The Pre-Wedding Preparations (Part 1)

Realized that my entry on my pre-wedding preparations will be as long as the Great Wall of China punya nenek moyang if I dump everything together in one entry so I'm going to break it down into 3 parts! Kirakan ada sequel triquel ala ala Hollywood blockbuster lah gitu.  

As we all know, about 3 weeks before the wedding I still had time and breathing space to blog about preparations but bila part dah masuk second last week, hah ambik kau obat. I started getting emails and text messages from my vendors, asking me to confirm this and approve that and approve this and confirm that! Sampai naik pusing macam gasing aku dibuatnye.

And that was when I knew my wedding was definitely creeping up on me (Take note eh guys!!! Once korangnye email inbox and Whatsapp inbox start jamming and beeping non-stop, maka itulah tanda tanda hari yang berbahagia dah nak sampai). I was so busy macam bee sampai niat nak kasi one short short good good entry before I became a wife pun tak kesampaian.

2 October 2013 (Revised on 28 October 2013)

Finalized Songlist For Dinner Reception

I think I pernah cakap that I was very pleased with my mamat for preparing our dinner reception songlist all by himself! I've mentioned here before that my mamat was put in charge of the songlist for our dinner reception because he is the more musically-inclined between us two and I've also mentioned here that I loved how he took the initiative to include the duration of each song so it'll be easier for us to kira how long the whole songlist will take. So much sayang for saya punya significant other yang sorang ni! :D

Now I just want to sebok sebok posting a screenshot of the Excel spreadsheet which my mamat prepared for our songlist! *beams*

And since we've decided to share our tak seberapa songlist after the wedding is over, here it is! :D

Guest Arrival

01. Dealova - Once (Youtube)

02. For The Rest of my Life - Maher Zain (Youtube)

03. Fallen - Lauren Wood (Youtube)

04. Turn Me On - Norah Jones (Youtube)

05. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye (Youtube)

06. Beautiful As You - All 4 One (Youtube)

07. Just You and Me - Zee Avi (Youtube)

08. Reasons to Love You - Meiko (Youtube)

09. I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz (Youtube)

 

March In

01. Love is Endless by Mozella (Youtube)

Dinner Reception

01. Lovable - Kim Jong Kook (Youtube)

02. Near or Far - Carissa Rae (Youtube)

03. Darling It's You - David Choi & Clara C (Youtube)

04. Treasure - Bruno Mars (Youtube)

05. Love is Easy - McFly (Youtube)

06. I Think I'm in Love - Mocca (Youtube)

07. You Make Me Happy - Cathy Heller (Youtube)

08. The Best Thing - Mocca (Youtube)

09. The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson (Youtube)

10. We're Good Together - Cathy Heller (Youtube)

11. Quando Quando Quando - Michael Buble ft Nelly Furtado (Youtube)

12. A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (Youtube)

13. Greatest Story Ever Told - Oliver James (Youtube)

14. My Heart - Acha Septriasa & Irwansyah (Youtube)

15. Terukir Di Bintang - Yuna (Youtube)

16. I Do Adore - Mindy Gledhill (Youtube)

17. Best in Me - Blue (Youtube)

18. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (Youtube)

19. You're Home To Me - Cathy Heller (Youtube)

20. Little Things - One Direction (Youtube)

21. I Swear - All 4 One (Youtube)

22. God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You - N'SYNC (Youtube)

23. All My Life - K-Ci & Jojo (Youtube)

24. I Do (Cherish You) - 98 Degrees (Youtube)

25. Everyday I Love You - Boyzone (Youtube)

26. You And I - Ingrid Michealson (Youtube)

27. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat (Youtube)

28. Missin' You Like Crazy - Us (Youtube)

29. Stuck on You - Meiko (Youtube)

30. I Need A Girl - Taeyang (Youtube)

31. I Do - Colbie Caillat (Youtube)

32. Two - Lenka (Youtube)

33. True Love - Pink (Youtube)

33. Sayang - Shae (Youtube)

34. Love on Top - Beyonce (Youtube)

35. Lucky - Pharrell Williams ft Daft Punk (Youtube)

36. Nothing on You - Bruno Mars ft B.O.B (Youtube)

37. Turn Up the Love - Far East Movement (Youtube)

38. Brighter than the Sun - Colbie Caillat (Youtube)

39. Something 'bout Love - David Archuleta (Youtube)

(On hindsight, I regret not remembering to include Selena Gomez's I Love You Like a Love Song and Lindsey Ray's You Make Me Happy into the list!!! Sigh pie lemon pie.)

