VirtualTourist Member sailor_p
 sailor_p's Albums | | | |
|
| Page Views: 1,290 | A Wedding Journey - The Preparation by sailor_p - last update: Nov 24, 2007 |
A Dream Wedding in the Making - 8 December 2007 Thanks for dropping by to visiting this page. As many of you would know, I would be getting married on 8 December 2007. Over the years, I have read many blogs on wedding preparation but somehow, when it was my turn to prepare for my wedding, I wasn't keen to blog about it initially. All this while, Martin and I agreed that we should have a small gathering of relatives and good friends to celebrate this joyous event and hence, we thought that there wasn't much to talk about.
However, with slightly more than 3 months to go, somehow, my thinking has changed. A number of interesting events happened during this process of preparation and that made me wanted to blog about it, as an appreciation of God's blessing in our lives....
It all started in early December 2006 when I was away in Similans (Phuket, Thailand) on my own for a diving trip. My then boyfriend, Martin, actually flew from Singapore to Phuket to meet up with me after my diving trip and it was there that he first popped the question. And of course, the rest is history. We were blessed that our parents gave us their blessings on our marriage and at that time, we agreed that we wanted to have a small but intimate affair to celebrate our wedding.
At the point of time, we still have exactly one year away, we didn't think much about the preparation. We went through the various wedding magazines to get some ideas and of course, shared this piece of news with many friends, including a number of VTers whom I am pretty closed with. We were blessed that our parents actually let us handled our own preparation and we decided to choose 8 Dec 07 as our wedding date - no particular reason. To be honest, we just looked at the calendar felt that this would be day we would have our wedding.
Of course, the next thing is, to source for a venue that could cater to our requirement. We are only expecting about 100-120 guests and not many hotels in Singapore would want to accede to our request, especially our chosen date falls on a Saturday! An intimate wedding which I attended in late 2003 brought my mind to a location which even Martin fell in love with. Both of us decided to have our wedding at The Sentosa Resort & Spa. As the name goes, the spa resort is located on Sentosa, an island off Singapore mainland. I enjoyed the wedding I attended at this place tremendously and hence, decided to have this venue for our wedding. Thank God, the ballroom was available for the date we chose.
The next thing we need to do, as many brides-to-be would also do, is to select a bridal designer that can create that "dream" gown. Honestly, I have no idea what my "dream" gown is. After getting feedback from married friends, reading wedding magazines and visiting a number of bridal shops, we have decided to engage Michelle Huimin of Bridal Veil services. Typically, her wedding package would include creating a wedding gown, evening gown, groom's suit and other services like make-up and floral bouquet. It was a choice that I would never regret. Though the wedding gown has not been fully ready, the "skeleton" version is enough to blow me away! I am also anticipating to meet her in end August to discuss about the evening gown. |
| Our Wedding Invitation Card |
|  | A Blessed Celebration In Singapore (and like in any other countries), a marriage is deemed legal only if the wedding is solemnized by government appointed official such as religious leaders, Justice of Peace and grassroots leader. To get our church pastor to grace our wedding, we need to put in our request at least one year in advance. To qualify, both of us are required to attend the church for at least six months and preferably to be a member of the caregroup or serve in any ministries. Well, we don't qualify for any of the requirements and hence, we decided to engage a Justice of Peace. We know that God is with us, and we are still blessed.
Somewhere in mid-April, I received a call from my friend who is also the manager overseeing wedding affairs at our church. According to her, a couple has withdrawn their application on 8 Dec 07 and that means there's a slot available for the Pastor to solemnize our wedding. However, we are concerned that we also do not fulfill other criteria. She scheduled a counselling session for me with our pastor. And praise the Lord, he agreed to our application! Moreover, our pastor, who knows my mother, agrees to personally conduct the holy matrimony! We are really excited! And this is just the starting of many great blessings to come....
