a list of how to get to the various attrations, admission prices, travelling expenses for each of the attractions...etc... I am so glad there is this wonderful thing called "MS Excel", lol. Really useful.

I guess personally I'm very into details. Don't wanna take the risk of not planning in detail and end up exceeding the budget or get a shock when the total bill comes. Say if we know every detail, even the cost for going from one attraction to the next as well as the admission prices, it really helps in budget planning! Cos... one important thing to take note is we are paying in Euros.... so its very important to be sure of the costs manz!!!

So far, we have booked all our flights. Really heartpain manz...stupid banks' exchange rate is just so freaking high! We always use Raffles Money Exchange to do conversion since its very accurate. Who knows, the credit card statement showed $84.25 more cos of the higher rate by the banks! Manz... heartpain sia... I rather pay in cash lor! So, we decided to pay in cash everything else that does not require immediate online payment. Haha, we have booked 8 out of 9 hotels already! Booked our Athens hotel late last night, now we are only left with the one in Santorini Island not booked. Gonna settle it by today or tmr. Get it over and done with Asap. Will purchase the Eurail and Eurostar tickets in June, since booking is only available 6 months in advance. You may be wondering why we are so kiasu to plan so early. Well, you'll be surprised to know that even at this moment, most hotels are already fully booked for November~!! Moral of the story: Its always good to plan early. The early bird catches the worm, lol.

To date, we have already spent $11K for accomodation and flight, and the figure doesn't look like its stopping at there since we haven't book the Eurail tickets. MAnz heartpain sia!!! Already upped the budget twice, and now, looks like we gotta up it another time! Looks like this entire trip is gonna cost about $20K, manz, it better be worth it... believe it or not, I am more excited over the trip than the wedding, wahahahahaa~!

Been shopping for bigger luggages as well, and good walking shoes, lol. Does anyone know where to get nice, comfortable FLAT boots?? Those that I've seen so far are either too high, or ain't comfortable. Haiz, should have bought it when I went HK with Arsie last month.

With so many things going on, we're glad we didn't hold our Rom and dinner together on the same day, despite what many people say even until now (usually the folks and the older generation). Personally, I think it is so much better to plan everything one at a time, enjoy the process, rather than rush everything through and IF anything goes wrong, thats it... there won't be a 2nd chance of making things right (I am saying this based on the fact we don't believe in divorce). Also, a one year gap means we'll be able to settle housing first, since that by itself can really burn a big hole in anyone's pockets with all the unexpected expenses. With that settled, now we are able to truly focus on planning for the dinner without additional financial burdens. Don't wish to land ourselves in a situation whereby say for example, having to give up my heels just to buy utensils, lol.

I remember sometime last year, someone asked me, "If you ever have the chance to do everything on the same day again, would you still stick with your current decision to have a one-year gap and face problems with people making all those unnecessary comments?" My answer was a definite "Yes" at that time.Now, my answer is the same, with an added "with absolutely no regrets".

- Phebe

The Wedding Rush - Back again!

21 Apr 2008 - I just realised I haven't blogged for quite some time. Been too busy the past few weeks both at work and at home. Here are some updates, finally, lol.

Its been a good 6 months being free from all the wedding prep ever since our Rom last September. Free from all the headaches with the guest list, wedding merchants, and from even really minor details such as shoes, lol. Now... the "wedding rush", as I term it, is slowly resurfacing. Its a relief to know that we have long settled the major stuff like hotel, bridal shop, my lovely pair of Leapin Lizard heels (oh I really love that pair of heels!)...etc. I spent the previous week hurriedly flipping through all my new bridal mags and selecting designs that I like. Ended up with quite a number, so gonna pass it to the designer to see which is more suitable for someone on the short side, lol.

Went for my first fitting at Jazz Bridal on Saturday. Have I mentioned before that we "transferred" over from French Bridal? Last year, when I was having my fitting done at Focus Bridal for the photoshoot (for Rom), I had Huilin with me to give me comments. This time, I have Evelyn with me! Its always good to get a female's opinion, cos... you know, I never trust Meowvin's taste... and I will usually choose whatever he says is "not nice lah", haha. Tried on a few white gowns as suggested by Karin (our co-ordinator) in the hope of managing to get something off-the-rack so that we don't have to waste money having it made-to-measure. I guess somehow I already have something in mind, so in the end I decided to have it "mtm" afterall. I then tried on the evening gowns and boy, there is this new design, hot pink, which is really nice and I really like it! Best of all, the hot pink is great for Regent Hotel's ballroom setting! Really wanted to select that gown, which has an outer layer of shimmering hot pink, but... what if someone else wears the same gown next time? Arrgh, on one hand, I really hope to be able to save some money by selecting my gown off-the-rack, so that we can spend more on other things, but yet, the idea of someone else wearing the same gown in future is just so.... arrrgh...lets just say I don't feel comfortable with that. Anyway, after some consideration, we decided to have my evening gown "mtm" as well, topping up a few hundred bucks.The good thing is, I managed to select all other gowns for the photoshoot in July, with the exception of the one for outdoor shoot.

