6-10 Month Wedding Checklist

According to my 12-month wedding preps checklist (which Irwin sent me), I've only got roughly 6 more weeks to complete this list of things before I start to run behind time. Yikes!

1. Confirm and book your venues if you haven’t done so. - DONE

2. Select your attendants’ bridesmaid, best man, ring bearer, etc. Inform them about their duties. - We have selected our wedding party; however we have yet to inform them of their specific duties -- except for the general ones like picking up the bride, walking down the aisles and standing at the church altar. I don't even know what they are supposed to do myself :P

3. Plan your CD music selection or ask for quotes, if you are planning to hire a band or string quartet to provide entertainment. - We have an idea of what we want, but that's about it we've done so far :D

4. Select the bridal boutique, followed by the bridal gowns and suits. - DONE. Yay!

5. Search for reputable hair & wedding makeup artist. - DONE. Double yay! :)

6. After confirming your bridal gowns and suits, start shopping for attendants’ attire. - Irwin's already gotten his men their ties & cuffs. My bridal party's dresses are still Work in Progress. But this shouldn't be a problem. We still have plenty of time.

7. Shop for bridal accessories like bridal shoes, tiaras and jewellery. - Shopping for my bridal shoes has proven to be quite a task. I've been contemplating the idea of custom making them with Keith (the designer of my wedding gown). I'm also still not decided on whether I should wear a tiara :P I don't want to be all too princess-y. But we'll see how that goes :) Jewellery wise -- that's been taken care of as well ;)

8. Help mothers of the bride and groom choose their dresses. - I've helped my mom (somewhat) in figuring out what to wear. But nothing's concrete yet. Its still a long time away!!! :S

9. Those having a church ceremony, plan your program, check out printers and get quotations. - Hmmm? I didn't know we had to think of such things so early.

10. Research and book your wedding photographer / Videographer. - Ok. This we've sorted :D

*faints*

Four Fashionistas. One Design (part I)

Pictures sourced from here

I've always reckoned I had pretty good taste when it came to design and fashion :P But just recently, I slowly came to realize that fashion designing is more than just a passion or a hobby. It requires more than just having the flair of being able to sketch or mix n' match; but more so the ability to create something that people can appreciate!

Back in September, I decided that I'd get a wayyyy early head start in getting my bridesmaids' dresses. I fired off an email to my bridal party to collect ideas and preferences, and from their replies, noted that they all wanted something different! -- Well, what's new, right? We all want to be trend setters; Never the follower :P And even more so with my bridal party who consists of four fashionistas; each with her very own unique sense of style.

Its now been 10 weeks since I met with Jenny; my tailor who's been charged with the heavy responsibility of making my bridal party look stunning on my big day :P I went in for the first fitting of my trial dress, and (surprisingly!) it fitted like a glove when I put it on... but anyhow, it was still my own 'creation', hence it didn't sit too well with my girls who had other ideas for improvement.

We've since gone back to the drawing board -- via email; to discuss some areas of improvement for the trial dress. Hopefully, we will all be able to come to consensus on a design that will best complement all four fashionistas' sense of style... eventually :)

New ideas for the newlyweds' pad

I've never been one who paid any interest in scouting around for a microcomputer rice cooker that can double up as a slow cooker and a steamer, or a retractable 50kilo clothes hangar to dry the laundry-- till now. I've even been acknowledged amongst my family members as one who is most updated with the latest in the home appliances/furniture/decoration department these days. I just hope this is not a sign of turning 'aunty-ish', but rather a very clear way of showing just how much of a good wife I can potentially be ;) HAHA!

The 12th installment of HomeDec held at KL Convention Center this past weekend was the very first home expo I've ever attended, and I loved every minute and every inch of it!!! If you're in the midst of renovating your place at the moment, going to this expo will really make you "khee siao" (as the Hokkiens would put it) because you'll not only snag good deals but also collect so many new ideas... you'd be DYING to tear down your house and rebuild it tomorrow.

