Our Coffee Table Book

We've finally collected our wedding photo book from our photographer. Yes, it's been 4 months. We took more than a week to select the ~ 90 pix from nearly 300. And then another week to mull over the layout. 

If nobody is tired of seeing our pictures yet, we will bring them at the next dinner. 

Special Preview

After some minor hiccups, I've finally collected my cheongsam for the wedding. And I am very pleased with it. I'm impressed with Ann's professionalism in getting it just right, not minding doing more alterations along the way. If I had known her earlier, I would have just asked her to do a white cheongsam complete with train as the wedding gown. Compared to the bridal studio, that is charging an arm and a leg and messed up the suit for harmonica player, Ann is great in her service.

And look at the little press studs she did along the collar in order to create an authentic cheongsam:

Suzie Wong, if you want to do another cheongsam, this is one tailor that will definitely get it right. :)

Fruitful Day

After 1 month of working, I'm so glad to be not working today. It's not that I can't stand working after having such a long break but I really needed time to run my errands, on a weekday, when I don't have to jostle with the weekend crowds, and queue for hours to try on clothes.

I had a full day of running around; I even forgot lunch. But it was worth it: I found a fuschia dress from Tan Tan for the tea ceremony, and matching pearl earrings and necklace from the The Met Store to wear with the wedding gown. I can't wait for the actual day.

A Revelation

I was helping B to clean out his wardrobe yesterday. Must make space for me mah, come January. So start early so we can do it bit by bit and not be overwhelmed.

I had always been amazed how B get by with his what he has in his wardrobe. I mean he can wear the same five shirts week after week. The revelation came while cleaning out the wardrobe today. It's not that he owns so few shirts. It's that he never bothered to unpack some of the stuff since he moved house last year.

And I discovered that this man has about 101 pairs of cargo pant!. Ok. I'm exaggerating. Maybe about 15. But still.... They all look the same to me! Just different colours (hmm... Is this like women's obsession with shoes?). This wasn't what I expected.

As we went through the few bags of clothes, he kept saying, oh now I don't need to buy new clothes. He was genuinely happy with his "find". Let's just say that he got enough in those bags that he got tired of trying them on to see if they still fit and look good.

I wonder what I will discover at the next cleaning session.

One Down

After viewing the works of countless photographers online, shortlisting several, meeting up with a handful, and dithering over a couple, we finally decided on the photographer today.

We like his photos because he not only tries to tell the story through a series of photos, but also in every photo. More importantly, we feel his photographs have emotional depth that comes from having a keen eye for details.

Now, we have to work on the other "details".

Wedding Customs

Getting married can be such a tiring and confusing time in multi-cultural Singapore. B and I are both atheists but he comes from a family of devoted Christians and mine is as traditional as can be. So having to reconcile the practices is a challenge. Especially when our generation is pretty clueless about all these traditions, much less understand them.

So it's worth knowing that:

1. It's a Teochew tradition for the groom's parents to give "si dian jin" - or four pieces of jewellery - to the bride. The Hokkiens only give 1 piece (not so "hiao" I guess?).

2. It's a Cantonese tradition to give a suckling pig on the wedding day (not for me. Yay!).

3. In the past, the bride doesn't bring anything old to the bridal home, so she makes new sets of clothes for her new life as a wife. Good reason to go shopping, shopping and more shopping! Me want to keep this tradition.

4. New lamps are bought for the matrimonial room because"thiam deng" sounds like having sons in Hokkien. More grandsons to continue the family name. Hmm.... like that must buy oil lamps, right? Otherwise, what's there to "thiam"?

5. The couple also needs to buy a new basin (for bathing any future baby - ok...); spittoon (think we can do away with this tradition. We've got attached bathrooms nowadays!); clogs (same as preceding. No need to go outhouse.).

6. A new teaset is also necessary for the tea ceremony, although I recall something about it being symbolic of having grandchildren... (how many grandchildren you want?).

That's about all I can handle for now.

Mini Celebration

We had only just announced our decision to get married and already we had a mini-celebration. Sin Lady organized dinner on Sunday and as usual, she prepared a feast. eatdrinkplayjunkie brought pink champagne for a toast to the news, and Suzie Wong baked a most fabulous butter cream cake so we even had a chance to practise cake-cutting. Heh. In the midst of it all, many tips and ideas were shared on the wedding.

It was a lovely night spent with good friends, good food and champagne. This is the kind of mood I would like for my wedding.

Decisions Decisions

It seems like there are so many decisions to make to get married.

1. Do we want to have a traditional wedding dinner? Or lunch? Or tea party? We considered doing away with the wedding dinner altogether but it would be fun to have friends around. I would love to have a garden party but it's just not going to be comfortable with Singapore's weather.

2. Who to invite? My family is big. I have 60+ cousins and still counting. At my brother's wedding, the little ones plucked out the roses along the aisle leaving sad looking leaves in the baskets. Enough said.

3. Where to have the dinner? That depends on the guest list (see 3), availability (everyone is telling me 8 months is not enough to book a venue. I don't buy that.), the atmosphere, and the food.

4. What gown to wear? Dreamy, romantic ones by Dang or clean-cut, classy ones by Michelle Huimin? I had fallen in love with an evening gown at Dang, so that's pushing me towards Dang, but I've always loved the clean-cut simplicity of the gowns by Michelle Huimin. And then what cut to wear? Mermaid, A-line, or a cheongsam???

And all these questions are intertwined! I think I have too much time to think. Many of my friends got married in 3-5 months. How can it be so difficult?

But I just got thrown a spanner by the geomancer. He just told me that there's no good dates for me and B in Nov/Dec. Hmmph....

Getting Married

B and I have decided to get married at the end of this year. Other than that, we have not decided on anything. But I'm happy that friends have happily volunteered to help.