3 months away .... *shudder*

Counting down: 3 months 1 week and 4 days from the wedding. 0_o" *shivers*

Sometimes it feels nerve-wrecking knowing that we are only months away from the wedding. At times, I don't feel excited at all - almost to the effect of wanting to get the wedding over and done with. And then, there are times when I feel that there are still so much nitty-gritty things to be done! Our pre-wedding MV haven't shoot yet. Caterer for lunch in church is not confirmed yet. Guest list is not finalized. Invitation cards are not printed out yet. Have not liaised with the hotel management on the final details. Have not finalized on the itinerary for the dinner program yet *not yet even start practice!! argh!* Don't even talk about the reaaalllly finer things such as chi mui games, tea-pot for the tea ceremony, decorating the house with red 'hei' stickers etc etc.

So much to do.. I also feel so sien already. :( The wedding preparation has been shelved off for some time to make way for our new condo. Renovation works has finally finished *hallelujah* except for a little bit of touch up here and there. It was not until Steph reminded me that we only have 3 months to go before the wedding that I realized the urgency of it! -.-" Really, the title of the world most relax bride should be conferred to me.

The next crucial step in the wedding preparation is the wedding invites. Initial plan was to engage in Storybo*k, until I was asking around in church and found a friend who was willing to design my invites and church bulletin for me *Thank you Jesus!* The process started in May and we were going back and forth with ideas. Drafts after drafts were emailed across - and after many changes, we have finally confirmed on the design and layout of the invites. Very simple, fuss-free, and sweet designs I must say. Totally adore them!

Of course for the church invites, the wordings have to be submitted to Pastor for approval. And mine was approved! :) One more tip for you Flo, the church invite and bulletin must have the word 'Holy Matrimony' ya.

Wordings for your invites are very very important. If the invites comes from the groom side, then his parents' name must come first and vice versa for the bride. Also, make sure the details are clearly stated to avoid confusion. Make it short, straight to the point, and meaningful. Of course, for my invites I have also incorporated some Scriptures. :)

Below is the 2nd draft of my church and dinner invites. The final one has been sent to the designer (aka my church friend) for a mock print.

Church Invites. Pretty, right? :)
It flows exactly with my theme!

Dinner Invites. We went through a lot of drafts and
designs for the dinner invites. She sent me a total of 4 designs
for me to choose - of which ALL were very beautiful!
After much deliberation, I finally settled for this one.
There is something very serene and classy
about this design which I love. :)

The process flow is fairly simple albeit tedious. You confirmed on your design and check the wordings. Once everything is finalized, you ask your designer to do a mock-up print so you will have a rough feel on the end product. This will be your final confirmation - and once approved by you, your fiance, and both sides of the parents ... the card is ready to be printed!

Right now, I am waiting for the mock-up. Hopefully can get the invites sorted out by mid-July so can start writing the names down and disbursing already. Am already dreading the RSVP and table arrangement part though. :(

Love;
The-Bride-To-Be

Decor Vendor - Kau Tim!

~Updates on the wedding preparation!~

Remember my latest predicament on the wedding decor for my church matrimonial ceremony? So no choice, I had to look for another one quickly. Now please don't give me the why so kan cheong comment ok. How can I not be kan cheong when the wedding is only 3 months 2 weeks and 5 days away (if you haven't noticed it yet, I have a ticker at the bottom of my blog) !!!!!! Okkkaayy... I am getting a tad nervous now. 0_o" Wedding blues ~

I went through my entire old contact list of vendors and painstakingly emailed them one by one, hoping that they won't remember me. Paiseh ok ... when you had enquired about quotes and interrogated them and then you tiba-tiba bail out at the last minute and decided not to engage in their service due to pricing. This is what I call the "fishing-mentality". Pardon me, but we are running on a budget here ok.

Well in my quest of searching, I stopped by Favors Essence website and lo and behold they are having a promotion for both dinner banquet (RM3,000 net) and ROM / Solemnization (RM500 net) decoration. Immediately, I zoomed in on the Solemnization package and emailed Agnes (the person in charge).

As emails were flying back and forth, I suddenly realized that the package offered is for synthetic flowers - i.e. artificial flowers (patut la so murah). I asked her how much do I need to top-up if I wanted fresh flowers arrangements and in accordance to my theme. To my delight, it was actually RM220 cheaper than my initial decorator. What a relief!

Straightaway signed up and paid the 50% deposit - of course after consulting with Bear first. As for the extra sweetener, pastor also had approved of the decor! Am SO HAPPY! Thought that I would have a real problem trying to get things approved in church. Double sigh of relief! Phew! For your info, to accelerate approvals it would be great if you could provide church with a rough sketch on what you intend to do and the measurements of the pedestals. (Flo .. valuable tips for you)

Honestly, for those who intend to do ROM and needs decor I think it is worth trying Favors Essence (although the flowers are artificial). After all it only costs RM500 net. The outcome will look exactly like the picture below. Every single detail will be the same.

Well ... there you have it. A peek into what my church decor will look like. Of course, using fresh flowers and going in accordance to my color theme. :) Simple, clean, and sweet. I like!

Church decor ... SOLVED!
All pictures are courtesy from Favors Essence

Love;
The-Very-Happy-Bride

What do you do?

... when you are overloaded with work and are forced to worked over the weekend and you desperately need a break?

Answer: You restyle your hair by cutting your own fringe!



