of prints and kicks

Now that I've updated the previous entry about Fluff Bakery postponing their official opening date  boohoo (check their Instagram for updates okay), back to our wedding planning progress!

Quite glad my mamat and I managed to complete all of our major tasks together by the first week of October because he had a work-related summit to go to last weekend.

Which is just as well lah, because that means we get to cut down the number of times we meet each other before the wedding. We've decided not to strictly follow the jangan-jumpa-40-hari-sebelum-kahwin pantang since we'll have to meet for the final fitting anyway, but somehow the stars are aligned in such a way sampai we didn't have to meet this week as well as the next. The weekend after next will be our final fitting (already?!!!), so we'll have to wait until then to see each other again before we officially and legally become husband and wife.

Since I was on my own last weekend, I decided to run through the list of items that my little sister has painstakingly designed for my wedding and finally went out to get half of them printed (since the other half still needs last minute edits.) Been putting off this task for quite a bit because I am very... malas. Haha. Give me a break lah okay, I'm suffering from wedding planning burnout lah!!!

(Also, my little sister will be too busy with her don't know what runway event setup two weeks leading up to my wedding so kena catch her before she starts coming back late and tired and too cranky to take my instructions lol)

Printed out the stuff at Tampines Printing Services, which is located at Century Square because I'm, again, too malas to travel out from my neighbourhood to the usual printing shops I go to at Sunshine Plaza (91 Bencoolen Street). Slightly pricier I think, but what the heck, at least I don't have to brave through the weekend crowd at Bugis area!!! Tak kuasa pe.

In case anyone wants to know which shops I usually go to when I print stuff out at Sunshine Plaza, they are Out De Box and Image N Print, located on the ground level and look like these:

For bigger orders, I've printed with One Ink Jet, which is located at Bendemeer Road, and I've blogged about their maha efficiency here. Would suggest opting for One Ink Jet only if you have transport though, because it's located at flatted factory area and kena masuk a bit dalam. Kalau nak somewhere more accessible, Sunshine Plaza lah jawabnye ye. (Thank Nani for this because she was the one who gave me all the reliable contacts when I first started out!!!)

Anyway, service at Tampines Printing Services was okay okay je, the auntie that attended to me was quite blur so I had to guide her step by step. Nasib baik I numbered the items in my thumbdrive and renamed each and every filename with the description + size required + number of pieces required e.g. 01. Contact Card (A7) x 25 pieces. So senang tengok from one glance. Kalau tak, dengan aku aku sekali confused, dengan aku aku sekali mata blink blink blink macam lampu rosak tak tau nak repair hahaha.

Oooh remember I mentioned about contact cards in my blog entry here? Finally got them printed as well so will pass them to our family, our orang orang kuat and the relevant vendors soon.

 Mad love!

And here's a cheeky picture of my sisters, who have decided to impose ERP charges on those who wish to pass through their bedroom door hahahahaha:

These speech bubbles are my favourite pieces from the loot! I know it's usually "He asked..." and "And... She said yes!" but since our original love story is terbalek, become like that lor. Hehe.

A special board to counter our concern about lurking Uncle Bobs! I've blogged about the Uncle Bob phenomenon here.

This board actually ruffled my cousin's feathers for a bit, but I hope he understands now, after my explanation. I guess if he had read and understood the message fully before jumping, he would have realized that guests are free to take their own photos and videos, not the other way round.

I mean, that's exactly what the board says, isn't it? "Take your own photos and videos if you wish"! As long as guests don't block the official photographers and videographers and only start taking their own pictures and videos after the official people are done with their shots, we're good to go. Heh. The response has been generally positive though, so I guess we're not the only ones who feel strongly about this! Hehe.

Oh, and of course I would not have finished cutting and pasting and assembling all the signages and props within such a short amount of time if not for my supermother and sisters!!!!!

Cinta sampai mati <3 <3 <3

Anyway, since dah terlanjur keluar to print the signages and props and stuff, I managed to find back-up bridal shoes at Tampines 1! Woo hoo hoo.

Yes, yes, I already have one pair of bridal shoes which I bought from JB and I really, really love but all it took was a horrified "What do you mean you only have one pair of bridal shoes??? What happens if you break your one and only pair of bridal shoes on your wedding day?!?!?!" from my middle sister to convince me to buy another pair of bridal shoes as back-up. Muahahaha.