- 1 mtm white gown

- 1 mtm evening gown

- 1 white & silver gown (tube)

- 1 green & black evening gown (halter)

- 1 white gown for outdoor (can only choose after the mtm gown is done so that I won't end up choosing something similar)

Going to meet up with the new designer in May to discuss about the mtm gowns. Yep, Voicez won't be working at Jazz anymore cos she has to take care of her kids, so they are getting a new designer to replace her. Hope the new one will be good...Yay, 3 more months for me to lose weight, hahahahha~! Been stepping up on my yoga and Amore classes for the past 2 weeks, I'm glad now I have more time!

- Phebe

Honeymoon Prep: Photographic Aspirations

21 March 08 - We are quickly becoming professional photographers. Or at least, we look like professional photographers.

Today, Her Royal Majesty and I purchased a tripod at Sim Lim Square. We wanted to get a tripod in anticipation of the photos that we will be taking during our European honeymoon, and had been talking about it for a while.

Despite that, our original intention in visiting Sim Lim Square was simply to drop off our faulty laptop for repair. On our way to the shop, Her Royal Majesty spotted a rather portable-looking tripod at a camera shop. It was definitely a far cry from those monsters used by professionals, but it fitted our criteria of portability and ease of use. Furthermore, it was relatively cheap, only $20.

We then quickly deposited our laptop for repair, and went around in search of other suitable tripods. I recalled a shop on the first floor which usually gave quite good prices for cameras and other photographic equipment, and we headed there to try our luck.

The salesman recommended a model which was very similar to the one which Her Royal Majesty had spotted. However, it seemed to be a little flimsy when it was fully extended. Noting our concerns, the salesman returned with another model. This was slightly larger, and definitely more sturdy than the previous model. It was also "branded" --- Nikon.

After a quick discussion, we decided to purchase the Nikon tripod despite the higher price. We were convinced that this model was of a higher quality than the previous ones, and would most likely be more durable. And of course, it also helped that its all-black design and brand name made us look like discerning would-be photographers who knew their stuff.

Now all we have to do is to make our way to Europe.



The Nikon tripod.


- Melvin

AM.PM Photography

14 Dec 2007 – We have been searching for our Actual Day photographer for a few weeks now, requesting for quotations and viewing online portfolios. As both of us prefer the artistic style of photography, it certainly wasn’t easy searching for a good photographer. I had initially wanted to take on Tucky’s photography as his portfolio is really good. Kinda pricey though and as usual, Melvin tried to talk me out of this expensive intended purchase. Sometimes, I really wish he wouldn’t try to do that, cos my rebellious nature never fails to seek to do the exact opposite. Anyway, he was lucky. We came across another team of photographers that fulfilled what we were looking for. The price was slightly cheaper than Tucky’s too, and the package was much more attractive.

Melvin and I thus set up an appointment to meet the 2 photographers, CS Lim and Leslie. So far, we have never met up with any photographers to view their physical portfolios. We did not have luxury of time to do so. Anyway, the 2 photographers, Leslie and CS Lim, were very friendly and good at crapping jokes, lol. We were very satisfied with their albums and without much hesitation, signed on the dotted line of confirmation. Yay, one big task completed!

- Phebe

Meowvin's Silk Tie

6 Sep 2007 - Meowvin & I went to French Bridal to collect the men's jackets (one for him and the other for The EL). We then went to Raffles City's Robinsons outlet to search for a tie to match with his suit. The sales person was very nice and gave us several recommendations. To make things simpler, we took out the suit from its plastic covering and placed the ties on it. The result was pretty clear: a light gold shimmery Goldlion silk tie!

- Phebe

Our very own Pen~!

5 Sep 2007 – We have been searching for a nice feather pen for our ROM purpose but somehow just can’t find something that we both like. Moreover, this is such a last minute thing that we were on the verge of giving up the search and settle with using a normal pen. Was shopping with Meowvin at Bugis and we passed by the stationery section of BHG. Suddenly I came up with yet another idea of customisation, and somehow, I managed to convince him to personalise the pen that we will be using to sign our marriage certificate! We thus got a PARKER pen and had both our names engraved on it!

- Phebe

ROM Rehearsals & Last min preparations

26 August 2007 - Just some quick updates. I feel like an idiot. Why? Cos I was made to walk even slower than a snail!!!! Went down to Mandai Orchid Garden for a short rehearsal on Saturday. Bro Eddy briefed us about the procedure, of which Meowvin got mixed up and tried to confuse The Low Clan and I last night. It was 3 vs. 1 and yes, we won, lol. Ok back to what I was saying.