Over the past few months, by the grace of God, we also assembled our "Dream-maker Team". And here's our "team" members:
Wedding Planner - Sedan of Love by Joelle Ung
Wedding Venue - The Sentosa Resort & Spa
Wedding Attire - Bridal Veil by Michelle Huimin
Studio Photography - Montage Studio by Eng Howe
Actual Day Photography - Tsang Studio by Kenneth
Holy Matrimony - Pastor Henry Yeo (New Creation Church)
Wedding Cupcakes - Half-baked Ideas
Coincidentally, our wedding planner happens to be younger sister to VTer, bkoon.
On the same note, my best friend, whom I've known her for 20 years will be my bridesmaid. It's God's grace to have such a wonderful friend who agreed readily to be my maid-of-honour. Xinyi went through both the good and bad times with me over the past 20 years. Thank you Xinyi! |
| Lonely Planet Guide from Xinyi |
| | Our Honeymoon Of course, after assembling our "team". The next thing we need to figure out is - honeymoon destination. We have toyed with various destinations such as Maldives, Laos, Hanoi (Vietnam) and even Israel. And after much deliberation and confusion, both of us decided to visit Melbourne (Australia).
Why Melbourne? Martin was in Melbourne for 6 weeks a few years back while I visited Brisbane, Goldcoast and Sydney in 2001. While I have never visited Melbourne before, Martin grew in love with this beautiful Victorian city and would like to visit this place again. I've read and heard a lot about Melbourne and it seem to me that I should also pay a visit to this famous Australian city.
Hence, we decided to visit Melbourne for 7 days 5 nights in early Jan 08. I know this sounds early, but we already got our air tickets and hotel accomodation at a great bargain. On learning our plan, Xinyi, my best friend, got me a Lonely Planet Guide from Borders Bookshop. I guess, we will wait till end of the year to decide the programme for our trip!
[Afternote: We just contacted a very dear couple who is now based in Melbourne. We knew them when they were serving in the same church many years back. I am excited to catch up with them in Melbourne!] |
| My first wedding gift from VTer, bpacker |
| | My First Wedding Gift Well, over the past few months, I was also under lots of stress from my new work and from home. Early this year, my mum was also diagnosed with lymphoma. We were caught by with this piece of news and our top priority was to get my mum on chemotherapy treatments. Of course, we were worried about financial issues as medical fees are high and on the other hand, it's not cheap to get married in Singapore too.
Over the past few months, fellow VTer, bpacker (Glenda), has been a tremendous support. She has been encouraging me and even got me to take up running - a feat that I thought was a big joke initially. Afterall, back in school days, I can't even to a proper 2.4km and a mini-marathon was like a complete joke! Well, Glenda has been a great cheerleader, with her encouragement and since then, I was surprised by my own running progress. All the runs we did together not only helped me to push my limit but also a great reliever from work and home matters. Meanwhile, by the grace of God, my mum is recovering well from her treatments and we believe in faith that she would be fully recovered soon!
Little did I know that Glenda was also the first person to present me my first wedding gift! She braved through a typhoon in Hong Kong to get me a pair of silk shoes with intricate embroidery. The shoes are really beautiful and I really loved them. They would definitely complement my "kwa" - a traditional wedding costume wore by Chinese brides. I am really touched by her thoughts and I definitely treasure this wonderful wedding gift. Thank you, Glenda. No amount of words can thank you for your support over the past few months and the gift. You are, indeed, an angel God has sent. This pair of shoes is precious to me. |
| An exquisite gift from Carinna |
| | An Exquisite Gift Just one day after I received the precious wedding gift from Glenda, a sister-in-christ contacted me to meet up with me after church service. I've known both Carinna and her husband, Richard, earlier as we both served in the same team for ushering at church. They are now happily married with a lovely and adorable boy.
Carinna showed me a guestbook she made personally for my wedding. When I first saw the guestbook, I was completely stunned. I think I looked like a fool with my mouth open. It was the most beautiful guestbook I have ever seen. Carinna kept asking me for comments so that she could further enhance with other touch-ups and my wedding photographs. To me, the gift is more than perfect. There's no need for further enhancements.
