Ten Months To Go

I cannot believe I’m left with only 10 months to my wedding! Exactly 10 more months to go! I’m not feeling too stressed out (yet). Perhaps it will set in only at the 6-month mark? Oh well, I will let Sept me worry about that. For now, I’m going to enjoy my engaged life and the planning process.

I’m looking forward to a date night tomorrow with TF. It will be our 5-month anniversary since he proposed to me on Jan 1, 2012 and also 4 years and 9 months since we first became an “official” couple. I guess we will have more anniversaries as we grow older. But does that mean those deemed “less important” are forgotten? TF and I don’t really celebrate anniversaries (or birthdays, to come to that) since we started planning for the future a year ago. HeWe decided it was more important to save for  future rather than to spend on gifts and expensive restaurant dinners. Trust me, I was not too pleased with this decision initially but I’ve grown to understand (what with the wedding, honeymoon and housing budgets) the need to save. When we first talked about it, my reaction was “What?! No presents?!” Haha. But now, it’s more like “Haiz, no presents.” Not to say, we simply ignore the dates as we do go out and have dinners together to celebrate; but it is no longer celebrated in the lavish way we used to do in the courting stage. As a result, I look forward to those times when we get a change to enjoy a good meal together. I guess it makes things more special in a way (or at least, that’s how I have tochoose to look at it.

Anyway, I thought I’d summarize myour wedding plans and things Iwe have done since we first visited our wedding venue exactly 2 months ago:

• Date: 31 March 2013
• Venue: Orchid Country Club‘s Grand Ballroom
• Decor: Sentimentals (In-house decorator) *Decor to be confirmed*
• Photographer: Theme Photography
• Videographer: Bliss Photo+cinema
• Makeup/Costume: Fatimah Mohsin the Wedding Gallery
• Entertainment/DJ: AB Shaik

I think the major vendors have been booked, so for that I’m thankful. The other pending items still to be done are:

• Wedding favours
• Invitation cards
• Dessert table
• Decor: To be discussed in greater detail
• Pre-wedding videography
• Solemnization outfit
• Programs
• Henna
• Wedding shoes
• Wedding course
• Kompang (a music performance that accompanies the arrival of the groom)

The to-do list is still quite long and that is excluding the honeymoon preparations that I’ve not started (but I’m so eager to do so). Most of them are items I’llwe’ll handle in the coming months. I’ll leave the smaller things such as programs, wedding shoes and the course to the end of the year since there seem to be several things to do at this stage still. Looking at the list can be quite daunting and I’m starting to feel a little more stressed than when I first started this entry. Time for me to take a break and relax. I don’t like being overwhelmed!

Sampan Proposal

One of my university friends proposed to his girlfriend a few weeks ago. I’m not very close to him but I found the video ever so adorable and sweet. The video quality isn’t that great but you can make out most of the words and I was still “aww”ing” away throughout.
While I would not have liked this proposal (or anything public) for myself, I still loved the video.
Every proposal is precious and perfect to each individual couple. Maybe one day, I’ll write about my proposal.

Tiffany

I completely forgot that Tiffany was the name of Chucky’s bride (as in Chucky from Child’s Play). Hah. I had searched “Tiffany bride” and her face just came up on Google. I barely remember the movie since it was ages ago but that is one creepy bride I tell you. The next time TF accuses me of being a scary bride, I’ll introduce him to Tiffany.

On a side note, I’ve always found Chucky to be adorable (from the first movie I mean, not after a few sequels). I don’t understand people’s dislike towards him (at least other than his murdering tendencies, I mean).

Stressing over Solemnizations

Is anyone else as worried about their solemnization outfit as I am? I have taken Fatimah Mohsin the Wedding Gallery as my choice of makeup/costumes when TF and I visited the Bride & Travel fair at the Expo on May 4. In any case, we were undecided on whether to take 2 or 3 sets of outfits. The reason being we (when I say “we”, I should specify that I mean “I” since TF does not really care about the no. of outfits) had initially thought of renting the 3rd set of outfits. Here is my breakdown of what to wear during the ceremony:

Solemnization: Arab

1st march in: Traditional Malay costume

2nd/Final march in: Wedding gown/suit

We had planned on renting the Arabic costume since FM only had 1 set (which my cousin had already used in her wedding 1 year ago). Also, I did not want to wear 2 Malay costumes since it would be somewhat repetitive. Being of mixed heritage (half Arab/Indian), I wanted to add a little variety to the costumes and would prefer not to wear an Indian outfit (don’t ask me why, but it’s just not something I want). And so, I searched for the rental of Arab costumes to wear but in the end, I decided not to take those vendors (Reason being I’m the sort of person who prefers their vendors to be interactive and not dismissive). And so, during the fair, I decided to take the 3-outfit package and talk to FM about the possibility of adding another Arabic outfit to her collection. I was unable to meet her in person on that day, but I’m thinking of meeting up with her some time in June to discuss it further. The worst-case scenario would be to wear another Malay costume during the solemnization. TF is a true-blue Malay (and proud of it!) and I won’t mind not wearing an Arab outfit since I know he will be happiest in his Malay baju kurong.

I was searching online for bridal jalabiya to get some ideas (trust me, there aren’t many out there surprisingly) and found a few with lovely designs. If only someone I knew was going to Dubai this year, I would have asked them to pick up a few magazines (or the costume itself) for me.

by Kanzi

by Dar Alhowjud

by Shalky

by Shalky

I can’t really do much about the outfit now until I actually meet with FM and see what she says. I may just leave it up to her (she is the expert and I do trust her), that way I won’t be as stressed out. The solemnization outfit really matters to me since that is the outfit I’ll actually be married in but I’m trying my absolute hardest not to think about it so much (at least not yet). I still have some time to go so I’ll see what happens.

