DIY - Guest Book

Guest Book. Our guest book thus far is the cheapest!

With Orange as our theme, I searched for a birthday gift which I received many years ago - A stick-it-on Orange & Black photo album. It was lovely but I never could bear to use it cause I simply can't decide which lovely photos to put in it.

Wedding. Once in a lifetime. Celebration of love.What better occasion to use this album than a wedding!

Armed with the album, I started to think how to turn it into a guest book? Do I just provide paint pens for them to write over the album page? Or do I just give paper to every guests and get them to paste on the album page? Buying paint pens is costly ($3.00 each). Getting the guests to paste themselves seems time consuming and messy.

Therefore, I decided to make Origami envelopes instead. Every envelope can hold 3-4 pieces of blessing. I don't like the album to be too thick so I pasted the envelopes only on the right side. On the left side, Geo & I decided to 'decorate' with our photos.

So where does the guest write their blessings for us then? Cheapest & easiest way is to get my hands on small Origami papers! Hee!! At Daiso, it costs only $2. I love it. Things are colorful and it is of the right size! Best of all, I don't have to do any cutting!

Wedding is also the best time to improve familial relationships and I used this as an opportunity to get my mummy involved. Within a day, woah! Mummy completed 72 envelopes!!

Cost: $4.00 (2 packs of Origami papers)

DIY - The Ang Pao Box

Settling the venue at The Bark Cafe was probably the happiest thing (for me). I have often wished for an outdoor wedding as it gives a more carefree, natural & joyful feeling. Geo & I decided to have Orange as our color theme.

Now, whenever I share with anyone that our venue will be held at Bark Cafe, they would go "Woah woah" ah!! Well, Bark is not the Bark of a dog. Bark represents the tree Bark. With such natural setting, we decided that our deco pieces also be as natural as possible.

Heee.. me being me, I always like things to be unique. After much deep thoughts and surfing the net, I fell in love with the idea of having a bird cage as an Ang Bao (red packets) box. Thought even deeper and remembered that I have a colleague whose husband has lots of bird cages which is of no use. I opened my mouth and decided to ask if her husband can give me 2 (the other would be used as the centrepiece at the solemnization table). Hee... My colleague was SO glad that she could finally get rid of the 'white elephants' that she decided to give me 3 instead!!! (But I only took 2, nothing less, nothing more).

Armed with my lovely bird cage, I set out to spray it white. After it is dried, I decorated it with bright orange & fuschia ribbons. I thought it still look quite plain so I went to Martha Steward's wedding site and learnt how to make a fabric flower & decorated it further by painting a few flowers on the cage itself.


Wa-laH!!! Here is my Ang Bao Box.

Cost: $5.50 (White spray, with more than 3/4 bottle left), scrap cloth, scrap ribbons.

The Proposal

I have been teasing Geo, for the longest time, that we are preparing our wedding and he has YET to propose!!!

Last Monday, 13 July 2009, he proposed. :)

I was cheated.

I was cheated by Geo to his place thinking that his mum wanted to have a family dinner. [Let me talk a little about the loopholes. 1) His brother & sister-in-law couldn't make it; 2) His dad worked overtime. How then, can it be a family dinner? Geo was also dumbfounded by my 'Why' questions. Hee...]

After dinner, Geo quickly shoo-ed me into his room, informing his mum that the weather's hot and he will be switching on the air-conditioner. Out of nothing, he opened his wardrobe's door and told me to "See!" As I was 'seeing' to where he pointed, Geo suddenly blindfolded me & did his set-up. [Hee! He was SO gentle that the blindfold fell off. In the end, I had to blindfold myself.] As I was seated there, I thought to myself - Gosh! This is it... I am going to be married to someone for the rest of my life. It's scary, yet, it's exciting.

Turned off the light, turned on the iPod & I was ready for my surprise. Unfolded, I was asked to see what's under the comforter. I then thought 'This is it.. The Ring. Does it fit? What pattern? My taste?' I was very very very surprised to see that it's not a ring but a Scrapbook!

Scrapbook was titled 'Our First', so there was our first photo taken together, our first wedding attended together, our first overseas trip, ending with THE question if I would want to marry him. Geo then knelt down & spoke in Cantonese '嫁给我啦'....

How I felt? I am sure Geo already knows my answer. I am sure as he was preparing for the proposal, he already know that I will say Yes. I felt very touched, very sweet. I have had bugged Geo to compose a song for me, thinking that probably the proposal will be done in a song he composed. However, Geo shared with me that composing a song is an easy feat to him. Even if he had changed the piece during the proposal, I also wouldn't have known that it's a last minute change. Geo felt that he really wanted to do something out of his comfort zone - Scrapbooking! Heee... Not knowing how to do it, he signed up for a one-day course. [He even lied to me that day that he was meeting a friend]

The Proposal. It's funny how important this process is. Although we are already preparing for our wedding, although I will definitely say Yes, although the wedding date is set, the proposal still somehow is a necessity. The proposal somehow changed our status. I suddenly officially become someone's fiancee. Hee...

