Inspirations

Bridal bouquet - A few stems
of the same flower makes
a better statement.

Immediately after we got engaged, my mother reminded me that I would only have 6 months to organise the entire wedding. Having absolutely no experience in that area at all (I'm the first in the family to get hitched) I decided to turn to good ol' trusty Google to help me out.

Boy, did I Google everything. From the get go, I refused to have a conventional wedding. We both decided that the 'theme' of the wedding would be fun. In the sense that Ray and I have fun organising the wedding and that the wedding itself would be fun as well. But fun does not come easy...

To start the planning, I immediately Googled for a wedding checklist so that I could get a rough idea of what I need to do to plan a wedding. Based on that checklist, I made my own version so I could streamline the tasks and set my personal timeline.

Quirky touches like this
lightens the mood of
the reception.

From my experience, I would list the following as the first things to decide upon with your partner.

1) Budget - First and foremost, discuss on who will be bearing the cost of the wedding. Is he paying for it? Are you splitting it between parents? (This saves a lot of time arguing as the time approaches to your wedding day) After which, decide on a ballpark figure. Allocate estimate costs you are willing to spend on your dress, photographer, videographer, dinner, drinks, flowers, etc.

2) Theme - This does not necessary limit to the colour of the wedding. What kind of wedding do both of you want? A beach wedding? A destination wedding? Buffet? 9-course Chinese dinner? This sets the mood and feel that your guests will feel at the wedding. What sort of setting best describes the both of you as a couple?

Choose a flower that can be found locally and choose one
type of flower. If you choose cheaper flowers, you can buy more
and the more flowers you have, the bigger the statement
will be. ALWAYS stick to one colour.

After countless arguments, you have finally come to a nice number you are both willing to spend on the wedding. Now, you can start your research. ALWAYS get a second opinion, even better, a third! Compare quality, prices and most important of all always go with someone you connect with. Once you feel comfortable enough book them immediately because you don't need any surprises a month or two away from the Day.

Bridesmaids do not necessarily have to wear the same colour.
Play with a colour palette that share the same tone. Try to
design the bridesmaid dresses so that they can wear it again.
For the Groomsmen, let them use their own existing suits, but
match them with same coloured ties and shirts.

3) Photographer - What sort of photographs do you enjoy looking at? Candid? Dramatic? Portraits? Have a look at the billions of images taken by wedding photographers all over the world and decide on the type of photographs you want to keep for the rest of your life. Set up meetings with all the photographers and tell them what you are looking for and have a look at their showreel. If you feel like you were present at the weddings that they show you, then my friend, you have a winner. Don't let the photographer take over your wedding with light stands and tell you that they will make your memories of the day even better than it was. It's your day! Don't be someone you are not!

Simple napkin fold and a
complimentary accent
will immediately make you a
class above the rest.

Remember: The photographer that your friend used at her wedding 5 years ago may have doubled his price by the time your turn comes to get married. If you can afford it, great! If you can't, ask around for emerging wedding photographers who may be younger in terms of experience, but full of new ideas to share.


4) Venue - Book your venues as soon as possible! Compare 3 venues and go with the place that has a good team that can assist you with all your needs! First, list down the must-haves: wedding favours, 7-course (don't over order guys! And let's all try to stop the Shark's Fin Soup as well...), flowers (I say use the Hotel's in-house florist because third-party florists are waaay overpriced!), backdrop, sound system, projection screen and once you lock down your venue, try and get them to waiver the corkage too!

Can't use fresh flowers to
decorate your pews? 
Make your own
tissue pom poms from crepe 
paper! Only 60 cents 
per sheet!

There are different schools of thought. Some people say renting hall venues for the dinner reception is way cheaper than doing it in a hotel but I beg to differ. When you hire a hotel, you are hiring an entire banquet team, florists, sound-guys, the whole works. You won't need to pay for chairs, chair covers, tables and tablecloth. The Hotel will also be better equipped with running the function smoothly. All you will need to do is show up...Hotels also have business centres where you can print last minute floor plans and seat plans 15 mins before the guests arrive.

5) Invitation cards. Please discuss with your parents and future in-laws what the protocol is like. Some parents like their names on their cards some don't. Some want quotes from the bible, some don't want to use certain colour, some may not even care. So just find out important things so you don't upset anyone once the cards are printed. There is nothing worse than receiving a card with a huge black marker spot across the centre of the card replaced with a scribble of a new date, name or place. Always, I repeat, always proof-read your card.

I've never been a fan
of corsages, but find a
reasonably sized,
unusually coloured
flower and you're set!

I learnt a trick that I used with my Thank You cards. I bought packets of cards (one packet has 20 cards and cost RM 4.90 and they have different sizes and colours) with their matching envelopes (yes, they have different sizes and colours too) and I got a friend to design a simple card and printed them using a laser printer. You can cut on printing charges! :)


Oh, and if you seal your envelopes the stamps cost 60 cents, if you don't it costs 80 cents.

A beautiful house makes
beautiful pictures.
Borrow a friend's
house to get ready...

6) Wardrobe - Initially, I wanted to wear my mother's wedding dress. In fact, I was so sure I was going to wear her dress that I didn't even bother trying on other dresses, let alone my mother's. When my sister forced me to try it on I realised that I didn't look at good as my momma did. So that forced me to look for a wedding dress and by utter chance, my sister and I literally stumbled into Eric Choong's store.

I was very lucky to get the dress I wanted because I went during the end of the year and that is when they have a secret sale to make space for the new season.

Stitch your Groom's suit early too...I strongly suggest a quick trip to Bangkok because you get great quality material and great stitching for half of the price too.

*** Shoes - Always break into your shoes before the wedding ladies. Nothing more unglamorous than walking around in your wedding gown barefoot! Remember to make sure you have a slight platform at the ball of your foot and that your heels are stacked and wide.

Look for a friend who has just started floral arrangement
as a hobby. She'll be more than happy to try out her skills! 

As you approach the wedding I think the most crucial thing you need to remember is to create a system for your RSVPs. Make an excel sheet and keep the total in Autosum because no matter how much work you put into organising the wedding it will all go down the drain when there are either too few or too many people at the reception. Oh and please ask your guests if they are vegetarian so that you can prepare his meal in advance and he doesn't shake his head politely to all the guests on the table he is sharing with every time a course is presented.

In this country, weather may not be the most predictable. So as beautiful as having a wedding in a garden or on a beach do make sure you have a Plan B and make sure that your Plan B venue can fit in all your guests. Also keep in mind who will be attending your wedding reception. My grand aunties will not be very pleased trudging through the sand on a beach in Port Dickson.

One last thing! Just have fun. This will only happen once and when it happens, it all over waaay too soon. Laugh at the small things and defeat every obstacle with the one you have decided to marry and never forget the main reason why you are getting married!

Get creative people in your family
to hand make the 'Just Married' sign.
 Makes them feel special and
you get to hang it on your wall!