#30 – Updates of all sorts

*Blows off dust*

And I’m back here again. My mood for a blog entry is back again all of a sudden.

We are at T-94 days now and I didn’t completely stopped documenting my life as a WTB/BTB. The updates are all in a form of a square picture with short paragraphs of my feelings, or anything really.

Let’s get down to business.

1) House matters

Since the last entry, we have finally booked a unit! The days leading up to the selection appointment was really crazy. I am so glad to find a forum talking about the SBF and was obsessed with it. I read it few times and day. Same as my fave website… H.D.B. In makeup terms, it was my holygrail, my ride or die. When the selection started for our estate sometime in June, I checked my phone in class and noticed that a unit has been booked. It was really a panic moment. I called the CSO and checked with her on the selection dates etc, and that gave me a better gauge as to which day of batch we belonged to. And of coz, our ideal unit was booked etc. But after looking again at what we were left with, the units arent as crappy as those completed only in 2020. Took my first leave of the year for the selection. Had lunch at MFM with A and my FMIL. Grabbed there and arrived about 45 mins earlier. Took our queue number. Sit and wait. I stared at the screen, and A was refreshing his phone. We had our eyes in this particular unit. And ya allah…. it was really intensed. The moments whilst we were there. I was reciting doa and all. Oh, and all the while, my Spotify playlist choice even gone alim k…. I created “zikir ramadan” in conjunction with tje fasting month. Our selection was like 5 days into raya only. That was all I listened to ease my mind.

The process of booking was quite fast. The only thing was they needed the marriage cert of my FMIL to be sent to them. After booking, we grabbed to our unit. Took photos and walked around the estate again. We then bought drinks ans snacks while talking about our plans for the house, the buses, our future, the amenities etc. And so the waiting game continues.

More than a month, still no updates. I want my keys!!!

2) Venue and decor

Next, we had site recce with kak A and Abg M. Again, it was in the evening. Tak pernah nampak in daytime sadly.  Takde chance. But it was a fruitful discussion. Me and A memang nak something with a touch of black. Rose gold tak boleh cus they said it was more like pink. So bronze it was then. And then the big qn.. floral, foliage or both? Round or rectangular back panels? Tiffany or napoleon chairs? Stairs or no stairs? Considering the size of hall, and budget, I decided no stairs. Though kan mcm lagi best dapat naik tangga dari tengah, inatead of tepi. Tapi, demi tetamu-tetamu, tak jadi. We looked through some pictures and colours of cloth and decided on our colour scheme. Called it a night when kita kena “halau” by the CC staff cus nak tutup.

3) Outfit selection

Next was to the bridal studio. Initially, A wanted to have his outfits MTM, but we decided to change cus simpan duit tu untuk rumah lagi worth it. Plus, he was also on a weight loss journey. So that night, cuma I je dapat try on baju. Like about 6? 2 for nikah (which i like the grey one), 2 songket (the purple was cool but A hates purple, the maroon was too traditional), 2 bollywood outfits (A hated the purple one again, but liked the maroon one). I forgot to ask Kak a, how many outfits we can try on cus I read that certain vendors ade policy for tryons or selections. So anyway, besok kita pergi sane lagi for the actual selection.

4) Invitation cards

Ni pon saga jugak. Nak pilih design pon susah cus I kan bridezilla gitew. Nak match our decor lah, nak bunga ke nak daun2 je lah. Tanak font mcm ni, nak mcm tu. Nak combined, nak seperate.

I wanted combined. But mama ayah wanted seperate. Si A pulak sembarang. So finally, it was combined. Cus we are paying for it essentially.

And the card design, A told me to pick between the 2 that I really liked. And collated info and details. WL did the first drafts with 2 types of fonts. And then I requested for amendments.

