a la Bollywood

So a handful of people have been giving me some very constructive feedbacks. Basically it’s about the bride (that’s definitely an over-statement lah) posts pictures of herself only, specifically pictures that show off the good side of her and not the other(s) *ahem*

OK lah, I’m a weeny bit selfish loh, but I’m a girl mah! Girls are vain mah *giggles*giggles*. Anyway, to prove that I’m quite a team player in these things, here you are, I’m posting one of my partner’s favorite pictures! Tada! :D

A little special effect technic has been used. Just a tiny bit :)

Baby Steps Always Go Very Far

Not much of updates these days as we are still stuck with you-know-what. That sure sucks, to be indecisive and torn between wants, figures, and those unworthy expenditures; but all is well whenever we recall and recount God’s blessings upon us and it helps in refocusing, and I’m sure He’ll continue to see us through.

This weekend we are going to check out this beautiful cottage studio, and see if we can strike a deal in renting the place for the event and bring in our own caterer, that’ll help in saving chunks.

I have this idea of making my own ring pillow, and I have conceptualized it. Will start collecting the materials and do some sewing this week (or worse come to worse get my dad to sew it! Hehe. BTW, he’s a wonderful tailor!). Wish me all the very, very best :)

If you have any inkling for that matter, do give us some ideas on premises/ locations to be rented for our wedding instead of going to a hotel. Mucho gracias.

Professional Assistance Appreciated

Are there any kind souls out there who are good in graphics and arts and all things creative (and have a little time to spare)?

I’m looking for help in designing our wedding card! Drop me a note pretty please! Going to the printers and choosing my wedding card from their templates is the last of all last things I’d want to do. So, pretty pie please? (Yes, I’m working my cutesy girly charm on you. Yes, you. So you actually do not remember how un-cutesy I am.)

HARI INI DALAM SEJARAH

YOU WON’T BELIEVE ME. YOU.SO.WON’T.BELIEVE.ME! I FOUND THIS HUNK TO GIVE ME A RIDE IN HIM ON MY WEDDING DAY… (except he's a black hunk instead of an orange hunk hehehe... anyway!)

The owner is willing to lend it to us. Dear, do you hear me?!!! We’re gonna have a Murano for our wedding day!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!! I'm going to have many, many sleepless nights...

PRAISE GOD! Oh Lord, You're such a wonderful, prayer answer God (ok, even if I didn't dare to really pray and ask for such a luxurious item, You answered me!). I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING! DARN!

Album Of Joy

My Heart Thumps

Our albums are done up, and are ready for collection, finally! I can’t wait to pick 'em up! It’s been a really long month :)

Lets Try All!

Honey Cleansing Scrub
 1 Tablespoon honey
 2 Tablespoon finely ground almonds
 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix together and rub gently onto your face. The honey helps to moisturize, the almonds help exfoliate, and the lemon helps to diminish redness and blotches. How sweet is that?

Strawberries & Cream Toner
 2 ounces ripe strawberries
 1/2 pint low fat milk

Mix ingredients in a blender and strain through a paper towel. With a cotton ball, smooth the liquid onto your face, and wipe clean with a dry towel. The acids in both the milk and the strawberries brighten dull-looking skin. (It leaves you smelling berry good, too!)

Avocado Glow Mask
 1 whole soft avocado, peeled and chopped
 A squeeze of lemon

Mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork until smooth, and mix in lemon juice. Apply the paste to your face and let sit for 20 minutes. (Avocado has natural moisturizing properties to make skin supersoft.) Rinse with warm water and watch your friends get green with envy.

Salty Body Glow
 1 cup fine sea salt
 1/2 cup grape-seed, olive, or almond oil
Stir ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl. Spread the mixture onto damp skin and massage in -- the grainy salt whisks away dead skin cells while the oil seals in moisture. Concentrate on the rough spots like elbows and heels. Rinse well, and check out that smooth bod!

