2012 has come to an end.

Today is a good day to reflect on 2012 and set resolutions for the New Year.

Let's start with the highlights of 2013!

(March)
- I learned so much planning and executing our major event, the Mr Bean regional signing ceremony. It was my first time doing an event and though it was tough, I felt so accomplished after.

(April)
- G and I visited Bintan and it was my first time staying at the lil hut near the beach. The beach and waters were so clean and gorgeous in April! Felt like we were at some exotic beach in a faraway land. This inspired us to come back for our wedding
Photoshoot.

(June)
- Euzart from jawn.happy.ever.after completed his master pieces: my beautiful wedding and evening gowns. Whilst I had my initial doubts, I learned to really love them and appreciate their uniqueness. So many people (even guys included) commended on how beautiful they are. No regrets signing up with Euzart!

- G and I had our wedding photoshoot at Kent Ridge, NUS and Bintan! We had loads of fun with our photographer CF and MUA Liren when she joined us in Bintan. Even wooly and blinkie joined us in our local shoot! So happy with our unique shots!

(July)
- Ame, Joy and I went for our all girls, 3 day trip to Bangkok! There was soooo much good shopping! Bought all my pinks, reds and corals there. Can't wait for our next trip next year!

(August)
- I joined a strategic planning committee and the team of us organized a management retreat to Tioman! Again, it was my first time organizing a retreat, what more an overseas one. It was this fulfilling experience that bonded the team together.

(October)
- My passion for wedding and decor DIY officially kick started! I began to make DIY touches for our wedding and it was so much fun for me. Felt so satisfied when every project materialized.

- We planned our 2nd management retreat at Huiwen's place! It was a one day thing where we shared our own personal aspirations and visions. Different project teams also provided updates on their progress.

(December)
- G and I tied the knot! Happiest day of our lives. Our venue was great. Decor was special and reflected us as a couple. Food awesome. Entertainment was superb. And our guests were definitely fantastic!

- Had our honeymoon in Maldives! Loved the cyan blue, clear waters and amazing snorkeling experiences. We saw so many different types of colourful fish and marine life. Our highlights included seeing a group of orca swim by when we were on a speedboat. We saw baby sharks,
eels and sting rays in shallow water. And there was seeing amazing flying fish leap through the waters. We were so blown away.

Our beautiful wedding.

G and I tied the knot exactly one week ago! It was a beautiful wedding, a real dream come true for the both of us.

We're so thankful everything went smoothly and perfectly.

Morning gatecrash was sooo much fun. The girls had a good time putting the fellowship of groom and groomsmen to the test! And because of the amazing invention of FaceTime, I enjoyed watching the entire process in the comfort of the room! And of course, Gerald prevailed and unveiled me with a kiss =D We had some yummy Tangyuan together!

Tea ceremony at home was funny. We were a little lost but we made it through! And we got better at Gerald's place! Before that, it was fun watching Joel jump on our bed with immense enthusiasm haha. Maybe he knew the symbolism behind the act and wanted to bless us with many kids ^_^

After we reached the hotel, everything became so surreal and happened so quickly. Wei Wei brought us to our wonderful suite and we were greeted with my bridesmaids all getting ready! Whilst Gerald was at the banquet briefing, I was blessed with some time to touch up my make up and rehearse my vows! It felt
comforting to have Ame and Sophie with me in the room.

And it was time for our Solemnisation ceremony in the Hopea room. It was time to walk down the aisle and get married to my best friend. I feel so lucky to have had our bridesmaids and groomsmen walk down the aisle before us. So nice to have our nephews and niece walk in before our grand entrance. And so heartwarming to have my dad walk me to Gerald and tell him to take good care of me. The atmosphere was perfect, with beautiful Pom poms as our backdrop and a saxophone playing A thousand years for our march in music. Our most important friends and relatives were there to witness our vows and joy. It was a moment to remember always.

And after the tea ceremony, our wedding lunch officially started =) G and I made our first entrance as husband and wife to the Wedding song by Kenny G. And that was before Mike made a wonderful introduction of our wedding with the Shire music in the background. It was so fitting for our enchanted forest theme! And everyone was so impressed with our personalized DIY video which G painstakingly made. All his efforts were worth it!

And our second march in performance was a blast! Our friends were so sporting and we remembered our dance moves!

The best bit were the speeches by Bean,
Joy and Ame. Bean was so funny with his, Joy had to make me cry haha and Ame's was so heartfelt. We were truly truly touched by our friends.

And I was so moved when my baby sang our song 'Faraway' to me as a surprise. Almost made me cry!

It was a beautiful, beautiful day.

The night before the big day.

It's happening tomorrow! Ahh! Time really flies. I can't believe I'm gonna be a Mrs really soon!

Thank goodness today wasn't as hectic as the few days before.

We delivered all our decor and favours to the hotel in the morning.
Can't wait to see everything set up tomorrow =)

And I wrote my vows and speech today. Yay!