We spent quite a fair bit of time on this, and even though we're ~pretty~ sure our guests didn't even pay attention to the music since everyone was so busy eating and chatting and conquering the photobooth lol, it was really nice to hear snippets of the music that both of us love and enjoy throughout the dinner reception. Ada satu part I even whispered to my mamat after I caught the both of us humming along to the same part of a song "Entah entah orang tak dengar pun lagu ape ni, kita dua je yang enjoy the music haha"

So aaaaanyway, our songlist is a happy mix of: 

• music that has meaning to our relationship (think True Love by Pink and Dealova by Once)

• music which is radio-friendly (like Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat and Little Things by One Direction)

• music which brings us back to our teenage memories (cue the legendary God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You by N'Sync and I Do (Cherish You) by 98 Degrees), 

• cute music which we - okay, I - like and listen to (such as You Make Me Happy by Cathy Heller and Darling It's You by David Choi and Clara C); as well as 

• catchy tunes which can guarantee earworms for the next few days (that's Lucky by Pharrell Williams ft Daft Punk, Treasure by Bruno Mars and Turn Up the Love by Far East Movement for you. I decided not to include Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines into the mix in the end because of my apprehension mentioned here. Meh.)

We didn't have a specific songlist for the afternoon reception - except for a short list of must-haves which my mother-in-law provided - so we left that to the good hands of our trusty entertainment people from Medialite.

Oooh, a little cerita about our march-in song: it was initially supposed to be Everyday I Love You by Boyzone tau but it was too much of a snoozefest zzzzz and ignited groans from our orang orang kuat hahaha EH KORANG YANG TAK NAK JOGET BILA TIME MASUK APE (I've explained why we couldn't do a fun dancing entrance which is more reflective of our personalities here). Seriously itu lagu memang sappy and soothing ah but the only way to walk in to that song is to freaking sleepwalk, can?!

So we did a trial run on Mozella's Love is Endless, which is one of our favourite songs and has a faster beat, managed to get the right pace for the march-in (at 2 bloody am, one week before the wedding haha more on this in another entry) and tadaaaaa~ itulah al-kisahnye. 

Actually kita punya first choice is Treasure by Bruno Mars ah but tak boleh because the pace turned out all weird and cacat. I mean, how the hell do you just walk in selamba bomba to Bruno Mars' Treasure?!?!?! That lagu is the kind yang kena goyang punggung inul segala sak.

12 October 2013 - 13 October 2013

Printed DIY signages and table numbers

Etc Etc Etc

During the weekend before Hari Raya Aidiladha, I bought an extra pair of heels from Payless (which turned out to be maha useful because end up that extra pair lagi kena with my sanding and dinner outfits than the first pair that I bought in JB!) and printed out some of the DIY stuff, which I blogged about here. Itu time masih ada kuasa ah nak berblogging hahaha

After that there was a lot of movement during this period, which involved finalizing the necessary permission from Temasek Polytechnic for the outdoor photoshoot, booking the minibus for transportation (my usual go-to for minibus - Aunty Nancy from Million Bus!), chasing Compass for the license application approval, passing the colour samples that we bought from Princess (Arab Street) to the relevant vendors, etc etc etc x 100 etcs.

13 October 2013 (Sunday)

Confirmation of Guestbook Table and Dessert Tier Mock Up 
from Dessert Artisans

One of the emails that I was maha excited to receive was the one from Dessert Artisans, attaching the moodboards for our wedding dessert tier and the guest reception table setup for our dinner reception!!!!!