Yeah, we tested the sound system and it was working fine, except that the version we edited was too short for the march-in! Luckily I brought along the original CD! Was made to practice with The EL (my dad), and this is also The EL's first time walking so slowly... Got scolded so many times by everyone cos they said I walked too fast... I can’t stand walking so slowly when I know my legs can walk much much faster lor! Felt like an idiot last night at home when Mdm Yik (my mum) made me walk up and down so many times to practice. It ain't easy balancing wearing a pair of 4-inches high heels lor, not to mention she was super particular on every little bit, from the speed to my body language and to my facial expression! I think she should consider enrolling to become a judge for those silly talentime thingy. Sigh, I just hope I won't end up walking too fast on the actual day... Someone please save me....

31 Aug 2007 - Finalised our list of helpers for our ROM. Meowvin and I went shopping for wedding favours at Raffles City for the helpers. Don’t know why, but I realise for the first time that I actually enjoy shopping for things that do not belong to the shoe category!

- Phebe

Our Wedding Memory Book~

Throughout the whole process of preparing for our wedding, we were constantly being pulled in various directions by the many tasks that we had to complete. From selecting our outfits to choosing the venue decor, there was a constant barrage of details that fought for our attention.

To ensure that we had a good record of this whole process, we decided to create a wedding memory book. 20 years later, we would be able to refer to this book and reminisce about a time when black was still the primary colour of our hair. The wedding memory book was meant to be a handmade record of the key details of significant events leading up to the wedding.

Most of our materials, including the album, “special” paper and other accessories, were purchased at a shop called “Made With Love” which was located at Plaza Singapura. The shop sold an amazing range of scrapbooking items and even held workshops for regular customers. Our very first batch of materials was bought from this shop, and it cost us a whopping $150!! While we had a good idea of the content to be covered, we were truly taken by surprise at the cost of materials and accessories.

Having invested more than expected, we were determined to make our wedding memory book a success. Together, we determined what exactly should appear on every page, and the sequence of the pages. Our initial enthusiasm was quickly put to the test when we ended up taking more than 1 day just to complete the first page!

The wedding memory book almost met with an early death then. However, we drew strength from the knowledge that we had already spent more than $100 on materials, and soldiered on, determined not to let our investment go to waste.

Almost every other night after work was spent drafting layouts, and getting our hands dirty from pasting and cutting. In particular, after I usually left her flat at about 12am, Phebe would work late into the night to ensure that we complete the project on time.

The creation of the memory book was a painstaking journey. Although it was not technically difficult, it was often very tedious, and we spent many nights just cutting cardboard, printing photos or editing copy. Somehow, we managed to complete the memory book just before our wedding solemnisation, and eagerly displayed it to our guests. Even now, there is still an unmistakeable sense of accomplishment whenever we view the completed memory book.

- Melvin

A Special Ring Pillow~!

27 August 2007 - I’ve never liked things to be “simple” and “common” and had been pondering over the idea of customising our ring pillow. Sad to say, the soft toys provided by wedding retailers for ring pillows are pretty common, like dogs, teddy bears, hello kitties...etc. Nothing special, or should I say, we don’t see the significance of attaching a pair of teddy bears to our ring pillow. Just as we were about to give up and place our orders for one of those teddy bear ring pillows, the thought of the little cat (representing him) and rat (representing me) soft toys sitting on my bed came into my mind. Melvin had bought them for me more than 2 years ago and I thought they were just perfect, be it in size or significance! Luckily, Shann from theweddingthoughts.com had one of those big heart-shaped pillows, big enough for our soft toys to sit on! I gave the dusty white rat a good scrub with washing powder and tada~! It became as good as new! It was a rush job, but still, Shann managed to sew the toys on really nicely! Our toys are now donned in wedding apparel, so cute!!

Before:

After:

- Phebe

Self-customising our Invitation Cards, Guest Book & Signages

We had never been too keen on the usual mass-produced wedding invitation cards that were buried in glitter and canned greetings. Admittedly, there were some rare ones that came close to what we had in mind, but most of these were beyond the reach of our meagre budget.

Therefore, we decided to create the designs for our invitation cards by ourselves! Being the one with some working knowledge of graphic editing software, I was tasked/assigned/ordered/threatened to create a design that was both aesthetically pleasing and free-of-charge.

It was not an easy task. The design had to be striking yet not gaudy, simple yet not dull, and focused yet not terse. Nevertheless, over the span of a few late nights, I managed to churn out a few initial concepts. All of which were duly rejected by Phebe.

Having exhausted almost all of my creative juices, we turned to the internet for inspiration. On a website selling wedding invitation cards, we found a floral pattern that was quite relevant to our garden-themed wedding. This formed the basis of our card design.

Based on the idea of a floral pattern, I created a design that incorporated the silhouettes of various flowers in movement for the cover. Even then, the design went through several rounds of modification before we agreed on the right mix of flowers and colours.

Not content to stop at merely invitation cards, Phebe suggested that we extend the design concept to the guest book and signages. This process was relatively easier since I merely had to adapt the original design to different specifications.

