14th March marks several milestones in our lives.
It was the day we met, and it will be the day we are joined in holy matrimony.
We invite you to share in our preparations as we embark on this journey together.
To navigate, click on the tabs on the right. We'd love to hear from you so do drop us a note in the tagbox!
♥ Jalen & Yingxin
cheers to us.
A chance encounter at a well-known watering-spot brought these 2 self-professed drinkers together. Together, we pledge to live fully,
love abundantly and drink deeply.
5:41 PM
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Confetti Confessions
Now, we have no idea why shredded pieces of coloured paper are supposed to signify joy and celebration, but Bridezilla and Groomzilla will never pass up an opportunity to personalise their wedding!
Inspired by Martha Stewart Weddings, we decided to forgo the usual rose petals and bought craft punches to make our own paper confetti.
(Start - 8pm)
YX (delighted): Oh man, this is so fun! The flower design is so cute!!!
J: Very nice! Make more make more!
(After an hour...)
J (bleakly): Honey, are we finishing? How much confetti have we made?
YX (hysterical): Omg, after so long we barely made a handful!!! How? My hand hurts from the punching!
Thankfully, Momzilla (Bridezilla's mum) came to the rescue. With her trusty iron paperweight in hand, she punched (or rather, bashed the puncher) tirelessly day and night while watching her endless korean dramas. The result: a box full of the cutest confetti ever!
To hold the confetti, Bridezilla made paper cones from Tiffany blue paper and lined the inside and outside with doilies, to match the chair decor.
After filling the cones with the confetti, this is what they look like!
We only wish we could have the fun of throwing them ourselves!
Bridezilla made yet another foray into the treasure trove that is Daiso. We really don't know how the Japanese do it, but we wholly applaud their efforts in bringing us cute and inexpensive things that are sometimes less than useful!
Bridezilla had been hoping to get a couple more of the darling beach pails she had bought previously, but sadly they were sold out. However, she chanced further into the gardening section for the first time and discovered more gems!
The vast array of cute little tins and containers in all shapes, sizes and materials was mind-boggling and after some effort, she chose 3 little tin containers: a tin pitcher, a square tin pail, and a low tin container. After some customization, this is what they look like:
Aren't they pretty? We're going to use them as vases for the reception table!
Bridezilla has never understood guest books. Or the chicken scratchings left behind in them, purportedly spelling out well wishes. Being a visual person, she thus decided that she needed photos to identify to whom the chicken scratchings belong to.
In came Polaroid - those wonderfully old-school cameras of our youth! (Bridezilla can practically still smell the fetid aroma of the kangaroo poop as she posed for a Polaroid with yet another koala bear at an extortionate price.)
Now the idea was that guests will pose for a Polaroid picture, before writing a heartfelt message on it, and hanging it up around the picket fence surrounding the solemnization venue. But to her dismay, she discovered that the old Polaroid is practically extinct! What they have now instead are inkless wonders - instant prints that do not fade thanks to the new inkless printing technology, and are the size of a credit card. Advanced , no doubt, but it just ISN'T the same.
On top of that, there was also the problem of getting people to wait for the negative to develop before they could actually write on it....
Just when we thought all hope was lost, we came across these photos:
Super cute!
And it solved the waiting problem! We loved the idea so much that we went out instantly to buy black whiteboards (no chalkboards pls, hate the feel, hate the dust) and chalky markers, and took the sample shots above. =)
Polaroid prints however, are still a no-go, hence we decided to use Nel's suggestion of Selphy photo printers for instant prints. At her recent party, we experimented with it, and it worked out fabulously:
The instant gratification of on-the-spot printing was fascinating and Bridezilla spent the whole evening taking pics and printing them endlessly. So much fun! Now we can't wait to get our own Selphy!
Q. What accessory does a whimsical beachside wedding need?
A. Pinwheels!
Now to be completely honest, the pinwheels weren't our idea. We had previously spoken to a wedding designer who gave us the suggestion. However, due to various reasons (tardiness of replies, SG brides forum reviews, etc), we decided against engaging her, choosing instead to find a good florist, and to DIY the rest of the decor ourselves. However, this meant a lot more work for us, and perhaps giving up on certain ideas.