Wedding Bands

San and I first 'shopped around' for our wedding rings ('un-officially') at Bugis Junction on the 13th Jul 2009. There was no agenda in mind, and we were literally just looking around, and comparing the prices too. We went from Lee Hwa, to Goldheart, to Soo Kee before heading to my place for dinner with my mum. Coincidentally, it was also the exact day that I popped her the 'magic' question: 'Will you marry me?'... :p

Today, one week after the proposal, we officially shopped for our wedding bands. We booked an appointment with eClarity, went there with an open mind, mainly to check out the designs and the prices too. We were served by a very nice and gentle lady. She first took out a series of rings for us to choose from, and told us to short-list some nicer one and set them aside. She kind of advised us not to look at the price 1st as it may 'affect' the way we choose our rings. And I must say, this is indeed a wise advice... :)

Eventually, we left only 2 designs to choose from. Both are very nice rings, just that one is around $200 more expensive than the other. San and I kept silent for a while. I looked at her, she looked back... Seems like we were waiting for one another to speak up... :) Few secs later, I blurted out, 'It's only once in a lifetime ya?'... She agreed... So SET!!!... We went for the more expensive one, which in fact, is a nicer rings than the other... :) The designs are simply unique... :p Check it out...

Hee... Taken it 'discreetly'... :p

This is not the 'final version' of the rings though. We got it customize to rose gold, and have the diamond taken out... :)

Till then...

Wedding Song List - Seems easy, But tough...

As of now... It is 196 days to our wedding date... :p Time really flies!!!...

I was kind of tasked by san, hmm... or is it out of my own initiative, that I am to prepare a list of songs for our wedding ceremony and dinner. Thus, I looked through the list of songs which I have in my harddisk and ipod. As much as I thought it is easy to just come out with a list of songs, only to realise it later that it was actually quite tough. I started to 'arrange' the music in my head, making sure that the song flows well from one to another... It is kind of an 'occupational hazard' here... I grouped the songs together according to its style & genre, but most importantly, it must flow well when the guests are listening to it, and there must also be varieties to the music selected... :) I spent so much time 'analyzing' & the process was not as fast as I thought.. :)

Well, I am kind of done, as in the 'draft' playlist are out, for both the ceremony & dinner. I will continue to 'refine' them over time, and as time pass, the playlist will be firm up eventually... Not much time also though, is only 196 days away. Hee... :)

The Wedding excitement is really filling the air... can smell it, and sense it... Wooh!!!...

Getting the major things done. :P

Till date, I have helped in more than 20 weddings (I think), whether it's in coordination work & decoration or just being a sister. Either way, I get to work with the couples. I was also very privileged to see how different couples work together. Sometimes, I leave the cafe feeling either frustrated or feeling very good.

It is with no question that I often ask myself "What will my own wedding be like?". Many have also asked me "Sandra, you have helped in so many weddings, do you get confused with your own? Do you know what you want?"

The crux of the whole "Wedding help" is this. I try my best to be as professional as I can. So I work according to the likes of the couple, like what type of feel they would like in their wedding, what is their color theme, what is their main theme. So in a way, I bring in my own creativity based on the couple's liking & theme.

So, to the question if I get confused, no. I just know what I want. Personally, I have always liked a wedding to be simple, small (well, currently the guest list is not exactly VERY small also) & joyful.

After MPC course, Geo & I sat through and thought about it and we thought it would be a good idea to have a wedding date to be in January. For one, Geo's dad has asked if we could have it before CNY. For another, in short, we feel that we are ready.

We sought the availability of our officiating minister, Michael. Yup! And so, the wedding date's set on 30 January 2010. After getting the date, we took a few hours on our weekly meet up to decide on the theme of the wedding, the color theme, the songs, the committee, the guest list. Unanimously, we decided that we would want to keep the wedding dinner mainly for family. We always felt that for wedding dinners where there's family and friends, friends would always take away most of the couple's attention, neglecting the family.

We both love the east & it was SUCH a breeze deciding on The Bark Cafe for the 'church wedding' and Changi Village Hotel for the dinner. I thank God for good prices quoted to us too!!!!

With a wedding date, a solemnizing venue & a dinner venue, next, we went to a friend's bridal studio and signed up our bridal package, of course, at a VERY good rate with incredible good service!

Whilst all these were happening, between Geo & myself, we delegate the preparation jobs. I will take charge of all the decorations/invitation cards/favours/wedding program, etc. Geo will take charge of the sound system, music arrangement, walk in songs, etc.