Sweet Vanilla Soak
 1 cup sweet almond oil (light olive oil may be substituted)
 1/2 cup honey
 1/2 cup liquid soap (plain or flower-scented)
 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Measure the oil into a medium bowl, and then carefully stir in remaining ingredients until mixture is fully blended. Pour into a squeeze bottle and add about a quarter of the mix to a warm bathtub (this recipe will make enough for four baths). Steep -- and soak your cares away.

© 2006 The Knot Inc. All rights reserved.

Grooms Gotta Be Groomed

Three to six months before

Gym'll fix

ItIt's time to hit the gym if you want to look dapper in your suit. Working out at least three months before your wedding will help you look and feel great.

Cut that out!

Lose extra pounds by cutting back on fatty foods such as fry-ups, red meat and cheese. Doing this, as well as cutting back on your alcohol intake, will help inches disappear from your waist.

Facial Awareness

Believe it or not many men have facials these days - and your impending nuptials is a good excuse to give it a whirl. A facial once a month from now until your wedding will help make dull skin glow and become firmer and smoother. Plus it's relaxing.

One month before

Feet fit

When the time comes to break out the flip-flops, make sure your feet look fantastic by having a couple of foot treatments a month or so before the wedding. After a conditioning foot-bath, nail trimming, removal of hard skin, callouses and corns your feet will look - and feel - like new.

Scrub up nicely

It may sound a bit girly, but exfoliating is the quickest way to get smooth skin and by doing it once a week, you'll get rid of all that dead skin and reveal fresh skin underneath.

Soap swap

Exchange your usual soap for a cleanser or soap-free bar. Soap is alkaline and will destroy the acid balance which protects against chemicals and funghi and can lead to dry, red, irritated skin. You should also be moisturising morning and night to re-hydrate the skin and help to retain moisture

On the day

Don't sweat it

Perspiration can be a big problem for nervous grooms, especially during summer weddings. Use a fragrance free anti perspirant to keep you sweat-free all day.

A close shave

Poor shaving techniques can lead to spots, redness and cuts. If you're nervous about shaving on the big day, why not book yourself a traditional wet shave with a barber?

Man hands

There's a good reason why a manicure isn't called a wo-manicure, given the number of men reluctant to look after their nails, yet manicures are becoming increasingly popular with guys. So why not indulge yourself on the morning of your wedding in preparation for the moment you show off that ring. Just make sure your best man isn't around when you're having it done. We can just hear the speech now...

Article ripped from You & Your Wedding

Having Millions

We caught a movie last night, a Hollywood-shows-are-out-so-lets-do-a-mini-mani-mini-mo sort of movie, aptly titled Millions. And there’s always surprises in store for me whenever I opt for the international screens (that is, anything but Hollywood).

I was transported back to my school days when I’d bust all my pocket money just to go for foreign movies (RM 12 per tix, and that is RM 2 more compare to the normal screens!) on a quiet afternoon, hardly any crowds. And it’s always interesting to see things from a non-mainstream movie’s eyes. I enjoy how words of different languages slip ever so casually from the actors’ mouth with all kinds of accents, it has got some kind of magic that behold your attention for eternity…

And I relived those quiet afternoons last night.

I was a bit apprehensive though if Jason would enjoy the show, being a guy that he is, any testosterone-driven elements in a movie is always better welcomed than watching an 8 year old talking about seeing Saints and helping the poor with a quarter of million pounds.

But all is well. At the end of it, the show reminded us that little bit more about the value of money, and how we should spend for our wedding; with that we narrowed our options, and I believe we both are much more at peace to decide in a day or two’s time.

And the cutest thing? My big guy actually trickled a few drops of tears watching the ending of the show, and that’s a yay for me!

A Site To Remember

I found this awesome place to share.
It's gonna be helpful.

