she said yes

It only just began...

2009-01-24T19:46:00.000+08:00

Shuyi and I have been together since forever (that is 1999, by the way) and it is high time we got married. Thus this is the blog charting our progress from the day we thought of getting a HDB flat (classic S'pore engagement) towards the day we walk on the red carpet accompanied by cheesy music (we had a wedding singer. not so cheesy) and dry ice (bubbles for ours).

What we want to acheive is a special wedding (i.e. different than thou) within a reasonable (read: low) budget. And we dare say it is pretty damn good.

Feel free to browse our wedding blog (stalker!) and comment on anything. No haters please.

the thank you video

2008-12-28T11:03:00.001+08:00

This video is made by us to thank everyone who helped make our wedding day a great one.

Enjoy!

the montage

2008-12-17T02:16:00.002+08:00

The wedding montage is the standard for wedding these days. Who am I to question tradition? The only difference is that I refuse to let it suck. So here goes!

the day after

2008-12-16T00:01:00.005+08:00

I slept most of the night in the tub thanks to my loving wife. Also partly my own merit for downing so much alcohol. The best part is, I downed them voluntarily as I was in quite a good mood. I was held up for the night but totally lost memory once the guest went off. I heard I terrorized one of the 姐妹s. That hairstyle is cute. Honest!

my wife is so cute ain't she?

and pretty too

Enough of that. What I really want to know is...

WHO opened this $9 bottle of sacred water?! I had to top it up and temper with the seals before running off to pay at the reception counter.

the actual day

2008-12-15T23:35:00.003+08:00

You know how the actual day goes. Nothing much to point out here. The weather is nice and dry. Could be cooler though but you'll hear no complaints from me. I'm just glad I can drive with the top down.

shuyi stalking the children

ah xuan working it. qiqi just KO

shuyi with her 姐妹s

all the 兄弟 & 姐妹 who have taken their precious day off to help us. Thank you!

another angle

some serious bowtie action from the band of brothers
pei kai, Ian, Randy & Sunny

wanted 'em to spread around but... this works too

us doing the emo 'look anywhere but the camera' shot

the bride is happy

the comb

2008-12-15T23:23:00.003+08:00

Hokkiens have this tradition whereby you wake up god damn early, get your folks to comb your hair while chanting this rap. Like initiation into some secret society.

comb the hair & huat arrrr!!!

And you have to do it in fresh undies and this pimp PJ.

RSVP

2008-11-28T01:43:00.003+08:00

"Répondez s'il vous plaît", a French phrase that translates to "please respond"" or literally "respond, if you please"

Absolutely nothing to do with VSOP.

Kindly leave a comment to confirm you attendance of my wedding banquet on 10 Dec 2008. Thanks!

P.S. Please... identify yourself. And sound out if you're bringing anyone along too ok?

the wedding singer

2008-11-20T04:19:00.005+08:00

Much to the approval of the supreme overlord, we hired a wedding singer. So for the past year, we're been going to weddings and trying to steal other couples' singer. It started with Celine's wedding.

adam couldn't be there to do the 'grow old with you'

Now, we don't often get wedding singers at weddings locally. I would think that everyone will be too busy eating/chatting to listen to the songs. But this singer got praises from everyone the whole night long. We tried to get his service but alas, he has a gig on our wedding date and can only play half a set. Too short.

Next, it was Amanda's. It started normally. But when he bought out the hokkien songs, I knew he is the one! Look out for Daniel! If you have any oldies you want him to sing, feel free to dedicate. If you wanna duet with him, go 'Don't be and ass and go

'hey! I want Umbrella by Rihana!'

I will ella ella ur ass!

Here is Daniel at work. Asking him to sing for the march in was a bonus. The Wonderful Tonight for the 2nd march in was beautiful.

daniel at work

the car

2008-11-16T04:56:00.006+08:00

The car has never been too much of a concern for us. We really didn't think it is that important. If anyone wants to spare his car, we'll take it! But as the date draws near and no free car turned up (we also never actively go around and beg la of course), we decided that we should rent it.

The first offer that pops up is this:

SLK

With the special offer price of $299, it is really a steal. We booked it and they played us out. Long story short, we didn't get it. It is a nice car, the price is a bargain but nevermind.

Next the same company came up with this offer:

Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet

At the same price of $299. Value wise, the SLK is still better. But in actual fact the Beetle is more charming. Too bad there is only the salsa red version. The cream version would have been so nice.

Ian & I picked up the decorated beetle and took it for a spin. Then a wash. Then we did the LadyBird.

ladybird

With some imagination and effort, there is no need to blow the pocket. I got lotsa smiles (or smirks depending on which side you're on) driving the ladybird. Total cost of decals, $20. Quirk up the wedding car, priceless.

gooooo ladybird!

so you think you look good, bowtie and all...
take that cheeky smirk off your face!

the tea dress

2008-08-21T22:15:00.009+08:00

Normal people have to go to normal Tanjong Pagar Bridal shops that stocks the normal (but still so nice & traditional) kuas with the phoenix and dragons.

But nooooo.

We must go to the stuck up bridal shop in Orchard that serves tai tais, expats, hang crosses on the wall and stock up on bibbles.

"We don't do dragons and phoenix" they say.

Bitch! This ain't about you ain't it?! This is what they got.

Peony, in a funky metallic kinda way

i have nothing witty to say

If we end up with this, I will magic pen a god damn dragon and a phoenix somewhere on the kua.

They finally managed to source a normal kua.

you want dragons?! you get dragons!!!!

