One Year

Hi lovelies, how was your Christmas? So, this is the last day of the year. Boy, did this year went by fast, eh? It got really tiring at times but I enjoyed how eventful this year has been for me. Personally I would rather a roller-coaster life than a plateau. I’m going to take stock of what I’ve achieved or didn’t this year. Blogging and crafting are a big slice of my life and I’m so grateful for all the experiences it brought me and friends I’ve made through it. I also want to thank all of you for being a part of it! Even if you’re a silent reader, thank you for your support (though I do hope to get to know you as well). I didn’t know how life would be when I embarked on this path but I’m grateful for how it has turned out-- the unexpected, the little joys and even the lows.

I’m also planning for the brand new year ahead. The great thing is, I’m excited about the goal-setting, knowing that it’s up to me to make things happen!

If you were with me at this time last year, you may remember that today’s also my 1st wedding anniversary. It’s been an amazing and fun year with someone who’s my touchstone and constant source of support. He sees the good in me which I don’t even see myself.

Thank you, T, for a wonderful year and for teaching me about love.

Cheese for You?

Seriously love your cheese but get put off by how the cheese board looks after others have started digging in? Raise up your hand if that’s you! The girls at Ritzy Bee Events came up with a really clever (and beautiful) way to get round this-- individual cheese platters for everyone!

I really love this creative idea!

[via Martha Stewart's The Bride's Guide, photos by Kate Headley]

A Favor for You

Something unfortunate happened to me while I was out on my morning run (consumed too much junk food in front of the telly yesterday night) today. I’m not your super runner who breezes through the distance like nothing. So, naturally I was replenishing my air intake with relish. Then guess what? I inhaled a fly (or some sort of flying insect) and because I was maintaining my breathing pattern, it went down to the back of my throat so quickly before I realised something just happened there! I didn’t even see the thing so don’t ask me what exactly it is. But I am sure something went down my respiratory system and got lodged in my throat! Argh, I coughed and tried all I could think of to get it out, while still maintaining my pace (hey, it’s one of days I managed to dragged myself out of bed, I can’t throw it all away). Thinking of those tiny little feet wedged in my throat made me want to throw up. In the end, I swallowed it.... What could I do? You can be sure this one is gonna make an entry into my doodling book.

Okay, enough of disgusting talk. I went to a young boy’s birthday party recently and adored the favors the parents prepared. Today, I visited Martha Stewart’s website after a long while and loved the many favour ideas they had. Regardless of whether it’s a wedding, shower, birthday party you are planning or if you are simply thinking of packaging ideas, these will be great inspiration!

Now, excuse me while I go gurgle Listerine for the 3rd time.

[images: Martha Stewart]

Blue Letterpress wedding invites

I can’t believe I’ve been married almost 4 months. The good thing is, we still feel as though we’re dating, still doing the fun (and boring) stuff we used to enjoy doing (yes, we enjoy both). So, all’s good. Hmm... maybe except that the travel bug's biting again but since we should be saving after spending so much for the wedding, I'll have to bear with it for now.

I haven’t actually done a wedding post since last year and I thought why not? Especially since I am constantly impressed by the images of gorgeous weddings I see online. And of course the related stationery (hands up stationery/paper lovers!)! Check out these two blue wedding invites/save the dates. Very different feel but I love both of them! Of course, they’re letterpressed. There’s some debate on impression but from an aesthetic point of view, I totally love them! Want to run my fingers across the surface.

I thought the solid colour areas were printed so wonderfully. No easy feat! From Beast Pieces

Such sweet pale blue with lovely damask details. From See Saw Designs (via Oh So Beautiful Paper)

[images: from source]

[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]

Dream vacation

We’re already approaching the end of August. Can you believe it?! My fiancé and I are now forced to confront the fact that we have better start planning for our honeymoon (which will be in early Jan 2010), or at least know where we want to go! Otherwise, we’ll be spending our honeymoon on homeshore or that teeny weeny island south of us called Sentosa.

He likes the idea of Barcelona. I have no problems with it, especially since I haven’t had the chance to visit Spain. At the same time, a few images surfaced in my mind as I thought about honeymoon locations this morning.

Firstly, I am absolutely charmed by these photos of countryside France. I can’t believe places like these exist! Don’t you find them only in movie sets?

Then I thought about the movies I’ve watched. Did you catch Under the Tuscan Sun? I loved it but even if you beg to differ, you’ll have to concur that the scenery was stunning! That’s Positano (1st) and that’s (3rd) "Bramasole”, the house that was restored in the movie.

I know this was a real chick flick and there wasn’t much in the movie to salvage it. Except for the house. From Nights in Rodanthe:

Ok, have I got you back here in reality? Do you have any suggestions for honeymoon locations? Or tell me about where you went. I’m in great need of ideas and would love to hear from you!

[images from top:1-3 Stephmodo, 4 The Flick Chicks, 5 kathandarn webshots, 6 Thyme Goes By, 7 Grace Thru Faith]

Go local - Greymatter wedding photography

Did everyone have a good weekend? I did! It was nice to stay away from my laptop for a while.

Now that I have had time to recover from my Japan trip, thoughts of my soon approaching wedding are bombarding me. Mainly because a lot have yet to be done! I might have blogged a wedding series but it doesn’t mean I have done all the things I mentioned. Fooled you, didn’t I? :p

I’ve always been ogling at the beautiful works of wedding photographers I come across online and most of them are from the States. But there are many talented ones in tiny little Singapore too! One whose work I am especially fond of is Greymatter.

