Bridesmaid dresses

I've chosen three of my closest girlfriends to be my bridesmaid (will need a bit more time to choose the maid of honour). Reason being I might be a difficult bride. So the maid of honour has to be VERY patient since she would be with me almost all the time.

Here are a few bridesmaid dresses I thought would look good on my girls. (Picture credits to google.com)

Such a pretty green, don't you think? But I'm not so keen on the sash bit -- it's a bit too thick. A simpler, thinner one might look better.

Quite similar to the green dress, but this one has pleat details at the chest area. I like how the material flows for this one.

Nice colour coordination, but it's a bit too conservative for my liking. I know one of my bridesmaid would like this. She's fond of such dresses.

I like the one shoulder detail for these red dresses. Not sure about the long one though. The knee length dresses look better. 

I like how versatile the dress above is. At least the girls can decide on which style they want -- halter, tube or one shoulder even. And I happen to like blue a lot. :)

Wedding planner, videographer and pre-wedding jitters

I've decided to go with ADAMAS Weddings as my wedding planner...after looking around for two months. I've blogged about Kien Ling's wedding planning services a few months ago. When rif popped the question, I had her in mind. But me being indecisive, I scouted around for more.Spoke to a few wedding planners, but none of them understand me the way Kien Ling does. I see myself as a difficult bride to work with as I don't like being told what to do. Try 'telling' me and I might bite your head off...especially when it's nearing the big day. When I agreed to go with ADAMAS, Kien Ling immediately started working on my wedding which freaked me out. Like MEGA freaked me out.

See, I view November 19, 2011 as another 10 months plus away. But her immediate planning made me realise I've been dilly dallying quite a bit. It made me realise that in another 10 months, I'm going to be someone's wife, daughter in-law and sister in-law. Holy sh*t!! (tries not to hyperventilate)

My videographer Nigel just called to confirm a few things -- things are happening so fast. I'll be sitting down with Nigel to run through a few things rif and I want and don't want in the wedding/pre-wedding video very soon. *breathe, Sue Lynn Tiong, breathe*

I know I want to marry the guy. But why do I feel so panicky? I thought pre-wedding jitters usually happen a few weeks before the wedding day...not 10 months before! *sweats*

Wedding planner: ADAMAS Weddings
Videographer: Nigel Sia

Wedding Shoes

I didn't get to purchase the wedding shoe I wanted, as my size ran out of stock. Buying wedding shoes online seems like a cheaper option, as custom made shoes in KL cost at least RM350. These are three pairs that I like:

Badgley Mischka Women's Fuller Platform Pump ($175.75)

This pair is rather expensive, but I like that it's 4.5 inch high. I'm hoping it would go on sale so I can buy it. I reckon it's quite sturdy because of the elevated front. That way, I can balance myself AND the wedding gown properly.

Nina Women's Electra Platform Pump ($48.99)

I'm definitely going to wear a red evening gown for the wedding dinner. As for my change of Cheongsam, I'm still deciding on the colour. For the tea-ceremony, I won't be wearing a kua. Instead, I'll be donning a Nyonya kebaya as rif's family is from Malacca.

Steve Madden Women's Haylow T-Strap Sandal ($71.96)

I like the glitter effect on this pair -- I feel it would go well with my red gown, but some people think it's too bling. What say you?

*Brian Ng, I'll need you US mailing address if I'm buying any of the shoes above. You're coming back in March right?

Readers' Recommendations

I've been pretty lucky/blessed to have supportive readers who recommended a few good vendors, make-up artist, photographer, videographer, etc. Sharing is caring, so I'm listing down the list that was given to me. Hopefully, this will help others who are planning to get married.


Flowers:
1) Garden of Senses
2) Golden Cherie Florist 


Wedding Gown
1) After Twelve
2) Pretty in White
3) Keith Kee
4) Carven Ong
5) La Sposa Bridal Studio
6) Aspial Bridal Studio


Groom's Suit
1) Lords Tailor


Make-up Artist
1) Gene Lim
2) Sheng Saw


Hair Stylist
1) Gene Lim
2) V.Lee Lau from A Cut Above


Photographer
1) Stories by Integricity Visuals
2) Ckwedding
3) Andy Kho
4) Robin Ng
5) Darren Chong
6) Suchen SK


Videographer
1) Step Production
2) D1 Production
3) AfterBefore
4) Nigel Sia
5) Keng's Cinematography
6) RedBliss, SS2

 Alcohol supplier
1) Bottles & Bottles @ The Gardens
2) Milawa
3) Pernod Ricard
4) Wine Actually
5) Harrisons Wines


Wedding Planner
1) Stephen Foong
2) I Do Weddings
3) Events Wizard
4) ADAMAS Weddings
5) The Studio Park


Wedding Cake
1) Just Heavenly
2) Delectable by Su
3) Fatboybakes
4) Bigboysoven


If you have more recommendations, please let me know. And I'll update the list for future bride & groom to be(s)! 