Lepas tu, dah tukar semua dah happy. Dah confirm dgn dia untuk send for printing semua tau. Few nights later, like 5 days after, I gatal. Sebelum tidur, obsessed sendiri nak tengok card. Sekali, spot a mistake. The upper and lower case pulak tu. Ape lagi, malam tu jugak about 11ish texted her to ask of its been sent for printing. Nasib dia reply cepat and said yes, why? I told her about it lah. The next day I text her again to ask of its been printed or not. Nasib baik belum ya allah! So dia tolong edit and thats it. Tanak tengok lagi. Ade nanti change of mind lah etc. Takmu macam2. Just hope dapat card on time sudah.

5) Pre-wedding photoshoot

Few nights ago, baru teringat. Cus A will be leaving next month already. Ingat nak have it same hari with our ROMM interview. But then, smlm A said that we can go with his best friends and their wives to JB and all for it. Bukan nasib, cus pagi sampai kerja terus check calendar and got teachers AL, on course etc. Shall see how lah.

Ok dah malas nak type. Susah lah nak type dari handphone.

#29 – My life used to be so simple

Its the last 149 days people. And seriously my life used to be so simple.

Now its like; retrieving back to like the 12 months of payslips, submitting form for the house application, applying for ROMM (which has started today btw!), getting our whole wedding event details down to a T, and just so many more. Alot of things to think of. As a matter of fact, I used to like thinking and setting goals this and that… but now coming to reality, its so stressful. Told this to A last night, and he said “ah now then I realise.”

I have been legit obsessed with HDB’s website recently and until yesterday morning, we received the good news… finally! After like 6 months going on 7…. and the waiting game continues.

Apart from the wedding and house jitters, work is another story. Another stress, which I don’t even want to think about right now. I’d rather think about the wedding and house stress.

#28 – House Hunting

A and I have applied for Nov 2017 SBF and I was sooo happy that we got a rather good queue number, not that wow but tawwakal je lah.

We went house hunting last week, but only managed to view a few units. So yesterday, we went to view the rest. The rest, as in like 25 or more units. Legit kalah house agent kan.

Some good, some bad, some expensive, small corridor, no view, awakward positions, macam macam lah.

I know we cant be too choosy considering these are what we are offered,  and considering these are the balance flats. We have a few good units in mind. Its good that A and I are on the same page too. However, the high maintenance in me masih prefer a high floor, corner unit, perfect view in and out, own corridor. I know its so mengada cus that is perhaps the ideal unit for everybody.

But the wise girl in me says, go with what we can afford. At the end of the day, all we need is a house + love = a home.

Can’t wait for the selection though. Saw that we can collect the keys within 3 months. However, it will be perhaps longer than that.

Can’t wait to build a love nest with the love of my life, have a family, create memories, and grow old together.

#27 – Honeymoon saga

Gosh…. can this whole wedding planning get any crazier?

Its one after another. Well, I thought the venue saga was one hella rollercoaster. Now its the honeymoon! Ok but glad that flight + accomodation is finally settled.

Let’s do some back tracking.

Like about 3 weeks or perhaps a month ago, I brought up the topic of honeymoon again to A. For me, whenever I think of my dream honeymoon destination it’ll be either Bali or Phuket, even Maldives. I know, its so unlike me to actually want to be with the sun, sand, and sea. But yknow, I just want a relaxed, laidback and chilled honeymoon and spend my days doing nothing in the company of my husband and basking in our new status. Our jobs is already tiring and stressful, so I guessed we really need to unwind.

So anyway, I asked A what would his dream honeymoon be, and this sounded rather groomzilla to me – London. Well dont get me wrong, that is one of my dream country to visit. I was rather swayed by his idea and began my research for the flights, accomodation, and bla bla bla. After much debate, it was out of the question especially when the inner Mr Krabs in me came out. So next on the list was Japan.

The thing is, I enjoy visiting cold countries. Especially in October, it’ll be the fall and all. But yet again, out of the question. It might sound crazy, but we legit had an argument over honeymoon destinations. I would rather not think about it now. In A’s words; I just have to be positive. Perhaps it was just me, the Mr Krabs in me, the perfectionist in me….. it was evident I wanted to have thr best in everything, but sometimes, you just can’t have everything.

