September 05, 2009 9:42 PM

August 21, 2009 9:39 PM

It's been 2 weeks since we said "I DO". Life has been spent in idyllic bliss in the Maldives, on our honeymoon. Photos and blog of the wedding will come much later, since it takes a few weeks to get the photos back. So instead, I'll blog the Maldives.. coming up very soon :)

Thank you all for your well wishes and celebrations!

August 07, 2009 9:33 AM

Today I wake up a Miss.

Tomorrow I go to bed a Mrs.

July 19, 2009 12:51 PM

Chris organised our whole honeymoon, and he did an incredible job!

He picked the Maldives. Specifically, The Shangri-La @ The Maldives.... for 8 whole blissful days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And since it's a honeymoon, he decided to get the nicest room, the "Water Villa" room.. right on the ocean :) I like the Shangri-La because I know they're fantastic all round the world, and they only open THIS month, so they're brand new. It's going to be an amazing honeymoon.. it already is, in my head, hehe!! I can't wait. Thank you honey :)

July 14, 2009 4:24 PM

I FOUND MY WEDDING SHOES!!!!

It was ridiculously difficult. I never thought I was picky about my shoes, but turns out, I AM :P Not really by choice.. it's because I have strange skinny feet that are very small/narrow, with long toes (so long they're like fingers and I can actually pick up stuff with them and even write. Yeah, a bit of a freak!). So I often have trouble finding shoes that fit, let alone look good.

After dragging everyone around shoe shopping with me (poor Dad and Chris!), Mum casually mentioned "Why don't you just check out all the boutiques? Maybe they'll have nice evening shoes" so we popped into a few and a few stores later, stopped by Christian Dior.

I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when I saw them. They were sitting high on a plain white shelf, and they were just so classic, simple and gorgeous. A light champagne gold, a heel that's high but not insane, and with the most adorable sparkling "D" dangling from it.

The best part? The SHINY GOLD HEEL. It's hard to see in the photos but it's like a mirrored gold, subtle but really *FLASHES* in the light when I walk. It fit me perfectly, and they actually had my size. It was meant to be :P

I adore them. Plus, since they're simple, I can wear them after the wedding to dinners and such. So it was justified, hehe. I can't wait to wear 'em for the wedding!!

July 13, 2009 11:04 PM

Chris is turning his nose up at the standard platinum or gold wedding bands and going for.......... tungsten carbide. Yeah, I have no idea where he came up with that either! But he was doing research and loved it because it's stronger than all the other regular metals and can only be polished and finished with diamonds - COOL! It's used in the military for armour plating, and as a ring, is completely resistant to scratches and scuffing. He's going to get a brushed metal one which looks like a soft silver.

July 13, 2009 5:10 PM

My 4th finger is a weirdo Size USA 3 , so the annoying thing is that I can't physically try on ANY rings in the store.. nor can I buy anything straight off the shelf! I'm forced to get a custom made diamond ring which sounds nice and all, but is a bit useless since a ring is a ring, and I just want to buy it off the shelf. It's also dangerous because I just have to get it made before I can even SEE how it looks on my finger... so if I don't like it, I'm stuffed.

So it's being made right now and I get to see my wedding ring for the first time in August when we arrive in Singapore. I hope hope HOPE it will fit properly and look good *fingers and toes crossed*!

July 13, 2009 9:10 AM

For Photography and Videography, we've gone with Moomedia. They're rated one of the top photographers in the country and we immediately liked Andrew. It's costing a bomb but photos and videos are forever so it's the one thing I don't mind spending on :)

July 11, 2009 7:52 PM

A lot of people have been asking what happened to their official hard-copy invitation.. well, they only just got printed - OOPS!!!

Technically the invitations are meant to be sent out 2-3 months before the wedding, especially one with international guests.. but we've been horrid and slow and will only finalise it all this week.. which means international guests are going to get the invitations 1 week before the wedding. ARGH! I did send out "Save The Date" e-vites to all international guests though.. so here's hoping no one drops out and/or doesn't already have their flights booked :X

July 10, 2009 2:53 PM

A couple more little bits and bobs for the wedding done... Actually, Chris and I did none of this.. it was all bought and organised by Mum and Dad. Heh! They know our taste very well so we're fine with them doing most of the figuring things out.. and it also makes things easier for us since it's hard to plan it all remotely. Since our theme is a fairly neutral palette (soft champagne and creams against deep emerald green), a lot of stuff goes with the theme.