Now I'm just preparing myself mentally and emotionally for the big day tomorrow. I'm going to be a happy bride and enjoy everything that has been planned thus far. I'm not going to fuss over the little things since really, it's about me getting married to the love of my life! It's gonna be the happiest day of my life, with all my loved ones celebrating with us.

I can't wait to marry G!

2 more days!

Collection of our favour planties - Checked!

Collection of Marriage Certificate - Yes!

Wedding gowns - Yup yup!

Rehearsal with family and friends - Double tick!

Decorating planties - Finally done!

Wedding video - mhmm!

Here comes the bride sign - Prepared!

An chuang - Bed all set!

It's a pampering day!

Nails, facial and hair done! All in one day =D Now I'm ready to be a pretty bride!

Wedding haircut done! Whee!

Got my hair done at Moodz salon =) Euzart recommended Shirley to do my hair since she also works as a bridal hair stylist and knows what's good for wedding hair.

Happy with my haircut! She chopped off my crazy long bangs and neatened my hair behind. And I love how she blows my hair to give me natural looking curls! So tempted to perm my hair after the wedding!

It's 过大礼(Betrothal gift exchange) day!

过大礼 is the customary day where the groom delivers the betrothal gifts to the bride's family and a gift exchange takes place. The groom's family thanks their future in-laws for raising the bride and the bride's family formally pledges their daughter to the groom.

It's a practice that many modern couples (including G and I) don't quite understand but we do it out of tradition and respect for our parents. I've decided to see it as a fun and interesting thing to do for couples who are getting married. Ang mos don't get to do this okay!

So today was our 过大礼 day! Exactly 2 weeks before our wedding.

Here are the gifts or (嫁妆) that mummy prepared for G and his family! So many things. To make them look auspicious and presentable, she actually neatly wrapped them with pretty film paper with red prints. So sweet eh!


Basically, the 嫁妆comprises of:

Baby prosperity set (Potty/basin/baby bath tub) - To symbolize healthy offspring, good fortune & prosperity


Bedside lamps - For a blissful future with healthy offspring

One tea set - To serve tea to elderly on wedding day so as to represent gratitude and respect for them


Dining set -

Mug set - 

5 Element Seeds - Represents good wishes for the couple to have good & happy life after the marriage. The seeds symbolize prosperity and abundance.

Sewing Kit (consisting of thread, needles, pin cushion, scissors, etc) to indicate a capable wife

Beddings (pillows, bolster, comforter and bedsheets) - For 按床 (i.e. Install the bridal bed)

A set of pyjamas, towels, home slippers and comb for 梳头 (i.e. Hair combing ceremony)

And here are the gifts that G brought over!



They include:

Bride's price (娉金) - To thank my parents for bringing me up =)
Two pairs of dragon and phoenix candles (龙凤蜡烛) - To signify that we are a perfect match!

Mandarin oranges (桔子) - Represents good fortune
2 bottles of red wine -
Canned pig trotters (猪脚罐) - To thank my mum for washing and cleaning me when I was young haha

As part of the tradition, we had to return some of gifts to 回礼.

 

Rings and gowns.

As the date draws nearer, G and I find ourselves settling wedding tasks almost everyday.

We finally collected our wedding bands on Monday! And we're happy with our choices =) They still seem the nicest amongst all. Mike and Karyan came along too and they found a pair they really like. Glad they benefitted from joining us!

And today, I had my final gown fitting at jawn's. I was so glad Ame came because Euzart and his staff taught her how to help me in and out of my gowns. Yay! And another reason why I was happy? I could fit into my gowns! There was no need to do any further adjustments. They even said I lost a lil weight. *sigh of relief*

And have I mentioned how much love my gowns? Especially my WG. I felt so blissful in them and was actually a tad sad when I had to change out hee.

Can't wait to wear them again on the actual wedding day!

Crafting makes me happy!

It's been a great week, craft wise. Completed two amazing projects that I'm really proud of!

G and I were inspired to do a LOTR-inspired wedding project. The idea came to us at Art Friend, when we saw the basic forest modeling kit that they had. And we thought how cool it'd be to decorate the forest landscape with LOTR lego figures. That's how it started!

It was so fun to do the project! We really got our creative juices going and our hands dirty hehe. We made almost everything from scratch! From the base, trees, trodden road, shrubs and our hand-picked lego pieces!

Here're some pictures of the process!

And the final outcome! It's a lil world of our own =)

My second DIY project draws inspiration from the beautiful mess blog. The sisters have the best ideas for craft and decor.

I wanted to recreate their photo banner, without using actual photos. It was quite easy' I only used craft paper and wooden letters for my banner. The project only took me an hour to complete! Whee =) doesn't it look so pretty?

(Crazy night out)

I've officially survived my hen's party! It was pretty crazy!

My bachelorette evening started with... *drumroll* a pole and lap dancing class! Woohoo! We went to Bobbi pole's studio at queen street for the class. I was so excited when the girls revealed what we were gonna do.