Groomzilla however, was very unwilling to give up on the idea of pinwheels.
These pinwheels are really cute and easy to make. We made about 12 in less than 2 hrs! Low cost, maximum impact. =) We had bought some gorgeous scrapbooking paper but discovered they are much too stiff and heavy...the wheels could not turn at all! sigh.
So, to whoever wishes to try this out, do make a few samples first before you go out and buy your materials!
Materials:
- paper available from UrbanWrite at Orchard Central
Not contented with the usual ang bao boxes, Bridezilla and Groomzilla toyed with the idea of using birdcages for the ang bao holder, but decided that it did not fufil the beach theme at all.
In came soon-to-be bride, Kailin, who provided the ultimate solution!
The suggestion came about as she was telling Bridezilla about someone who was robbed on her wedding day. Apparently, the robber had sneaked in and mingled amongst the guests, waiting for an opportune time to strike. When all the guests had filed into the ballroom, and the bride and groom about to march in, he grabbed the entire box and ran! Gulp.
YX: OMG! Damn scary!
K: Ya, imagine all the money they had to pay!
YX: Wah, must padlock the box and chain it to the table! K: How about using a treasure chest? Then the chain would look like its part of the decor!
YX: Ding ding ding ding!!!!
Finding a treasure chest turned out to be harder than expected. Well, a cheap one at least. Thank god for ebay, through which we managed to get a chest for $9.90! The used (read: slightly battered) look added to the authenticity of the treasure chest. We then installed a lid through which guests can drop in their gifts, and this is how it looks:
With some shells and sand scattered on top, plus some of those retro gold coin chocolates, we think it'd look great on the beach! What do you all think?
YX: Honey, what should our wedding theme colours be?
J: I like Tiffany blue...
YX: How about seafoam green?
J: What's seafoam green? I like Tiffany blue...
YX: Oh no, so many colours to choose from, how to decide??
J: How about Tiffany blue....?
And so after Groomzilla finally managed to get Bridezilla's attention and it was decided that Tiffany blue was THE colour. Bridezilla, being Bridezilla, started to scour the Net for ideas and pics on wedding decor in Tiffany blue, and she created 2 inspiration boards with coral as an accent colour (Thank you Martha! Thank you Design Sponge! etc...). :
Having thus been inspired, the crafty pair embarked on their 1st project: making rosettes for chair decor. Most people would use fresh flowers to adorn the chair sashes, but we wanted to do something a little different. (Of course, this is partly to do with the exorbitant price the hotel charges - $200 for 14 chairs!). We wanted (or rather Bridezilla demanded) that we NEEDED to have the oh-so-pretty rosettes, somewhere, somehow!
And so the arduous process of making the rosettes began. This is more difficult than it looks, as the initial concern was getting the papers and colours right. After which it was getting the doilies in the right size. Phoon Huat to the rescue! This baking supplies chain store (you might know it by its house brand, Red Man) stocks a variety of doilies in varying shapes and sizes. And at about $3 for 250, it's hard to beat!
After many hours of experimenting with different layers, different sizes and different buttons for the middle, we finally decided on the final look:
Each coral accordion-folded base requires 3 separate pieces of paper, that takes about 15 min to fold and then tape together in a circle. After which we layer on the blue circle (cut painstakingly by Groomzilla), and the doily. The top-most layer is another small coral circle, with designs punched out around it (again painstakingly cut and punched by Groomzilla who was very particular that each little clover design should be evenly spaced out). Lastly, it is all sewn together with a button ornament in the centre.
Total = 30 min.
Ta-dah!
... And now, having completed the design, we have to replicate it and make 16 of them... ARRGHHH!
And so it is finally time to choose the all-important wedding gown. With much fear and trepidation, we headed down to Dawn's.
YX: How how? What if I can't decide?
