wedding decoration part II

Hi followers~

good news!!! we've finally sorted out and settled with our decorator in HK... i'm so glad the search is over... and the best part is i'm going to get both paper flowers and fresh flowers!!!!!!!!!! see? this is how u satisfy ur customers... u listen u discuss u agree... no bulls no trashing... i'm a happy girl~ the link to my decorator's website: http://grandforest.hk/pages/about-us.php

love,
liz xoxo

wedding decoration - totally disappointed

hi followers,

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT from yesterday's wedding decoraton meeting with one of the vendors on kimberley road *humph humph* the thing is... i reckon they are very good at what they do, however i hate ppl who brags about themselves while destroying other's reputation. this really tells you how 'good' a person is inside right? and on top of that... loads of bullshit... i mean LOADS!!!! when i say i want fresh flowers, i really do mean i want fresh flowers!!! why try to convince me to use fake ones?? and acting like it's my naivety treating me like a dumb girl who knows nothing about flowers?? jeez... i know what i want and definitely not fake ones... CHI SIN!!! my decorations are so plain and easy that my mum could have done it for me (yea.. she's a very experience wedding florist and i have pictures to prove it) such a waste of my time!!! i hope today's one is gonna b better... i'll keep you updated -_-

liz xoxo

back from cebu and more

hi followers,

just came back from a relaxing yet busy holiday in cebu with chris, mum and the in-laws.

finally met up with a few wedding planners and florists in cebu... which actually gave us a better picture of our cebu wedding... gosh... wedding planning is so hectic... telling the same thing over and over again 7 times to different ppl makes me wonder if i should just prepare a slide show with a voice clip on to show it to them... LOL... anyways... chris and i have a few ppl in mind that we would like to work with... so... we're now just waiting for their proposals and quotations, i'm sooooooo looking forward to the designs~ =) will keep u guys updated once i got anything back from the suppliers...

on another note... hence the 'more' in the title, my CUSTOMIZED CAKETOPPER has arrived!!!! Check this out:

aren't they the cutest little caketoppers ever??? u can find them from Etsy on this page: http://www.etsy.com/shop/peanutbutterbandit?ref=seller_info  =)

love,
liz xoxo

UPDATE: HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just looked at the standard flower package from shangri-la and all i could say is...... ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *with a frustrating grunt* okok... calm down... i'll need to do more research on that...... argh.... which means more e-mails....

dorothy's ruby slippers

hi followers,

a quick update on my recent conquest at the Lane Crawford battle zone.

just wondering, have any of u watched this movie called The Wizard of Oz? i used to watch it when i was little. there's this main character called dorothy who got blew away by this huge tornado and ended up having this amazing adventure. she has a pair of magical ruby red shoes that would bring her home by clicking the heels together 3 times.

and here is MY VERSION of the little red shoes~

this photo does not do these red peep toe Sergio Rossi pump justice... it's supposed to b blood red and shiny.. >.< anyways... the story is... since it was Lane Crawford's crazy sale, my mum and i went to the LC at TimesSquare for a very 'casual' browse ('coz we only had 45 mins b4 our dinner engagement). we went in, fell in love with these little devils (which ironically is NOT on sale), tried them on, most comfortable pumps EVER, and then the next thing i know, i was already surrendering my AMEX to the salesgirl... this whole process only took us 15 mins...

okok... i have to admit, these are one of the most expensive shoes that i own. if u've been to my house, u would have noticed my shoe collection/shrine at the top of the staircase. but it's totally worth it... as i'm planning to wear them with the qua AND my evening gown (altho i haven't got the dress yet), 1 stone 2 birds!!! in other words, i'm actually SAVING money here~ =D

SERGIO ROSSI TOTALLY WORTH THE $$$~~!!!!! u would understand if u'r a shoeaholic like me... LOL

cheers,
liz xoxo

walking down the aisle naked...

hi followers,

interesting title right? apparently Kate Middleton dreamt that she walked down the aisle naked on her big day one night before her wedding. But as we all know, in real life, she walked down the aisle in a gorgeous Sarah Burton gown. and as for my own wedding, i've finally made up my mind and decided on THE GOWN! =)

*drum rolls*

Check this out:



Monique Lhuillier - Arielle

 i would really really love to show u guys the silhouette of the gown after i put it on, however, i don't want to spoil the WOW factor on my wedding day. so pls bare with me for just showing this tiny piece of info. all i can tell u is it's very classic, lots of lace, sweet heart neckline, trumpet shaped, that kinda wedding gown. =)  it was such a relief after i've signed the bill... to be honest, gown hunting is such a stressful event psychologically... it's a constant battle between your dream gown and how much it costs... and for me.. dream trumps the cost of it...  so now what we'll need to do is just to wait for the gown to be made and deliver in Feb 2012 (wouldn't it be nice to receive it right b4 my birthday?) all i need now is a lace-trimmed veil to go with it... will check that out when i'm in London ;)

special thanks to Shirley and Brenda @ the Wedding Atelier!!! You Girls Rock!!!! and kyna my lovely sis for coming to the shop with me, lub ya!!!