But it is so crammed with dragons and phonix that it looked like Noah's Ark. I bet there is a panda, a bear, a mouse etc.

Finally, they got us a normal looking one. The beading is way colourful. It is actually kinda nice!

look at the little mushu!

When they handed it over to us for our prewedding shoot, we were informed that due to some issues (I don't even wanna know) we cannot have this kua for the actual day. Great.

A few weeks passed (and very very near our wedding) they said we can have it again. Great...

hanging idle in the background

drink tea

the suit

2008-08-21T21:55:00.008+08:00

After all the hoo haa regarding what shuyi is gonna wear, at last, some attention to me please! Here is the suit. Grey wool 2 button, single breasted suit for me. Grey cause:

1. white is boring and waiter-like
2. black is too safe
3. grey is retro looking (like shuyi's gown)

stop looking at my other stuff

some personal touches

Pretty pleased with the suit made by this old shifu who, according to the boss, also makes suits for Dr. Tony Tan.

Now to get a white wing tip tuxedo shirt. Without the cummerbund please.

bow tie bitches!

Tailored a tuxedo shirt at CYC, Raffles Hotel. If it is good enough for ol' Harry, it's good enough for me.

hand tailored lor. don't play play

best on 10 Dec 2008

gatecrash entry pass: money

i told you 'stirred, not shaken right?!'

the heels

2008-03-02T12:35:00.007+08:00

We needed footwear to make up for the 20cm of height difference between me and Shuyi? We set out to look for heel(s) for shuyi on our various shopping trips. Shuyi wants it high. Real high. But I think a 3 inch is good. 4 being the max.

This one we spotted in Taka, from 9west.

The colour and sheen is fantastic!

We spotted 2 Beveley Feldman in Hue as well. Both of em lacy white heels. But Shuyi is holding out for better shoes and sales.

No need to hold. We got the ribbon lace one instead of the full lace heel.

additional bullshit that you pay for

worth every cent

My turn! Got myself a pair of shoes from Pedro. There is some kind of fate between this shoe and I. I first saw it a year plus ago and liked it. But I wasn't ready for the pointy kinda shoe so I left it. Half a year passed. It went out of stock and came back again. I tried it and was about to buy it when the one I choose bite me.

I shall not elaborate coz Pedro paid me a sum to zip it.

Anyway, I chanced by it again recently and I decided to buy it. When I was paying for the shoe, I was informed that it is HEAVILY discounted. Almost half price! I shall wear it for my wedding.

hard to find shoes in this shade

pointy but not 'Aladdin' pointy

like a tigerrrr baby!

I love this shot. Even shoes can talk. Shuyi keep assuming that I will prepare the speech for her but I did not: I wanted her to have something interesting to say.

Even on stage, she expected me to pull out a script. I never had jitters with speaking in public so it was easy for me. But shuyi's reaction was priceless.

relaxed vs kancheong

the song

2007-10-22T03:19:00.001+08:00

Shuyi decided to add some pizazz to the occasion by throwing music in the mix. While requesting for a PA system (courtesy of the school) which is totally cool with me, we feel that 'live' music would be even better. Add in the fact that it will come free, it seems like a brilliant idea! So, which song should we use? Here are the nominees:

1 Utada Hikaru - First Love

2 Any recommendations?

We skipped the whole CJC solemnization thing. But I wished we did. Oh well.

the invite

2007-10-22T03:13:00.003+08:00

E-mail invites to our solemnization

Respecting my father's view for a wedding invitation to be 'reddish' we picked this one.

For the record, Shuyi (the supreme overlord of the universe), chose this card.

'you want reddish? YOU GOT IT!'

red is the new black

inside is white with gold stamping: super fly

gold = pimp

supreme overlord is please with this 'po chai wan' stamp

my stack of invites to friends. that means you!

the wedding package

2007-10-08T23:02:00.002+08:00

We have a wedding gown design in mind. What we want from a bridal shop is one that can sew the gown that we love and not have all the hidden costs coming from the materials and any additional workmanship. We've heard:

''lace additional $1000''

''beading additional $1500"

Bullcrap.

Frankly the shops in the Tanjong Pagar stretch disgusts me. From their cheesy in-house photography to their hard sell close-on-the-spot tactics. Some of them are pretty good but generally their sales style puts me off. I have heard of all their stunts they pull. From the everything-also-can-quickly-sign-first tactic. To the we-do-the-ROM-for-free-if-you-sign move.

I saw a pair of victims first hand in one shop. The couple did their shoot and are choosing the photos. I figured that the groom finally realized how much he is getting raped for. He had this super 黑脸 expression on and was super stern and quiet. The atmosphere was dynamite. The sales person and the bride were both too scared to talk. I heard of too many packages gone wrong both for word-of-mouth and from the forums. That is some scary shit.

After going through too many bridal shops, we made our decision.

Irene's Creation.

8 Oct 2007:

We called up the designer, set the appointment and brought the best negotiator this half of the globe has ever seen: my sister. An hour later, we walked out with a very ala carte package:

1. Wedding gown made to measure
lace + beading + silk all included
evening gown to be converted from wedding gown <-- interesting huh?

2. Men's suit made to measure (purchase)

3. Flowers

4. Make up + hair do

5. Kua/Tea dress

We scrapped the evening gown as we feel that after spending so much effort on the wedding gown, Shuyi should wear it more. I'm excited to see how our designer will propose the transformation from wedding gown to evening gown.

The wedding gown turned out great. But it was quite tedious working with Irene's Creation. It felt like I was working for them.

