Jiffy Lunch time Update

What other time is best to take a sneak break and do your personal stuffs but LUNCH TIME??? hehe

Thought I take this time to do a little update on what happen over the past weekend. Plentiful I must say.

We cramp almost everything in one day, and I must say that the schedule is as neatly done as our decisions. Last Friday as I unexpectedly check my long forgotten personal emails, I realised that there is a new housing ballot exercise that came out of no where. We are already a day late when me and Mike finally decided to make the move. Looking at 171 applicants to start with in just a day's old exercise, we brave ourselves to put in our applications as well. At a quarter to midnight!! hahahahaha.. talk about impulse buying.. we are litterally applying for a house in just a brief session of discussion. None the less, we are glad we did. At 307 applicants since this morning.. we definitely hope that we manage to get thru during the automated ballot number session.

The very next day, we made an appointment with our good old Tom for some follow up on our big day despite the fact that he is no longer our planner (tentatively speaking, as long as we have not met with our new planner yet, he is still our planner! ) We both took our time to look at the room AGAIN at a different layout. We try to give ourselfs some creativity in the sense of not being stuck with the norm. No more info's on the hotel, but all I can say is that, we are glad we have decided on our choice of hotel. :)

Moving along, we head to our bridal studio again for another round of gown trying. I was suppose to choose the colour of the evening gown which I have chosen on my 1st visit. However, things got a 2nd turn and I ended with another design instead. Totally unexpected, totally unplanned. Right there and then, we confirmed the wedding gown and his dress suit and the evening pieces as well. Nothing much to be done on my part although I have a choice made-to-measure evening dress. The fact that the piece I choose is already a pretty fit for me, plus i like the cutting and the colour.. I guess the MTO dress is just another gimmick of them to have me sign for the package!! hahahah.. none the less, I'm happy with what I see.

We realise that our actual day wedding photographer is not the same as the one who will be doing our studio/outdoor shots ONLY when we ask them. The fact that this job will be given to a freelance photographer who sign the contract with the bridal studio, we are not inform at all. I have to say, both me and Mike felt cheated. Slowly we are finding them giving us the "whatever will do as long as there is one" attitude. Not very pleasing.. knowing that all the "good" freelancer are taken up as early as a yr ago! Sad to say, we only manage to get a "leftover" one when someone actually cancelled theirs. Needless to say, we are both very upset over the matter.

Imagine spending the entire year preparing for the special day, not to mention the emotions, the tears and laughters that will be only shared once in our lifetime. Would you be contented to end the day with amaturish pictures that does not capture any souls at all?? No right?? I guess this just adds up to our budget having to hire another photographer on top of what we already have. Better be safe than sorry!!

Will updates the picture we took during the day when I have the time.

So, stay tune to the blog!

Three times the better

I just got a call from our wedding planner yesterday evening. Totally unexpecting a call from a stranger at this hour and I have to say I was rather shock to hear the familiar voice and yet couldn't really figure out who he was until he disclose it.

 

Another shock came right after, when I was told that he will no longer be looking after our wedding plan. It is once again, referred to another planner. This time, the Senior Manager.

 

"Three times the better" they say.... we shall have to welcome her then.

Drafting out the guest list.

All of a sudden I just have this urge to do up my wedding guest list yesterday. I opened up my excel sheet and start drafting away. Before I knew it, ta-dah! I have 80% of the list done.

 

I'm so happy. Another box ticked.

8 more months to go!!

Woo hoo.. what a nice number. 8 more months to go on the year 2008.

The Ring

Just before X'mas, Mike and I were doing some X'mas shopping for my little nephew and nieces at Vivo. As always, when you least expected it, you got it. That is what happen to us, yet again.

Yeap, we purchased our ring that very day. Though still a long way to go before our actual event, but who can resist a perfect pair of rings that is also perfectly nice to our wallets?? :P Irresistable!!

Taking advantage of the X'mas sales in Dec, the total spent is definitely worth it. This is not the 1st shop we went into since we first planned for our wedding. Love & Co. a sister company of Soo Kee Jewellery is the one of the many blooming couple ring jewellers around. Tapping into the marital bliss market, they do charge rather "happily" with a price tag that I find will not bring a smile to my wallet. No doubt their designs are modern and current ( with some even close to designer rings) set with beautiful diamonds and other semi precious stones, I find that the whole "wedding band" meaning is not there anymore. To me, the wedding band is THE band that symbolizes the bond of the couple.. Everlasting and forever. Not some fancy rings that you see dating couples wear. Although at the end of the day, the decision still lies on the couple's taste, lifestyle and $$... I truly believe a practical couple will opt for a more affordable ring rather than style/fashion.

I am glad we did not make the purchase from Love & Co. The model that we chose cost 1.8K each. White gold with a certified diamond set at the top to mark the date and month of the wedding day. Unique.. but costly.

At the end of the day, simplicity is the best. :)

An update so far...AND The day when I wore THE dress..