Printing of the invitation cards was outsourced to a printer whom I had worked with regularly. The first print was a disaster. Upon receiving the cards, I had happily passed them on to Phebe without really checking. As it turned out, the cards were not cut to the specified size and could not fit into our envelopes!

She was understandably angry, and I quickly scurried to call the printer to demand for a reprint. This time round, I made sure the printer paid extra attention to the specifications. Unfortunately, somehow things went wrong again. This time, the size was right, but the folding of the cards was not properly done, resulting in edges that were not aligned.

By now, the printer would be incurring a loss on this job, but I think he understood very keenly that the wrath of a woman could hurt much more than losing a couple of dollars. The second reprint was hastily arranged, and finally, the cards were delivered just the way we wanted them.

The cards were delivered just in time for us to send them out. If we had started the whole process of a little later, we would never have been able to give our family and friends about a month’s advance notice of our wedding solemnisation.

The 2 signages:

Our Guest Book:

-Melvin

Yummilicious Cakes from Coffee Bean~!

24 August 2007 – As our ROM falls on a Sunday and we won’t be inviting all of the church members to attend our ROM ceremony at Mandai, we decided to have a small reception during break time to share the joy. Searched online and found that Coffee Bean’s mini cakes look soooooooo irresistible and cute! The packaging looks good too, so we placed our orders! Hope the mini cakes are as tasty as they look on the website!

- Phebe

Shopping for Meowvin's Shirt

1 August 2007 - Somehow, guys' stuff are always so easy to settle...the first thing that came into my mind when Meowvin said he wanted to buy a white long sleeve shirt to wear for our ROM was G2000. We went to the branch at Raffles City and very quickly bought his shirt, all within a span of 10 mins! So fast!

- Phebe

Compiling Love Songs

Perhaps we are just too picky, but we decided to compile our own list of songs to be played during our ROM ceremony. You would have thought that it is an easy task, just compiling a list of love songs, but no, it was very troublesome! Here goes:

1) Compile a list of love songs
2) Search for the lyrics
3) Eliminate songs that do not have appropriate lyrics
4) Listen to the songs and eliminate those that do not sound nice
5) Search for the softcopy version of the songs and do file format conversion if necessary
6) Compile and burn into CD
7) Test the CD

Anyway, we finally got it done, thanks to Arsie who graciously emailed me some of the songs we needed, haha!

- Phebe

Our March-in Music!

3 July 2007 – I never knew that searching for the perfect march-in music for our wedding would be such a headache. Since young, I’ve always thought that I would walk down the aisle with the “usual” wedding music playing in the background. It’s the one people usually describe the music as “dang dang dang dang” when they can’t recall what it is called. Anyway, Meowvin and I decided to have something different, which explains why we spent so many days listening to love songs and classical pieces. We both listened to classical music until we nearly fell asleep! Canon in D is a nice piece…but too common. Anyway, Tai Tai suggested that we try our luck at THAT CD SHOP as it has a wide range of music collections. True enough, we found the perfect march-in music for our ROM!!! The sales attendant was really helpful too, very satisfied with the service! Super happy!!!!!!!! We’ve finally found IT!!!!!!

- Phebe

MyStamps~!

2 July 2007 - I had been thinking of how to make our wedding a lil more special, and then the idea of personalised stamps came into my mind! I managed to convince Melvin that it was a worthy investment and we made our order for personalised stamps with Singpost. Meowvin edited 3 of our photos and submitted them online.

We got a mini shock when we received the stamps though. We could only see our heads! Called Singpost to complain and found out that the dimensions stated on the website was wrong, so it was not our fault. Thankfully,, Singpost was willing to reprint the stamps for us! We re-cropped the photos to the correct dimensions and emailed them to the staff handling our order. Quite efficient, we received the new stamps within 4 days! Haha, our friends are going to have a small surprise when they receive our invitation cards!

- Phebe

Accessories for my ROM gown

1 July 2007 - Celebrated Tai Tai's 23rd birthday at Wisma's Ding Tai Fung with Amelia. Went shopping for Tai Tai's cosmetics and a necklace to match my Rom gown. Saw a very nice piece of accessory at Takashimaya that was on sale for $172. Really like it a lot but well… no point spending so much on something that I only get to wear one or two times, right? We made our way to CK Tang and it was there where we found THE ONE!!!! Yes!!! Found a similar one (only without the 4 claws at the back but it doesn't matter at all) at Chomel and it comes with a pair of matching earrings too! Manz luckily never buy at Taka!!! So happy!! Thanks gals!

- Phebe

Customised Wedding Shoes~!

13 June 2007 - For those in the know, I am a shoe maniac. I love shopping for shoes. However, shopping for my wedding shoes was a pain and Melvin and I spent weeks combing the retail outlets in Singapore. It didn’t help that I was on the short side too, lol. There were many beautiful shoes out there in the market, but most are no more than 3 inches high. I needed a pair of 4-inche heels. Moreover, those that were 4-inches high didn’t look good on me.... Sensing my disappointment, Melvin asked if I would like to custom make my wedding shoes. I was rather surprised at his suggestion, as he was always thought that anything custom made is expensive.