So back to my plan of a Bali honeymoon. Thailand was a close runner-up, imagine all the coconut drink and tom yam. But sadly, A will be there for 3 weeks in August for his reservist. So it was also out of the question. I want to go to a place where it will be our first time together, and to Bali it is.

Once decided, we researched for flights. Again, the Mr Krabs in me was put to use and I am so glad that it did because I legit googled for discount code and guess what…. we got it! 10% off for our flights! A kinda got what he wants – a business class (once in a lifetine experience for us… though its just like for 2 hours) too.

With the flights booked, we looked for a villa next. Of course it has to be a villa when you’re in Bali. This was surprisingly not that stressful, or so I thought.

We came across like 2 that we really liked, and after I memandai email them about Halal food, we had a clear decision. It was all thanks to a documentary that I watched during at period on NatGeo where they ate pork etc (understanding that it is mainly a non-muslim state).

So this was where the issue arise.

I exchanged a few emails with the reservation regarding the halal food, switching the wine to juice etc. And everything was good and smooth. Until, I eff up the payment; by a small mistake in a word in the recipeint’s name. And it costed me like 5 worried days, and S $37.

Now I can finally let out a big sigh of relief. I have made the payment successfully earlier today and the villa had received it too.

So our 8D 7N honeymoon…

Flight + Accomodation – Checked!

Left with itinerary, but let’s settle our wedding itinerary first shall we.

Till the next post, I will update on our house hunting adventure.

Toodles!

 

#26 – Keep calm & book the venue (part 2)

Its 21 April….. in another 6 months till the big day!

Here I am sitting in the chair at Jean Yip doing my long overdue hair  treatment. Guess I’ll ise this time to distract myself from the fact that my makeup is partially destroyed by the shampooing and application of the hair treatment thingy. Besides just making good use of the time while Im here, to continue on part 2 of the whole wedding venue drama.

Back in Jan/Feb I called Nee Soon South cc to ask about the quotations and all. Its our first choice although mama and ayah was obvs not keen on the location. I was told by the auntie on that I can only book exactly 6 months from the date. Well, at that time I didnt really panicked. Got the quotations and info and the waiting game began.

Fast forward to 5 months going to 6 months (to be precsie just last week), I was just talking to A that maybe I should just give them a call again, to check on the availability or even make an advanced booking if possible.

So at lunch at work, I called them up and was attended by another staff (lucky not that nyonya of an auntie), and to my horror, although the hall is available on Sunday, there is an event on Saturday, and that its booked till night thus, unable to cater to the setting up to the decor hence unable to hold our wedding. I immediately argued back about the possibilities – extend the opening hours etc, but nope. They were unflexible af.

I called A to let him know. Then I called the cc again… this time round even more fed-up! At last, they just told me to email their deputy director and that was how I spent tje rest of my lunch hour, emailing him.

It was like 10 or 11 April and no venue!!

After work, I began to call like the next best cc that we want. And it was so disappointing. Either they already have an event or renovation or some crap. I definitely developed trust issues.

So for the next few days, it was just emails and calls, and we even broaden our options to hortpark, flyer, ballrooms, event halls.

A had really nice bros…. they truly helped in looking for alternative venues. But to me, nothing beats cc. I terms of accessibility, suitability, and logistically.

It was madness for is both. I broke down one night talking to A about it and he was telling to not to breakdown, be positive etc. He was also going crazy but managed to keep his cool.

So at that point, we have already contacted 20 over cc and a few other venues. There were only a handful of cc that was available. And sembawang cc was one of them.

On the Saturday, few days before we booked our confirmed venue, A was even willing to book Grassroots… or even Warung. But the inner Mr Krabs in me was truly not willing to fork out or go way over budget for our venue at all. Its just not worth it. The money can be kept for honeymoon, or our future together.

It was crazy. We both we down, sad, disappointed.

Lesson learnt and to share….. if you dont want to worry and go crazy over wedding planning, go for a full wedding package.