The guest book is a collection of her love for me as her sister-in-christ, painstaking efforts and her gift for creativity. I was simply dumb-folded and didn't know what to say. That shows that I am not born with good articulation! The only thing I said was "thank-you" and a remark that my sister-in-christ can "go commercial" with her creativity gift. Come and think about it, I must have made a fool out of myself. Simply, I was too touched and didn't know how to express my appreciation.
I quickly packed the precious gift as I don't want it to be dirtied and carried it all the way home. This precious gift is now carefully wrapped in a plastic bag and together with the pair of beautiful shoes from Glenda, it is carefully kept in my room.
On thinking back, I thank God for the wonderful friends He has surrounded me with. I've learnt that I cannot take everything around me for granted. To me, the two gifts I have received are priceless. They are tokens of friendship that cannot be taken for granted. |
| At the first fitting of my evening gown... |
| | Wedding Preparation in Progress After the Singapore Bay Run, Martin and I visited Michelle Huimin at Bridal Veil for our fitting and discussed with her over my evening gown. Well, after all the running, Michelle needed to take 2 inch all around the whole gown! I will be back on 8 Sep 07 to try the gown and also have my first fitting of the evening gown.
As for the evening gown, the choice was clear what I wanted. Though I am very concerned about the colour combination, Michelle assured me that it would look great. Always trust the designer. Michelle really takes pride in all her creations!
Martin really lost lots of weight. When he first put on the suit, he looked like a beer barrel. The suit was too big for him! He got to come back again for his second fitting. The suit and the gowns have to be ready for our studio photo shoot on 21 Sep 07.
On the other hand, we just got our wedding bands. It's a pair of lovely rings, especially customised to our requirements. Surprisingly, the price is comparable to the big shops we have in Singapore major shopping malls. The shop we visited is a small set-up located in Chinatown. I guess there was not much overhead and advertisement fees... that explains the competitive pricing for customised rings. This is also the shop that Martin bought my proposal ring!
I just visited Bridal Veil the day before Shape Run 2007 for the first fitting of my evening gown. It looked good though there is a need for some sizing adjustments. I am back this Friday for more fittings, especially the wedding gown. Martin and I also attended the marriage workshop conducted by New Creation Church after our fitting at Bridal Veil. We learnt a lot from our church leaders, Sammuel and his lovely wife, Juliana. We had a lot of good sharing about our other halves. At the same time, we also exchanged notes on our wedding preparation with the other couples. Afterall, marriage is a lifetime of commitment. Wedding is only one day but marriage is for life!
Martin and I visited Bridal Veil for a final fitting. Both the wedding and evening gowns were re-sized and Swarovski crystals were sewn onto them. They are beautiful! Martin's suit was re-sized and it fitted him well. He also got to choose the colour of his swarovski button too! I didn't realise that choosing the colour of one button (for the collar) can be so stressful for him! After the fitting, both of us visited Robinson Shopping Centre at Raffles City to get a pair of cufflinks for Martin's shirt. It was pretty late and we would continue with our shopping for shoes. I need a pair of red shoes to match my evening gown! Talk about vanity. At the same time, it also came upon us that time really flies. Another 7 days to go and we would be doing our photoshoot. And another 3 more months to go - it's our wedding! We prayed that our next week's studio/outdoor photoshoot would be a relaxing and enjoyable one. We heard a lot of horror stories about the photographs didn't turn up well by other couples. Meanwhile, it's the annual Run for Hope (Terry Fox Run) tomorrow. VTer bpacker would be there with her family members. This is the event that started me off running this year. This run, is dedicated to my mum. She's still undergoing treatments and do pray for us. |
| All packed for the photo shoot |
| | Pre-wedding Studio/Outdoor Photography Time really flies. It was just like yesterday that we decided to choose Bridal Veil as our bridal boutique and Montage Studio to do our pre-wedding studio. But we were glad to make these choices. We definitely didn't regret our decisions then.
