[Diary of a Soon-to-be-Bride] - Countdown 1 Day!!

Hey lovelies! I'm so sorry this is the first post this week. It's been really hectic with the last minute wedding prep work, scrambling around to buy things, pulling together a seating plan... We wouldn't be able to do this without the help of our family and friends. And I'm so delighted a few of my Japanese friends made it here specially for us!

We just had our pre-wedding shoot yesterday with the wonderful Tec Petaja! T and I definitely had fun! Here's a sneak peek:

I'm afraid I'll have to take some time off here. After the wedding, we'll be heading to Paris and Barcelona. I simply can't wait. I'm gonna be missing you but I promise to be back in the end of January, so don't forget Cookie Cutter :). I'm wishing you a litle ahead of time: Happy new year!

I can't believe the big day is tomorrow. Wish me luck? I'll try not to trip and fall :)

[Diary of a Soon-to-be Bride] - Countdown 14 days

I returned home earlier this week to find a package lying on the table. Took a quick look on the front for the name and yippee, it’s for me! I LOVE receiving packages! It’s been so since I was a kid. Sometimes it’s the surprise, or perhaps it’s the sheer joy of tearing open a package, or maybe it’s simply the excitement of finding out what’s inside.

It was no different this time and I sure wasn’t let down.

It’s a wedding gift from the very sweet Jacqueline. She had learnt earlier in the year from my blog that I’ll be getting married and decided almost immediately that she’ll get me a wedding gift. Not just any gift but a HANDMADE one. You creative souls would know best the value of a handmade item. It’s the effort that goes into making a unique piece. Jacqueline made it extra personalised by embroidering mine and T’s initials on the pillow too!

In addition to the wedding pillow she told me about previously, she made me a matching pouch as well! Look at that cute wooden button with Jacqueline’s logo!

Thanks, Jacqueline! I love them. A LOT.

[Diary of a Soon-to-be Bride] - countdown 16 days

Last Sunday was a special day. It was Guo Da Li day for me, otherwise translated as the day when formal betrothal takes place. It’s a tradition that’s still being observed in Singapore today albeit with some modifications.

In the old days, the bridegroom will be accompanied by the “matchmaker” to the bride’s family home. Gifts from his family will be presented. The bride’s family will receive the gifts as a sign of acceptance of the marriage and will in return present the dowry to the groom’s family. In modern day, the gifts offered often differ.

Traditionally, the brides receive a sewing kit from her family as part of the dowry. Whilst this is often done away now, I told my parents I still wanted it. Yipee, sewing threads in a myriad of colours, shiny new needles and a new scissor for my future sewing projects! These are contained in that red heart-shaped sewing box. The tea set on the right would be used for the tea ceremony on the actual wedding day morning.

T arrived at my place that day alone (without a matchmaker. Haha) and had to make multiple trips to and fro his car since he was carrying the gifts himself. Good work-out! Given my love for all things old-school, we had agreed that I would get traditional bridal cakes instead of the cakes/tarts that many couples have now. My bridal cakes (2 boxes displayed on extreme right) came packaged in red boxes (auspicious colour of course) and contained several kinds of sweet snacks—peanut with malted candy, seasame and peanuts, sweetened rice crackers etc. These boxes of bridal cakes would then be distributed to the bride’s extended family members. Yes, traditional betrothal gifts included fresh livestock meat. Don’t start throwing daggers at me *dodge*! I don’t eat meat myself! Anyway, my family returned some of it, kept some and distributed some.

Hand-cut double happiness character on the oranges and almost everything everything else.

Interestingly, I had a chat with a Mainland Chinese friend who’s residing here recently and was surprised to learn that many of these traditions are no longer practiced by them back home! He noted that Singapore despite all our modernity, is still quite rooted in the traditions of old in this respect! Having the Guo Da Li reinforced the notion that the big day’s approaching! Soon! The thought is kind of surreal. I had fun :).

What are the special/interesting traditions you observe in your culture for weddings? I’ll love to hear them! By the way, these wedding countdown posts are not boring you, I hope? I'll still intersperse them with our usual design-related posts :).

[Diary of a Soon-to-Be Bride] - Countdown 21 Days

You know how I love shopping. Even if I were to walk pass the malls en route somewhere else, you can bet my eyes will be drawn to the pretty things in the shops as if they were each a north and south magnet. Without fail, there will be a squel of "that's so pretty!". But you know what? I realised that when pressed for time to buy something or when I actually have a legitimate shopping list, I have such a hard time buying! And then suddenly, shopping is not as fun anymore. I know! It's crazy, isn't it? Do you experience this? Please tell me what you do to get round this.