We got the complimentary guest reception table setup when we signed up with Dessert Artisans at Jentayu Gallery's wedding exhibition last year so if you thought our reception table was gor to the geous, it was all thanks to the talented hands of the amazing Dessert Artisans!

Wish I can show y'all all of their hand-drawn moodboards but I just kasi sneak peek of the dessert tier moodboard je okay, since I'm not sure if they're okay with me posting the actual moodboards wholesale:

Moodboard je dah cantik lah siakkkkk. APAKAH MAKSUD SEMUA INI?!?!?!?!?!

Needless to say, the actual day punya setup blew my mind to the moon and back. Sesangatlah terhutang budi to Nani, who is my bridesmaid and my mamat's female equivalent, because she was the one who planted this idea into my head and eventually sponsored this!!!!! I will share more about the dessert tier setup and guest reception table when I do the final review on Dessert Artisans in a separate entry. You all please sabar menanti.

14 October 2013 (Monday)

Received Actual Bridal Bouquet from Woodleigh Park

I was also very excited when I received an email from Woodleigh Park a day before Hari Raya Aidiladha, asking me to approve the colours, materials and accessories collected together to make my bridal bouquet!!!!!!! There was no freaking way I could have not given my approval lah seriously - all the pieces are so gorgeous and so exquisite and SO ARGH aku tak tau ape lagi nak cakap because seriously boleh membawaku ke tangisan kegembiraan *sandiwara*

Here's a picture of the materials and accessories which Woodleigh Park emailed to me for my approval... cut by a third so as not to reveal everything hehehe:

Fast forward a few days later, guess what arrived at my doorstep that very same weekend?????

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Mehehehehe! You cannot really see it here in the picture but baru pegang kotak my tangan dah terketar ketar kegembiraan seh. Nasib baik my tangan cannot nangis kegembiraan okay. Kalau my tangan boleh nangis kegembiraan..........

... okay lah, tak lah, seram lah pulak eh kalau tangan boleh nangis kegembiraan?! Hur hur hur.

A picture of my favourite piece out of the whole bouquet and the super cute detail at the handle! MEGA LOVE!

Oh, and can you see that little bit of white fabric with gold embellishment? I was prancing around my middle sister's bedroom and excitedly showing her the bouquet when she, being the selamba bomba person that she is, actually said in her ~usual~ selamba bomba manner: "Eh bouquet kakak macam pakai baju kurung." WTF INI ANAK HAHAHAHAHA NI TREND BARU LAH MANA KAU TAU

Bouquet aku pun pandai tertib lah okay, pakai baju kurung pergi majlis orang kahwin. Takkan nak pakai translucent kebaya top and tight leggings ketat tersendat kat bontot pergi majlis orang kahwin kan. Kan tak manis, my friend.

Alright, just sneak peeks for now but suspect kuat I'll spam pictures of my bridal bouquet in its front angle, back angle, side angle, top angle, bottom angle, right angle, left angle, cross section angle, acute angle and obtuse angle segala once I do a proper final review!!! Don't say I never say ah.

Oh, one of the good things about opting for a corsage bouquet (since I'm not a fan of fresh flowers, so sakit hati when they layu okay D:) - is the fact that I get to receive the bouquet wayyyyy before my wedding day and I get to keep the bouquet for keepsake thereafter! Even if tak nak or tak boleh keep in bouquet form, at least boleh simpan the accessories and brooches as kenang kenangan, you know???

And yes, if you also want to have a super gorgeous customized bridal bouquet to compliment your outfit colours on your wedding day but not yet convinced (WHY???), you can take a look at Woodleigh Parks' other works on their Facebook here and their Instagram here. Kalau dah convinced maha convinced then ape lagi, terus email them lah!!!!!

[Note: Woodleigh Park is a design brand by Facelift Design.]

Tapi tau ape yang lagi best tak??? 

Woodleigh Park is currently running a promotion that runs until 23rd November 2013, y'all!!!!! All you need to do is ask them about the promotion brochure via email before 23rd November 2013 to get the details tau. So must cepat cepat!

Okay lah, akak rasa that's all for now, yang lain akak sambung another day.

