R.O.M Video

Our R.O.M was attended by family members and close friends. rif and I decided on everything -- the venue, flowers, decor, cake, wines and food. I wore a gold Herve Leger with Zara heels and my neck piece was a gift from Mori Pin. My manicure and pedicure were courtesy of Urban Spring.

Everyone had a good time (I hope!), including us both. We also had time to catch up with each and every one of our guest because it was a relatively small gathering. Garden of Senses asked what was my favourite colour, and I replied, "Baby blue". Jackie immediately got to work and came up with the beautiful decor. Nice right? :)

I also had a good team (Andy Kho and Nigel Sia), who documented the whole ceremony in the best way possible. Andy's photos will be shown to my guests during the wedding dinner (and later on, in my blog).

I am however, releasing the R.O.M video by Nigel Sia. He's very dedicated in delivering the best work possible and I'm pleased with the video outcome. According to my wedding planner, he was at the venue since 7.30am to get ready for the video.

Another thing I like about Nigel is his understanding of my favourite angles and features. Yes, I'm rather demanding in that sense. The colours were lovely and he captured everything so beautifully, I teared while watching the video. *sniff sniff*

I thought the Love Story video he did for our wedding dinner (to be released on the blog after the wedding dinner) was good, but this was even better! Nigel, I really think this is your best work yet. Can't wait for the video of the actual day. By then you should be damn pro already, hor? :D

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Nigel Sia's hard work…along with his team members. Enjoy!

Wei Jien + Sue Lynn // ROM Highlights (2011) from Nigel Sia on Vimeo.

The Marriage Preparation Course (Part 5)

Keeping Love Alive - What is your love language?

In my wedding vow to Wei Jien, I promised be his confidant. That was after learning how important it is to be a friend to your spouse. Friends confide in each other, spend time together and have conversations together. Wei Jien was first my friend, before we started dating, so naturally, we shared a lot of common interests together.


We'd go for food trips, mini vacations, coffee sessions, window shopping and watch TV series. During the fifth session of TMPC, we learnt about love languages and how each individual has a different love language. Often, our love language is different from our partner's so we need to understand that and take the effort to show it often.


For me, my love languages are "time" and "words". I feel happy when Wei Jien spends time with me and talks to me. I also love compliments and words of encouragement. Wei Jien's love languages are "touch" and "words". He likes receiving hugs and kisses, as well as words of encouragement and praise.


And in every strong marriages, sex plays an important role. Putting aside one night stands and random shag buddies, sex is communication at the deepest level. It is an expression of love within the marriage. I learnt that the key to a good sexual relationship is to talk about it -- your expectations, your thoughts and your problems (if any). Sex isn't a race or a competition. Every marriage is unique, so never compare yourselves with another couple.


This session made me realise that Wei Jien knows me better than I know myself -- he always knew that my love language was time. And he makes an effort to spend as much time as he can with me. :)

R.O.M - October 8, 2011

A few pictures from our R.O.M at Spasso Milano last Saturday courtesy of Mike & Jo Cyee. I thought the ceremony went well -- our close friends were there, the decor was gorgeous, the food was good (that's very important to me) and our cake was lovely.

Will be posting more pictures soon, once I get them from Andy. Stay tuned! :)

Before our R.O.M...

The R.O.M is tomorrow. Actually, it's in a few hours time. I think my jitters got worse when I filled in a form last week, and came to the column, "Single or Married". That freaked me out a bit, as I knew that would probably be the last time I tick on the "Single" tickbox.

Wei Jien is asleep, but I'm still up rehearsing my wedding vows. Took me a while to write the vows, and SIX amendments. I'm a seasoned food writer, but definitely not a wedding vow writer. I decided the last wedding vow I wrote was the right one. Thought of it two days ago...on the LRT ride home.

Anyway, my dress has been dry-cleaned, flower arrangement sorted and Jo Cyee just told me the ROM cake is ready. I will be wearing accessories by Mori Pin (given to me as a wedding gift) and the dress will be revealed tomorrow.