I spent 2 days at the expo (HAHA!), but we didn't buy anything because we thought it would be a little premature seeing that we will only start getting the condo ready come this April. We did however talk to a couple of interior designers to brainstorm ideas for some new features we're planning to add into our existing layout prior to moving in. I can't wait for the next HomeDec to take place. If I'm not wrong, it should be in April/May '09 -- PERFECT!

Making plans for the much anticipated honeymoon!

Bali has become quite a popular destination for honeymoon goers of late, and I can see why. Firstly, its NOT in Malaysia, and its always nice to 'get away' and be a tourist, isn't it? That way, you can take 82940202 pictures of everything and still not be seen as a jakun. Then its only 2 hours away by flight, and now with Air Asia, you don't need to shell out RM1.8k per person for return tickets. Return tickets will only cost a fraction actually; thus enabling you to redistribute your savings to stay in a nicer hotel. YAY! (this is not a subtle promo for Air Asia). Plus, if you're into Balinese furniture, you'll have a field trip getting nice wooden carvings/vases/pots/etc to furnish your new place :)

For Irwin and I, the thought of being able to SPA everyday was the motivating factor that helped us decide on joining the Malaysian honeymooners trend to Bali. But deciding between jetting off the day after our wedding, or waiting till the following weekend was tricky. I personally feel quite bad flying off immediately because that would mean that our families will have to 'clean up' after us :P

In the end, we decided on the latter -- primarily because we thought we wanted to experience Bali over the weekend. I'm also quite happy with the decision because that would also allow us to enjoy the novelty of our new place for a few days before going off :)

We just purchased our flight tickets this week, and we hope 6 days & 5 nights will be more than sufficient to unwind and relax after the (what I foresee, will be a very hectic) wedding. If any of you have any recommendations for good hotels, do let us know!

The 'modern day' proposal

Love Is... cartoon taken from here

First there was Destination Weddings which saw many couples holding small and intimate weddings in scenic Phuket and Bali. Then came Destination Pre-Wedding Photo Shoots to one-up Destination Weddings. Couples are willing to fly as far as Melbourne to 'capture the moment' (Irwin and I were one of those who contemplated the idea as well :P ) And of late, I've noticed the shifting trend toward Destination Proposals! I wonder what is next. Perhaps Destination First Date? OoOooo, exciting! :D

Exciting for the girls because we just need to sit back, ANTICIPATE the surprise and there after squeal with excitement with our other girlfriends; but not too exciting for our other halves who will not only need to fork out some signifcant sum of life savings for the rock but also crack their head to craft the most ingenious getaway-holiday plan to pop the question. (they would also need to remember NOT to repeat any similar proposal strategies, so that when their fiances trade stories, they wouldn't come across as one who lacks creativity) ah, the pressure of keeping up!

Wedding planning in the last month has gotten a notch more exciting with TWO of my girls in my bridal party engaged!!! In September, Yee Mun my M.O.H was pleasantly surprised when her BF proposed to her on a romantic picnic while on a 1-week holiday in San Francisco. Then just last weekend, while on a short break up to Langkawi, Ashwini found herself on a viewing deck up in the hills and a man on his knees asking her to be his wife. HEHE! Congratulations to the both of you! :D I couldn't be happier!

(See! What did I just say about Destination Proposals?! :P )

Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Its amazing how much I learn these days from just SHOPPING alone! In just one weekend, my little knowledge of MATTRESSES has now expanded from (typical Malaysians'-choice brands like) King Coil and Dreamland to strange sounding ones like Serta, Tempur, Nepure, Getha and Smith. Then there are things like pocket-spring, natural latex, memory foam, air spring and coil spring to get you even more confused. Its no wonder why Irwin and I still can't decide on what type of bed to get despite spending our whole Saturday rolling around on 10 different types of beds in a few showrooms around town :) It also never really occured to us that mattresses carry quite large price tags these days -- supposedly good mattresses can even cost up to RM70THOUSAND. Goodness gracious! I'd rather buy 2 Myvi's with the same amount of money :D