Ok I think I am going crazy/siow/mad/cuckoo/nuts already staring at financial statements. Sigh .. so much for a weekend. :( Can foresee the following week being very very hectic too. :(

Back to work! :(

The world most expensive apple

I am a sucker for apples!

I love apple strudels!

I love apple pies - including McDonald's apple pie!

I love apple crumbles!

And I applaud Coffee Bean for coming out
with their new Apple Rooibos Tea Latte.
So fantastically awesome! *craving already*

Heck for that matter ... I even support Steve Jacobs Jobs!
Ok la.. not really. Am still loyal to Bill Gates. :)

Now you know how big a sucker I am for apples right? Imagine my horror when my faithful DKNY Be Delicious perfume has finished. :( I had no choice but to buy another one .. an expensive one ok! The last time round, Bear bought for me. This time round, no matter how much I manja (or threatened) him, he wouldn't buy for me. Cis!

This year, DKNY launched a new Be Delicious Range called Fresh Blossom. The bottle comes in a pretty pastel pink color. It carries a sweet and soft smell of a fresh blossom, and also the original crisps and fresh smell of the Be Delicious apple. Love it! What a perfect combination.

Looking at the way things are going ... I think I will be loyal to DNKY Be Delicious range for a very very long time.


Problem is though ... it is so bloody expensive!!! :(


Love;
The-Almost-Broke-Bride :(

Picture Perfect

Am not gonna write much. Let the pictures do the talking. By the way, none of these pictures are photoshopped and neither are they shot using a hi-tech pro DSLR. I merely used a simple Canon point-and-shoot digital camera.

Tall trees in Dandenong

Port Campbell

Funny rock formation in Two Survivors

Two Survivors

View of the Two Survivors from a cliff

Twelve Apostles. Beautiful!

Magnificent

This is my most favorite!

Breath-taking

Vast hill farmland on the way to the Twelve Apostles

Over-looking the sea

Couldn't resist .. took this while standing in the middle of the road

Apollo Town - which has funny sculptures

Forgot the name of this small town - along the Great Ocean Road

Quaint residence

At the start of the Great Ocean Drive

Clear blue skies

God's creation is amazing, isn't it?

Love;
The-Bride-who-is-in-Awe

I blame you Melbourne!!!

Didn't expect this at all but the food in Melbourne was oh.so.good ... we did nothing but sightseeing and went on an eating spree!! Best part is that the Asian food are prepared by the Asians themselves! Not like here .. every hawker food in KL/PJ is being prepared by a Burmese. -.-"

Counting down to the best food in Melbourne (not in particular order).

1) St. Remo Fish & Chips
Honestly, I find this place so-so only. We dropped by here on the way to Phillip Island to see the penguins. The fish were so fishy that I only ate the fries for lunch. And it was soggy *eww* Nice view and ambiance though.

2) Kingfisher Blue Fish & Chips

This is the most fantastic fish & chips I have ever tasted!!! This shop is located in the suburb - Wheelers Hill. Dropped by this place while we were on the way to visit my parents' friend. Voted No. 1 in Australia ok!

3) Freddo Ice-Cream

What can I say? Awesome ice-cream on a cold winter night = Heaven! This ice-cream parlor is located on Lygon Street.

4) Brunetti Cafe

It's true when they say that Melbourne embraces coffee culture. It suits me perfectly well as I am a coffee addict. This cafe not only makes nice cappuccino, they also serve a wide array of yummy pastries.

5) Cafe Cavallino

We had authentic Italian food and it was good! A bit jelak because of the overload of cheese though. Yup, Lygon Street is where it's known for Italian food. We sat outside and had to practically hug the heater ok. Brrr~

6) Stokers Pancake

We were brought to this place by our friends and the pancakes were heavenly ok! Expensive though. We were told that this is the place where Asian students bring their chic for some erm .. quiet time. Hehehe ..

7) Pho' Hung

We had Vietnamese noodles in Springvale - this place is crowded with Vietnamese , so much so you feel like you are in Vietnam ok! I kid you not! The noodles were really good, evident from the fact that the restaurant is always packed to the brim.

8) Ying Thai

I don't know what else to say about this shop except that they serve excellent Thai food. So good that we went back twice! One thing to caution though : they charge AUD2 for a bowl of rice each. O_0"

9) Wing Ho Chinese Restaurant

The only edible food in Phillip Island. Operated by a Singaporean family.

10) Max Brenner

The chocolate haven! So heart the hug mug ok!! Me and Bear came here to pak tor and we shared a cup of mocha kau and waffles. Bliss!

11) Lord of the Fries
Nothing to shout about really. Just expensive fries with really good sauce.





12) Some random Chinese Shop in China Town

Which serves really good pork and duck rice. Also there is another Chinese shop that serves really good porridge. Forgot the names of the shops though. :p

13) Cafe L'incontrol

Bear said this is the place where students hang out. Relatively cheap and good coffee. I couldn't agree more. :) Am so loving the coffee culture in Melbourne!

14) Scones in Dandenong (forgot the name of the shop)

Scones were so-so only. Somehow prefer our own Cameron Highland scones. At least the scones served back home are hot and they give us butter, jam, and marmalade. In Australia, they serve cold cream as sides. Kinda weird la ...

15) Churros & Spanish Donuts
In Queen Victoria Market. Really really good! But I had to share cos the portion was too big.




16) Home-Cooked Food
My parents' friend cooked these awesome food for us. Remarkably good!


Love;
The-Bride-who-Blame-Melbourne-for-her-Weight-Gain