So we learnt some pole techniques. And let me tell you, pole dancing is freaking hard! Lol. I kept sliding down my own pole cause of my sweaty palms haha. Realizing our difficulties, our instructor asked me (the bride) if I wanted to move to lap dance and I was more than happy to. And we learnt a lap routine to the song Red Velvet. It was fun =D I hope I can remember and use some of the moves soon! *snicker*

After lots of sensual (and maybe awkward haha) dancing, we were ready to change into our sexy school girl uniforms! Of course, the girls dressed me up with a bride's veil and the ever classic bachelorette sash. And they were all so sporting, wearing super cute and geeky frames.
Some even tied their hair in pigtails. =D

We hit Clarke quay and drew loads of attention just walking to our dinner place. Ironically, we settled for hooters for food. Quite a few customers mistook us as the waitresses lol. So after dinner, came part 2 of my crazy night. The bachelorette games and dares! Basically, I had to pick these truth or dare cards and do whatever that was instructed. And oh man, some were super crazy! But, I'm proud to say that I did almost all of 'em! How sporting is that! =D

Some of the highlights:
- Getting a random guy's number
- Kissing Sophie on the lips hahaha
- Getting spanked by Joy (she was surprisingly reluctant lol)
- Buying a drink for a dorky guy!
- Dancing and showing my moooves
- Flashing my undies to the girls
- Pinching a random guy's butt!

And the list goes on!

We ended the night taking some awesome photos and drinking at Wala's. Ame and joy bought me a flaming to drink! My first time ever! *milestone achieved* haha. It was truly a great night of good fun. And I'm happy that I didn't get drunk!

Home Therapy and Hen's night!

After a tiring week at work, it feels so good to recharge at home. I decided to stay in to rest so that I have enough energy for my hen's party tonight! Woohoo! *so excited*

I can't wait to find out what we're doing! The girls have been awfully secretive about the whole thing. I'm not complaining cause it makes it more fun, with that element of surprise.

What I do know: I gotta dress up like a sexy school girl!

Ooooo. Kinky lol. Anyways, I spent the morning trying to pull an outfit together. I even looked for inspirations off the web! Here's the final look:

Am I ready for the night? Bring it on girls!

Good weekend.

Chilled at Ann Siang with the ex-Springers on Friday =D We found a stylish place called Cafe Chocolat with nice decor. I had a great time with the awesome company.

Saturday was fruitful with Crowne plaza and Chere weddings!

And Sunday was filled with room furniture planning and shopping!

(Home decorating)

We just had our first furniture shopping experience! Visited Ikea to get a dresser and drawer for our room together.

And I'm happy that we found just what we need! And it was all for $285 =D Can't wait to see it assembled in the room. I'm gonna have my own storage and personal space! Yay!

I love shopping at ikea. It's a world filled with endless ideas and inspirations for home decorating. When I'm there, I see so many things that we could use for our future home. It's going to be fun styling our new place next time!

Details details!

Our day is drawing near! It feels sooo surreal. I can't believe the most important day of our lives is happening in a month's time.

I'm glad that we've covered most of our wedding to-do list. It helps to start early and spread our tasks during the planning period. This means much lesser stress closer to our wedding.

We actually met Alina from CP together with Wei Wei today. Basically, she went through a checklist with us to confirm on the details of our occasion. We touched on so many things! Including:

- What's provided under our wedding package, including additional perks!
- Wedding theme + table + napkin colours
- Ballroom layout
- Additional decor
- Programme flow
- Food and drinks

And alot more! We're pretty much all set for our arrangements with Crowne Plaza for our luncheon!

And I'm excited after the discussion with the chere team on the programme flow + decor of the foyer and hopea room. We were sharing and brainstorming on ideas for the reception table and hopea room. Really happy with what we came up with! There's gonna be more styling, personal touches and pom poms!

And! We're gonna have a mini dessert bar too =D yaaaay! Super glad that we chanced upon Butter Studio at T3 earlier this week. They have yummy and cute cupcakes that can be displayed at a dessert bar. I'm a sucker for food that looks good haha.

It's gonna be wonderful =)

Snapshots of the week!

Nom nom time with sis @ Sushi Tei. Their aburi sushi is not bad!

 

 

 

My siao siao sneakily set this as my iphone wallpaper lol.

Happy birthday Anna and lzc! @Chongqing Hotpot.

We finally had 126 dim sum cravings satisfied...

Taking my favourite path in the morning.

New moscato for our Friday bbq. Sweeeet.

This made my day at work. I love pressies and candy!

Happy 23rd birthday boy!

Mummy looking very happy with her crabs!

Showing off some legs haha.

Kaiwen and the birthday boy!

You just gotta start off with the premium stuff!

G made his own chirashi don! It was actually yummy.

Sisters always =)

G and I were having fun making our own desserts.  Here's one of our creations! Looks like a cupcake ^_^

As we grow up together.

Happy 23rd birthday boy! Cedele cake sponsored by G =D

All smiles for this happy occasion.

Mum looking at boy fondly. Aww.