As some of you might know, the Singapore wedding is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. No good reason for the theme except I wanted something whimsical and nothing with those cloyingly sweet Disney princesses. So it was either Hansel and Gretel or Alice. A candy house won't go very far in the tropical heat so Alice it is.

Don't expect some OTT Lady Gaga craziness. There's no balloons, White Rabbit and gang aren't going to be walking about. It's this little thing called budget. BUT it's going to be a fun and chill wedding inspired by the characters, colours and motifs in Wonderland. Meanwhile, check out this awesome underwater shoot by Elena Kahlis. There's more on her website, you have to see!







Speechless.

Slept 8 hours in the past 2 days combined. Been kept awake by the endless stream of wedding planning. I don't know why my mind keeps rehashing the same things over and over again. Last night, I actually lay down in bed at midnight (record for me) but slept fitfully with a continual charade of Alice in Wonderland characters streaming into my consciousness.

Anyway as I was putting together my wedding day mentally, I realise that my bridesmaids are all so chio! Which makes me wonder, are there any brides who choose bridesmaids based on how photogenic/ugly they are?

Kelly has only met my parents and paternal grandma so I am really looking forward to the tea ceremony in Singapore. Not only would he be introduced to Chinese customs, he gets to meet my relatives personally. As we know, there is no time to talk to people during the wedding dinner.

Then my maternal grandma decides she doesn't want to go through the tea ceremony because she never did so for her paternal grandkids and it might be awkward to make an exception for her maternal grandkid (me). Read: People might gossip.

I respect and love my grandmas a lot. If I want to show my adoration, what has the decisions of her other grandkids got to do with me? To me, since I am having a tea ceremony, might as well do it for the whole extended family. Not like my family is very big anyway. My married friends, enlighten me. Does custom dictate you only serve tea to paternal family?

I hate that you paw through every single item of my belongings like it was yours. Heard of privacy?
I hate that on one hand, you tell me to do away with a wedding here.
And on the other, you want a grand chinese banquet.
Today you sing to the tune of a wedding buffet.
Along with a melody of not having a wedding at all.
Well, let me change your song.
I rather not invite you if you are reluctant to be there.
Or if you spend all your time analysing the food and gossiping about it behind my back.
Rather than being happy for me.
So don't come and save me the pain.
It's my big day, remember?

A few more months. I have all these little ideas but no venue, no guestlist, no excel sheets. Yet. I think a bride in my situation should take a 1 year break before starting on round 3. During the last months of planning, I never slept soundly. I would toss in bed, remember something that needed to be done NOW and got up to do so. It was inevitable. You can say I haven't slept for the last 6 months.

During our last few conversations, my mum STRONGLY RECOMMENDED we forego the Singapore celebration given the economic situation. I am much inclined to take her advice since things are so unstable. But when discussing the idea with Kelly, he said "I think you would want to see your friends torture me". Thank you Kelly. Now I know why the show must go on.

2 weeks ago, I waited.
1 week ago, I hoped.
4 more days, I prepare for the worst.

Dear God, I really don't want my period on my wedding day!

It took a loooooooooong time to perfect our wedding website but we finally published it this weekend. YAY! Lots of pictures including paktor, ROM and engagement pics.

Purposely upload so many pics so you won't be bored with wordy content. Take our quiz and see how well you know us or help to choose our honeymoon destination. Play some games and read about His&Her version of how we got to know each other. Lastly, leave us a message in the guestbook! Thanks!

If cannot bother to go to the website, here are 5 of our engagement shots.


Carousel in Chinatown


Tourist shop in Chinatown


Graffiti wall at LA's Artist District


The people of 1920s? Flapper girl and gangster!




P.S: Lots of love to the host site http://www.weddingwindows.com/. Our wedding website was super easy to set up with lots of customisable content and colours. Highly recommended!

Not Kelly and I. Our invitation designer, Alissa, was featured on MarthaStewart.com as a 'Dreamer into Doer' and one of the invites she chose to feature was ours!


The actual design is Alissa's brainchild but Kelly and I got her started with a huge zip file of Art Deco pictures and inspirations. Plus we are her first Art Deco project! Ahem, think we can claim some credit right? ;) First draft below.

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The final proof with our wedding colours of antique gold, burnt orange and blue; Deco colours.


Final proof in picture.

We have been crazy busy the past 2 weekends. Now I didn't say it was all work. ;) Will post fun stuff next few days. Wedding updates for now.

Kelly and I took our first Argentine tango class this Sat. Being newbies, we were paired with the veterans. The instructor kept telling us not to look down at our partner's feet or memorise steps but to let our partner lead and focus on their shoulders. Well, one of my partners was wearing a V-neck tee which showed off part of his hairy chest. It was quite distracting to look at his shoulders because my eyes naturally got drawn to his chest hair! I ended up peering at the ceiling and got reprimanded by the instructor.


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Just an example but see, how to look at shoulders like that?!