We made our way to Leapin’ Lizard, a shop in Tanjong Pagar specialising in customised wedding shoes. We were stuck there for more than 1.5 hours flipping through magazines and albums. With the help of Issac, the shop owner, we decided to custom make a pair of 4-inches high slip-on heels with Swarovski crystals. Very satisfied with the service and now waiting for my fitting in early July. So happy that the shoe hunt is over and done with!

3 July 2007 - Went to Leapin Lizard for my 1st fitting. Sianz...I can't make up my mind on the layout of the crystals at the back of the heels.

13 July 2007 – Went for my 2nd fitting and finally confirmed the design – crystals outlining the sides of the shoes!

26 July 2007 – Collected my wedding shoes!! Besides the crystals outlining the sides of the shoe, Issac even created little flower buds at the heel of the shoes with the crystals! It was perfect and I love it!! Total damage: $280, but oh I love my shoes so much!!!!!

- Phebe

E-File Notice of Marriage & The Hurdles

9th June 2007 is a day both Meowvin and I have been waiting for: E-file our Notice of Marriage at the ROM website! It is the earliest date we are allowed to E-file, which is 3 months prior to the wedding date.

Being the typical kiasu Singaporean, he insisted on E-filing together at 12 midnight to be the first in the "queue". As such, after gym, we went back to my place to count down to midnight. I took a long shower and came out 5 mins before midnight. Meowvin refused to take his shower as he was determined to E-file at midnight. You know, sometimes, just when you need to do something important, everything seems to go wrong. Yes, and I mean everything.

In his haste to get to the ROM website, he clicked on the Internet Explorer icon before the laptop was fully started up. Somehow, that slowed down the laptop considerably and my wireless network connection did not work. He thus earned himself a good scolding from me since it was not the first time I told him to wait for the laptop to fully start up before clicking on anything. As it takes a while for the laptop to restart, he went to take a quick shower. While he was in the shower, I tried to enter ROM website but realised that my modem could not be detected!! I quickly went to switch on my desktop, hoping that I can log on from there. To my dismay, not only was the desktop super slow in starting up, the wireless connection was down!!! I quickly called Singnet, hoping to rectify the problem quickly but found that working hours was until 12 midnight only! It was 12.25am when I made the call. See? Nothing seems to go right!!

Meowvin suggested using his laptop to see if it could detect my modem. Thankfully, my modem was found and upon keying in the network key in his laptop, we were able to get connected to the Internet!

You would have thought that everything would go on smoothly for us after we got connected, but you are wrong. Just as we got to the 2nd page of the registration, a message appeared prompting us to make sure to print out a copy of the transaction at the end. Quickly, Meowvin went to get the printer we bought at the PC Show and proceeded to set it up. See? Waste of time again! The printer was finally connected to his laptop and we proceeded with the registration.

Still at the second page, we were told to enter the witnesses' NRIC numbers. As usual, he couldn't remember his father's NRIC and had to retrieve it from my laptop. Luckily I did not delete the file in my laptop, else we won't be able to retrieve the NRIC No~!

At the 3rd page, we were told to enter the license number of our solemniser. I went to search for the "Consent to Solemnise" form which stated Bro Eddy's license number but had problem finding it! Nothing seems to go right, see?? Searched for it high and low and finally found it at my study table.... . To our dismay, we couldn't make out the alphabet Uncle Eddy wrote on the form! It was either "E" or "C" and we tried our luck by keying in "E". An error message appeared saying it was an invalid license number and we tried keying in "C". It worked!!!!

We finally managed to get through the payment stage and tada~! We have FINALLY filed our Notice of Marriage!!! Manz.... it was 1.10am by then~! All the trouble just to E-file the notice together!

Oh, and guess what I found when I went into my room 5 mins later? Yeah, you probably guessed it right... My Internet connection got back to normal!!!!!*faint* I guess we are fated to go through those hurdles before we could successfully E-file....

What a sense of relief and joy cum accomplishment at the end!

- Phebe

Focus Bridal Photoshoot

25 May 2007 - The Focus photoshoot was the first professional photo shoot that both of us had ever taken part in, and neither of us had expected that it could be so tiring.

The lead up to our photoshoot with Focus Bridal was an intensive spree of shopping lasting several weeks. While the studio took care of almost everything for the bride, the helpless groom had to make sure that his shirt, shoes, and tie matched the bride’s outfit.

We arrived bright and early in the morning of 25th May 2007 with our accessories, shirts and shoes. Phebe’s mum even helped her to create some nail art the previous night. We took turns to sit still at the dressing table while the makeup artist applied liberal amounts of powder and hair spray on us. It was also the first time in my life wearing makeup, and I was not really keen to repeat the experience any time soon.