[Edit: Part 2 is out! To read more, click here.]

a story about bob and cherrie

Have you guys seen the bridal room decor and in-house dias setup by Bonito By Bob???

(Thank you @nraishah for the pictures!!! Such a darling, this girl.)

Saw these on Aishah's Instagram and I was squealing all over (dalam hati je... sebab time tu tengah dalam train haha) So damn refreshing and cantik kan??? I especially love the bridal room decor!!! 

I'm not going to have any bridal room decor for my own wedding since my reception will be held somewhere else so takde chance nak consider pun :( (Well, I am planning to spruce my bedroom up a liiiiittle bit though, since I'll be getting ready at home and our photographer will take pictures of me in my bedroom segala kan)

But if you're looking for a vendor who can do a different kind of bridal room decor + in-house dias, Bonito By Bob might be the perfect vendor for you!!!!! Some other samples (which is tak banyak at the moment, because they kind of just started on this whole bridal room, in-house dais thingamajig)

(Credit: Bonito By Bob)

If you need a vendor to do your gubahan trays sekaligus, even better - Bonito By Bob can conceptualize and decorate them for you too! Their gubahan trays are very cute miut okay! I first knew about Bonito By Bob because of their gubahan trays actually - another bride-to-be (Shaz from Glitter On My Finger, I think) tweeted about them earlier this year and their gubahan trays left an impression on me because they were so cute and totally up my alley :P

They got the laci laci kind... 

(Suka eh dorang laci laci ni semua... bridal room decor pun banyak laci kat belakang haha!)

... the acrylic box kind...

... as well as the normal tray kinds lah. Oh, they also have gubahan trays yang ada crate tau!

(Credit: Bonito By Bob's Website)

For those who want a little bit of kelainan! :D

I'd advise bakal pengantins who will have the Mean Makciks Movement at their weddings to steer away from the crates though, because you know lah their mulut... mesti ada je comment dorang when it comes to something that looks different from what they are used to. Mulut tempayan boleh ditutup, mulut makcik how you want to tutup? Tenyeh dengan chilli and sireh pun their mulut lagi pedas, girl. No challenge.

But well, talking about sireh...

(Credit: Bonito By Bob)  

... even their sireh dara looks different hor?! In a super cute new way! Hehehe.

I wonder if they're ever done / considered doing bridal bouquets since they're so crafty?!

But even if they haven't done / not considering bridal bouquet services, you know who you can approach for cute bouquets for your engagements or weddings tak?????

Cherriesmitten!!!!!

I sangat suka with her presentation okay! Jom kita lihat her wonderful creations:

 (Credit: Cherriesmitten)

The perfect option for people who'd love to have fresh flower bouquets for their engagements or weddings or even any other special occasion lah! 

This Cherriesmitten make my tangan very gatal you know, macam nak order bouquets for my bridesmaids all! But this is not really a need (more like a want, hehe) and since I don't want to incur more costs for the wedding (cukup, Tipah, cukuppppppp!), this shall remain an angan angan.

But just because it's angan angan for me, doesn't mean it is just an angan angan for other people so if you're looking for someone to do your bridal bouquet with fresh flowers... tau tau lah nak buat ape lah eh. Kalau tak tau, meh I kasi you tau:

Click here to follow Cherriesmitten on Instagram lah, ape lagi.

Alternatively, you can email her at cherriesmitten[at]gmail[dot]com for orders. 

But for those yang prefer brooch/satin bouquets, there are other options such as House of Bouquet and Budgetnista Chic, besides Cradle Love and Heirbloom Bridal Bouquet Couture - who is having a September Sale for first ten 2014 BTBs who confirms their order right now by the way! - (my bridal bouquet choice, Woodleigh Park, does fresh flower bouquets and corsage bouquets.) Ni kalau you tak nak choose the tukang buat brooch bouquet yang pernah main busuk earlier this year ah.

Oh, and is it just me, guys... or did I see such lawa modern weddings happening during my bachelorette weekend??? Saw two or three weddings with a modern twist on social media and I was so happy to see them!!! Might blog about one of the weddings in the next post because I am semangat about pretty weddingy things like that :D

busuk tales of bunga bouquet

I don't usually post explicit stories about wedding vendors bitching and clawing each other to death because you can never really pass judgment without truly knowing both sides of the story.