To summarize:

We started with A. Then A left and named B as our new designer. Then B left without informing us. We had to call to find out that piece of news ourselves by calling them. We went to look for C who was suppose to help us now. When we reach there, C was totally uninterested. Instead, a D stepped in to help us. Months passed and we found that D have left without anyone informing us. It is super near the wedding now and guess what? B is back to help! All thoughout the whole year of liasing with them, we had managers lie to our face and wasted trips. Oh and as of now, only B is left.

A -> B -> C -> D ->B

Now any bride who had done her homework that Irene's Creation's price is by no means cheap. Every single time I went there, I would start longingly at Wedding Veil by Michelle Huimin. They always have consultants who looked and acted so professional.

After the wedding, we went back and confronted the manager who flatly refused to compensate us on our bills. He did promised some other form of compensation but did not follow up on his promise. Fine. I'm tired of dealing with them anyways. argh

I've read horror stories about the high turnover rate of staff there but I had to try it first hand to know. Good luck with choosing your wedding package. Forget the forums. Almost every single shop have their horror stories. Simply trust your eyes. I have to get mine checked.

the photos ~ pre-wedding

2007-10-08T05:25:00.020+08:00

Since we set our wedding date pretty late, we figured that we have time to do a pre-wedding shot. As we mentioned, we do not dig the senseless outdoor shoots nor the 'marriages-around-the-world' type of studio shots.

*note: online pre-wedding album at end of page*

What we wanted was outdoor shots taken at places that meant something to us. It could be that flight of stairs we kissed for the first time. The bench we took a picture together many years ago. For this album, we shall keep it simple and personalized. Something we'll enjoy making. Thus we enlisted a good friend of mine who is a photography enthusiast to help me in our little project.

sometime in 07...

We went for our first shoot. Shuyi's love for birds and Pei Kai's free tickets led us to the birdpark. As it was the first time taking these type of pictures, it was kinda awkward having to pretend that Ian is not behind us shooting away. We spent a good half day there and proceeded to NTU to take some shots. Shuyi has a jolly time trying to roll on the roof of the Arts school.

TeleTubby Land

dec07

It was a few days after X'mas and we decided to go to Orchard late at night to take photos while the X'mas lights are still around. Late at night was kind of an understatement as we reached there around 1-2 am. Starting out from Takashimaya, we headed down to Wisma Atria and have to ask for permission (whom in turn asked another officer for permission) to take pictures at the office where they have this nice little sofa with a X'mas tree beside it. It is brightly lit and the X'mas tree made it the more festive.

you got pee sai

Next, we proceeded to the Wheelock area and took a few more pictures before calling it a day. It was like 5am when I reached home. Very tiring indeed.

love the sepia tint

feb08

The day started really bad with as it started to pour in the late morning. The rain did not stop till late afternoon but we went for it anyway. We happen to pass by Singapore Art Museum and decided to go there for a few shots. It was really quite a spur of the moment kinda thing.

It looked mighty different now...

We fully made use of the place (without paying!) and the 2 other couples doing their wedding shots (as backdrop). Quite a productive shoot.

we had some help from the DUCKSIDE!

relac one korner

supa heroes

Mr & Mrs

staring up my nostril

After an early dinner, we decided on Haji Lane for the next location. Haji Lane was not as productive as we would have hoped but it was still alright. It grew dark and we drove to our last location for the day.

ghetto alley

moving ahead...

I was hoping we can sneak some picts at the Grand Shanghai. That place is exceptional. The decor was very classy and the singer on the little wooden stage was a class act. What a performer! We walked along the river and took some picts along the way.

us trying to do the 'in the mood for love' thing

kissing lor

This is by far the most productive shot to date as Ian even ran out of memory. We got around 300 pictures.

apr08

We decided to follow convention this time round and convention dictates we must do some outdoor/lallang shoots. First stop, Ponggol. The sun was out in full force and I had to squint. Having small eyes suck. Having to take photos with squinted small eyes is totally wacked.

eeek! snake!

We found this sick place near the beach. The ground is littered with duck bones. It smells of waxed duck as well. But if you took the focus away from the duck cemetery, it is actually a nice place for a shoot.

foreground: duckbones

the look... of luvvvvv

Next, we drove to the botanical gardens. Which self respecting photo album can miss out the classic shot of the couple on the chair with the big pavilion in the background? Well, ours. That pavilion was taken up all day by

1. Filipino maids on a day-long picnic
2. Chinese trainee photographers and their posse

faceoff. kua simi?!

kissing in the middle of forest: normal

The weather was damp and humid but fortunately not as hot as it was in the afternoon. We tried to take pictures while standing as the yellow flowers come showering down. Whenever we position ourselves for a shot, the flowers stop. Fantastic.

After we're done, we headed to the Boat Quay area and took some pictures. Time was limited and it got dark really soon. We managed to take a few though.

why are we here again?

gek seh

testing the range of our bluetooth

Victoria Concert Hall (if i'm not wrong)

Fullerton hotel

After that, we went on a wild goose chase... Airport, Keppel Bay, the train station and finally Raffles place. The lighting condition was terrible and with no tripods, there wasn't many keepers.

lying on grass patch: normal

kissing on grass @ Raffles Place: very normal

Some touched up pics can be viewed here.

jun08

The day got off to a slow start with shuyi going for hair and makeup at huimei's. We reached her place pretty late and only met up with ian around 1pm which was pretty far off from our initial plan. Lucky we met up with him late as I later found out that ian was out partying till 7am the night before.

