First Wedding Anniversary

N & I actually celebrated our first wedding anniversary a day late. Yeah..he actually forgot it on the day itself! Of course I was a bit pissed at that, but my usual self just would not allow me to blow the top. He messaged me the next day confessing his blunder, and promised to bring me out for a nice dinner. I thought probably it's also a blessing as we would not have enjoyed celebrating it on a Thursday night compared to a Friday night.

We had German dinner fare at the Stadt restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong. We tried the popular pork knuckles, pork chop, the imported German beer (forgot the name), the green pea soup (which I didn't like), the seafood soup (yummy, I like the tomato base) and a mocktail (also forgot the name :p). The food portions were huge! The pork knuckles were grilled to perfection, as the crispy skin smelled so yummy, just like the siu yok, but much better. I definitely agree with all those food bloggers out there that you just have to get more than 2 persons to sample the food there. The price is reasonable, cheaper than some other German restaurants in KL.

And as a anniversary gift, I get to pick a watch for myself! So this is what I picked - a Solvil Titus white leather bracelet watch, with date display and luminous hands, which I have always wanted in my lady watch.

ROM on 16.03.08 Putrajaya

Legally married on the 16th of March 2008! We registered at JPN Putrajaya. Arrived there around 9:30am. There were already some couples waiting in line.

The staff were most courteous, we even took a photo with the staff. Eventhough the waiting time was a little long, we did not notice it as we were busy snapping photos. Our turn came around 10:30am.

Bedsetting Ceremony 安床仪式

Bedsetting day was set on March 13th. Bedsetting is a simple ceremony which basically means putting the new bed in the wedding couple's room and laying on new bedsheets.

N's mom was the one who set the bed for us. She put some coins in the angpows (red packets) and put them underneath the two legs of the bedframe (near the headboard). This is supposedly to offer and pray to the "Mother of Bed" (literal translation) 床母, who will guard over the wedding couple and bless them with children. Then both of us helped to put on the new red bedsheets with dragon and phoenix designs (resembling the wedding couple). The double happiness lamps were also put on the bedside table and litted up till the wedding day.

N's two cousin brothers were invited to "jump on the bed" 跳床 after the bedsheets were laid. Only boys are allowed. This is to bless the wedding couple to have sons soon after getting married (早生贵子). After that no one is allowed to enter the bedroom or to touch anything in the room.

red bedsheets, double happiness sticker and lamps litted up	N using angpow to trick little cousin to jump on the bed
N's two cousins	my dressing table

Betrothal Ceremony 过大礼

Betrothal Ceremony （过大礼） was set on March 8th. N's two sisters accompanied him with a car loadful of betrothal gifts visited my house in the morning.

We set up the gifts as offering to the gods, then prayed to the gods as sign of thankfulness and ask for gods' blessing towards our coming wedding. Here are glimpses of the gifts.

2 pairs of old coconuts - signify grandparents & granchildren.	fruits in even number, tea leaves, dried fruits & nuts
offerings to the god	last minute touches to the gift baskets to be returned to the groom's side
praying to the god

Ji Muis 1st gathering - Photos

See we're all in pink! Except the bride-to-be of course :p Photos courtesy of Lolipoops

Photos courtesy of munmun

Thank you for your participation

I want to show my appreciate for all my lovely ji-muis who came for our inaugural meet up last weekend. You all have been very supportive in going PINK for the event! (actually my evil intention is to "test water" if you ladies will really wear my theme colour on the big day :P )

Lolipoops - eventhough has a prior date with her friends, but was first to arrive with Vay. And thanks for lugging her DSLR camera and took fabulous photos of us (I haven't got to see the actual photos, but I have faith in her amateur photographer's skills :P)

Vay - put on nice make up and came up with lots of naughty ideas for the ji-muis vs. heng-dais games.

MunMun - switched her shift work to join the meeting, and left her poor baby in the pet care store while we discussed more important normal ji-muis' stuff .

PL - rushed home from Rawang and appeared in 25 mins later with us strangers whom she doesn't even know except myself us pretty ladies .

And not to forget my two sisters - who offered to lug my heavy wedding albums and accompanied me to the so far unfamiliar meeting place.