I mean... that little naggy girl does have a point lah kan.

Not as fab as my current pair of bridal shoes imho, and does not exactly fit what I usually like but I think it looks nice and decent enough to act as back-up! What I love about this pair is the thick glittery glittery straps, and the small elastic band at the back strap which makes wearing this pair sooooo much more comfortable than my current pair of bridal shoes!!! And considering the fact that I only paid $15 for these babies... okay lah tu kan. Yay for sales at Payless! :D

Maybe I should consider wearing this pair for the solemnization... or dinner reception instead eh??? My current bridal dress for dinner reception has a bit of train and I am very, very concerned as to whether I will be able to walk properly when the time comes! Bila try try during first fitting je macam anytime boleh wobble seh. At least with this pair tak payah maintain balance sangat since it's slightly lower and I can stabilize my balance better.

Seriously tak balek modal eh, kalau pengantin dah pakai cantik cantik pastu jatuh tersungkur padang terkukur di depan khalayak ramai. ITU JAM JUGAK aku patahkan aku punya heels and walk down the aisle dengan kaki ayam. Kaki ayam as in kaki ayam the peribahasa eh, not literally kaki ayam yang beli kat pasar untuk buat jadi sup.

happy updates! (and one less than manja experience)

Happy updates on the last few items on our wedding list!

(1) Bridal Shoes

Can you freaking believe it - I've found my dream bridal shoes for the wedding without any intention of doing so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I have been paying special attention to shoe shops whenever I go out for lunch (perks of working within walking distance to two shopping centres) for the past two months but nothing ever catches my eye. I was not too bothered by it really, because:

(a) I still have 6 more months to search for the perfect pair... and I think that's more than enough time to find bridal shoes. Right?!

(b) There is a possibility I might change my mind and have to buy another pair after I go for my outfit selection. Never know what'll happen - dah happy happy beli kasut kahwing way before outfit selection lepas tu bila pergi choose baju pengantin three months before the wedding tiba tiba colour and/or design tak kena with the outfits pulak.

(c) My married girlfriends tell me I can worry about getting a pair that I will love wearing because a good and pretty pair will make me feel really happy about wearing it but not too much sampai tulis emo poems slit wrist segala because firstly, there is a high chance I'll wear it during the wedding only and secondly, nobody will really notice during the wedding anyway (Aisyah asked me whether I remembered her bridal shoes to which I had to sheepishly admit with an "Errrrr... no.")

After considering the above, I figured bridal shoes is not something that I have to prioritize now and told myself I'll only actively search after I've gone for my outfit selection three months before the wedding.

And then... this happened:

Sham, Aisyah, my mat and I went to JB over the weekend to cut hair and buy groceries at Southern City and after we were done, we had to decide whether to head to KSL City Mall or City Square JB for lunch. Sham was championing KSL City Mall because my mat and I have never been there before - I actually preferred to go to City Square JB because terasa macam nak makan at Sizzling Stone Grill. But tak tau kenape, someway or another, my heart macam reluctant to voice it out because Sham seemed really keen on checking out the makan places in KSL City Mall.

Plus! My mat and I already told them before the trip that we'd follow their itinerary (because they were the ones who wanted to run errands in JB and we were there just to teman them for fun) and there really was no harm checking out a place we've never been to before kan? So I shrugged it off and we went with Sham's suggestion. 

Reached KSL City Mall and started walking around to look for interesting makan places that are not available in Singapore - takde maksud eh pergi JB pastu makan kat KFC or Seoul Garden (speaking of which... did you know that Seoul Garden provides halal catering for weddings too?!) But someway somehow by a fantastic twist of fate, I caught sight of a super cute concept shoe shop called 'Sugar'... and that was when I saw it - I SAW THE BRIDAL SHOES OF MY FREAKING DREAMS!!!!!!!!!!

Wish I took photos of the super cute shopfront but I was too distracted and excited to remember so here's a lousy screenshot off KSL City Mall's website haha:
 

They had a glass display filled with sparkly and glittery shoes suitable for weddings and just before the salesgirl brought down the pair I pointed out, I caught a glimpse of the price for another pair on a higher shelf - looked like RM239 or RM259. Thought that was not too bad, considering that it wasn't too far off from my budget for bridal shoes. Slipped on the pair I wanted and this, my friends, was how I felt and looked like:

So what else was there to do, right??? Told the salesgirl "I'm taking this!" and then she told me the pair I chose was on 20% off! Ish ish ish, ini anak... siang siang tak cakap, pandai betul kau buat orang lompat kegembiraan eh?! But just when I thought nothing could have made me happier after that, I asked her to confirm the price for the pair I chose so I could calculate the discounted price... and she said the original price for that particular pair was RM199!!!!! And all the while I thought it was above RM200 lor!!!