Our photographer was Steward, and we started off with the indoor photography. At first, we were a little worried that we would not know how to pose, but Steward kept giving us prompts on how exactly we should stand/sit/place our arms/legs.

The outdoor portion of the shoot was done at Changi where we braved mosquito-infested shrubbery and Phebe had to climb up and down slopes in her heels. In the evening, we headed to Boat Quay to continue the second part of the outdoor shoot.

It was 9pm by the time we finally returned to the studio. Back home, it took Phebe 3 rounds of washing just to remove the make-up on her face! I wonder if celebrities also wash their faces 3 times every day. We were extremely tired and just glad that the photo shoot was finally completed.

- Melvin

The photo shoot is finally over, boy it's so tiring! The night before, I went home dutifully after work so that Mdm Yik aka Mum could do nail art for me. Anyway, we reached Focus Bridal at 9am only to find that the coordinator was late and the MUA (make-up artiste) was not around! Plus, the shop was empty and the phone kept ringing. I can’t believe whoever it was who came earlier was so daring as to leave the door unlocked when he/she stepped out! We waited for 1 hour and still no one came. Super pissed. In the end, we decided to pick up the phone which was ringing almost every 5 mins and found ourselves speaking to the MUA, who said that she reached an hour ago but there was no one in the shop, so she went for breakfast! Manz…. I can’t believe the staff are so irresponsible! Wasted our time coming down so early in the morning still nevermind, but this delay meant we have 1 hour less for our outdoor shoot! Super pissed!!

Anyway, the MUA came up soon after and quickly got down to work. She started with doing my make-up. The fake eyelashes were so prickly...but I guess beauty comes with a price, lol. It was quite funny seeing Meowvin with a powdered face though, and I couldn't help resist taking a photo!

I was pretty tempted to choose the Japanese outfit for the traditional costume as Mdm Yik suggested dressing up in the Japanese kimono since we will be going to Japan for our ROM honeymoon. However, the silly kimono made me look twice my original size, not to mention that the proposed tied back hairstyle would expose a greater area of my face...and thus...I ended up dressing up in this.... whatever it is called... so cartoon~!

Our photographer was Steward and he's a pretty nice chap~! It was pretty tiring changing in and out of the gowns, and having to change my hairstyle to suit each gown. By the end of the indoor shoot, I felt as though my face was going to crack from the smile that was plastered on my face!

We had wanted to take the bumboat ride at the Singapore River as it was where Meowvin proposed, but unfortunately, due to time constraint, we only took photos around the Fullerton area. Luckily we have another photo shoot from French Bridal that's to be taken next year. Guess we'll take the bumboat photos during the next photo shoot~! Steward brought us to Changi as well for our outdoor shoot. I was lazy to bring along my slippers, so I left them at Focus. MAnz... we ended up hiking among bushes and trees to snap pictures with mother nature as the background. The scenery was great...but climbing up rocks near the sea in a pair of 2.5 inch heels (thankfully it was no higher than that~!) was definitely not an easy feat! Oh, and did I mention that I came out of the forest area with 4 mossie bites?? Guess those stupid mossies must have had a great feast! Was feeling pretty warm but luckily I brought along my mini portable fan! Well prepared indeed, wahahhahaa! Unfortunately, I left my bottle of mineral water at Focus, so I ended up nearly dying of thirst! When Steward stopped his car near Lau Pa Sat later in the evening and Meowvin went to buy us drinks, manz... I never knew that ice lemon tea could taste so good!

Finally got back to the studio at 9pm and we were dog tired. Took a cab back to my place and Meowvin cooked us maggie mee while I removed my make-up... 3 full rounds of milk cleansing plus washing with facial foam just to get that thick goo off my face! Felt so good to remove all the hairpins from my head! It took 2 rounds of conditioning and shampoo-ing to get my poor hair back to its normal!

So freaking tired... I'm so glad the next photo shoot won't be anytime too soon, phew! The next time, I'll definitely bring along some insect repellant and at least 2 bottles of mineral water!

- Phebe

My ROM Gown

10 March 2007 - Went down to French Bridal to try out ROM gowns for fun. Sad to say, their collection of short-length gowns are rather limited and I only managed to find ONE piece that I thought looked reasonably ok and Meowvin said it was quite nice. Although I agreed it was nice, somehow I still don't feel it is THE ONE. Unfortunately, my Rom gown is not made-to-measure, so it's either I settle for something that is available within French, or I get a designer to customise one for me. Of course, if I were to do that, the Rom gown that is included in our package would be wasted, and French insisted that they are not able to add on additional perks such as extra photos as the Rom package was supposed to be complementary. I think they are crap.