Lolipoops, remember to forward those photos to all ladies ok? Otherwise you see now I've no photos to upload in this post lor.. :P

Ji Muis 1st gathering - We're Going PINK!

Upcoming event - Ji Muis First Gathering at Cupcake Chic Secret Recipe (The Curve)





* You ladies will have the privilege to preview my wedding albums! See you there ;-)

Cheers,
Firethorn

Note: This post has been updated.

Photo cards

My two sis had helped me to come up with these DIY photo cards. I've personally chosen five of my favourite photos. And the cards are available in a few types of pastel colours.

So you'll be getting your pick pretty soon. Here's a preview ;-)

p.s. Thanks to my two sis!

Our Love Symphony

This is the e-invitation that I designed at www.mypunchbowl.com and sent to our wedding guests. I liked the romantic feel of the card's dark maroon colour and the golden cupid at the bottom. I choosed this photo as I feel the green theme brings out the fairy tale feel, and also because this is our favourite photo!

- Simple thoughts -

I wish,
that my friends will be there to share my joy,
simply because they are my good friends,
who shared the many memories with me.

Each invitation,
is a sincere wish from the heart,a special thought of someone,
simply because that someone means something to me,
not because I mean something to them.

Everyone likes to feel special,
No one likes to be left out.
And someone special should never be left out.

It's that simple.

We sincerely hope that our invited guests will make it to our the wedding banquet. See you there ;)

Love,
J & N

Our wedding bands

We went shopping for wedding bands on Christmas eve. People were busy doing last minute Christmas shopping while we were busy finding the perfect ring.

Oh ok...maybe it was just me. Trying to find something blink-blink which would wind pretty round my finger. N just wanted something simple with no blink-blink obviously. He said as long as I'm happy with the ring. Whatever.

So finally we got this pair and collected them the day after Christmas :)

Oh those little bears? Those are just my personal props :P

My W photos (preview)

Here's a preview of the wedding photos of yours truly...

"Proposing"at the train station













Intimate moment in the "woods"









HK's neon lights backdrop

My custom made shoes are here!

Tadaa!!! This is the pink shoes I ordered from HK. I love the heels! I had to fork out extra to have that gold stainless steel heels haha... well, it's reusable. The shop assistant told me that if the shoes have worn out, you can bring the heels back to the shop for another new pair of shoes. How cool is that! Well, not that I'll return to HK for another pair soon. haha..

Ordering my first pair of custom made shoes

Psst..did I tell you I just ordered a custom made shoes from HK?

I thought I would just buy off the shelf, but the temptation was too hard to resist!

I just had to choose the shoes pattern, the colour, the straps, the heels (height & design) and specify my design of the add-on shoes accessories, have my foot measurement taken, pay a deposit..and the shoes will be ready in about 10 days!

Wow~ I didn't know it would be so easy to have your shoes custom made. And you have so many choices to choose from. Practically almost every shoes shop at the Golden Plaza (Prince Edward Street) can custom make your shoes. And the price starts around HKD260 for a pair of plain shoes. Think of it, you could even order the shoes for any formal occassion or even dancing!

I can only get my feet in it this coming November when I'm going to visit HK for the 4th time :D
I just wished Malaysia had more of these shops...*-*

Pre-wedding photo shoot in HK (Sept-17)

We got the photo shoot package from this shop (MyDreamWedding) in HK.

* Read about our pre-wedding photo shoot package hunt

All in all, we had these in our package:
- 50 photos (including softcopy in a DVD)
- 1 big photo with frame (for putting above the couple's bed)
- 1 medium size photo with frame
- 1 small size photo with frame
- 1 big photo album (for 50 pics, including touching up photos & artwork)
- 2 small photo albums (abt 4R size).
- 3 gowns for the lady
- 2 suits for the guy
- hand flower bouquet
- photo shoot props included
- a crew for the shooting day (1 photographer, 1 photographer assistant, 1 driver & 1 makeup artist)
- transportation to any three locations in HK for photo shoot (fuel & tolls included)
- abt 20+ handouts mini photos to ji-muis (I can't recall how many exactly)
- 1 HKD4000 coupon which we used to redeem for additional photos for a total up 50 pics
- 1 free set of accessories (bling-bling necklace & earrings)

And all these costs abt RM6.5K. We do not need to pay any additional charges provided that we do stick to 50 photos limit.