Actually, we are already about 80% done, just lack of printing only. On hindsight, I believe things were done so fast because we are both excited at this planning process. We both enjoy doing what we do. I love trying out new handy work, try my hand at designing the invitation cards. Geo totally enjoy listening to his playlist over and over again, arranging the music according to the feel & genre, thinking through the meaning behind each song, going through all the lyrics to ensure that it leaves behind a positive connotation.

We are just 3 weeks into our preparation & the ONLY word that I can use to describe the whole process is FUN...! :)

Geo painting the favour's bowl...

Our lovely guest book

Heee.. our Ang Pao "Box"

Both hard at work!

The Beginning of this Journey of Love

We have known each other for a good 5 years!!!... Looking back, I just want to attribute this relationship to God's perfect timing and grace.

The relationship started off with us being casual friends in 2004. I first got to know San because of an interest in the Social Work field, and at that time, she was taking her Graduate Diploma in Social Work. Over time, friendship grew, and meet up became more regular. During that time, we hanged out in groups quite frequently after Sunday Service. There were also times when I met up with her over coffee before/after my piano lessons at Simei. Having said that, our friendship did went through an 'awkward' period when I got 'rejected' in 2007, with the reason that she wasn't ready to enter into a relationship then.

I was 'confused'... I wondered to myself, 'Should I continue to stay hopeful that one day, she may change her mind?'... What does she implied when she said that she wasn't ready?? In my mind, it was either she really wasn't ready, OR it was just a nicer way of saying 'I am not interested in you', in order not to hurt me too directly. Anyway, I chose to stay hopeful, coupled with prayer and fasting... :p I told myself that I would only give up, unless and until she told me straight in the face that she doesn't like me at all, or the fact that we can only remains as friends. So, is this stubborness, OR persistence???... Hmm...

Well, as time passed, our friendship did 'pick up' in 2008... It took on another level. We were more transparent and open with each other. Our sharing was much deeper too. Somehow, I sensed a different vibes from her than before. With that, I mastered ALL my courage and wrote her a 'fateful' letter, expressing my likings for her. I remembered that in the letter, I told her that the last thing I wish that could happened is to lose her as a friend, and as a result, it may go into an 'awkward' period again. I was really fearful of that because I do treasure this friendship very much. But this time round, she accepted me. The letter has changed our 'destiny' since then... :)

As we prepare ourselves towards the wedding, I hope that this 'story' will serve as a reminder for me to remain grateful to God for bringing us together. It wasn't an easy path for the both of us, BUT His timing is just so right. Indeed, God is never early, never late, BUT always ON TIME!!!

Wedding preparation

Right.. After much thought, I decided that I will branch out another blog from my main blog.

Last week, we completed our Marriage Preparation Course and finalized the day of holy matrimony. We had hmm.. 8 weeks of the MPC hosted by several couples from the family group. Throughout, I thought we were indeed blessed with a church who believes in building a good marriage before the start of marriage. I took home what Daniel said "Marriage is a miracle! Marriage is where 2 sinners get together. So how can that not be a miracle?"

Thinking back of our journey and friendship in life, I thought, even being good friends before the start of our romantic relationship is already a miracle. There were moments where I feel like screaming down Geo's neck cause of our differences. Yet, on the other hand, it was these moments that made our lives quite interesting.

.... and so, MPC is over and we have set our wedding date to be on January 30, 2010. Although the wedding is just one day, marriage is a lifetime, we are still very excited over the preparations of it. I thought of blogging down the process, the little successes, the little blessings that we had as we prepare for our wedding to come.

To date, I want to give thanks for 3 major things!

1. We found a venue to officiate and solemnize our wedding at no booking fee with food provided! (Of course, we gotta pay for the food la...)
2. We are blessed with a very good bridal package and along with it, came very good service! Anyone reading this, go Labelle Couture. :)
3. Geo got $1000 payback from his insurance! At this time, I think any extra money is HUGE blessing!

One thing Geo and I really hope not to do is to overspend so we try to DIY as much as possible. (1) I have completed the design of our invitation card; (2) A friend has told me that he will print it for me for free; (3) I have also found an old (new) album that I would be recycling it as our guest book; (4) My colleague is giving me 2 bird cages for the venue deco. Friends who knows that I do decorate weddings with flowers, no, I won't be using flowers to decorate the venue. I get too sad seeing the flowers die. More so, I don't wish to pay someone to do something (cause I know the cost price). HAA!

Below are 2 puppets from my car, gifts from a friend. Monkey, my nickname, Giraffe, Geo's. Rather, it's Toys'R'Us!! Hee! Using these puppets, I used photoshop to recreate our 'icon' that'll be used in the invite.


Till next time. :)