Defining Perfection

I think the whole wedding thing has taken a toll on both of us. Besides feeling the pressure over deciding the location, the question of whether it’s worthy to spend so much on the locations has led to a silent quarrel between us.

After a moment of tug-of-war within myself (practicality VS my down-to-earth dream), practicality won. He’s right, no point spending in organizing a wedding when we have a rented house to furnish, a new home that is yet to buy, a honeymoon to make, and technically, a whole life to work on!

I guess by me giving up the idea of having the event done in anywhere ideal but a less-than-ideal church, I’d have a bigger budget to work on the deco, yes dear? :) So I’d go without the ceiling windows and sun rays and all, and it’ll be a little warmer and a little crampier, but we can always be creative, no?

Imagine strings of mini Christmas lights, yards of fluffy chiffon, acres of apple green ribbons, and cottony chair covers with pretty gold bows, baskets and baskets of confetti, and rose petals, lighted pedestals, and most importantly, presence of family and friends who care, and who can forget our Big Guy up there? :)

It’s going to be just, perfect.

Preciousss (a la Gollum)

We’d need to think about the wedding rings too! Yikes!

Note to self, no. Note to Jason: buy.wedding.rings.TWO of 'em :)

A Snippet Of Memory

Between You & Me Now

We are still stuck at the head counts and venue… although we’ve cut down the locations list to KLGCC and Eastin Hotel.



Help.

Between Cottage & Urban

We visited a couple of sites over the weekend – Tropicana Club House and KLGCC.

Initially I thought holding an event in clubhouses is definitely going to be much cheaper, and then I found out by cheaper, it actually means I’ll have to look into many other major aspects on my own, namely getting my own florist, setting up my own deco, baking my own wedding cakes, sewing my own chair covers, and plus plus. So it was a tiny bit of disappointment, because I’m beginning to buy the idea of holding my wedding at a clubhouse (I’m more for hotels for their all in 1 package with ready assistance as oppose to Jason).

Now between Tropicana and KLGCC, I prefer KLGCC hands down. KLGCC has this beautiful room with a touch of cottage feel, for a casual yet elegantly lazy afternoon event with a row of ceiling windows (triple yay!) overlooking acres of green golf course. It was simply beautiful. The sales lady even offers us the free use of a secluded lobby (with a 2 storey high ceiling window!!! Hallelujah!!!!) for our wedding ceremony, and on top of that, all chairs come with chair covers and ribbons, and we get to choose the color!!!

Tropicana is a lovely place too, just a little well… I shouldn’t be mentioning anything here lest I’d stir up some racial sentiments; let’s just say it’s not so to my liking, though Jason likes the place better. Comparatively, Tropicana comes with a bigger ballroom with a small dance floor before the stage. But I don’t like also the fact that we ought to pay for extras, like the use of the lobby for our wedding ceremony, and the uhm… ugly banquet chairs that come naked in chili red or royal yellow :/

Miss sales girl says: but I include so many things for you adeeeee. And there goes the melting heart.

Now revising my guest list, I’m getting a sinking heart instead because our guests may easily exceed 200 pax. Man! When I expect things to be hold in a hotel, the hotels say we have too little head count to meet their banquet quota and besides the quotations do look pricey (I agree on that dear); but when I finally found a lovely clubhouse and jiving rather comfortably with the whole clubhouse idea, my guest list is growing a little too big for the ideal ball room!

How lah?

Setting Up A Home Needs Tis

Lovely furniture, salivating is the only thing I can do.

Venue & Date

Setting dates and venues is always an uphill task. You’ve got people’s calendar to please, your own preferences to please, and on top of that, your partner’s. Whenever Jason and I came to this topic, one of us would ended up sulking (OK, I would end up sulking.).

So last evening, we sat down, and listed down all the options we have on a piece of paper: locations to hold the ceremonies; the flow of the ceremonies; what ceremony to have it where, my state or his state. And at the end of each section, we’d signed and shook hand as a sign of agreement. Hehe. Nice doing business with you dear.