On that day itself, I brought my bustier and contoured undies (don't know if this is the right term to use). And also my high heels, and the proposal bouquet of little teddies as the only personal prop. No makeup is necessary, and you are supposed to wear a front button down blouse (to avoid messing up your makeup & hairdo when changing into the gowns).

We reached the shop at 11am, took an hour to "transform" me into a doe-eyed princess, but only 10 minutes to turn my "frog prince" into a handsome prince :P Then we were ready to set out around 12:15pm.

These were the photo shoot locations:
1. TaiPo train museum
2. Nam Sang Wai (a wetland area in Yuen Long, supposedly a popular place for movie/tv shoots, but i didn't see any movie stars while we were there)
3. HK Central (the glitzy-blitzy city center with all the shopping boutiques & a neon lighted buildings as backdrop).

It was lucky for us we had clear skies for all shooting locations. Though the weather was a tad too humid for us. I was practically melting! Plus sitting in the car with a tight bustier clusping your breast until you can barely breath...and the bumpy ride.. it was torture to me. I felt sick and vomitted before our last shooting location. But the show must go on. I felt much better after that, but my feet was aching by then.

There were these curious eyes from the people on the streets, looking at us when we posed in the middle of the street, with spot lights and a crew..woo~ I tell you...for a second, you would think you are the movie star! Or perhaps doing a shoot for a glossy fashion magazine.

I tried to smile as "sweetly" as possible. You know, smiling all day does cramp up your cheeks & lip. So I force myself to think happy thoughts, and smile! You can't really fake a smile, it looks horrendous on the photos! We finally finished the shooting around 8pm. Then we headed back to the bridal shop to return the dresses.

4 days after that, we returned to choose the 50 photos. We were quite pleased with the photos. Well, it does resemble what we saw in their portfolio albumns with those pretty models. I thought we both make a cute couple in those photos :P We took about an hour to finish browsing the photos, 15 mins to select from the first location shoot, another 15 mins for the second, and about 30 mins for the last location. Then another 45 minutes to review the selection, choose the photos to be enlarged, choose the photo frames, and finally choose photos for the mini-printouts.

So we now wait till year end to get our hands on the final results.

Phew...that was one big item off our To-Do list :D

Shoes for wedding

Lollipoops and I had went shoe hunting at Pavillion KL on one fine day. I thought I had better chances there to get a pair of nice fancy shoes for my wedding photo shot and also of course for the wedding itself. Not quite actually. First of all, the price tags are much heftier, but not necessarily nice to catch my fancy. Secondly, there ain't too many shoes shop around Pavillion with vast enough shoes collection to shop!

Anyway, we spotted this pair at our first stop at Tangs. It was on a sale. Actually, it was the red one that caught my eye. But then, wedding shoes have always traditionally been white/beige, so of course I turned to the champagne coloured sibbling beside it. The price tag made me hesitated. We decided to venture into more shops before deciding.














I was on the verge of giving up on my shoe hunting mission, and Lollipoops suggested we went back to my "first love". I tried the shoes, posed and strutted, aa...the price is still too much... but then I thought, why not? I'm not even sure if I can hunt another pair at other places, sure the price is abit on the high side, but what's more important than my own wedding? What the heck, I swished out my plastic card, and the deal was done :-)

*special thanks to Lollipoops who accompanied me on the shoe hunting trip. Though it was tiring, but I enjoyed the fantastic dinner we had at TGIF!

Calling for my pretty bridemaids...

Hmm...thinking who should be on my list..

1. 2nd sis
2. lil sis
3. yen
4. amidrin
5. munyee
6. vay fern
7. michelle ?? (married already still qualify or not leh?)

Gals,
If you read this post before I notify you, leave me a comment and let me know if you will be on my ji-mui's gang ya? You'll get my formal invitation soon. :-)

Hunting for Venue

We went, we saw, and we chose!

It's going to be at Concorde Hotel. For those interested in their wedding packages,. click here.
The catering manager we spoke to was Mei Ling.

Choosing Pre-Wedding Photography Package

Due to his posting in HK, N and I had this idea of taking our pre-wedding photos in there. We were worried about the price and the logistics, but when we saw what they've to offer, we're totally impressed.