Actually, when Arsie and I were shopping at Marina last Friday, we walked pass this bridal shop called Bridal Zone and the gown on the mannequin caught my eye. One look at it and immediately I knew that was THE ONE! It was made of full lace and sequins, with a sloping hemline from the front to the back of the gown. Sad to say though, French doesn't have anything similar. I voiced out my unhappiness, thinking that Meowvin would surely nag and tell me to just settle for something that is available, but surprisingly, he said that if I really can't find one that I like from French, we'll just get it elsewhere as long as I am happy! MAnz...to think that I had expected some nagging...what has the world come to??? Sigh, gown hunting is such a bore. I couldn't help yawning as we browsed through their whole collection of gowns earlier. Why don't they just do the customers a favour and let us browse through a catalogue instead??? That would certainly save a lot of time.

11 March 2007 – Meowvin and I went down to Marina as I wanted to show him the gown that Arsie and I saw the other day at Bridal Zone. Guess what? Haha, we went into the shop, told the lady at the counter that I wanted the gown on the mannequin and placed our deposit, no questions asked! Yay, so happy!! Come to think of it, I realised we have signed up with 3 bridal studios - French, Focus and now Bridal Zone!

Front view~

Can't zip all the way...too fat, got to start working out more!

Side view! I like the fact that behind is longer than the front!

- Phebe

Banquet at The Regent Hotel

28 Jan 2007 - May not book Fullerton Hotel for our wedding dinner afterall, cos we have found somewhere even better! Better in terms of almost everything except for the bridal suite that is not 2-storey high. Conrad is out. The Regent Hotel wins!!! Ok, 99% confirmed....remaining 1% depends on whether the ballroom, which we have not had the chance to view that night as there was a function going on, is to our liking. As Tai Tai puts it, "1 server to 1 table good, no need to fight for food", whahahahahaa! To be honest though, Meowvin and I both thought the exterior of the hotel doesn't look very nice but when we went in...we were like "wow"! So different from the outside! Really very luxurious and being a 5-star hotel, of cos, the service was great! Lalalalalala, hope this gets settled soon, cos we are totally sick of viewing hotel ballrooms. To date, I’ve already lost count of how many hotels we have been to!

11 March 2007 – Went to Regent Hotel and parted with a $5K deposit for the wedding banquet. Yay! One more thing settled!!! Very satisfied with Regent's package! Went to celebrate our 28th Month Anniversary after that at The Heeren before heading home.

- Phebe

Focus Bridal

27 Jan 2007 - The package with Focus Bridal was mostly unplanned. We were shopping at IMM when we decided to drop by Focus Bridal just to check how their package compared to ours from French Bridal. We ended up spending 1 hour in the shop and footing a $400 deposit for another bridal package! We figured that since we would most likely end up ordering extra photos for the French Bridal package, why not use that money to engage another bridal studio? In this way, we lessen the risk of ending up with photos that we don’t like.

- Melvin

ROM Photography & Videography

26 Dec 2006 – Read the online forums and decided to hire this photographer named Desmond Ho for our ROM as there were numerous good comments about him. Haha, the Internet is such a wonderful invention!

10 March 2007 – Meowvin and I decided to hire a videographer for our ROM and had been searching online for some time, reading the forums and viewing online portfolios. If there is one very different trait about us, it’s the way we do things. I prefer to settle things as quickly as possible, with quality being the top priority and price being secondary. Meowvin is the opposite. Anyway, very quickly, I managed to find a vendor that I like and thankfully managed to convince Meowvin to go for it. We met up with DreamzCoffee that day to sign the contract.. We had wanted to sign up with Rhema Media initially as it gave us a pretty good deal, but well, I still prefer DreamzCoffee's works. Anyway, I'm glad we finally got it settled! The whole package costed $150 more than Rhema Media's, but it's still reasonable. 4 services in total - ROM videography, Actual day videography, Video express highlights and cartoon animation. Good deal! Now we are only left with hiring a photographer for our customary wedding, yay!

- Phebe

Our ROM Venue

12 May 2006 – After spending so many months searching for the perfect ROM venue, Meowvin and I decided to settle on Carlton Hotel. We were planning to hold our ROM in the evening by the poolside, followed by a buffet dinner for our guests. We had viewed more than 15 venues for our ROM and were glad that Carlton had what we were looking for. But somehow, just somehow, I still didn’t have that “This is THE ONE!!!” feeling, which made me go online again to search for more venues. I suggested to Meowvin holding our ROM at the zoo and keyed in http://www.mandai.com.sg/ into the address bar on the IE screen. I was merely trying my luck as I thought that was the zoo’s website. Surprisingly, the website displayed pictures of a beautiful garden filled with colourful orchids! Lovely! It didn’t occur to me that there weren’t any images of animals on the website, haha!

Later in the day, I wanted to show Meowvin the place that I have found and typed into the search bar “singapore zoo”. To my surprise, the website looked totally different! I then realised that the zoo’s website was http://www.zoo.com.sg/ and not http://www.mandai.com.sg/! The website that I got into initially was Mandai Orchid Garden!