After a long while of silence, we are back to blogging. It seemed like for a short period of time, nothing much needed to be done prior to the wedding.. The hotel has already been booked and the bridal package signed. Just about a week ago, we gotten the official hotel contract and had gone through a couple rounds of amendments (as usual.. ) before we finally signed on the dotted line (well Mike did.. =P ). The thing is, our wedding planner, Mr Toh (Tom) had a bad fall and aggravated his old injury on his ankle. Poor guy still had to climb up and down despite his slight limping..Kudos to him for such high tolerance of pain..Due to this, we only managed to liaise with him via email and phone. But none the less, he did his job quite well. Attentive and yet sensitive to our needs!

Oh, did we tell you that we got our "food tasting" session eventually?? kekeke.. Yes.. we did. Complimentary of the hotel (on our planner's account! Hahaha)... We really enjoyed ourselves there and even had a glass of champagne each courtesy of Tom. It was indeed an experience. To some extend, it felt like we are not in Singapore at all. The whole Victorian, vintage look swept our minds away in the busy little town right outside city hall. Most of the crowd at the restaurant were also foreigners..

Today.. Mike, me and a friend of mine, Jas (girl in green), went for our 1st round of "look see" at the bridal studio. Our(well mainly my) 'mission' was to try on the different dresses available at the studio. Mike had made an appointment earlier to do so, about a month back..We went there with the initial feeling of only seeing what they have, never meant for it to be a decision making day as there was still a long way to go to our wedding day. Key Objective of today: to try on as many dresses as I can and take note of each individual dress. Kinda like a school girl going for a survey research feel... hahaha..

The initial start was slow... even though I have an idea of what I wanted, the choice of dresses they have on display is endless...To me, every other dress on the rack looks alike. And because they are all in the cover, it was very difficult to see the full extent of the dress until you actually take it out and wear it on. After about half an hour or, Jas and me picked out 3 dresses.. A tube dress, halter neck and couture. At that point, we are already lost in the sea of gowns.. But just to start on the mission, I decided to try these 3 selected dresses. Before we made our move, our helpful assistant for the day, Linda ( the store assistant) brought out a dress from her collection. A dress that typically weighs a ton just holding it!! Imagine when I have to wear it on???

And so it all begins. I started off with the heavy one.. hahaha... long flowy, vintage ivory white ( a little to the beige cream tone). Silk with beaded embroidery all the way to the end of the skirt. A long train that simply just put the whole gown together. A look at the dress is not impressive at all.. but when I wore it ON...... OMG... I'm speechless. Its a little tight because its not really my fit but already enough to make me feel like its made for ME!! The whole Victorian look is just amazing.... no wonder girls dream about their weddings for as long as they can remember! Just wearing it alone is a challenge. The weight and the amount of details put onto it seems so fragile to me... I can never zip the back myself not to mention tie the lace up. I definitely need a helper on the actual day!!! Any volunteers??? (Pls kindly submit your entry form to me ASAP..kekeke)

When I took the dress off, I realised how heavy it was... the next dress was so much lighter.. Partially also due to the type of material that it was made of.. Satin with organza layering.. It was such an ease to move around!! Could also be because there wasn't any train at the end of the skirt... But its WHITE.. Its the kind of white that is so white, it has a tinge of blueish hue to it. With my tan skin, the combination is a disaster. ( although I quite like the design leh.. the back part of the dress is full lace... so its like super sexy!) But I have to face the fact that it doesn't match my skin colour.... so NEXT! Mike managed to sneak in some pics (see below)...Opinions people!!!

This other dress I tried on was a halter neck piece with a V drop at the front.. I loved the material and the colour of it... but I looked kinda 'old' in it. The halter V was abit out of proportion... Aiyah, can't complain too much.. its not even my size. The boobies area looks soooo big due to the "sponge" tat was attached to it... I felt like a mama bimbo. It's awful... horribly awful. I always thought I look good in halter.. but this piece change my mind.

This next piece I tried on was another winner. A simple bustier gown with lots of organza layering.. almost like a ballerina. Just that the skirt if all the way to the floor. Very elegant and yet simple. My kind of style... kekeke.. Something I am looking for to be worn during the day. I can't afford to have such a heavy material on me, combined with full make-up and hair-do, and not forgetting walking here and there on a hot sunny day.. It was be unbearable.... spare me!

Here are some pictures that we took during the entire session. Will write more on the upcoming part 2.. I am very tired and beaten. Its not even a full day thing yet.. I wonder sometimes how am I ever gonna get through the entire day!

Mike trying out one of the available suits...he's still undecided abt it though..

Till the next post,

Mike & Peggy

Shopping for the ultimate package..

A few days ago, I consulted a few friends about where I can go for the best deals in a bridal package... (yes yes, we finally decided that it's much better to have everything lump up in the bridal package rather than doing everything individually) and everyone agreed that the best place to go would be "Tanjong Pagar Road" a.k.a the "Bridal Street".