Wedding To-Do-List

I’ve secured the photographers for the tea ceremony and wedding dinner. We’ve decided on the hotel and the wedding dinner is set for 19 November 2011. As for bridal gowns/bridal studios, I’m open to suggestions. As long as they don’t have “VIP” charges and provide decent wedding photography, I’m happy.

Picture credit: google.com

These are the items/services I’m looking for. Any recommendations? Preferably something affordable, as rif and I are on a budget (and we only have one kidney to spare...).

1. Wedding planner (I’m not very organised, so a wedding planner is a must. My parents insist on one too!) *edit July 25, 2011: ADAMAS Weddings
2. Flowers *edit September 30, 2011: Garden of Senses
3. Bridal Studio *edit July 25, 2011: La Sposa
4. Wedding gown, evening gown, cheongsam... *edit August 2011: Venetian Bridal Studio
5. Suit (Wei Jien isn’t fussy about his suits, but I am) *edit August 2011: De Catano
6. Make-up artist *edit September 2011: Jamie Liew
7. Hair-stylist *edit September 2011: Jamie Liew
8. Wedding favours
9. Invitation cards *edit July 25, 2011: Card design finalised. Wedding monogram completed.
10. Veil *edit August 2011: Venetian Bridal Studio
11. Manicurist *edit October 2011: Glitters, Bangsar Village II
12. Alcohol supplier *edit August 2011: Tong Woh
13. Food catering for the tea ceremony
14. Wedding bands *edit August 2011: groom - Love & Co, custom design for bride's wedding band
15. Emcee (To my friends...anyone wants to volunteer?)
16. Videographer *edit July 25, 2011: Nigel Sia
17. Wedding shoes *edit July 25, 2011: Rockin' Reptiles
18. Bridesmaid dresses
19. Jewellery/costume jewellery (Something simple would be great. I'm not a fan of elaborate jewelry) *edit September 2011: Mori Pin
20. Tiara (Ok, I’m vain. I don’t want a big tiara -- just a mini one to complement the gown) *edit July 23, 2011: Courtesy of Christy from Bangkok
21. Venue for ROM/engagement party *edit June 1, 2011: Venue has been secured. Location will be revealed when the time comes.  

If you have any recommendations/offer any of the above, email me at bangsarbabe@gmail.com

Thanks!

Trying on wedding gowns (part 2)

I got pretty annoyed with a few bridal studios, who tried to charge me additional money for their "VIP" gowns. The studio I went to last weekend was recommended by a reliable person, and I was quite happy with the dresses and package.


Before I looked at the gowns, I made sure there was no "VIP" gown nonsense and no hidden charges. Once I got that out of the way, I went upstairs to see the gowns. Saw a few that I liked, and two gowns looked almost like the gowns I wanted (plus point). Only after I was satisfied with the gowns, we went downstairs and talked about wedding packages.


I insisted on looking at the photographers' portfolio, their real life shots and asked about their photography experience. Wei Jien chose the senior photographer, but I really didn't like his style. He likes playing down the cheekbones, but I want my cheekbones to be highlighted. Also, I found his style a bit old school. The photographer I chose has less experience, but his style suited me and Wei Jien more. Overall, all the photos were alright; nothing impressive but they were not horrible either.


I insisted on quite a few things upfront -- my style of make-up, my own false eye-lashes, my own ampoule and my hair extensions. They charge RM30 for a pair of false eyelashes, and I have plenty of nice lashes in my make-up box. Some may think I'm difficult, but I'm just getting my point across and making sure I get what I want. The girl who attended to me was very nice - let's call her Jane. She was very pleasant to deal with.


Once I agreed with the package, I went back upstairs to try on the gowns. Jane choose two gowns based on the pictures I showed her on my blog. Her selections were pretty spot-on. 

I think this gown is really nice. I'm definitely wearing this for the wedding dinner walk-in...unless they have a nicer gown for me by then. It's fully lace and the cutting suits me well. Jane will need to alter the dress as it's too loose on me. For now, this is "the" dress I want. 

I'm not a fan of this dress/modern cheongsam. There's something about the colour that reminds me of the table cloth used at hotel banquets. Wei Jien and Jane thinks it's nice, but I think it's weird. I might wear it for the photoshoot, since it gives me quite a bit of cleavage but definitely not for the dinner. 