July 08, 2009 10:43 PM

I got bridal makeup done as a trial. I loved the makeup the makeup artist Alicia did for me. It was warm yet subtle and easily transformed into a smokey sparkly eye for the dinner. The aim was to have a 'garden party' look - soft neutrals and feminine. I'm happy with it :)

July 07, 2009 11:26 PM

Chris and I got measured at Bridal Veil for his suit and my gown. Horrifyingly, my waist has EXPANDED from 24" (61cm) to 25". Arrrgggghhhhhh!!!! And I don't know my arms pre-Shanghai measurements, but they were definitely thinner too. In fact, one day Dad poked my upper arms when I had my arm propped up on the back of a chair, and everything jiggled in an ALARMING manner. The designer was displeased when I told her I stacked on a LOT of weight after moving to Shanghai... and made me swear up and down I won't gain any more. If I put on more weight, I actually can't get into my wedding dress :( Being chubby is depressing. It's so easy to put it on, but so hard to take it off! I kinda wish we'd gotten married when I was 25 yrs old and was 44kg. Perfect weight for a bride! Unfortunately if I want to be that weight now, I think I'd need to chop off an arm :P

So the wedding gown and evening gown will be made over the next 4 weeks.. and my 1st fitting will be on 1 August when we're back in Singapore. If I've put on any more weight by then... well, we're in big trouble cos the dress will no longer fit. Skinnier is ok, she said she can happily take it in :P But everyone left right and center WARNING me repeatedly to "PUT THE FORK DOWN" has guilted me into not eating so much. And Chris is also on a mad diet/exercise rampage right now, and keeps saying "Think bikini photos on our honeymoon!!!" every time I want to eat, and it helps me overcome my hunger (sometimes). Except the problem is that I'm not really eating any less, nor exercising. Which means I'm not exactly losing weight. Heeeeelp! Nothing like a wedding to make a girl panic about her weight.. *mutters*....

July 06, 2009 11:13 PM

Chris and I have been pretty lazy since we'd gotten engaged in June 08. What with moving from Australia to Shanghai, new jobs, new everything.. we've been more focused on that than really planning our wedding, which is pretty naughty as the date is looming closer and closer.

And so in about 1 week, Chris and I went into a flurry trying to get most of the stuff done. And we did pretty well! First thing on the agenda was to get my wedding gown and evening gown and Chris' tuxedo designed. We chose Bridal Veil boutique because they're the epitome of chic and classic, everything I wanted in a wedding gown. It was an easy decision - Mum and I went round to a couple of other places but either they had subpar service, or just garish, tacky dresses that scared me faaaar faaar away. Bridal Veil attracted my attention with their quiet, elegant decor and knowlegable service. They're attentive and personal and all of us felt really comfortable with them. They were also really in tune with my taste - or rather, our tastes are so similiar, so it made working together easy.

The first step was to have an in-depth discussion about what our wedding theme, colours, ambience were.. and what sort of styles I liked. They were a little miffed that I was a "lazy bride" (their quote, not mine!) and didn't have any ideas about dress styles, flowers, hair, etc, that they could work with. So I tried on a multitude of their sample dresses to get a feel of what I liked. From there, the designer could then come up with 2 proposed designs for my wedding gown, and 2 designs for my evening gown.

June 30, 2009 11:48 PM

Went with Chris, Mum and Dad to Tiffany & Co whilst in Singapore (yes, it was a bit of a family affair!), where Chris bought me the Tiffany & Co key charm with enamel heart! He'd actually decided he wanted to buy it for me back in Shanghai last month, but it was sold out in the store :( Fortunately, the Singapore boutique had one of these babies in stock :)

I love it because it's so small and delicate, and looks fabulous on a sparkling chain or on a thin black silk cord. Chris declared it a "pre-wedding present". I hadn't realised that sort of thing existed, but hey, I'm not complaining :P It's not expensive and was just a small token, but it means a lot to me because it's exactly the sort of thing I love - all cutesy and delicate and pretty.

We also realised it's my "something blue" for our wedding! :)

June 24, 2009 3:34 PM

Upon popular request, we've opened up a Honeymoon Registry for guests that unfortunately will not be able to attend our wedding!

June 04, 2009 11:18 PM

Mum and Dad have been really great and have been looking after organising the wedding invitations for us. All we had to do was select the colours and approve the words. Easy peasy! :)

The invitation card is a pearlescent beige with embossing, and it's tied shut with a green satin ribbon. Both very apt, given our wedding colours.

The font inside will be a classic cursive, since we don't want anything too trendy.

It's all coming together nicely. I'll post a pic up once we get the actual invitations back from the printers!