So there you have it - dream bridal shoes cost me RM199 + 20% discount = RM159.20 = SGD64.90. Ok, now. Exactly how does my dream pair of bridal shoes look like ni???

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE MY BRIDAL SHOES TO THE END OF TIME, CAN?!?!?!?!?!

Ok, here's a close-up for those yang suka tengok benda dekat dekat:

 

(I suspect the black markings on the sole was caused by me doing a little shuffle dance inside the shop because I wanted to see whether I can move freely in the shoes. Also because I wanted to dance my excitement out before I burst into flames of glory hahaha)

Took about a million pictures because I am freaking obsessed with my bridal shoes.

How can I not be? It is exactly what I dreamt of having but thought impossible because it looks like it only belongs on the glorious pages of Pinterest. And how often do you get something that fits all your pre-set criteria? This beauty fits all my criteria for bridal shoes ok:

- Must have thick platform

- Must have thick heels

- Must have bling blings all over

- Must be white or nude in colour

- Must be at least 4 inches high

- Must be covered (cannot be open-toe)

- Must cost less than SGD100

I was actually quite ready to let go of the "Must have bling blings all over" criteria because I figured it must be difficult to find something like that for under SGD100, and there is NO way I am ever going to DIY and pasang the bling blings one by one onto a plain kasut just to get that effect. Looks like I'm wrong because someone somewhere out there had taken on the daunting task of painstakingly pasting the bling blings one by one onto the kasut just so someone (me) can have her dream bridal shoes at a very good price - so whoever you are, I'm sending you lots of love and sparkle ok! ♥☆♥☆♥☆♥☆♥☆

And oh, guess what! With me hugging the shoes close to my chest (haha takut kasut tu lari pe), we headed to Oyster King for lunch after that... but found out that they were out of oysters for the day! (Ridiculous kan Oyster King running out of oysters?!?!?! Ape punya king tak guna ni, pergi letak jawatan and jadi nelayan sua. Gi pancing oysters sana.) We looked around for other makan places but tak berkenan with anything else so we ended up leaving KSL City Mall to have lunch at City Square JB instead. Turns out Aisyah wanted to makan at Sizzling Stone Grill but didn't voice it out earlier as well! So end up we went to KSL City Mall for nothing... except for me to unintentionally discover the bridal shoes of my dreams! YAY!

Fate works in wonderfully mysterious ways, doesn't it? My mat and I punya belief in rezeki and takdir was strongly reinforced after what happened during our BTO journey and this is another example that God has rewarded us with. Alhamdullilah for that! And now I can't wait to bring them babies out for my bridal outfit fitting appointment :D
 

Might have to peel them off my feet now and stop wearing them to sleep so they'll stay fresh and new for the wedding..........

(2) Invitation Cards

Already settled the invitation card design for our dinner reception (I love it!!! Thanks Adik!!! I love you till the end of time muah muah) so last I updated, we're left with the afternoon reception punya invitation cards.

A little hiccup here because we cannot seem to find anything his parents like :( Kita dah tunjuk invitation card vendors to them but semua macam cannot fit their liking. His mum quite liked Ruzanna's invitation card which was designed and printed by Card Maison (we passed her the card as sample) but even after we tried to steer them towards making a decision by telling them about Card Maison's promo last March, it was a no go.

Then we recently saw something from From Fran With Love that we thought might suit his parents' taste but even after a few rounds of possible revisions and suggestions, they are still not budging! My mat sampai dah give up wholesale and told his mum to cari her own sources haha.

(This was the card design that we thought his parents might like, by the way - if you prefer to have something other than the usual trendy postcard fare that's very popular now, you can approach From Fran With Love for this kind of card design:

Very simple but very pretty hor~~~)

On my end, I asked my mum the paling-relek-jek mak pengantin and my dad for their preferences but their replies were "Sembarang" and "Kau lah pilih, ayah ibu pilih nanti kau tak suka, kau tu kan cerewet" respectively. Lol. Trust my parents to know me so well lor.

