Its been some time..  but first I do wish to explain why.

Right after taking some time off to recuperate from the wedding, we received a very bad piece of news.

(See prior post.)

But dun worry - we are taking it one day at a time.

This is supposed to be a post about my Wedding Preparation.

So lets talk about happier things, shall we?

I've added a *NEW* side link called 'Our Wedding Journey' on the right.

Just below my wedding ticker.

:)

It links to my previous haphazard posts on my wedding preparation during the past year.

I selected those that are mainly important to girls interested in gathering information to plan their own wedding, but if I miss anything out - please highlight it to me.

Everyone has their own way of doing things but most importantly I believe a couple must be happy and enjoy the planning process together as a couple.

Undoubtedly there will be ups and downs during the 'adventure' but believe me : If u can get through in planning a wedding together, you can get through ANYTHING!

:D

 ------------------------------------------

Im trying to get the pics of my Proposal from Jungle Boy so I will save it for later.

Heehee.

Okie, so u got Engaged - Now what .. ?

First things first.

The BANQUET!

As a couple, you have to sit down and decide when route you will be taking.

Do u wan a modern or traditional wedding?

Dinner or Lunch? Sit-down Formal or Buffet free & easy?

Its best to discuss it with both families - you need to sort out your budget, style and preferences.

Its not easy, (nor cheap!) to plan for a wedding so I urge newly engaged couples to take this talk very seriously.

We opted for a formal sit-down traditional wedding dinner in a hotel.

(Very Singaporean, I hear you say keke.)

Typically a couple should start looking for a venue as soon as they decide on the Wedding Day.

We chose Oct 1, 2011 because it was exactly one year from the Proposal and it is a date that is extremely important to Jungle Boy.

His parents' wedding anniversary falls on the same day.

We dunno if its fortunate or unfortunate, but that date also falls on a Saturday - which is the most popular day of the week to get married.

And most hotels were fully booked even when we started inquiring about hotels ... yes.. 1 year in advance!

Our actual first choice was St. Regis - and BFF Miko was working for a company affiliated with the hotel then so she had very kindly helped us check the availability of our said date.

Unfortunately the ballroom has been booked so we had to ask another hotel.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Until I was simply cutting and pasting my emails to nearly ALL the hotels in Singapore.

Lastly we realised that only 3 hotels was available on Oct 1 2011 and it was MBS, Hyatt Hotel and Ritz-Carlton.

After a short deliberation, we finally chose Ritz-Carlton for the night banquet.

Our Wedding Coordinator was Celest Teo who was so lovely, cute and attentive (she reads my blog, so big Hi babe! Wahahaha!) and who had unconditionally helped us out so much we became more like friends than mere clients.

We took the Grand Ballroom for the night, a place which can accommodate up to about 80 tables easily.

Unfortunately we do not have that many tables, so we had to keep to a minimum spending amount (or min 60 tables) to be able to book the ballroom.

In the end, we had a total of 43 tables (not including VIP)

U can view my Food Tasting post here.

---------------------------------------

Next was the booking of important Vendors like MUA (Makeup Artist) Bridal Studio, PG (Photographer) and VG. (VideoGrapher)

We decided to go somewhat Ala-Carte - which means we approach individual vendors instead of using a 'under-one-roof' Bridal Studio.

This decision has Pros and Cons obviously, but we cant say we regret it becoz in the end we are very pleased with our choices.

Pros :

- U get to choose what you want. And the people u wish to work with.

- Everything is 'made-to-measure' so it reflects on the couple's choice.

- More personalized service. At any given time, we were talking to the direct bosses instead of working with their coordinators.

- Responsibility. Because the vendors had a specific task to do, there were fewer slip-ups and mistakes along the way.

- Experience. They are respected in their field of work, so we fully trusted their opinions and point of view.

Cons :

- Expensive, expensive and expensive!

- Every vendor had a certain price 'command' so there is no way to bargain with them! LOL!

-----------------------------

Jungle Boy has specific choice of vendors for our Actual day wedding so I was incharge of looking for our Pre-wedding vendors.

I mostly do my homework online, through forums like sgbrides or from personal friends who just got married.

George of Creme Photography came highly recommended for his work and easy-going attitude : A virtue we treasure so much that we had became firm friends after the shoot.

Joie is a well-known MUA not only for weddings, but for high-fashion shoots for magazines like Prestige so I am also in awe of her work.

She works with George closely for weddings, and the best part is that she turned out to be a sister of Jungle Boy's close friend! What a small world. I love her to death and we also have became very good friends since then. Infact she did my mother's & godsister makeup for my Actual Day.

- Creme Photography by George Leung

- Makeup by Joie Leong

My Wedding Gown (WG) and Evening Gown (EG) was by Bridal Closet because the promotion by Creme Photography then included 01 Gown FREE with every sign-up.

U can see how I chose my gowns for the Pre-Wedding in Bridal Closet here.

( Nonya Kebaya & Blue EG are my personal outfits - Groom wears Shirt & Jacket from Givenchy, Pants & Shoes - old, haha!)

We decided to go Malacca for our Pre-Wedding Photoshoot.

I wanted to capture a simple, slightly more laid-back feel for my wedding pictures to represent the kampung girl in me.

I love how simple Malacca is - from the old Peranankan shophouses to the buzzing night market in Jonker Street. U can view the trip (so much fun & laughter!) both here and here.

Here are some of my Pre-Wedding Pictures.