J: Don't worry. When you put on the right gown, you will know that it is The One. YX (doubtfully): Is it...?
Fina, our helpful coordinator had already selected a few gowns, based on pics we had given her. We selected what we thought were a few more (turns out to be more like two dozens more), and the try-outs began.
Some were hilarious (and an instant no-no):
while others won great approval:
But at the end of the day, the wedding gown was still an issue.
YX (after 3 hrs and perhaps 20 gowns): None of them felt like "The One". J: WTF??!
The thing is, there were a couple which we felt had potential, but they all seemed to be lacking in some aspect. Utterly exhausted, we picked out 3, but told the studio we'd be back again to confirm the gowns.
Help! We need opinions. Which do you all think is the best?
Gown 1
Big Pouf
Gown 2
Uber-Long Train
Gown 3
Shorter Layered Gown
Yeah yeah, we know they look kinda similar. But it's all in the details! So do let us know your opinion on this, we need all the help we can get!
After months of silence, Groomzilla starts to rear his head...
J: Hey, so now that the solemnization invites are done, what about the banquet invites ah?
YX: I don't know... lalala.. J: $%#*@...
Thus urged on by the Groomzilla, we decided to start work on the banquet invites. As the hotel invites are rather plain, we thought to jazz it up with some ribbons in our theme colours, Tiffany blue and coral.
And finally, after some experimentation, we decided on this final design!
Tedious as it may be to glue on each strip of ribbon individually, we believe that it is all worth it! And thanks to Bridezilla's mum who works alongside us tirelessly, pasting the inserts into the invite. Now let's hope we finish them before the wedding day!
J: Huh? Get from hotel lor. Save money. YX: No no, I mean for the solemnization. J: What? Do we need 2? YX: YES! J: Oh, ok. Anything lor...
Bridezilla having won the not-quite argument, it was decided that we would turn to our in-house designer, Eugenia (or ah-nia as we like to call her), for help. Following our request for a ticket-style invite, she came up with the whimsical design below:
We loved it! Especially the cute monogram she designed for us, comprising a tree with the branches forming the initials of our names. Wanting to get a sample, we got it printed at a photoshop, but the colour was not quite ideal.
YX: Eh? This is not Tiffany blue! I want Tiffany blue!
The Bridezilla thus begged her beloved Ah-nia to correct the colour tone, but the resulting print was even worse.... dark blue!
Not satisfied, and insistent that it MUST be corrected, Bridezilla stomped off to 4 different shops, only to get the same results each time.
YX: ARGGHHH! J: Calm down honey, it's only an invite. Let's just print it as it is. YX: PRINT THIS???!! Are you kidding me? I want my Tiffany blue!!!!
J tried to convince the Bridezilla that no one even bothers to look at the invite (at least HE doesn't), but it was in vain.
Just when he was contemplating divorcing her (before they have even gotten married that is), Ah-nia comes to the rescue once again.
Ah-nia: Hey, I spoke to my print-shop and its cheaper than the one you mentioned. Plus they might be able to print in the correct colour! J($_$): ker-ching!
And thus it was PrintStop - a small, inconspicuous shop at Bras Basah complex, that turned out to be the saviour of our yet-to-be marriage. Though they could not print in Tiffany blue (oh, woe is me!), we tried to get the best colour we could, and this is the result of months of labour:
Ta-dah!
Thank you Ah-nia for being our long-suffering designer, for enduring our endless phonecalls and sms-es, and for never giving up on us. Muacks! \(^3^)/
Dawn's Wedding at City Square, JB, was the studio of our choice. We were initially hesitant due to the various stigma attached to JB...
Relative 1: Wah! You not scared later cheat money? Relative 2: Sekali your car get stolen! Friend 1: Eeee... what if turn out very "song"? Friend 2: Huh, go JB so mafan. Later got jam on causeway...
However, on viewing their blog, we fell in love with the photos and decided on engaging them. Of course, the wallet-friendly prices helped too.
Here's a sneak preview of some of our favourite shots taken in JB, Kota Tinggi and Desaru...