#25 – Keep calm, and book the venue (Part 1)

I can finally let out a huge sigh of relief. After a few crazy days of venue drama, I can now say Alhamdulillah, we got our venue! It’s not our ideal CC, but with 6 months away from our big day, you got to settle on one, cus no venue equals to no wedding. So…. *drumroll please*…. we are proud to hold our wedding at Sembawang CC!

I will write in another post about the crazy drama, days before we booked our venue. As for now, let’s talk about the good stuff first yeah.

So yesterday, A texted me while I was at work in the morning; he was like “besok u free? Nak gi survey sembawang cc?”. I was like “nari pon boleh”.

And so we settled in meeting after work. I ended at 5.30pm, and he at 7pm, so I just took a ride to his place.

At lunch, I was still anticipating some email response from other venues, and calling a few other places. I was still rather frazzled especially the second half of the day. All I wanted was to spend all time talking and thinking about the venue. I was really happy when I finally get to knock off from work. And even the conversation with the grab driver, who was perhaps around our age group, revolved around venue and wedding towards the end.

When I arrived at A’s place, I sat outside cus his mum was feeling unwell and did not hear the doorbell. So it was a good chance for me to call the CCs again. It was the second time I called Sembawang cc, just to ensure it was still available. I called earlier during lunch and it was available. But I had trust issues with CCs now that I just had to call again and again. And the third time was when I was in his house, just to say that we will be making our way there in the evening… and if it was possible for them to put the place on hold if there happened to be other couples.

Surprisingly A arrived home like at 7.09 pm and he quickly took a shower and we left home and got a grab ride.

It had been a rather cooling day, and it was a chilly night too. Another 188 days to our big day.

The location of the cc was quite awkward cus the main entrance wasnt facing the main road, but faced the new BTO houses. A reminded me that we actually passed by the Cc when we went for our walk weeks ago. Well, ok maybe the due to the weird position, I didnt notice it.

Anyway, the CC wasnt that bad afterall. My initial thought was that it was secluded, old, ugly. Well, it wasnt new nor modern. The MPH was quite old, but wasnt as bad as the woodlands one. And I kept on saying it’s “straight forward” cus upon entering the CC, the hall was right in front, and we even booked an activity room next to the hall, and the toilet was just nearby too. I like the layout.

When we arrived, we went into the office and since I was frazzled and all, apprently still in that bridezilla mode, Akhbar told me to calm down. So he spoke to the lady, and shortly the manager came out and attended to is and brought us around.

He brought us into the hall, but didnt turn on the lights for is, but A seemed to be cool with that. It it was me, I would have already demanded the lights to be turned on.

I was quite relieved the whole time. Washing checked, ground floor (kinda.. cus we gotta go up stairs/slopes to enter the cc but the hall is considered to be on ground floor) checked, backstage (though quite small and dusty) checked, glass panels around hall checked… i quite like it.

The manager said that it can fit in 36 tables, or maybe 30. The hall looks quite small to me actually… but i think it would be just nice. Beggars can’t be choosera at this point.

He further brought to show us the activity that could be booked for use as prayer or rest room, which A and I both looked at each other and said “yeah lets book this too”.

Then we went back into the office to settle the payment. A had to make a quick trip to the nearest atm at sembawang mrt, cus we didnt think about our maximum credit card amount. So I sat in the office looking through the forms, and also ig for pelamin inspo. And he was back about 20 minutes or so later.

And there goes the cold hard cash…..

Settled the payment, received the invoices etc and we made our way out. The staff s had to ot that night cus we left slightly after 10pm.

Finally, venue checked!!!!!

The most important thing in a wedding and it is all settled alhamdulillah…

#24 – Bling brooches

Since we are having a combined wedding, I was thinking of having those corsages or perhaps badges to distinguish the brides and grooms side.

One emotional night, I was watching a wedding video from our wedding videographer and came across this brooch thingy that I noticed the brides’s mum and dad, even the bridesmaid had.

