The One about gown shopping

Yesterday was the eagerly awaited appointments with the bridal studios!!
Arranged to meet the gals at Tanjong Pagar MRT at 12.30 to have lunch at a nearby hawker centre and then proceeded to the first studio, Di Gio Bridal.

The place had a nice deco and they were gracious enough to let me try on quite a few gowns and styles. Pity they didn't allow me to take any photos so that I can share them here.
Their package was pretty reasonable and the staff was ok but we didn't really feel comfortable there. It felt a little too formal and stifled in that place.

We left Di Gio at around 2.30 and since my next appointment at The Aisle was at 3.30, the others got me into Sattine which was just a couple of shops down. We walked in and requested to look at some of their designs. There were a couple on the racks that already caught the girls' eyes. The first one I tried was quite wow. The design was very unique, unlike most of the ones we usually see. But again they do not allow any photos. Pity. The experience here was worse than at Di Gio. They had an auntie there that was all sales talk and they didn't allow me to try more than 2 gowns. They just gave us a feeling that it was very fake and rigid and probably the kind who would change your package at a whimsy citing management decision and charge you exhobitantly. We left the place as fast as we could.

Arriving at The Aisle was akin to coming home. I was there previously on a few occassions with Weiling, helping her with her gown selections, so I was already familiar with the staff there. I also got good vibes off Eddie the designer, who was friendly, animated and fun. The moment we went in, we were already chatting with the staff and wandering around looking at the gowns on the rack while waiting for the other brides to be done. It was homely and casual and we felt very much at ease.

Here are the gowns I tried at The Aisle!

the first dress i tried, eddie got this out for me as it was similar to one of the designs i showed him. i thought the layered effect was quite pretty but the girrls thought it looked like curtains. all veteoed lol.

2nd dress. i loved the shimmering effect the tulle had. it seemed to have little bits of glitter woven intto the material so it sparkled whenever I moved. pretty!!

3rd dress. loved the light flowy effect and it has a very nice train. the gals loved this one too

it'll look very nice going down the stairs of the ballroom.

a short dress i tried. good for either the tea ceremony or for mingling with the guests during lunch.

i have this very strong idea that HTB will NOT see me in any bridal gown before the big day. I've always felt the moment when the doors open and you see your bride standing there with the gown and veil, hair and makeup done nicely, you'll be awed by how beautiful she looks and how big the moment is. that image will be seared in your memory forever. however these days most couple go to select the gowns and suits together so most grooms would have already seen the gown. when their bride steps out of the changing area in the gowns, they are already quite wowed by how beautiful she looks. every bride looks gorgeous. but in the studio her hair's probably messy and her face is unmade so the effect dims a little. then after multiple fittings, the wow factor's already gone.

i want him to have to have this wonderful moment so i was adamant not to let him see me in the dress. since the wedding gown was meant for the march in at lunch i was wondering what i should wear for the morning fetching of the bride. i had thought of wearing a traditional Chinese Kua but when i tried one at Di Gio, all the gals veteoed the idea as I looked funny in it. I then thought of the short dress I tried earlier but the others said I'll look like the rest of them and not like the bride. So Eddie suggested that i wear a simpler dress for the morning and a more wow one for the march in. All of them said that the unveiling of the bride is a very important moment too and I should be dressed beautifully for that as well. Come to think of it I agree. Thus Eddie brought out this simple sheath which when coupled with the stunning chapel veil created a ethereal effect.

Eddie demonstrating the effect of the veil.

We had such a fun time yesterday and Julia as usual got along with Weiling and the rest like old pals. I'm so glad I had them with me. Can't wait to go down to The Aisle again!

The One with Candy, candy, candy!!

I have a HUGE HUGE HUUUGE weakness for anything candy-striped. I just find them so pretty, sweet and dainty. If there's anything you wanna sell me just slap on the candy-stripes and I'm sold!

I was researching pink and green candies for my candy buffet table for the big day

remember this? beautiful table from Amy Atlas and my inspiration

when I came across this and I nearly died.

This is a table designed by Amy Moss. (Are all uber talented dessert tale designers called Amy?? haha)

soooo pretty!! I love the backdrop. I wonder how I can do something similar for mine without like having to move an actual plywood wall or something to my ballroom foyer. Maybe I can get a large piece of candy-striped fabric and get the hotel staff to hang it up for me on one wall and place the table in front of it. I'll worry about that later.