We made an appointment with Mandai Orchid Garden and went down to view the place. It was perfect!!!! We will be holding our ROM there!!!! Finally found THE VENUE!!! But...got to wait till Yanna email us the final pricing since we said we didn't want the alcohol and 3-tiered wedding cake that were included in the package. 90% we will be holding our ROM there! Yes... the balance 10% is dependent on the final price. Wahahahaha so happy!!! So lucky too, to think that we actually stumbled upon this place by chance!! The last is still the best, haha!

18 May 2006 - So happy!! Meowvin and I have decided on The Venue and we will be going down to Mandai Orchid Garden this coming Saturday to sign the contract!!!! So happy cos they managed to customize the package to suit our needs and I managed to convince them to remove all taxes (16%), haha!

20 May 2006 – Meowvin and I have booked our Rom Solemnization venue!! Ok, its a lil early to book, but still, it is a very hot pick date and being typical Singaporeans, we have no choice but to be very kiasu, wahahahahhaa! Went down to Mandai Orchid Garden today early in the morning at 10am to sign the contract. Here are a few pics...

The Gazebo, where the reception table is and pre-cocktail.

Mokara Hall, where the Solemnization takes place and Hi-tea reception. Those black sticks are actually garden torches which will be decorated with streamers to create an aisle.

View of The Gazebo leading to Mokara Hall

The orchid garden

Mini Japanese flowers....

Yay we have finally booked our ROM venue!!!

- Phebe

Our Wedding Bands

4 March 2006 – Meowvin and I went for an early lunch at Bugis then went around the jewellery shops looking at wedding bands. Oh manz, I really like Soo Kee's Jac Laurant design! It has a whole string of diamond studs all around it! Not cheap... but I think it is reasonable. Decided to look around further before deciding cos Meowvin was thinking of designing our own rings. Didn't know guys can be so fussy...

5 March 2006 - Went ring hunting again and I still think the Jac Laurant design is THE ONE! But well...it made sense that the more diamonds a wedding band has, the probability of the diamonds dropping off in the long run is higher since I will be wearing it daily. Should I think in terms of practicality and buy a simple band with just one diamond or buy the eternity ring which I fell in love with??? Oh manz I can't make up my mind!!! Of cos, the former is simple and durable while the later is elaborate. I think the eternity ring looks nicer on me but Meowvin thinks the single diamond ring is nicer. Manz! Haiz, I think one fine day must get my gfs to go ring hunting with me....guys' taste can never be trusted... when it comes to diamonds! Meowvin also can't make up his mind between the two tone ring or the special cut ring. MAnz...no wonder people say they can take up to 6 months just sourcing for wedding bands! Think we'll check out Aspial during the weekend!

12 March 2006 - Went to Wisma to look at wedding bands at Lee Hwa and Goldheart but still felt that Soo Kee is the best, so we went back to Soo Kee. I still prefer the Jac Laurant ring!! Or should I say, that is The One! Meowvin didn't like the matching ring though (I also don't think it looks matching, lol) and Fanny (the staff) brought out a range of male wedding bands that they kept inside (not for display) to help us find one that can match my beloved ring. Liew, went to so many Soo Kee outlets yet only at this branch the staff was so good as to take out designs that were not on displays to help us mix and match! And guess what?? I am glad she did, cos Meowvin also found The One!!! It is kinda stylish and has a very "clear cut" modern look. Like the Jac Laurant, it also has a shiny stripe, only it is right at the front while the rest is matt finishing. The Jac Laurant's shiny stripe is in the center where all the 20 diamond studs are. It was 9.30pm. Meowvin still wanted to rush to SK at Lucky Plaza to make sure this is nicer than the other one he eyed earlier on. Fanny made a call to SK to tell them not to close shop first haha. We made a mad rush down, decided Soo Kee’s is nicer and went back to Soo Kee...all in a matter of 15 mins, haha! Manz, they really should put this as the matching ring for my Jac Laurant instead of the current one on display! This is so much more style and "man"!

Description of my Jac Laurant ring: Comfort fit series. Matt finishing. 18k white gold. Shiny stripe in the center. On the stripe are 5 diamonds in a row, then a small interval gap, then another 5 diamonds....so on, total 20 diamonds. Didn't buy the full eternity ring (no intervals all diamonds) cos I think this one looks nicer somehow, haha. I love this so much!

Description of Meowvin’s ring: Comfort fit series. White gold with matt finishing. At the front it has a thin shiny stripe all around, making it look like a "2 tone" ring.

So we bought our wedding bands!! Collection date on 11th May, our 1.5 year anniversary! So happy, found a pair that both of us like so much! Meowvin asked me to try on the Brilliant Rose ring and asked if I mind if the diamond is smaller (0.3 carat I think)? No way manz, I want a 0.45 carat ring at least!!

22 April 2006 – Meowvin and I went to Wisma to collect our wedding bands but ended up sending them for engraving instead.

1 May 2006 – We finally collected our wedding bands!

-Phebe