This trip was relatively well planned. We headed to our first stop at Toa Payoh where we found this little deserted neighborhood just 5 minutes away from the interchange. There, we found a relic of HDB: the dragon playground complete with sand!

roar.

i have nothing witty to add

the cat can barely hide it's fear

We were very comfortable with ian and the photo shoot was very productive. I guess it is not about finding the nice scenic spots but rather how spontaneous and creative the photog and his subjects are. Shuyi exhibited symptoms of camwhoreness which I never knew existed within her. We were still short of fantastic poses but given a simple prop, we can quickly make use of it in a quirky way.

We headed to the Selegie area next and off to the new la salle campus: the bold black/white building. Not the best of locations but we came out with some fantastic ideas on the go and did not waste the trip. The surprise we had there was not what we saw within the building but what we saw from the building.

we took a similar pict here years ago

I had this genius of an idea and we headed off to Little India. If you can take pictures with like 2000 pairs of eyes staring at you and with 200 Indians in the background, I'd highly recommend taking photos there on a sunday afternoon.

We can't.

Besides we do not have a clear idea of where we want to shoot. From Selegie to Little India and back, I almost ran over 200 Indians. It was quite stressful and we could not find a good location. So we kinda wasted half and hour or so. Hey, least we got the slurpee at 7-11.

We hung our head in shame and backed up to Fort Canning. This little hill is our of the favorite spots for photo taking and coupled with the fact that it is shuyi's ex workplace, we had to go there. We did some standard pre-wedding album poses as well as improvise to get some pretty interesting shots.

the leaf smells funny

Next stop, Padang. Did a few quick shots near the Padang and we were off to the Esplanade. At the padang, we chance across a professional photog and his client. He was equipped with a shitload of stuff and even had an assistant to hold the lights. It will be fantastic to have another guy help out to hold the flash/reflextor. But we just have to make do and cover up the shortcomings with some creativity and ian's photo editig skills, which if you saw the previous post, was in no way shabby. We did some impromptu shots at the esplanade. We didn't even get any pictures with the esplanade durian roof. It was totally dark so the tripod and flash came in handy. Last stop, we head to mohammad sultan.

victim of domestic violence

love the megawatti hair

shuyi working the sofa

bad hair day

There ain't much there so the trip was kinda unproductive. At least we settled dinner there. We are pretty spent on ideas and locations. So we decided to call it a day. We gave it one last shot at the abandoned F&N factory near shuyi's place on the way back. There, we made use of the one prop that is always with us but never utilized: the car. Coupled with the yellowish streetlights, it was quite an interesting shoot. Heck. We're on such a roll that we can even go to any void deck or industrialized estate and still come out with keepers.

jul08

We got half a day of shooting and we intend to make full use of it. First stop, Changi village.

we're doing this paparazzi thing

Driving towards east coast park, we saw

a lot of sail boats

There were at least a hundred of them filling up the sea. A storm is brewing with strong wind which gave me an Ace Ventura hairstyle.

wind gliding

mud & heels: do not mix

We headed to Kallang and did an arcade shot which is actually up there in our wishlist for personal reason.

the missus is not having as much fun

i was actually playing for real

aug08

This is by far the shot with the most number of shots. We relented and decide to do the conventional Sentosa shot. I proposed to Shuyi at Sentosa anyway thus it seems apt to do a shoot there.

Instead of the usual beach shots, we went to Sentosa Cove. As most of the property there is still under construction, the security is very lax: we just rolled straight in.

even the sea looked betta at da cove

the lack of fences facilitates tresspassing

even bamboo looks better

island life

We moved on to the beach carpark where I proposed. We did a reenactment.

why not?

We quickly swang back to the cove to catch the sunset. We spent a long time walking around to catch the correct location. Time was against us!

And then we saw it.

sunset@cove

sunkist

We arrived just in the nick of time! But the sunset lasted a grand 2 mins. Good fortune. We had a hearty dinner at Peramakan@Keppel club and we head to our final location: home. The new one that is.

the great wall of shuyi

ben&jerry room

floating dessing table

stalker!

As you see above, we try to incoporate at least 1 photo in the final product to include Ian. The toilet one seems like a great idea.

oct08

Did a 3 day finale to round up a whole year of shooting!

Day I

Went to CJC for a shoot. It was top of the list for our shoot location. Now we finally got around to doing it. Timing was good I should say: exams period means little/no student in school in saturday. And the weather was great. Pity shuyi forgot to bring the wig.

shuyi thought that this was the best shot of them all

Day II

We rented a good camera body Canon 5D with L lens. In human terms it means we now can take really wide pictures under tight conditions like in a small room.

The whole day was about taking some indoor/studio shots. The wig debuted with great effect!

we roped in the birds as well

Day III

Trial hair and makeup at Irene's creation in the morning. We donned the wedding getup and off we go! Seletar camp, selear dam, a detour back to orchard because shuyi left her bag at Irene's. Much like what happened back then.

beautiful weather till it rained

The weather was pretty good till it rained. We simply hid in the car for lunch (shuyi was in this HUGE gown). When we were done, the rain stopped.

All the shooting in public areas over the past 1 year had made us shameless: we can take pictures anywhere and were oblivious to people's stares even tho shuyi is in her weddin gown.

Part I

Get your own - Open publication

Part II

Get your own - Open publication

the march in

2007-09-25T01:03:00.003+08:00

Since we're going crazy with the details, how can we leave out the music for the march in?
Again, no Kitaro.

no love for da mane man

We might opt for a Chinese pop song though it may not be the most popular of choices. But we're more for Chinese songs. Maybe...

世界唯一的你

or go something uber retro like

出嫁

might be tad obiang though...