Here are the pink and green candy inspirations I found online:

All pictures taken from another stunning DIY blogger Torie Jayne

they look so yummy!

clearly it'll be hard to find sweets like these in singapore but we have a few yummy looking ones ourselves!
i'm planning to get maybe mini strawberry and green apple mentos or pink and green candy from Sticky; to put into clear envelopes for the boards, strawberry Kit-Kats re-wrapped with my own japanese inspired wrappers on white trays and glass containers filled with the sweets featured below.

following photos are taken by me ;)

sugar coated strawberry and green apple gummies

pretty pastel marshmellows

gummy filled pink and white marshmellows

these fake looking (haha) mushrooms are surprisingly yummy!

don't they look delicious??

i wish i had get started on getting the supplies for my table right away!!

The One with the search for THE dress begins!!

The hunt for the perfect wedding gown begins!!

I'm still wondering if it's way too early, it is still one year to the big day but I can't wait!! So itching to do something right now hehe.

I have appointments with The Aisle and Di Gio Bridal on 31st July and I have my bestest, most trusted sisters with me to give me advice. That's half of my dream come true.

I had wanted to hold my bridal shower with my gown selection; ask the studio to set aside a private area for us, I'll cater for some high tea and maybe a little champagne, we'll have some sandwiches and tea and toast each other with champagne; gossip and girl talk while I hop in and out of the dressing room in my gowns. It'll be such a great afternoon but alas most studios here are either too small or too busy to accomodate such a request.

So I'll settle with half of my dream, have lunch with my darlings then troop over to the studios for some gown shopping.
Joyce, Julia, Weiling, Yingchao and Yanmei.
The people who have known me the longest and best, people who keep me grounded and guided.
So happy to have them with me for the fun-est part of the preparations!!

Oh yes, I must share these, my insiprations for the perfect dress!

pretty!!!

The One with the photographer

okie...
actual day photographer's booked!
next up, bridal studio!

you know for someone who does a ton of research and checks out all options before buying any gadgets or even a facial product, i sure am making decisions fast for my big day.

the venue and photographer were booked without much shopping around. i do worry that i could saved a lot more if i had researched for cheaper options and not be so hasty.

gut instinct? sixth sense? affinity? i'm not sure but i do hope i didn't make the wrong decisions
*crosses fingers*

The One with Weiling's wedding

yesterday was weiling and eric's big day and it was a blast!

we all had such a great time and though it was busy busy busy the whole day we had loads of fun as well

HTB did very well yesterday too, he was supportive and helpful and patient. we had so much running around to do and my 3 inch heels were not helping at all so it was great having a guy around to help. so proud of him!

so much love was felt last night, among the couple, among us best pals. it was so great. and i am going to have so much fun planning my wedding with my 3 bestest gals. it would be all the better becos i'm doing it wiith them. can't wait to start the discussion!

The One with the Amy Atlas inspiration

I really can't wait to start on my DIY plans for my wedding but weiling was right. If i start too early, i'll lose steam and have a pile of incomplete projects in my room haha.

Haven't really decided on exactly I want to do yet, as in a list of projects and all but I do know I wanna do my own candy buffet table. So inspired by none other than the desert mastreo herself, Amy Atlas.

her masterpieces...

aren't they all so so beautiful?? you could hardly bear to disturb the arrangement or eat the delicious looking treats cos they just look so perfect!

the desert goddess herself - Amy Atlas. she's beautiful AND talented. God is not fair...sigh

u can see the rest of her awesome work here at her website Amy Atlas

this is the table i plan to re-create...

this is one of her simplier designs and meant for a birthday party but it's so perfect for my needs

i'm not going to do the full thing of cos, the main thing i'm targeting at is the cork boards tacked with little bags of sweet treats

it would be relatively simple to DIY, paper a couple of memo corkboards with pretty wrapping paper, buy plastic or glassine bags and fill them with pink and green sweets, cut strips of japanese midori paper and staple them to the tops of the bags to seal them and then tack them to the corkboard.

then maybe i'll get a couple of glass jars or vases and filled them with things like marshmellows and cookies, little paper cupcakes holders filled with sweets and small paper bags for my guests to bring away the treats they like; and place them on a long table covered with a soft green table cloth onto which pink sakura cutouts would be scattered.

pretty do-able don't you think?

The One with a rare lazy weekend

sigh...weekends really shld be longer so tat we'll have more chances to juz stone.
it's gonna be so hard for me to get back into the groove for work tomorrow haha

anyway i took the chance to get started on my pretty little wedding organiser file my dear bro bought for me from kikki.k last christmas.

time to start gathering pictures and samples to compile a lookbook! i've been gathering loads of weblinks and online photos, really need to invest in a good printer to print them out, esp if i'm thinking of printing my own invite inserts and invitation labels. will check out the next IT fair.