In a flash, it's our turn to take our pre-wedding photographs! Just the day before our photograph shoot, we visited Bridal Veil to collect our gowns and other stuff. We were impressed with Bridal Veil's professionalism. Everything is well-packed and gosh, the consultant even went through a list with us on what to do and what not to do during the photoshoot. For our photoshoot, Bridal Veil especially prepared 5 sets of accessories and 3 sets of headgear for my use during the shoot. All the accessories were made of Swarovski crystals. Most of all, I love the hand bouquet. It's beautiful! The colour scheme was used to match my evening gown - so that there's a common colour theme that runs throughout the photo album. There's so much thoughts and efforts put in by Michelle Huimin and her team. I am glad to use their services! The only complaint I have is the lugging of our stuff (the gowns are really heavy!) back home and to the studio the following day.
We really had a day of lots of fun at Montage Studio. We always thought a master photographer like Eng Howe would have lots of air. We laughed a lot and didn't have any problems like what my married friends told me - we didn't suffer any muscle cramp on our cheeks from whole day of smiling. He was able to make us feel relax and be ourselves. And of course, throughout the 1-day session, we discussed a wide range of topics from the malpractices in the sugar-cane juice making industry, the art of being a good food hawker to trade secrets in the wedding industry. Now we finally understand why some sugar cane juice taste more diluted from the others where the buyers like us would be standing right in front of the juice making machine while the juice is being made.
Alicia, the make-up artist, appointed by Bridal Veil, was the most knowledgable made-up artist I've ever met. She would tell me what kind of image I should take even though it means a stab in my ego - that includes "taping" my droopy eyelid and trying to "balance" my uneven eyebrows. I like her frankness and her humbleness. She really dolled me up and love the three hairstyles she did for me. I looked forward meeting her again on my actual wedding day.
The in-house studio shoot ended around 4pm when Eng Howe brought us to The Sentosa Resort and Spa for our outdoor shoot. The weather was great - sunny! Though it was tiring and Martin was sweating profusely and my thick make-up melting fast, we had great fun. Eng Howe was also gracious to send us back to Bridal Veil so that we don't need to make an extra trip to "lug" our things back. It must be quite a sight we made to carry our bags in our suit and wedding gown back to Bridal Veil. But the team at Bridal Veil was fantastic. The moment they saw us, the team sprung into action to help us.
What a day. It was really tiring but we really enjoyed the experience. We are looking forward to meet up with Eng Howe to see the photo proofs. We are excited to see how our photographs would turn out!
We just collected the photo proofs from Montage Studio yesterday. We were very happy with the results and there is no doubt that Eng Howe is a "master" photographer. In fact, for the outdoor shoot, Martin and I looked as though we stepped out of a sauna on that day. And when we saw the the photo proofs, we looked really good! *thick-skinned* Well, we need to think about which photographs to pick for our photo album. That's really "stressful". *grin* No regret for having Alicia as our made-up artist and Eng Howe as our studio photographer! Highly recommended!!!
We've just selected our photographs based on the photo proofs which we received. Eng Howe, our photographer, would be contacting us to let us know his price proposal based on our selection. We hope to hear from him soon. |
| With Martin at GE Women 10K: compliments of Adidas |
| | Last Phase of Wedding Preparation Meanwhile, we are consolidating our guest list. A number of our close friends, especially our brothers and sisters-in-christ, have agreed to grace our wedding. I guess it would take us sometime to sort out the guest list and to have them all sent out by this month.