So I looked through the different card design and printing service providers in the market (other than Card Maison, since we already missed the cut off period to place orders for our November wedding) - there's Pretty White Veil, Kad Pengantin, The Card Room, Studioflux Concepts, Khookhoodoodle (sister company of Innovazione Gubahans - whose gubahan designs are getting even more prettier by the day!) and the newly launched Paperkard (With a fellow kakak kahwing behind it! Hi Shuhada! :D)

But somehow I'm already very comfortable with From Fran With Love after liasing with her for the past two to three weeks sooooo I've finally decided to engage her services to design and print my wedding invitation cards! Absolutely love her service ok! She's super duper patient with my queries, always very cheery and friendly (Yay fellow Farhana! "Farhana" means "Happiness" by the way hehe) and keeps apologizing for "late replies" padahal lambat reply two to three hours je seh. Heh. Some sample designs off her Facebook page, in case you're interested!

(Source: From Fran With Love)

So yes, I settle the kettle for the wedding cards already YAYYYYYYY. Damn outstanding task been bugging me for months and now it's finally out of the way woohoohooooo.

(3) Baju for Groomsmen and Bridesmaids

Another thing that's finally out of the way is the baju baju kuat for our orang orang kuat! My mat met the guys to choose their fabrics and have their measurements taken at Grand City Tailor whereas I met the girls at Joo Chiat Complex to have their measurements taken and pass the fabrics we previously bought from Princess Fabrics to a well-known tailor called Manja last weekend and had both groups meet for lunch.

BY THE WAY - Can I just use this opportunity to complain about my horrible maha terrible experience at Manja??? The nyonya who attended to us WAS FREAKING RUDE AND CONDESCENDING TO THE MAX, PLEASE. Every single thing we requested for was replied with a "Ini design tak lawa lah!!!" "Lu buat gini tak cantik!!!!" "Apa pasal lu mau buat macam gitu???" "Wah lu mau bikin ini design wa manyak susah wor" "Ini design manyak leceh lah!!!" siap with jeling menjeling and annoying jabbing gestures EH SIAL LAH, aku peh suka, aku peh pasal ah aku nak buat macam mana sak.

You're already so overpriced because you pride yourself for good tailoring and workmanship kan??? If you're so bloody good at tailoring then how come semua pun you tak boleh buat and semua design pun leceh to buat or tak cantik to you???? One of the girls kept saying I should tolerate it because "semua tailor memang grumpy macam gitu pe" but I super hate when people who are good at what they do become mother bloody yaya and act like an asshole just because "they can afford to do so".

Plus she was not just grumpy, she was RUDE and she was CONDESCENDING. Not manja at all lor. I pay you good money to do your tailoring magic, not to be give me and my friends your perangai puaka. My regular tailor (who is also a nyonya by the way) is nowhere near grumpy like this mother bitchy nyonya, and even when she thinks a particular design tak akan suit the person wearing it, she will patiently explain why and suggest sound alterations to the original requested design.

It might have been my rotten luck to be attended to by that particular nyonya at Manja though - my girlfriend who often sends her stuff for tailoring at Manja told me that there are two shops at Joo Chiat Complex under the name Manja and the one that she always go to is another unit and the service there is much better than the one I went to. Pfft.

Will go to the other unit with my sisters next two weeks (because I need to get their measurements done as well for their baju) to see whether the experience is any better. For what it's worth, after I posted a picture on Instagram and captioned out my grievance with the nyonya, I had a few other people commenting to tell me they have had less than desirable service from the unit that I went to. Workmanship memang tip top tapi service macam siak. Urgh, marah ni >:-(

Ok dah that's it lah, tak nak angry and negative lagi because angry and negative vibes will be rewarded with angry and negative karma. So I shall now be a true blue Farhana and be very happy that at least we got to meet and catch up with every single one of our orang orang kuat all at one shot last weekend! :D :D :D :D :D

Sayang korang ke hujung dunia and thanks for making the effort to indulge us, guys!!!

And thank you for reading this whole chunk of an entry, korang. Sorry nak kena potong this entry abruptly because dah nak masuk my sleeptime. I pun kena get some sleep ok, you think I 24 jam blogging, vendor stalking and cari inspiration for the wedding is it.