Yesterday evening after work, we headed down to Marina Square for our dinner. And so happened that there was a Bridal Fair being held at the atrium. Being me, I cannot control myself from viewing what's on offer. Hesitantly I pulled Mike into the "trap"... hahaha... our 1st stop was at Bridal Zone (BZ).. at the initial stage, we weren't too impressed with what we saw but we sat down anyway. Trying our best to squeeze as much info as we could from them.. we tried to use it to our advantage as a bargaining tool. After a brief half hour, we figured that we got the info we needed and headed to grab some dinner. Whilst strolling across the atrium to the exit, a salesperson from another boutique "XYZ" stopped us. He was trying too hard to sell his new collection to us. So much so that it felt more like demanding us. As the saying goes, never stand in the way of a hungry man, or couple in our instance, we brushed him off and went to enjoy our comfort food: SUSHI!!!! *slurp* =P . We went back home with many thoughts in our mind but determined to make a 2nd trip down.

Just this afternoon we headed down to Tanjong Pagar Road to see for ourselves how true it is to the legends. We were in for a shock. The entire street is flocked with bridal houses. Literally! It kinda gave me the "brothel house" feel.... kekeke. You know what i mean? ..... "Sir, wanna have a look at our new collection?? All new... Come come.. have a look, dun be shy." You get what I mean.. the competition here is so saturated that it lies next door to each other. The only way to get customers in is by having someone outside to pull them in. We pity the poor fellow having to brave the crazy hot humid weather..well it's their job anyway...haha =P

With so many shops, we didnt know where to begin! It was a horrible feeling!! Like a kid in a candy store but you only get to choose ONE item...We took a quick breather at the nearest 7-11 and formed up our plan... After much discussion, we decided to go in to the nearest one from where we are...Directly opposite the 7-11.. Lame huh???... hehehe.. "ABC" Bridal House Nice layout, beautiful gowns, stinky sales man (because he smoked). We went in anyway, to beat the heat...Got free aircon, why not?? In the next hour or so, both of us sat there as if we will be signing the package.. Enquiring on what their service is all about.. blah blah blah. However the guy seems to be avoiding one thing. the $$$ factor. No wonder, in the end the package he was selling for was at $3388 +++. Sounds nice huh.. sam sam fatt fatt.. but not nice to our wallets at all. With such pricing, it does not even compete with the ones we saw at the Bridal Fair in Marina Sq. Soon, he started to be a little impatient and the hard selling took over. Slashing of prices did not seems to be one of the option. At this point, it was time for us to make the exit.. However without trying to be bad... we excuse ourselves with respect. Instead of being professional and cool about it, the threat comes in. Not like they are putting us at gun point la.. but I think he is doing too much to get us sign for the package. That is a very wrong move from him.. "I understand you guys need to talk in private.. here, I'll leave u guys alone to talk it out for a while and I'll come back later"... WTF?? I wanna go home AND decide. Not decide NOW. The whole goodwill factor just disappear. I just wanted to leave. After much persuasion, we made it out the door..FINALLY!! At the end of the day, my personal mission wasn't accomplished. I WANTED TO TRY A GOWN! Seemed like his gowns were too precious to be worn not to mention touch/browse.. End of the drama.. Back we went, to the Bridal Fair in hopes and search for a better package.

We left the house at 1.30pm, reached Tanjong Pagar at about 2.30pm.. when we checked our watches, it was after 4pm!! Precious time wasted, not productive at all. Well at least we know how to bargain for more..Off we went... One shop was enough to represent the rest there. Afterall it is still the $$ that draws us to the package..Having to plan an elaborate wedding without crossing our budget is stressing us out to the MAX.

Back at the Bridal Fair in Marina Sq.. the catwalk show had already started and was nearing the end. We try to squirm our way into the crowd so that we could get a better look. Only managed to view about 10mins of the show...*Shrugs* Oh well... The booth(from BZ) was like a beehive.. with so many ppl buzzing around for the best bargain, we headed up to their showroom for a quick glance at their selection of gowns available. As much as we thought we still wanna browse around, our minds were pretty much settled for BZ. We liked what we saw and it was only the details that we needed to settle. Back at the booth, we managed to look through the rest of the albums that they had.. Without the pressure of being pushed, we felt comfortable looking at what we wanted.. Drinks, food, attention.. we had everything. Backed with the info we collected from "ABC" Bridal House, we tried to negotiate what we could into the already filled package. To our surprise, not only did they happily agree to it, they threw in even more. Needless to say, we signed up in the end with a smile that could scare Joker away.

Finally the burden seemed to drop completely off our shoulders. Almost everything is settled and we can concentrate on something even more stressful. Our HOUSE. I'm not gonna say too much about that now.. In fact i think i already mentioned too much. Hahaha..

Well here are some of the freebies we got from the Bridal Fair.. with a purchase of the latest bridal mag from Her World. Enjoy!!

1. The mag of course 2. Tissue box cover from Tea 3. Evening pouch/clutch 4. Dunno how many packets of Asience shampoo/conditioner 5. Manicure set 6. CD 7. Home Deco mag 8. Make-over 9. A cover shot (where there's a chance to win some more goodies if we get voted Most Photogenic Couple). 10. Sample pack of Ralph Lauren Romance perfume.




Here's a pic of me doing my free make-over...


Here's a up-close shot of us...Leng right???

Alright then..till the next post...

Love,
Peggy & Mike