When class was over, Kelly and I stayed back to practise. The instructor observed us and said we both want to "be captains of the ship" and if there are 2 leaders, who's the follower? So I had to step back and accept K's lead while K has to be more sensitive to my body movements. At this rate, I dunno how we are going to do a decent tango for our wedding. *fingers & toes crossed*

Over the weekend, K also rented his full wedding gear which consists of ... tuxedo, pants, shirt, vest, tie, cufflinks and patent shoes. Who says only brides get dolled up? I HAVE NOT seen a guy wear patent shoes before and I am going to bet that K's feet will be shredded to bits at the end of the wedding. At the store, they didn't have Kelly's size for the tuxedo, pants and shirt. The only reassuring thing the salesguy did was to take K's measurements. So if all goes well, K will look like this with a tie:


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But we won't know until we collect his gear 2 days before the wedding. *fingers & toes crossed again*

On Sunday we met up with the tailor. Manij came highly recommended by one of the forum brides. Her clientele is mainly Hollywood including Angelina Jolie! and she only does wedding gown alteration through recommendations. As I chatted with her, I get the feeling she is not into the Hollywood scene at all but is just doing something she enjoys. Manij is from Iran where she had a psychology major. After graduation, she went into teaching but got sick of it after many years. So she left for America and decided to do something totally different.

Reminds me of stories we hear about Filipino maids who have degrees but has to work as a maid cos that pays better than jobs back home. It's such a waste of their talent! Makes me thankful that we have better opportunities in Singapore. Manij is different though. She likes her job and doesn't see it as beneath her status. In fact, she says she likes to read the minds of her customers. Gulp!


My gown as advertised on Paloma Blanca's website.


This is what it will look like after alterations.


At the back, I am doing a 2 tier pick-up bustle.


This is how the front of the gown looks like after being bustled.

Besides altering the size, I am asking Manij to create a sweetheart neckline and make a champagne colour sash for me. She will also help me sew in bra cups with some padding. Manij showed me this C-cup dress she created for an A-cup actress. There was so much padding it felt like you were bumping into a wall. I hope mine isn't like that.

Sorry for being so cheong hay (long winded). I am getting to the end of my entry. Last Saturday, K & I also went to rent a cheongsam for my second change. Decided to go all out and bedazzle the ang mohs with my sequin choice. Look getai anot?

We wanted customised wedding invitations. So I did a bit of research and found a lady whose works I like. I contacted her and her rates were reasonable.

So we paid her a design fee to create something entirely new for us. Working with her was really easy. She was fast. She had great ideas. She was responsive. I think part of her enthusiasm was due to the fact that she was excited about our ideas and theme. These are her words 'I have to admit, without patting myself on the back, that I really love this design too'

I was going to rave about her in the bridal forum. And then today, I saw that our invitations were up for sale on her website, right down to the wording that I had specially worded to reflect our 1920s theme. Right down to our wedding colours. Again these are her words 'I love the wording ideas'.

Isn't the point of paying a design fee to ensure we have something unique to us? Now every Tom, Dick and Harry can buy the invitations off her website WITHOUT paying the extra we did.

I am disappointed. We had a great working relationship and then she decided to violate it by putting the business and cents above the customer. Does she think I would not see it on her website? I will speak with her to rectify this.

Anyway. I have the BIG idea to do a Sex and The City wedding for Singapore. Since Vivienne Westwood is out of my budget, I shall be an offbeat bride. I have always heart Carrie's fuschia dress with cropped tuxedo. How's this for wedding dress?

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Hairband made of antique lace stitched on satin ribbon and hand-sewn with freshwater pearls. When I saw this, my jaw dropped! It matches my wedding venue so perfectly. Unfortunately I don't have USD625 to fritter away. But it seems really easy to replicate. Hmmm..




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Right from the start, this has been the vision for my wedding. I just heart birdcage veils and the accessory here. And since our wedding venue was completed in the 1920s, I am very keen on incorporating 20s elements as well. Won't a flapper bride be so cool? Alas, my impulsive buy of a gown is more Grace Kelly than Clara Bow. I digress. As I was regaling K with my ideas, his face took on a mask of horror and he blurted out "But we don't want a period wedding!".

Well, I do.

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We had just confirmed our wedding date with our restaurant and after we stepped out, the unit number caught our eye. It's our wedding date!

We have been busy. Weekends gone from scouting potential wedding locations. So far every place we have seen is compared to location #2. That's when we realised THIS IS THE ONE!

Place #2 is the Los Angeles Fine Arts Building. It's seriously one of a kind. A designated historic-cultural monument, the Romanesque revival arhictecture dates back to 1927. Originally envisioned as an artist cluster with workshops, studios and an exhibition hall, the building was sold upon completion instead due to the Depression.


View standing in the ornate lobby of coloured tiles and terra cotta


View from mezzanine level of lobby

Babes, i need some ideas on what to give wedding dinner guests. Of course, I do hope to give something unique but that's not very possible I know. What do you think of 2 Chinese wedding cakes in a small bamboo steamer? Share your wedding gift ideas?

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Pros
1. Great to capture all touching/spontaneous/hilarious moments.

2. Fun to look at and laugh about after the wedding.

3. Erm, can show the children and grandkids??!

Cons
1. The wedding reception and ceremony in US will be on the same day, unlike in Singapore where we tape the ceremony to be shown at the wedding dinner. So the only people watching the video will be us (and maybe his parents).

2. Are we going to watch this 10 years down the road???

3. Save money by doing away with a videographer.
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what do you think? Should we get a videographer?