June 02, 2009 12:57 AM

Spent a day in Suzhou over the weekend. After a fantastic local lunch, we headed off to "Wedding street" - a block of shops that sells bridal gowns and suits. It was pretty crazy ‘cos there are SO many stores there you have no idea which one to go into.. and frankly, all of them are the same :P

The idea was to see if I could get my wedding gown made in China, but frankly, it’s just not possible. First of all, we were a bit harassed at every store. They leech onto you and make it pretty traumatizing – you can’t browse the racks properly without them blabbing away and shoving dresses in your face! But horrid 'service' aside, I just didn’t like the gowns - to each their own I suppose! The ones on display would never ever ever ever grace my body, they were the total opposite of what I would wear. Extremely frilly, loads of psychedelic colours, and just all-round unsuitable for me. I like simple, classic styles with a scatter of crystals.. and most importantly, with gorgeous, draping fabric. And whilst I know I can get them to make it from scratch, 2 key issues:

1. How to explain exactly what I want, when I don’t even have photos of what I’m after (nor do I know exactly what I’m after either). Not to mention language barrier, all of them spoke zero English.
2. The quality of the fabric was not great. It was a far cry from the gowns I touched in Singapore and Australia. I like luscious, smooth, draping silk.. and these were all hard rough fabrics. It was a bit strange!

There were just too vast differences to what I was after, and considering I can’t even say what I want in Chinese, I gave up with the thought of having a dress made there. I’ll get it done in Singapore instead – I know the price is astronomical there, but you get wonderful, discreet service and superb quality.. so the decision is really clear :P However, I will get a qipao (cheong sam) aka traditional Chinese dress from China, because they are the BEST here!!! :)

May 15, 2009 8:43 PM

When we first got engaged, and Chris and I hadn't yet decided on our wedding location yet (ie. Australia or Singapore or otherwise), we figured that:

1. If the wedding were to be in Australia, the colours would be red & gold - a nod to the oriental part of our celebration
2. If the wedding were to be in Singapore, the colours would be green & gold - in reference to Australia's colours
   

It seemed like a pretty good idea, and ensured we would still each have a bit of our country with us, no matter where we were married. Yes I know it's a bit naff, but oh well! So when we finally decided on having it in Singapore (primarily because I would have family and friends there that could plan/organise it all for me), the colours were naturally green and gold. But then after awhile, that evolved to emerald green & champagne gold.

Why? Because I'm liking the idea of a sort of elegant English garden theme - very crisp and neutral, yet feminine. I'm thinking dark green vines, soft cream and champagne flowers. Ideally I'd love for our reception to be covered with vines twisted around the chairs and around the perimeter of the room, with leaves and flowers draped from the ceiling. However, that does take a lot of work to organise so I'm not sure if that's actually going to happen. But that's my dream in my head, and that's good enough for me :P

I do NOT want frills or ruffles, and definitely NO pink or any random colours. I'm after a wedding gown that has very clean lines as well - elegant and nothing poofy, and definitely no hint of weird lace or frills. Fortunately, Chris is in agreement with everything because it's all his taste too. Whew :)

May 08, 2009 8:37 PM

The little graphic I made to send out to our overseas friends - thought it was time to since it's 3 months before the date!

May 08, 2009 7:48 PM

I realised with a start today that our wedding is in exactly 3 months - on 8 August 2009.

It's amazing how time flies! This startled me into creating this wedding site, helpfully pushed along by my dear cousin and bridesmaid Amanda. So much to do, so little time! I haven't been very focused on the wedding ever since we got engaged - mainly due to the fact that both of us took on new jobs and moved to Shanghai. Talk about a huge change in our lives! So between new job, new country, and new errr... marriage, 2009 is already set to be a MASSIVE year for us.

Everyone around me is getting nervous about our lack of planning skills for the wedding, so it's really starting to make us sit up and get going on a few things. So far, we've accomplished the following:

1. Ceremony location - will be at Zion Bible-Presbyterian Church, where my family and i have been attending. We loved the high airy ceilings and the gorgeous stained glass windows, not to mention it holds huge significance as my parents got married in there as well.
2. Reception Dinner location - will be at Goodwood Park Hotel, chosen for its old English / Tudor style ambience and chic furnishings. Dinner will be a huge multi-course Banquet which you can view over at the Reception Dinner link.
3. Photographer - Moomedia will be our photographer and videographer of the day, to capture all our memories. They are considered one of the best in Singapore and we are very pleased to have them share our special day with us.
4. Filed our Notice of Marriage online - there's no turning back now! ;)
   

And that's all that we've done. There is a LOT more to do - securing the makeup/hair artist, organising the flowers and layout of the day, putting together the timeline for the day, etc etc. Oh, and most importantly - THE WEDDING DRESS! I still need to figure that one out ;)

Gosh, I really need to get cracking...

- Beverly