Unfortunately the latest saga between two bouquet sellers is backed with legit pictorial evidence and has left me feeling very, very disgusted and very, very angry... and I am disgusted and engry enough to share the saga - You can click here to see the album specially dedicated to what happened by Cradle Love by Matyn + Mishel.

No further comments from me because I'd prefer you browse through the postings and make your own conclusion. Peace out, K-town.

pesanan khas hari ini

Hari ni I nak kasi heads up!

This heads up is specially for those who might have booked the venue that I mentioned in my previous entry about my chosen venue - please take note that Dzul the liaison person has left the organization and I strongly encourage you to call Hashim (the new liaison person) to arrange a meeting with him to confirm your booking and package details to avoid future conflict or confusion. Very, very important to reconfirm your package details and ensure that you all are on the same page tau. You can message Dzul for his contact details or you can email me for the information ok!

Cannot thank Maryate, another BTB who booked the same venue, enough for emailing me to give me a heads up about the change. Syukur alhamdullilah for the chain of events that happened because we wouldn't have known there's a minor discrepancy if we hadn't gone down to meet the new liaison person. Better to sort it out now then sort it out only two to three months before the wedding, I say! So I'm "paying this forward" by letting you all you all yang dah book the venue after getting the quotation and contact from me so you all you all can make the necessary arrangements ok? Don't say I never say hor!

Jangan hegeh hegeh and jangan tunggu tunggu ok guys, nanti nearer to your wedding date ada je discrepancies, melalak menangis meraung nanti.

Ok next! Next pesanan khas is for those yang planning to head to Fiesta Pengantin Perdana 2013 next weekend - go visit Heirblooms (Bridal Bouquet Couture)'s Booth No. 22 if you're looking for affordable bridal bouquets for your event and simply quote "Kahwin Khronicles" to get $5 off your total bill ok!!!

Some of their works lifted off their Facebook! Macam macam bouquet they all ada... Brooch bouquet ada~~~ Fresh flowers bouquet ada~~~ Pearl bouquet ada~~~

 (Source: Heirblooms - Bridal Bouquet Couture)

Wish I can say I'll be there to show my kakak kahwing support (and buat menyemak semak of course, hur hur) but next weekend is reserved for our Orang Orang Kuat day! Finally packing our groomsmen and bridemaids off to the tailor to take their badan measurements and it'll be the first time we'll get to meet every single one of them together satu kali gus! Time to unleash the first "tekan", recruits? :P

DIY becomes YDFM (you do for me)

I've been trying to decide whether I should DIY two things - (1) bridal bouquet and (2) photobooth + guestbook for our afternoon reception for the past two months!

After much thought and considering the fact that: (1) I am very malas to DIY and don't want to menyusahkan diri sendiri; and (2) I do not want to have to depend on my own friends and family and/or menyusahkan them in any way since they might have their own important things to worry about... I've decided it's better to let the professionals do the jobs for us instead! So yes, once again I have taken the pemalas way out haha yay!

Settled the deposits for these two items and now I can fully concentrate on getting contacts and design inspiration for our wedding invitation cards pulak. (More on this in another post, I don't want to start another one of my three-hours long Hindustan blog posts hahahahaha)

Bridal Bouquet

It was an easy choice for me when it came to bridal bouquet!!!

The only company I knew who could deliver good stuff cannot bluff that I will love to death is Facelift Design! I wanted to have a little bit of Facelift Design incorporated into my wedding anyway, so I asked them for their bouquet quotes, was satisfied with what I received so I confirmed my order for a corsage bouquet. Sukaaaaa!!!!!

Some of their previous works for viewing pleasure!

(Source: Facelift Design)

You can see their albums of pretty bouquet creations here, here and here.