Wish us both luck!

Wedding Video - Introduction

Wei Jien + Sue Lynn // Follow Them from Nigel Sia on Vimeo.

Hey all,

We are getting hitched really soon. 
Keep watching this space for more info!

Xoxo,

Sue Lynn & Wei Jien

The Marriage Preparation Course (Part 4)

Resolving Conflict

Conflict happens to us all the time and it gets more frequent when we enter a marriage. That’s because we’re all different and selfish by nature. In our marriage preparation course, Wei Jien and I learnt how to identify and deal with our differences. When we did the personality test during the first session of TMPC, one of our weaknesses was our inability to resolve conflicts effectively.

First, we identified the type of anger we have – rhino (explode) and hedgehog (bury). We both have rhino and hedgehog tendencies, but in general, I’m more of a rhino and he’s more of a hedgehog. Next, we were encouraged to look for solutions to the problems we faced.

The important thing we both learnt in this session was never to use words like, “You always…” and “You never…”. Many couples are guilty of making this mistake and it is going to take time (and effort) to change this. We're still guilty of making this mistake, but hope to overcome this in time. Prior to this, either one of us would have give in to the other whenever we faced conflict. This “I win, you lose” situation got us through the years, but it was hardly ideal. Now, we sit down, talk and listen to one another, and identify the issue. Once we agree on an action plan, we work on it together.

Marriage involves sharing everything. We’re moving from “I”, to “us”. It’s no longer my money, my car and my home. Instead we have to look at things from an “us” perspective – our money, our car and our home. That’s going to be difficult for many people, especially if you’ve been living independently for a long time. We also addressed our attitude towards money – Wei Jien and I are both ‘savers’, so that made things a bit better. It’s also good to discuss about who will manage the finances and do a yearly forecast of your expenses. Obviously, Wei Jien will be doing that.

With conflict, there’s bound to be hurt. That’s when we need to learn to put away our pride and say sorry. Asking for forgiveness and giving forgiveness is the only way a marriage can move forward. It makes sense, although I find it difficult to just forgive and move on in general. Yes, I’m one of those people who keep unresolved issues buried until shit hits the fan.

This session, together with sagely advices from our support couple (I’ll talk about that soon) gave Wei Jien and I pointers on how to deal with our differences. We’ve reduced interrupting each other and attempt to be more reasonable when it comes to finding a solution – the “US” solution. Not quite there yet, but it's only a matter of time...

Wedding prep: Make-up artist

I’ve been looking for a good make-up artist cum hairstylist for my big day. The make-up artist of my choice would cost me RM2K (discounted price) PER SESSION excluding hair since he’s a celebrity make-up artist. One of my readers recommended a makeup artist, who quoted me a reasonable amount for two make-up and hair sessions (morning and night). For the trial session, she charges an extra RM150.

The second make-up artist I found does the job for slightly cheaper (2 sessions + trial). He is a hairstylist by profession and does a lot of makeup shows. I like how he does my hair, but I’ve yet to see his makeup portfolio. I was at a concert when I saw the works of the third make-up artist. She did the makeup for the performers, and it was exactly the style I wanted. Her price quote was also reasonable for 2 sessions. Trial session requires and additional RM150. That said, I’m not sure about her hairstyling abilities yet. Both the second and third make-up artist do not own a website so it’s hard for me to gauge what they can do.

Earthy tones are my best bet

Any of you know a good makeup artist (who can do hair as well) who charges reasonably? To save money, I’ll be doing my own make-up and possibly hair for my ROM. If I had a choice, I'd do my own make-up for the "jip san leong" and wedding dinner too. But I'm only worried I'd mess up...because I might be nervous.

Oh, and here are a few hair tips for bride-to-bes:

• You know the saying styling dirty hair is easier than freshly washed hair? It’s a myth. Oily hair doesn’t work well with hairspray.
• Based on my personal experience, don’t use synthetic hair extensions if you plan to style it with your real hair. Human hair is a lot easier to style.