And it was like an aha moment! A little bit of bling won’t hurt. So since that moment, I was furiously googling everywhere – qoo10, websites, wish, even google images etc. And finally found it on ali express and I was so stoked! Well, I truly believe in my own power of searching for things that I want online. Such as that wedding stamp, but perhaps I leave that for another time.

However, I didn’t purchase it immediately. It kinda took me a few weeks to decide the design/wordings. Asked my friends, colleagues, of course A, and also mama.

And finally, I did it!

I decided to just get for mama, ayah and my future MIL. Felt that I am just going overboard and over budget to get for my aunts, uncles, cousins, bridesmaid. Inwas considering brother… but then I will have to get for SIL too.. and my nephews. Its complicated.

So just a lil something for my parents and MIL.

#23 – Sneakers as wedding shoes?

I have always wanted to own those keds x kate spade shoes. And when I saw they came out with a wedding collection, it was the most prettiest shoes ever.

But honestly, I am not really a sneakers kinda girl. Despite how pretty it looks, and all the hypes, I don’t think I will wear it on my wedding day. Firstly, I am way too short. I need need need the heels. And it’s not really me, cus I am rather that girly girl, not the sneakers girl. It would be a nice gift to receive from friends or family, or even on the dulang though.

 

#22 – Thinking of trial makeup for PWS or not

Kak A contacted me 2 nights ago asking who would I prefer as my MUA, between the 2 that they have. I did had a thought about it ever since I contacted her regarding the outfits the last time. I had also seen the recent works from this MUA, Kak Y, and was quite impressed.

Besides, if I were to engaged an external MUA, that means more ka-ching. So let’s redha je lah eh. You can’t always get what you want… such is life. Ikut kemampuan sendiri, and at this stage, I am having seperation anxienty with my money seriously.

And then I asked Kak A how do I arrange for a makeup trial. Because girl, I like surprises, but we talking about how I will look like on the big day. I need to know how I look because I am very conscious of myself and also the vainpot.

Of course, nothing is free in this world and this makeup trial will cost me around $180. Sighs… you gain some, you lose some. Beauty comes with a price.

Then suddenly I had a brilliant idea, or so I thought. Like why not, have our pre-wedding photoshoot right after the trial. At least it will be put to use… or in other words, tak buang duit setakat nak tengok the outcome.

After a few more texts with Kak A, I told A about my idea over the phone the next night.

Being the more logical person, he asked, “tapi you nak makeup you same dgn actual day?”. Then I was like errrr… good point.

I was all about that exclusivity of the wedding day itself. Nothing is going to take the shine away of the actual day. So… that really made me pondered.

Plus, these wedding vendors usually have assignments of weekends, and can only arrange for appointments on weekdays mostly. Meaning to say, his buddies who are going to help us with the PWS would have to take leave… or even worse MC! When I heard that from A, I was instantly like ok let’s forget my idea. I wouldn’t want to have the makeup trial and pws, on the expense of his buddies who are working office hours like us. Felt so bridezilla at that moment.

I told A to give me a day or sometime to consider before we can proceed to a conclusion and confirm with the 3 parties: Kak A, Kak Y, and his 2 buddies. I asked my colleagues today, asked my BFFs, and my ex-colleagues turned good friends. Of course, mixed responses. And also, abit difficult to seek understanding from non married friends. Not cus I am bridezilla or what, or judgemental, but its better to hear from a married woman friend, in my opinion, which sadly I don’t have many of. I do take in consideration of all their responses though. But ultimately, it’s my decsion and what I want at the end of the day.

Pros of the makeup trial:

1) No surprises on actual day.

2) I know how I will look/what to expect.

3) I can look for external MUA if it sucks.

Pros of  using the trial makeup for PWS:

1) You get dolled up by a professional.

2) Maximise that $180ish.

Cons of trial makeup:

1) Bye-bye money.

2) If it sucks, farewell money.

Cons of trial makeup for PWS:

1) Thicker and OTT makeup in photos.

2) Lose the exclusivity of wearing the same look in the actual wedding day.

3) Parties involved willbe affected didferently.

So kena renung-renungkan lah ye.