You tinggal cakap je, you nak bouquet style ape??? Classic? Mod? Rustic? Chic? Whimsical? Facelift Design does them all, and does them all fabulously. Plus you have the freedom to choose whether you want fresh flowers or corsages - I personally preferred something that I can keep for some time instead of a bouquet that dies on me the next day after I've paid good money for it so I chose corsages over fresh flowers.  

The other companies that I know offer bridal bouquets are: Blushing Bouquet (who does mostly brooch bouquets, I think, someone recently told me they no longer do fresh flower bouquets), KS Blooms (no new works posted on their page recently so I don't know whether they're still actively taking bridal bouquet orders) and Heirblooms - Bridal Bouquet Couture (I saw someone mentioning them on Cozycot forum recently!)

Photobooth / Snap and Print Express Service + Guestbook for Afternoon Reception

I didn't really want to spend so much on this service for the afternoon reception so I told myself I'd set a budget for this one - nothing above $400. I knew from my earlier research that photobooths cost $600 to $800 for 4 hours of service so I figured I'll settle for snap and print services since they cost half the price of photobooths and I knew from previous experience that I should be able to get one under $400.

And then... I discovered Snap A Picture. (Ok, drama dah nak start ni jeng jeng jeng hahaha)

Truth be told I only had an okay-okay impression when I first saw their pictures and wasn't really that interested in what they had to offer - but I added them anyway because I believe that people and companies can improve over time with the right feedback and experience, and you never know when you might need to rujuk balik, just in case. And similar to what happened to me for my afternoon berkat and Mel's Genre - the minute I opened up my Facebook to tengok tengok which snap and print service I can consider for my afternoon reception... BAM! I saw Snap A Picture posting one of their albums on Facebook on my timeline.

And this time round I took notice! Because they now provide a very nice backdrop for their services, something other snap and print express services have yet to offer! (So now I'm not sure whether to call them a snap and print service or photobooth service haha) I also like the fonts that they use for their props (Yes, I am one of those idiots who will judge you if you use comic sans hahaha what what) sooooo I asked them for their quote to check if it was within my budget (it was), paid the deposit, received their T&C and I CAN HAZ A PHOTOBOOTH AND GUESTBOOK FOR MY AFTERNOON RECEPTION! YAY!

Granted, their backdrop is not the kind yang boleh swee swee fit in big groups of people but I'm not going to be picky about that if I'm paying half the price of photobooth services that provide proper backdrop that can fit big groups of people. Asalkan ada sua.

The best thing I like about them is the fact that their responses are fast and furious! I messaged them on Facebook at the unearthly hour of 7.47am on my way to work and was not expecting a response until much later, but received their reply almost instantaneously! This continued throughout our correspondence (kalau tak instant reply pun, it will be quite fast, within the next hour kind) and I was pretty happy about that ^^

(I contemplated between Wishing Wand and Snap A Picture initially but decided to settle with the latter because they're within my budget. I think Wishing Wand charges more because their backdrop lagi besar and boleh fit more people plus I think their photo jackets are fancier - if you're interested in Wishing Wand, they'll be participating at Perfect Frosting & Our Midas Touch's 2nd Exclusive Open House on 24th March 2013... siap with discount! So don't forget to RSVP if you're planning to go for the said event ok!)

But baaack to Snap A Picture - some pictures lifted from their Facebook account to meriahkan this blog post:

(Source: Snap A Picture Services)

Listing other photobooth / snap and print express services available in the market below (replicated from my Directory tab) in case you're interested in engaging such services for your wedding reception!

- Baicapture (Review from Nuptial Nervosa here)
- Ezypics (Recommendation from The Pening Pengantin here)

- Fabfoto Booth
- From De Heart

- Hello Forever

- iCleeq
- I Wanna Go Wow

- Knot in Pics
- One Eye Click Live 
- Once Upon Images (Thanks Noor for the heads up!) 

- Palette Pictures 
- Photo Pen Journal (Review from Bride Blabs here)
- Snap A Picture Services
- Wishing Wand (Recommendation from Feeling Feeling Kawin here)
- Zudyra Creation (My review here)

Now off to blog about wedding invitation cards I go for my healthy kilo-khronicles-approved lunch! Ta!