Another consideration could be those jazz or bossa nova songs. Only problem is: I know nuts about these music.

A slow dance to this song would be lovely.

Lady In Red. She MUST wear red!

Well things don't always happen the way you want it. Any Sheraton bride will know about the long and the short march in. Shuyi would prefer the long one but due to the fact that we have too many tables, it is not possible to arrange for her long march in. Maybe we'll walk reeaal slow or something.

We ended up matching in to Daniel, our wedding singer, doing his rendition of The Wedding.

i buy you candy... so please walk!

For the 2nd march in, we did Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. Very apt song. Love it.

the photos ~ actual day

2007-09-08T23:12:00.004+08:00

When you spend loads of time planning for something, other than documenting it in a blog, you will want to take photos to remember the day by right? Thus we want to look for someone to take fantastic pictures to remember the special day by.

Tradition dictates that we sign up for a wedding package with the bridal shop which includes a pre-wedding shoot that includes cheesy studio pictures, pictures taken at Sentosa, some ruins deep in the forest, Shears Bridge overlooking Esplanade, Shenton Way, Singapore Art Museum, public toilet etc.

We don't want that shit.

The last era was the usual kua, traditional Jap, Korean, traditional aborigines costume. The next wave includes outdoor shoots where, for the first time in your life, you start thinking about where to find lallang. You contemplate wearing a 5kg dress and stand in the middle of Shenton Way. Drawing huge heart shapes in the sand on Sentosa's beach suddenly appears logical and called for. You also have this urge to piggyback your wife and grin even though your back hurts.

Ahhhh weddings. Ain't they wonderful?

*i'm not gonna add in any pictures that relates to the paragraph above least I get sued or something. You'll should know what I mean right?*

After flipping through tonnes of sample photo albums at the bridal shops, we feel that those photos do not hold much significance. I guess the guest will have to contend with other things other than flipping through a photo album while waiting for the banquet to begin.

The pictures are for us. Not for the guest or to fulfill our modeling dreams. What we decided on was a photo journalistic approach that captures the essence of the actual day. We find the classic cheeks-stuck-together-eyes-closed-with-orgasmic-look very disturbing and I will suplex the photographer who even mentions that pose.

Strike a pose. There's nothing to it

But as you all should figure out by now (or you will in the future), the album is the single best way the bridal shop can hope to rip you off with additional cost. Asking them to leave out the pre-wedding shots is like castrating them and they will have non of that. They will give you a very very insignificant discount and leave it at that. At $70-100 per additional page, there is much room for ripping off!

While we are in no position (financially) to demand for the best of the best, we feel that moments like these are precious and no amount of money can buy it back years from now. We singled out a few good photographers that charge a premium for their trade. But from their works we can easily see that they have good reason for doing so and that they preserved their pride as professional photographers. They are quite guai lan and non compremising on certain things. But the more guai lan and haolian they are, the more I am attracted to them. I'm such a slut.

8th Nov: We book our photographer to cover our actual day photography on the 30th Oct 2008.

Shuyi seems quite happy

chosen day shots

chosen evening shots

the banquet

2007-09-08T22:27:00.004+08:00

Another aspect of the wedding planning, in fact the most costly and tedious, is the banquet. Custom dictates that couples must book a hotel ballroom almost a year in advance, put on the dry ice, stab the cake, pop the champagne, eat the 9 course, yum the seng and take pictures at every table.

For us, two things are certain:

1. if there is gonna be a cake, it will be real. Can anyone tell me why must we stab the cake? Whose birthday is it? The champagne I understand: kinda like a celebration of sorts. But why the cake? If we wanna stab something, why not go traditional and stab a suckling pig or something? There could very well be no cake as I don't think anyone has room for cake by the end of the lengthy dinner.

Where teh cake?

2. There will be no shark fin soup. The image of sharks de-finned and thrown back into the sea traumatized and scarred Shuyi's impression of the Chinese delicacy. We'll just have to find something else.

If things go her way, the banquet would be vegetarian.

The most important question actually is where the banquet will be. Every couple wanted their wedding banquet to be special. But truth be told, it all feels the same. I just want to save myself all the embarrassment when the light dimmed and they put on the Kitaro music. I will dropkick the hotel manager who suggest 'Kitaro music and krazy spotlights' when the appetizers are presented. Dropkick to da face, I tell ya!

lai! lim arrrrr!

Music for the march-in (i prefer to call in stroll-in because marching is too tiring) would be something to consider. English? Chinese? Instrumental? Fat lady singing as we stroll in? Decisions, decisions.

A video montage is quite the norm these days. For good reasons as well. Buy time, entertain guest and get the nostalgic 'awwwww' atmosphere on. Who can do for me?

Went for the food tasting. The others thought it was so-so though I thought that it was pretty damn good. Thank god we went for the food tasting as there were some dishes that we decided to change.

private event: like macdonalds party

8 course. the jappo noodle is very nice

moms: cheerful

the usual yum seng

the usual 'egg-through-your-pants' game

The Other Gown

2007-08-13T22:45:00.003+08:00

Another thing we started looking out for is the evening gown (EG as them singaporebrides put it. truly irritating). 歌台 style evening gowns that go for the dramatic va-va-voom effect is out. Granted some of the brides actually look good in those evening dresses, Shuyi cannot really pull off that one.

To the internet we go! An option for an evening gown will be the cheongsum. Simple, elegant, & stunning they say. We agree.

Something like what Maggie Cheung wore in 'In the Mood for Love'.

Making ghetto back alleys look glam since 2000

Sounds like a nice theme for the banquet too!