Well, this is exactly what has been happening. I need a pair of wedding shoes. The ladies at my bridal boutique have been very patiently telling me again and again to get my shoes soon (I always reply with a pathetic "erm...not yet"). This is so that they can verify exactly what length my gown should be made to. So I set myself a deadline of finding that elusive pair of shoes this week.

Brides in Singapore typically go for a strappy white pair of heels with some shiny, glittery stuff on it. Since I knew I was getting married, I've decided that I won't go for a white pair and no glittery stuff, please. Whoever said that brides can't wear coloured shoes. And I also want something that I would wear after the wedding. So, I went about the wedding shoes hunt. I visited LOTS of places. I must have crossed that undertunnel at Orchard MRT at least 4 tiimes on the same day! But no, no wedding shoes for me. You won't believe the heels in the shops these days. They are ridiculously high! I mean I need to actually walk in them, not just pose for pictures on the red carpet like celebrities do. By the end of the day, I was feeling exasperated more than anything else.

The search continued to the second day (yesterday). It saw me venturing outside town and then back to town again. And then, just before the "cut-off time", I found it! It's not what people would think of when they say wedding shoes. But I like it and no one's going to stop me. It felt right when I put them on and I like how it stands out. So there, the search is finally over. And boy am I glad! Oh, how does it look like? Here:

Yes, they are black (supposedly inauspicious in our culture) and not strappy or glittery. But I think it rocks! What say you? Any thoughts on how wedding shoes ought to be like? Ok, now on to the other things on my to-do list. Later, lovelies!

p/s Thanks for all your well-wishes in the comment section of the previous wedding post :)

[Diary of a Soon-to-Be Bride] - Countdown 24 Days

Hi everyone, how was your weekend? Busy? Carried out the craft project you've always wanted to? Had a lovely time with the family? For a while now, my weekends have been pretty packed. I started working on weekends and sometimes I feel I have no days for rest at all. It's non-stop adenaline pumping! Haha. Thankfully for this month, I have Sundays off work and I totally relish the break! But as you know, I'm planning a wedding that's happening VERY soon (last day of this year), it means whatever free time I have is taken up by running wedding-related errands etc.

If you recall, I did a wedding-related series earlier this year. I suddenly had an idea and thought it'll be fun if I post updates on my very real and impending wedding from now on. It will read something like "Diary of a Soon-to-Be Bride". I'll talk about the preparations that are keeping me busy, my rants and also the fun bits. What say you? Here's for starters:

Yesterday, we had an appointment with the florist to chose my hand bouquet. 30 minutes before the appointment time, I called the florist only to have her asking if it's ok that we come in 45 minutes later because another couple is coming at the same time too. We were already on our way and so I stubbornly refused to concede to her request. She then said she'll attend to whichever couple comes first. What??? That saw T and I speeding down the road, hoping to clinch the coveted title of "The-Earlier-Couple". We made it. So I chose my bouquets and was just a little annoyed that everytime I wanted something a little different or nicer, it meant topping up with more cash (I mean, the default options were hideous and I was left with no choice!). Singaporean brides-to-be, you have been warned! Hehe.

We also drove to our printer's to collect our wedding cards. Yay! Finally done. Except that he lacked some envelopes and we'll get them sometime this week. My parents have been hounding me over the cards and I'm glad I finally have something to show. We have 2 versions of the cards. A Chinese version which is pretty much the cards offered by the hotel we're having our wedding in. And an English version that is put together by yours truly. Of course, I'm biased if you ask which I think is prettier. Oh, and I personally rounded the corners of the English cards myself! Think 150 cards X 4 corners each. Yep, my thumb is kinda sore now. I held up 2 cards to T-- one with rounded corners and one without-- and insisted to T that it's clear what a huge difference the rounded corners make. He had no choice but to agree.

To reward myself for the hard work, I sat down with a bag of chips as we watched "V for Vendetta" on DVD. Eeek! There goes the wedding diet plan!

[images clockwise from top left: We Heart It, Erin Hearts Court, SDesignUnit, Martha Stewart Weddings, Once Wed, Nichols Photo Blog]