Camera Clicks

I was emptying my camera and realized I had a few photos of Orchid Country Club when I first visited the location on March 31 2012. (Ironically, this would become exactly a year from our wedding date, but we had not known that at that point of time.)

Entrance

The entrance to the ballroom is grand with a sweeping staircase. I only wish I could remove the statues. But I doubt anyone would entertain such notions of mine. Hah.

Cocktail reception

The area the guests will stand and mingle before entering the ballroom. There will be a few cocktail tables and items such as guestbooks and cocktails (and by cocktails, I mean soft drinks and coffee/tea). If I do have a dessert table, I’m thinking of having another small one in this area serving 2-3 simple snacks while the guests are waiting.

Jade Suite

The entrance to Jade Suite–our solemnization venue. Its a simple setup consisting of an empty room that has 3 partitions. Two will be used for the solemnization with the third being used for the groom to change and pray, etc.

Grand Ballroom

There was a rehearsal ongoing at the time of visit, and the place was being prepared for an event. I immediately fell in love with the high ceiling and pillars. I wasn’t too fond of the green light in the center but I was informed they had 3 colors (blue, pink and green) and alternatively could be switched off (which is what I would opt for). I’ll be heading back on June 16 as there will be a wedding dinner (I’m not exactly a guest but hey, I do want to see how the venue would be like with a wedding ongoing). So I’ll post more photographs after.

Organization Obsession: Books

I have always been somewhat of a neat freak. In no way am I going to refer to myself as having OCD, but I do like having everything in a neat and organized manner.

Anyway, lately I’ve been preoccupied in trying to find a way to store my books (I do have quite a number that I’ve accumulated over the years; I used to be, and still am, a total bookworm). My family had moved 2 years ago to a condominium and in doing so, our house became smaller. In our old flat, I had 2 Ikea shelves–I believe it was the Billy bookcase–to house my books. However, upon moving, there was no longer any space in our living or dining room to put up the shelves. Also (I’m not sure if people notice this about Ikea shelves), they tend to sag in the center when you pile a number of books on them. And I absolutely hated that. But hey, I was not working (I was still studying back then) so I could not insist on new shelves and my dad had refused to purchase any new furniture unless absolutely necessary. So what I had to do was to store my books under the bed in those old Ikea cardboard boxes. (And by old, I do mean old as they were torn and some of the tops did not cover the boxes properly.)

During the weekend, I decided that I had had enough of my old storage system and decided on reorganizing them. I still faced a few obstacles in that (1) I had no spare cash to spend on shelves, and (2) there was no available space in my room (since the dining/living rooms were out). After the wedding next year, the most probable scenario would be that TF would move in with me (until our BTO is complete which hopefully will be at the end of 2014). As such, I had to keep in mind that I’ll eventually have to buy a few new pieces of furniture (a study/office table and shelves) for my room since he has to work at home (if not, he will never leave the office). I had initially thought of purchasing this Ikea shelf and have them store my books for now and TF’s work files/notes eventually.

But my older sister (whose advice I seem to be unable to refuse) insisted I should not rush into buying large pieces of furniture until January next year, which meant I had to find an alternative solution. And this had to be something that did not cost a lot of money. After much thought and deliberation, I eventually decided to simply purchase newer Ikea boxes (haha, an inspired idea, I know) and rid myself of books I no longer wished to store. Trust me, this was not an easy feat since I have a (slight) hoarding tendency. In any case, I went to Ikea early Sat morning, and dragged my sister (who had just finished her night shift) to buy a few of the Pingla boxes (don’t ask me why I chose this color, I’m not sure why myself but they appealed to me when I was at Ikea), as shown below.

Each pack came with 2 pieces (for $10), and I bought 4 packs, figuring 8 boxes would be sufficient (I would later find out this was not true). Upon reaching home, I immediately set about clearing my boxes (boy, does dust really accumulate under your bed). I spent 5-6 hours clearing and reorganizing my books (and other miscellaneous items I had stored under my bed).

(Before)

I had files and other miscellaneous items that I had placed above the boxes (which probably contributed to its wreckage). After 5-6 hours of continuous working, I had this:

(After)

I don’t store my shoes outside my house with the rest of my family members’ as I tend to get frustrated when they pile their own shoes on top of mine (seriously, who does that?). My shoes are stored in their individual boxes under my bed but they used to be on the opposite side, nearer to the curtains. I decided to shift them to the front to gain easier access to them.

Ignore the lack of pillows and bedsheets–I had to remove my pillowcases, pillows and covers as they were dusty after my spring-cleaning.

My books I stored behind my shoes and they filled 8 Ikea boxes. My old NUS books I still had to store in their old boxes as I had ran out of the new Ikea boxes (hopefully, I’ll be able to get them during this weekend so their storage can be standardized). I also put together a box full of books to give away so that my boxes could fit under my bed. I think a total of 10 boxes would fit nicely so I had to ensure that my books only came up to that many.

P.S. Don’t judge my Twilight books (I do love them)

I filled each box to the brim but made sure they were not overflowing; in that the covers could be completely closed. In my old storage system, I had piled my books to the point that the covers could not fit over the boxes properly, which led to them collecting dust. So I made sure this time, they were properly shut and secure!

I have to admit, I felt ever so accomplished after organizing my books. I may change the way they are stored next year when TF moves in and purchase the Ikea shelves on top, but for now, these boxes will have to do. Next weekend, I’m going through my makeup drawer! I’m super psyched!