After looking around and consulting the experts, it would appear that a cheongsum of this length would appear too casual for an evening gown. A traditional one that is full length would make her look like a waitress. Seems like we need to crack our brains a bit more for the evening gown.

Hmmmmm.

How about a Grecian dress?

Goddess (like)

Oh how about we screw the evening dress? Who says we must have an evening dress anyway. If we were to love the gown so much, why not wear it longer?

Hmmmm.

Alright. Decision made. Evening gown to be converted from the wedding gown. Basically the same full lace top with pearl buttons, take off the cummerbund, throw in a sash, take out the train... can do lotsa pattern. We'll see how it turns out.

We settled with the conversion dress. Take off the train and cummerbund. We had quite a big issue with the ends of the dress. Keep it long? Slits? Ruffles? Embroidery?

Finally we settled with an asymmetrical cut for the dress.

Most of the people commented that they like the evening dress more. Strange.

We updated the look with a huge flower at the collar and a nice jade bangle.

The Gown

2007-08-13T20:40:00.004+08:00

Next is the gown. With so many designs around and the option to tailor the dress, the options are limitless. And to be frank, we are a tad lost.

Shuyi has listed one criteria though: something that is not 'cute & sweet'. She spent her life looking 'cute & sweet' (lol) and wanted something different. So we are looking for something elegant and not over-the-top. After some research, a design came to mind...

A million girls worldwide went anorexic

Another million considered plastic surgery

The luckiest lace on earth

Grace Kelly. The dress looks fantastic and up-to-date even after so many years. It does help that Grace Kelly is the personification of grace and beauty. But that dress... that dress looked groovy baby! But those lace looked expensive though...

"Grace's wedding gown was a gift from the MGM Studio and designed by Helen Rose. It was a high-necked, long-sleeved gown with a fitted torso and billowing skirt made of twenty-five yards of silk taffeta, one hundred yards of silk net, peau de soie, tulle and 125-year-old Brussels rose point lace. She wore a Juliet cap that was decorated with seed pearls, orange blossoms, and a veil of 90 yards of tulle. The chief hairstylist at MGM Studios, Sydney Guilaroff, styled Grace's hair for her wedding. Grace carried a small Bible and a bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley."

What on earth is a 125-year-old lace? Are lace supposed to last that long? How does being 125 years old make it better?

We spent a day scouting around Tanjong Pagar, enduring the endless sales pitches of the Bridal shops. Partly due to my personality and job, I am very resistant to hardsell tactics. My sister, who is the authority in this kinda stuff, also warned me of their tactics. They never had a chance.

What is disappointing that these so called professionals have not heard of THE most famous wedding gown of all time. How are we supposed to believe in people like these?

Next is the internet reseach part... the singaporebrides forum provided tonnes of infomation(most of them useless) for us to refer to. Take for example:

BrideA: I got this dress and did this photoshoot at XXX. It was fantastic!!!

Bride1-KraziBride999: Hi BrideA, can you please send me pictures of the shoot? My email is kaypoh1@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Bride2-marriedbutstillhere: Bride A, picture please! superkaypoh999@gmail.com.

One comment like that will spark hundreds of request for pictures. Post the picture damnnit!

We got the book Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride from the National Library. A book to explain why the Grace Kelly gown rocks so much. Easier for us to rip off the design too!

Long live NLB!

3rd Nov: Went to the bridal shop to discuss the design for the wedding gown and to take measurements as well.

Shuyi needed to gain weight for the gown... seriously

21st Dec: Fitting

We went for a fitting session. The 'gown' was made from lining material for the mock up of the actual dress.

Evening dress (without cancan and outer skirt)

We don't want too long a train

The cummerbund should be this thick!

weeeeee!

30th Apr

We went for our 2nd fitting. This fitting is to get the precise fit of the dress and knock out any kinks in the design. I was very worried that the long sleeve would overwhelm Shuyi who is so petite. But it turned out fine especially with the heels on.

everything held together by pins

serious French lace action

We started with the evening dress as it is essentially the gown without the outer skirt. We scrapped the idea of cutting it short as it did not seem very appropriate for it to be just below the knee. We agreed that a lacy flower (in red) near the neck area would be a stylish touch to make it look special. The rest of the dress it to be kept simple as there is simply too much happening at the torso area. We also decided to shift the slit to the back as it will stick out if we were to taper the dress.

The collar was a fantastic touch: it is well proportioned & made Shuyi's neck look long. With the hair in a bun, it accentuates Shuyi's nape which, i must add, is very nice.

everybody, stop what you're doing & smile!

The evening look ended up pretty much like a nonya kebaya which was our initial idea. And I decided that we shall accessorize with a nice jade bangle to complete the look. For those who think that jade bangles are auntie or old, shut up. You don't know nothing bout style.

love the collar

Next, Shuyi jumped (for real) into the skirt for us to look at the actual gown. One immediate problem that we identified is the sheer volume of the dress: it is drowning Shuyi in fabric. We decided on adding another layer of cancan near the waist level to puff it up and take off a layer near the knee area to lessen the volume. A bit more dramatic and yet less overwhelming.

note the pleats: allows for cancan to pump up da volume!

side view

bringing sexy back

with addition volume added

We used a cummerbund as reference and it fitted the look perfectly. Too bad I did not take a picture of it. But the cummerbund really completed the entire look. We choose a silk material for the cummerbund. Strangely, the colour is labeled as 'great bear'. Strange name for a silk fabric but it is the same series that has name like 'great slave'. So bear is fine, I guess. It is a whitish shimmering fabric with a hint of golden sheen. Kept within the colour scheme but still different enough to differentiate from the ivory gown.