And lastly…..

7 m and 29 d counting down

#21 – Bridal timeline

So 2 nights ago, I suddenly had thought about our bridal. Yaaaa, finally right, ever since we secured a slot in like September lat year. Since A had to leave me for like 3 weeks… specifically 5th August to 23rd August for his reservist, in freaking Thailand!, then when will it be a good time to go for selection and fitting. I mean, he will be away for almost a month, and like 2 months away from our big day.

I decided to text Kak A the next morning to let her know about our situation and also to seek her expert advice. She replied and said that perhaps after raya, say 20ish June onwards.

Omg, so many things gonna happen in June! It will be A’s birthday, our unit selection (praying hard for this one!), and our last raya as singles.

So we discussed about it over the phone that night. A was asking if that 4 month period would be sufficient for his MTM outfits to be ready. So I texted Kak A instantly and her explanation was like “its better june… april dorg balik kampung all”, and I was like huh what she talking to the second sentence, but then she added “i call you”. Phew… easier lah and better to talk over this kinda things.

Her explanation sounded really complicated and I was trying hard to catch her drift and digest it at the same time. She is quite an affirming person, whom I really hope wont be disappointing. She really sounds like she wants all the clients to look good, and have high expectations of the outfits, how it will fit is etc. She really sounds like a very experienced image consultant too. She understands and talks about body shapes and sizes, and she seems like she has got good taste too. I have hopes in her and I believe that was her selling point for A too.

To ensure that I truly understood her explanation of the timeline etc, I even told her “ok kak, let mr explain back to you my unserstanding so that I have the correct understanding”.

After putting down the phone, I called A back to update him and scribbled the timeline on the wedding notebook (which btw I really need to get a nicer one srsly).

Basically, our first appointment in June will mostly be for A to take his measurements and to consult Kak A at the boutique about his suit, which will be done at her tailor. It will also be the day where we have to choose our songket so that A’s songket can be determined too. Unless, if I want to have a MTM outfit, then Kak A suggest that our first appointment will have to be way earlier cus more time will be needed to think about the design and do beading etc for the bride. The timeline of 4 months is just nice for A as groom’s outfits is less complicated, she reaffirmed.

Second step, A will have to go to the tailor after the first appointment for the tailor to take measurements again and to ensure that what was discussed by Kak A to the tailor and Kak A to is is correct. Perhaps this would be in July.

Third step, once the tailor is done with A’s suit, we will go down for A’s fitting at the tailor to ensure the fit and everything else is right. If all is good, it will be on Kak A to pick up his suit back to her boutique. Macam VIP kan si abang A ni…

Fourth step, perhaps this will be in August, Kak A suggested that I can come by the boutique for my selection of outfits. It could be with or without A. She said I could surprise A with my choice of outfit since he will be away, but it will be up to me. No wayyy that is going to happen cus I need my man with me. I truly value A’s opinion alot so we die die have to go for the selection before or after his resrvist. I am hoping before though.

And then lastly, will be our fitting session, perhaps is September or October. That will be our final fitting, for both of us, where A will definitely have his “say yes to the dress” moments as his will all be MTM, unlike mine which is all off the rack.

In which I was thinking about. It would be nice to keep at least 1 of my wedding outfits. Of course not gonna be the songket, maybe the dress (but for what? Prom night? Movie premiere? Lol), or maybe the baju nikah. I have never had a nice MTM baju raya before so it will be quite nice to have a nice one.. though it will probably look very bridal.

But thennn, A just wants to have MTM suit and keep it. He doesnt want the other 2 bajus. Which means, even if I were to MTM the baju nikah, we wont have it in a pair. Anyway, if I want to have a MTM, that means additional costs, which I am quite sayang to spend on.

We definitely have to quickly chope our leave for the first appointment cus it will be like raya period, and my workplace has lots of malays.

And also, I am still thinking about the MUA. I am even willing to pay for the trial makeup because although I like surprises, I dont want to be surprised on our big day if the makeup sucks.

So looking forward for June now!