It takes a skilled photographer to be able to capture simple moments and imbue them with beauty.

[images: Greymatter]

Announcements

Yay! It’s Friday. If you have been following my little blog, you’ll probably be expecting a wedding-related post today. We’ve had 10 installments in this weekly series and I’ve had so much fun posting them! More than that, it was always a delight to read your comments on them. However, I think it appropriate that we end the series with its 10th installment. Of course, you’ll still hear updates from me on my wedding prep here and there. If you’ve missed any of the 10 or would like to recap, you can easily click on the “weddings” under “Cookie Flavours” on the right column and you can find all the 10 installments there. Once again, thank you for your support on this series.

For now, I have been posting everyday since the first post on 28 July, on my recent Japan trip. Please join me as I retrace my journey. I hope you’ll have as much fun reading as I did visiting the Land of the Rising Sun—the unbelievably delicious food (and beer), the breath-taking nature, the vitality of the city, the impeccable service, the priceless friendships…

[image from Cookie Cutter]

Images I am loving

I have these images which I really love and am dying to share. So I’m just going to post them here with no particular theme, except maybe “Beautiful Images I am Loving”:

[click on images to enlarge]

[images from top, left to right: Olaf Szczepaniak via Decor 8, Cote Ouest via Block Eiffel, Sarah's Loft, Max Wanger, Tayer Allyson Gowdy, Kiss the Groom, Jay B Sauceda via Soon Lee, This is Glamorous via Dress Design Decor]

[Wedding Series 10] - Colour Palettes

One of the first things that is decided on when preparing a wedding is your colour palette. After all, it will be worked into many visual aspects of your wedding. It is in complement with your chosen theme to make your wedding a unique and personal one. I am impressed whenever I attend a wedding with an obvious colour palette which is consistent throughout. It thrills me to see how the chosen colours are executed eg. “Oh, they have pink and white flowers, just like their invites”, “that’s a cute pink and white favor!” etc. I also know that it is a well-thought out wedding with everything carefully planned for, down to the details.

After looking at the numerous beautiful wedding-related images here in the blogsphere, aqua with its overtones of blue and green really appealed to me. I love how it can look so sweet and yet exude a sense of serenity. Oh and of course, it’s also related to that renowned gorgeous little blue box. I pick Tiffany Blue! It’ll be in my colour palette by hook or by crook.

Since the room in which my wedding dinner will be held has many touches of mustard yellow and gold, I have decided for my colour palette to comprise:
Tiffany blue, white and yellow/gold. My fiance? Oh, he's just too glad I'm taking care of the "niity gritties".

How did/will you decide on your colour palette? Was it based simply on your preferences? Do you and your partner have a couple colour?

P/S Can you believe it? We're into the 10th installment of our wedding series! Am I boring you? Do you like any particular bits about it? Hoping to read about something but I never seem to get to it? I'll love to hear from you! Happy weekend!

[images: Martha Stewart Weddings]

[Wedding series 9] - Alternative venues

Wow, Friday’s here and one week has passed yet again! I barely blinked ;p Well, this brings us to another installment of the wedding series!

You know, I’ve always lamented the lack of interesting and “characterful” venues for weddings here in Singapore. With envy, I droll over the gorgeous images of overseas weddings held in farmhouses, in the open fields, by the hills. Like I mentioned in my previous post, weddings here are typically held in hotel ballrooms. This is primarily because hotels dangle attractive packages. This translates into great convenience for couples as most things such as food, décor, set up are covered.

Oh, and I must add that one of the reasons is also that we have huge guests lists. Guess what? I have a guest list of 300! How in the world did the list stretch to such a length? My memory tells me I’ve never won Miss Popularity in school or anything of that sort (nope, neither did my fiancé). The last I did a count, my personal guest list came up to no more than 30. Well, the reason for this is that Asian weddings are family affairs. One’s entire extended family (paternal and maternal) are involved. Additionally, your parents would want to invite their business contacts, some colleagues, some friends etc (you get the drift). I would love for a small intimate wedding dinner with close friends and family, like this image here (which I just can’t get out of my mind.) We can all be ourselves, be relaxed and laugh a lot.

[image from Tec Petaja Photography]

But well, a huge wedding dinner is part of my culture which I must accept. Afterall, it’s your parents chance to share their joy with everyone else, surely you can help them with that?

But, if your guest list is not that huge, there are beautiful venues (other than hotels) in Singapore where couples can hold their weddings. Here are a few:

Sentosa – One of the benefits of living on an island-- no need to head to Bali or some exotic beach for your dream beach wedding.

Halia Resturant – Singapore is also known as a garden city. So, have your wedding in the beautiful Halia Resturant nestled in the lush Singapore Botanical Garden.

Flutes at the Fort – A wedding in a charming black and white colonial bungalow built in 1908. Nice!



The White Rabbit – A beautifully-restored former chapel. I was considering this place but it would mean shrinking my guest list.




The Arts House – An arts and heritage venue in Singapore, this was built in 1827 and was Singapore’s first Court House and former Parliament house. I particularly love the Blue Room and Chamber shown here. It would be a stately wedding! Your guest would have a thrill sitting in the chamber as they witness your solemnisation!

By the way, a number of these are resturants/bars, so you can check them out if you visit too!

[click on images to enlarge]

[images accordingly from: Sentosa, Halia Resturant, Flutes at the Fort, The White Rabbit, The Arts House]