买单！

May08

We went for another fitting. Letitia suggested a retro looking short veil as we already have a lot going on with the heavy lace top. Since we're already going old skool with the gown, why not go all the way?

Shuyi went honey harvesting

emo

i know. don't say it.

there are 28 buttons if you need to know

kancheong

The solemnization

2007-08-08T01:57:00.002+08:00

We kinda decided on separating the solemnization and the banquet as we die die must get the solemnization done by around January. It seems too short to plan for the wedding as I spend most of the time living in VivoCity. Ok. solemnization then.

We want our solemnization to be special. And most of all... cheap. Fort Canning came to mind. It is quite beautiful and accessible. There is a place in Fort Canning called Old Married Soldiers' Quarters. A hall on the hill with a huge banyan tree nearby. Nice and shady, coupled with flower petals scattered towards the banyan tree. Not bad at all.

Another option we though of is Catholic Junior College. A unique venue for a solemnization with special significance to both of us as we met there. We've asked for permission and they agreed on a Saturday. Now all that is left is to convince them to lend us the school during a weekday: 8th Jan 2008 is our 9th anniversary.

We emailed CJC and 2 days later came the green light. All system go! 8th Aug morning we went to CJC to check out the venue. Things have certainly changed much since 10 years ago. The same old wannabe ang moh chiggas still populate the school. I think some things never change... ANYWAY, after much scouting, we decided on this place.

Shuyi cannot get over the palm tree in the middle

Small cozy place with a nice ambiance. Some trees and tables that clutters the place but nothing that cannot be solved. The big problem is: 8 Jan 2008 is a Tuesday. It is gonna be shit packed with those niggers as mentioned above. Are we gonna do it in the evening when there is less crowd or change the date totally?

Due to Shuyi's change of job, we thought her status as married might be bad for her new job. So we pushed the ROM back. waaayyy back. We ended up doing our solemnization on the actual day at the hotel, before the banquet starts.

We could have done it on stage in front of everyone. But that is just so silly. We request the good people of Sheraton Towers to let us use their waterfall for free.

And they did.

Here are three photos that summarizes everything.

ALWAYS read the contract before signing

telltale body languageno turning back now

The Proposal

2007-07-26T23:00:00.001+08:00

Now this is the difficult part. Other than the usual, candlelit-dinner-on-one-knee stunt and the 'marry me' billboard move, I have to think of something that will delight my bride-to-be.

She did list out her ideal proposal: something that involves an entire tray of baby love birds. It is not the cost that bothers me. It is the idea of my home turning into a freaking bird park that scares me. But whats a guy gonna do in situations like this? Get the birds lor.

So, I contacted Unkle Jimmy who hooked me up with this pair of parrotlets. Mini parrots that can talk and still not big enough to bite your fingers off.

On.

Here we see the birds getting fed. We named them 猪头 & 菜鸟.

Shuyi and I were never people who desires public attention. Thus the proposal will not be in a setting with lotsa people cheering (say yes!!!) and telling her to put the ring on while I maintain the cramped kneeling position. This ain't the shooting range yo.

Next comes the presentation for the ring. How am I supposed to present it. Put it in an egg tray together with the 2 birds? Simply whip it out when the time comes? The classic ring-in-the-drink stunt is out as pearls are porous and contact with funky liquids might spoil it. In the end, I put the ring in a felt bag and buried it under the woodchips in the bird cage. To ensure that the birds will not be discovered before I decided it to, I put the birds in the boot.

So I went to the local florist and got her 8 red roses (it has been 8 years...) and off I go to pick her up!

She made me wait. Again. Dressed in the new Zara silk dress I got for her, my wife-to-be looked radiant.

It wasn't a very well planned trip I must admit: we spent some time figuring out the way to get to Rochester Park.

Once there, we wasted no time and got cosy at the North Border Bar & Grill where they serve Mexican food. Very nice. Pretty large servings so order one main dish can oredi.

That one not hor fun ok.

Once there, I sat Shuyi down and went back to the car to check on the birds. Don't die on me... please! The dinner went well and we took a few shots of the quaint little neighborhood and off we go!

The dress nice right?

Initially I thought the ambiance at Mount Faber would be a nice setting to pop the question. After circling the neighborhood for a couple of rounds, The Glass Box did not seem that attractive anymore. So we went Sentosa instead and check out what is with the hype behind Cafe del Mar. Nothing much what. So after our drink, we walked back to the Beach Carpark.

I opened the door for her and sat her down.

The feeling is right. The time is now.

Then I opened the boot, praying that that 猪头& 菜鸟 did not die on me. They survived. She looked ecstatic upon seeing the birds. 'Whats that black thing?' she asked, pointing at the black felt bag. 'Open up and see lor', I said. I think at that point, she finally understood. Smiling, she pulled the ring out of the bag. It was supposed to be buried but due to my superb driving skill, the cage toppled to the side and the ring bag was exposed. All the while I was squatting beside her, ah beng style. Like I said, for me the proposal is quite natural and impromptu. No rehearsal. I just maintained my ah beng squat and popped the question. I'm wearing a new pair of jeans and the floor is dirty... whats a man to do?

Oh yes, I have failed you K. I accidentally left some photo of the ring on my desktop and she saw it. BUT she thought it was from L&N. All my solitaire hints and distractions failed! Though the shock and awe effect was not 100%, it was still enough to blow her off her feet.

''Nice?'

She nodded, eyes fixed on the glowing pearl grinning from ear to ear.