I had actually saw this bridal shop advertisement in one of the local bridal magazines. The local company in KL would arrange to have the couple take their wedding photos in HK. I visited their website several times, and it convinced me that we should take a look at their main shop in HK.

So on my 2nd visit to HK in June, N and I shopped along Kimberly Street (the bridal house street). The first shop was not very impressive, and the sales girl sounded so desperate that she asked if "can I have your card please to make the payment?" ...which almost gave us a shock! We politely declined and left.

The 2nd shop was offering exclusive photography in a club house in Repulse Bay. The photos look great, and I loved the exclusive and elegance feel in those scenes. But the price were outrageous! Plus, you only get Repulse Bay, and that's about it.

We had lunch before we went to the third shop, which was the one I spotted in the magazine. The sales girl was extremely friendly, and I loved her! She had totally talked both of us into it. We're so happy and impressed with their offerings that we almost felt like signing up for the package when we left the place. We decided we had to think logically before making the payment.














It didn't take long for us to decide. You could say it was "love at first sight". We called the lady the next day, and made the booking :-) Aa...now let me tell you about this shop...it's called "My Dream Wedding". The lady who serviced us is Bowie. She's a sweet lady, who is knowledgeable in what we are looking for, and can advise us very well from picking locations to dresses, and tailoring our pacakage. We chose 3 outdoor locations in HK, my three gowns, and N's two tuxedos on the very same day. It was all done within 3-4 hours. So we're set to take photos this coming September :-)

May 3rd, 2008 - A meeting for both sides

It was a little over one month after the proposal before we arranged a meeting for both sides' parents. I was nonchalant about it...until few days before the actual day they were supposed to meet.

We were cracking our heads about :
- when's the best day and time to visit
- what should the guy's family bring for gifts
- what should the girl's family return in gifts
- who should come along
- how to approach the subject to my parents
- where to have dinner

...phew....and you thought it was just a casual meeting only..

Well...though both of us almost freaked out thinking how awkward the moment would be...our parents surprised us by..well..just being parents. Indeed, it felt like a meeting of old friends rather than a "formal proposal meeting". All our concerns melted away when our parents were happily chatting almost about everything EXCEPT the MARRIAGE :-O

Just few hours before N's family arrived, I was busy pratising my chinese calligraphy. Aha..let me tell you why...Because mom said it looks more presentable to have my birth details (ba zi) calligraphed on a piece of red paper. In case you don't know, my "ba zi" has to be given to the guy's family to consult the couple's compatibility and choose an auspicious date.

I was very nervous as N's grandpa had came along..well, that means "IMPORTANT". Yeah, if you would like to say it bluntly, it means "GIVE FACE". It suddenly hit me that..."gosh...I'm getting married leh... going to be other people's daughter-in-law..!!!"

All of us were prettily dressed up, and everyone looked so happy...it caught the attention of my next door neighbour, who was watching all the commotion while he was standing in his front porch. He even jokingly remarked to my sister.."This must be an important day for your family and your sister eh?"

Back to the scene in my house, both families were busy chatting until it was almost time for dinner. Grandpa suggested to have dinner at his favourite "Hin Hua" restaurant somewhere near Brickfields.

Finding the restaurant was a breeze, it was near just few streets away from the YMCA building. First grandpa visited an old Chinese templae just opposite the restaurant. He wanted to book an appointment to choose an auspicious marriage date. It was the same temple that N's parents had consulted for their marriage date.

The dinner at the restaurant was wonderful. The place was nothing to shout about, but the food were tasty! It was a different experience as the food was authentic Hokkien Hin Hua dishes. Grandpa recommended the dishes and all of us were happily stuffed at the end of the dinner. Both families continue to drink and chat, until it was time to go.

The night ended well, and it's official that we've got our parents' blessing to get married :-)

The Proposal Props

I realised I did not put up any photos in my previous post. So instead of me flashing the blink-blink at all places, I'm going to "flash" it here. Oh, and also the cutie and yummy props as well.

If you want to know where to get the nice blink-blink, you know who to ask.
If you want to know how big is the blink-blink, small enough to fit onto my finger lah :P