With the gown now made, I would also need to maintain my weight so that I can wear my gown in Dec! With my work commitments and getting entangled with a silly cold and cough in the past two weeks, I hardly run. Looks like I need to hit the running trek soon, to be in time for the upcoming Great Eastern Women 10k Run!With slightly more than a month to go, we are in the last phase of our preparation. We have consolidated our guest list and also finished preparing our cards for sending out. Meanwhile, we have done our e-filing for the wedding ceremony with our Registry of Marriage in Singapore. Most importantly, we are now going through marriage preparation course with New Creation Church. We really learnt a lot. In this modern world, a truly blessed marriage is hard to come by - hence, it takes a lot of grace for a marriage to work. Throughout this journey, I've learnt to control myself - it's not about me - it's about two people becoming one in a marriage. Martin is really forgiving and patient. I was the one hitting the roof when we couldn't get a cab for 20 minutes at the recent GE Women 10k run. He was really patient and assured me that we would still make it in time by taking public transport. And of course, I also realised that I made poor Martin doing the "Carl Lewis Sprint" when I was desperate to reach the startline on time unconsciously. Guess guilt really hit me when Martin greeted me with his ever sunshine smile at the finishing line and gave me a pat to tell me I did very well despite the circumstances I faced that morning. Thank you, dear! I will be there for you at the starting line at Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon even though our flagging off times are different. Barely a month to go, we are feeling the heat for the preparation. We are still in the midst of collating RSVP and that's the biggest headache we are facing now. What's more, we have not even thought about the seating arrangement. Meanwhile, we, with our wedding planner - Joelle, visited our florist - Jane (Simply Flowers @ The Central) yesterday to select the flowers for the ballroom decor. We were very impressed with her works and looking forward to see them on our wedding day. Had a great discussion on the programme with Joelle over dinner after that, we are assured that everything will be in good hands. Meanwhile, we are meeting Eng Howe, our studio photographer to sort out our photographs this evening. We also received the song lyrics from our church on the songs to be sung at the Holy Matrimony. We have no idea over the songs and now frantically trying to look for the tunes. We don't want to look silly trying to act as though we know how to sing the songs on our wedding day.At times, Martin and I were wondering how couples who had over 200 guests and above could keep their sanity over RSVP. Thanks to encouragement to my maid-of-honour-to-be and our wedding planner, we were able to just focus on getting the RSVP and to leave the rest of the work to others. Meanwhile, we got the design format for the programme sheet and escort cards from our talented wedding planner. It's time to source for nice paper to print them on. And yes, food tasting would be held tomorrow and rehearsal for the Holy Matrimony is scheduled next Saturday. I just realised my weekends are packed and I don't have time to do proper training for the upcoming Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. *sigh*It's two more weeks to our big day. We would be meeting our helpers and our wedding planner for a rehearsal tomorrow. Counting down - to be continued here. |
| sailor_p's Albums | | | |
|
 Comments for sailor_p about World | | | | |
WorldMeet2008 Tue Jul 22, 2008 15:09 UTC
Your next trip? Make it really unique! It's not too late to attend WM08 - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Dead- Sea on 25- 28th Sept (+Petra 29-30th). We want to double the num of attendees to 100! Click to learn where, when, what, how, how much! Avi [FruitLover | xuessium Sun Jun 29, 2008 08:17 UTC
Thanks for the birthday greetings, Theresa. Very kind of you. Sorry for the late reply - I was on the road. | ViajesdelMundo Thu Jun 12, 2008 14:40 UTC
HI - I see you hv same birthday as one of my sisters; sure hope it was a great day! I have a quick overnight again in Singapore next month on my way back to Sri Lanka--I think this will be my 12th ~~ time there. How is your improved eyesight?? | aussiejen Wed Jun 4, 2008 10:54 UTC
Sorry, missed your birthday. We were in Bali & Java. I'm sure you had a lovely day :) |
|
More Sponsored Links for World
Select A Luxury Hotel
Get Hooked On Our Luxury Hotels! Special Prices–Fall In Love Today
5 Star Resort
Feel at home with Exclusive Resorts The leading luxury destination club
Luxury Hotel
Plan the perfect escape at Marriott Hotels. Search resorts & packages.
|
email me
add as friend