"Will you..."

She smiled and kissed me.

This is her reaction, K

Mission accomplished.

the rings

2007-07-21T02:06:00.001+08:00

A wedding consists of 3 rings normally. Next up: the wedding band. We had a pair of platinum rings we got long ago during our first year together. A very common pair of rings you still see in those stores today. It would be nice to use this pair but alas they are too big for us now. And platinum will be a bitch to resize. So it seems like we will have to look for alternatives.

As Shuyi leaves the aesthetics related decisions to me, I pretty much make the decision. Unless she have any violent reactions to my suggestion (which rarely happens when it comes to things like this). We'll be having a plain gold ring with rounded surface. The special part is, instead of the usual inscriptions on the inside of the ring, we'll have it outside.

Yes, outside.

Like the Lord of the Ring. But that would mean that no resizing is possible as any changes made will destroy the carvings. Not really set on the outside inscriptions though.

Actually there is more than one

13 Aug. I went to collect the rings on my own only to find my ring too tight! The jeweller promised to resize it for me for free and I walked out of his shop, rings in hand, without paying a single cent. The rings looked good. Simple just as I wanted them to be. No complains.

Gold is still dope, so says the pope

dark room + scanner

The ring...

2007-07-19T03:30:00.003+08:00

Next will be the engagement ring. Should I go for the tried-and-tested diamond solitaire? How big is it gonna be? Clarity? Cut? How many months of my salary is it gonna cost?

Hell no I say! Every married women on the street today owns a solitaire. And if you look at them, they are of the exact same setting, from the usual jewelery store. 4 of the biggest chains are from the same company even. So, at some point of time, they must be in those shops, sipping hot floral tea and gazing at the rings. The salesperson will, in broken engrish, give a lecture on the stones. The richer ones will go to more upmarket shops where they will receive the same lecture, hopefully from someone with better engrish.

So, I decided not to let my future wife suffer from having to give a fake expression of shock when I show her the oh-so-common solitaire. And she will be spared from all the bitchy my-rock-is-bigger-and-brighter-than-thou comparisons with the other ladies too.

There was this one design which I fancied back when I was camping in NTU, preparing for my exams. I saw the design in one of those tai-tai magazines where you see brands you don't normally see in HerWorld or Cleo. That particular pearl ring caught my eye but I never thought anything of it.

I once told a friend that pearl rings hold more symbolic meaning compared to diamond as it is something that takes time to nurture, much like love. The answer I got was:

''diamond takes longer what.''

I was kinda stumped because damn she was right. But after some thought, my conclusion is: a marriage is not indestructible like a diamond. Instead, it is more like a carefully nurtured pearl with a beautiful luster. A glowing symbol of love which is anything but indestructible. Many people tend to forget that and take it for granted. A pearl is something which needs to be carefully taken care of and preserved. Every single one of them is unique with some flaws here and there. There is no perfect cut for a pearl. And no, there is no certificate for you to trade in 2 years later.

Pearls also complements her dark skin too.

So, a pearl ring it is! I visited Loang & Noi and was quote some crazy prices for rings of inferior quality. Do not be mistaken that they are no good. It is just that those I can afford are no good. So I have either work my ass off for a few months for that branded couture ring, OR I can seek alternatives. Which I did.

With A LOT of help from my friend, I managed to custom make the ring of my dream. First was the design part where I described what I want. I was told that a baroque pearl of my specification is hard to come across and might be quite costly. If the shape and size is correct, the luster may be questionable. If all goes well, we'll also have to look out for major flaws on the pearl. Sounds like mission impossible. But luck was on my side and we found one that is PERFECT. The moment I set my eyes on it, I passed it back to my friend and said, ''this is it.''

With the pearl selected, we come to the design process where she will design the ring to complement the pearl. And the sketch goes like this

Yellow 18k gold ring, with 2 rows of premium diamonds set on white gold. I initially had the idea of having a raw gold finish. But my friend suggested otherwise. She mentioned that I should go for a high polished finish to complement the pearl for that luxe look.

She had me at 'luxe'. So, polished it is.

After a week, we met up to look at the actual piece

In pre-polished finish without the diamonds set in, one can already see how beautiful it is going to be. And it is one heck of a heavy little ring! The picture do no justice to the luster of the pearl. Gorgeous.

24th of July 07: it is finally ready! Here it is...

The finishing turned out exactly as I wanted it. The soft glowing luster of the pearl is simply alluring. Now... to plan the proposal that would make Shuyi glow in bliss.

the beginning

2007-07-19T03:16:00.001+08:00

The classical way for Singaporeans to start the ball rolling regarding marriage is the tested and proven one liner: 'eh get HDB flat le'

Who am I to question tradition?

The on-one-knee-pop-the-ring-and-the-question thing will have to wait.

So off we go on our quest for a new house! So we spent a couple of Sundays scouting through the flats in Seng Kang. Our requirement was easy: within walking distance to the MRT/LRT, not to have the sun bake our flat everyday and not near the rubbish dump and power riser.

In the end with ended up with a flat in the same block as my sister. It is a repossessed flat which basically means this dude bought the house, renovated it and returned back to HDB before he even moved in. Thanks. Appreciate it. We would prefer the bedrooms flooring to be parquet though. Nevermind.

This is us handing our IC over to chop the place

So we ended up with a pretty good deal. And the clock starts ticking... we have to show them our ROM cert in 6 months!

Wedding photography services

2007-06-21T01:21:00.003+08:00

Go to weelian.com or email me at weelianphotography@gmail.com for more details.