Praise God, we were able to come to a mutual agreement, and were reassured with our own decisions. The date is now set on September 17th, 2006.

It tends to be a bias situation when it comes to “your place or my place?” but somehow the gentlemen normally is the party who’d give in. (thanks dear :> it really means a lot to me!). We are going to have the tea and wedding ceremony over here at my side, follow by a reception; while over at Jason’s side, we’d have a dinner for his friends, ex-colleagues, and church members, relatives who’s Malacca based and can’t make the trip to KL. Earlier we were thinking of only one place to cater to every thing and everyone, but we’d lose out in the numbers, which at the end, doesn’t serve the purpose of having a wedding, which is celebrating your union with the world!

Now the next course of action: call up our prospective clubhouses and hotels for a site visit.

Packaged Brides

We’ve had our bridal pictures taken on the 2nd of January 2006; and I thank God for that. When we signed up for the package (which includes everything from all the gowns that I need, Jason’s suits, photography session, albums, framed pictures, bridal car deco for 1 + 10 cars, to hand bouquets), we paid the down payment, and then during the day we took our photos, we paid another one third, and then finally, on the day we went to choose the pictures, we paid the final one third, meaning, by now, our payment with the bridal boutique is off the list, yay! One payment less to worry about!

I kinda dread dealing with local bridal boutiques. They all have but one intention in mind: profits. I mean, OK, profit is important, you are after all, doing a business here, but hey, whatever happens to the good old “your happiness is our priority”?

Good thing we did our home work by visiting about 10 boutiques before we settled with the one where the gowns I like best. And then, we both sat down and designed our own package and budget instead of taking the packages the boutiques shoved to us. When we went to choose our pictures, they purposely scheduled it in the evening near to closing time so that we can just close our eyes and quickly choose; and then the best part was while choosing, the sales girl started introducing different layout for the albums, when we agreed with the layouts, she’d casually mentioned that’ll be another couple of hundreds. Oh was I pissed. I kept mum and refused to talk to them for the rest of the evening, Jason and I discussed a lot and finally we prodded them to give us another 21 different poses for the 5R album, without touch ups for RM 380 (we didn’t look so bad without touch ups lah! In fact, it was natural and pretty!), which is a rather good deal.

And now, for 2.8k, we got 6 gowns and suits for photography session, 1 different wedding gown and suit for our wedding ceremony, 2 evening gowns for the reception / dinners, 1 large framed photo, 3 framed table-top photos, 1 large album and 1 5R sized album with a total of 46 damn different poses (as oppose to just the standard 25 poses for all 2 albums), and of course, the package includes the standard stuff like the corsages, bouquets, car deco, and… stuff.

So our advise is, always do your home work before hand, and then do a summary of what you both really want, set your budget and create your own package instead of letting them package you (and remember to press for a discount!), and when its show time, be firm and stick to your own decisions and never ever be swayed by their half hearted sweet talks, because really, they couldn’t care less about your happiness. Oh and finally, communication, always, always communicate with your spouse to be; even if it means you both have to quarrel to get the point over, do so! Its better you both fight over it and come to a mutual ground rather than letting others dot you guys around.

You’d appreciate the quarrels a couple of years down the road after the wedding day…

Of Locations And Restlessness

It has been a crazy half a month since Valentine’s day – the day my dad gave his blessing to our proposal to get married.

The month is set on September, while the date depends on availability of the locations. We are now sourcing for suitable sites to hold all the ceremonies and reception in one place. And it’s no joke! Serious! Jason and I would get so uptight; he’d want it simple and most importantly, cut cost, while I agree with the cutting cost part, I’d want something elegant and different from everybody else’s wedding too, better still to get the whole thing done and over with in just one place so that we can dive right into honeymoon! Hehe

And it has only been less than three weeks. Yikes!

Any suggestions for a casual affair for around 200 pax max?