This is the evening dress I want to wear for the dinner. I think the colour is gorgeous and I love love love the back!  

What do you think? Ignore the no make-up face and focus on the dress. :)

When I stepped out in this wedding gown, Wei Jien told me he paused for quite a while. Don't know if he's being corny or if he meant it. This was almost exactly like the dress I wanted from the wedding gown websites I browsed. 

Since it's not as elaborate as the full lace gown (1st gown), I'm keeping this for the photoshoot and maybe the tea pouring ceremony. That's if they allow me to use two wedding gowns on that day. 

This cheongsam is a bit too much, if you ask me. Jane said it would look good for photo shoot, but I'm just not feeling this dress. I don't like the flower details on this dress. It's OTT. 

Hmmm.......

Wedding stress...and our first argument

I always thought a wedding meant signing a couple of papers, wearing a gown and just having a dinner. Turns out, it's more than that. Much, much more. Wei Jien and I initially wanted a simple wedding, with about 50 guests comprising our closest friends and family members.


Sadly, the whole wedding thing has gone out of hand -- we now have almost 60 tables, and 70% of the guests are people we don't know or rarely see. Wei Jien and I are OK with the idea of a big wedding, but we can't seem to agree on two things -- wedding gowns and wedding planner.


He thinks that I don't need a wedding planner, since I can design our wedding invitation, liaise with the hotel people on the wedding dinner package, coordinate with our friends and family on their supposed duties, arrange for the bridesmaids dresses and find a suitable printer for our invitation card. While I know a thing or two about design, I don't think I can take on this huge responsibility. A wedding planner would really come in handy. He/she can help me with the card design, liaise with the printers, hotel people, florist, photographers, videographers, emcee, etc...


It would really make life easier. Besides, wedding planners plan so many weddings in a year, they can do a better job than I can. With their big network, they can probably get more discounts from vendors so Wei Jien and I would be getting a better deal. We talked it out, and he has agreed to go with the planner -- if it's not too expensive. I think the stress mainly comes from family pressure and people insisting on "this gown", "this hairstyle", "this venue", "this theme"...etc. And when I cave into such suggestions, I become unsure of our initial plan -- a simple, yet memorable wedding. 


We can't do anything about the number of guests, but we are definitely going to try to keep the wedding simple. That includes gown selection. We've decided to scout around for a good bridal studio package. It's more convenient that way. Hopefully, the wedding planner we eventually hire will help keep things simple yet elegant, organised and ensure the everything runs smoothly on the big day. The stress is getting to us, me especially. Wei Jien knew I'm bad at managing stress, so we agreed on a simple and very small wedding. Now that it's going to be a big one, we're hoping the stress wouldn't get to me, as it will affect us as a couple.

Trying on wedding gowns

Wei Jien and I went to two bridal houses in SS2 to look at gowns and packages. While I have an ideal gown in mind, I was told that it's going to cost me somewhere between RM10,000 - RM20,000. That's way too expensive!

The first bridal house (let's call it Bridal House A) didn't have the package I want. I don't want to pay RM30 for false eye-lashes when I have boxes of eye-lashes from my pageant days. Also, I'm very particular with my eye shadow colour, and the templates they have are blue and green, the two colours that look most awful on me. I also didn't like the gown selection -- some were OTT.

Bridal House B was better. The packages were more flexible and I liked the service. Showed the staff some of the gowns I had in mind, and they recommended a few nice ones. Two gowns they suggested were on the way (one of them looked similar to what I wanted); the designer just finished making them. These were some of the gowns I tried on:

I like this best. It's simple, but elegant. Sizes were ridiculously small! I couldn't zip it up fully. I'm either fat or brides are expected to be stick thin these days.

Wei Jien thinks it looks good, but he likes another gown better. This gown is a new arrival, so I'm going to have to fork out more $$ if I plan to wear it for both the photo shoot and the big day.

I personally didn't like this, but Wei Jien thought it was quite alright. The chest area felt weird -- it was loose and the cutting wasn't suitable for me. I don't think I can fill the chest area up nicely even if they were to alter it to my size. The bottom half was too plain, which I didn't fancy.

Wei Jien likes this best. I think this looks nice, but I like the first one better. Again, it's way too tight for me, so don't mind the gaping back. For the package they offered, I get a choice of 4 gowns for the photo shoot and 3 gowns (one bridal, one evening and one cheongsam) for the dinner.

They didn't have many gown selections that day, as a lot of gowns were rented out. I didn't see any evening gowns or cheongsams I liked. Apparently, many people got married in December so it's best to return in mid-Jan to see more gowns. We are still looking around for good Bridal Houses, so let me know if you have any in mind!