Cheers,
Liz xoxo

p.s. o ya... forgot to mention... the gown is VERY VERY VERY VERY EXPENSIVE.... i must be out of my mind when i sign the payslip... i'm secretly crossing my fingers and my toes that my bank has 'accidentally forgot' to put that item on my credit card bill... ;P

botanical brouhaha ;)

hi followers,

since i'm stuck at home being a bum all day due to my very unfortunate ear infection (which gives me extremely severe headaches and nausea), i've been doing some research on flowers =) or more specifically on my wedding bouquet and the boutonnieres.

there are flowers that are definitely big no nos to me... roses and lilies. to be honest, i don't mind getting roses every now and then, who doesn't like roses right? BUT in my opinion, roses are overly used in weddings, especilly HK >.< and i don't really like roses in particular (unless it's the huge ones that comes from holland and in the shade of chocolate) and as for lilies, i'm just simply allergic to them. i start to sneeze and feel dizzy every time i walk near lilies.

so... here is a list of flowers that i would like to include in my wedding:

 

deep burgundy calla lalies

 

phalaenopsis orchid

fern curl

peony

chocolate cosmos 
and last but not the least...

succulents

hydrangea

so with my idea... the flowers should turn out like that:



what do u think???

cheers,
liz xoxo

designer bridal room/ lusan mandongus :(

hi followers,

my visit to this so called high end bridal shop was the MOST BIZARRE EXPERIENCE EVER!!! visited the shop yesterday with mum and chris and here is our experience:

my appointment was at 1pm and the girl (let's just call her C) that was supposed to serve me didn't show up until 2! Nonetheless, while we were waiting for Miss C to arrive at the BDR shop, a guy (let's called him K) came in into the fitting area and annouced that Miss C will be late for our appointment due to a work meeting (in which she was already 20 mins late by that time), Mr K then asked us what kind of dresses are we looking for (and i told him that i'm only looking for evening gowns as i've decided to get my wedding gown from another shop), he then said we could look around in the shop for evening gowns (which means 'serve ourselves' in my language), and to be honest, there were only 4 evening dresses in the shop, so it took me 15 seconds to actually browse them... then 10 mins later, he came back into the waiting area and said that Miss C has actually picked out some dresses for me to try on and there are more new arrival dresses available at their warehouse, so he asked a totally random girl from the shop to bring us over (at this point, i'd call that girl the reception girl as she has NO IDEA whatsoever about bridal gowns or evening dresses, also, throughout the whole process, she was either playing with her hair, or texting on the phone).

so when we arrived to this so called warehouse (which is about 5 mins walking distance from the shop, inside a shabby building), I asked the girl, "So which are the dresses that Miss C has picked for me?" she said, "Oh, I don't know, let me check with Miss C", then she went off and talked on the phone, and asked us to 'serve ourselves' again to browse and pick out the dresses that we like to try on. so we did, just so that we didn't want to waste any time. it was actually quite difficult to pick out any dresses that i like from the rack as they were soooooo not my style, all sparkly and structured and ruffled... ARGH... at the end, after having a difficult time to pick out the dresses, i picked out 3 dresses to try on, out of 3 of them, 2 were actually ok. one's a satin, deep-v, knot twist at the front, bias cut red dress (which i look totally hot and sassy in), however, the back was all scrunched up along the zip which creates the horrible effect of an enlarged anus... the second dress was a pale/nude/turnip coloured one shoulder draped dress, kind of grecian godess style... very elegant (and no anus at the back), however my concern is that i'd be wearing just 1 dress throughout the banquet night and the colour wasn't eye catching enough to make me the center of attention, and the one shoulder might make me look broad in photos.... so... it wasn't perfect still...

by this time Miss C has arrived at the warehouse (and it's already 2pm), she walked in without any apology, and pretend that it was ok to be late for the appointment. started to ask me what kind of styles do i fancy and then started to pick dresses off the racks. still remember Mr K said Miss C has picked out a few dresses for me earlier on? it was all BULLSHIT and a LIE, it was just a way to keep us 'happy' so that we could follow the reception girl over to the warehouse. all the 3 dresses that Miss C picked were awful, totally not what i wanted at all... and then while i was trying on the dresses, Miss C actually left us there unattended, well... ok... another girl was there but again, she's kinda like reception girl again with no knowledge whatsever... anyways, at the end, it was still those 2 dresses that i picked at the first place, and have actually decided on the grecian one, so i tried it on again and asked Miss C to pin it up for me to have a better look of how it's gonna look like after it's fitted, and can u believe this? she actually refused to help me to put some pins on 'coz she said the dress was just a tit bit bigger, and if i ordered it, their in house tailor is going to help me to do the fitting, so no worries about not having it fitted at that moment. my mum was actually getting angry by that point and she came over to help me to tug and pull the dress to  make it look better on me (so... at the end, it's still serving ourselves).

i have to say, the dress is not cheap at all, $8000 something after discount, (totally overpriced as i've check the dresses online, they're charging double the original price comparing to buying them directly from the designer's shop). and guess what? chris, the guy who never has any comments on his likes and dislikes, has actually got an opinion this time and felt that he would rather spend that money on another dress that is perfect, and also, i could feel that he was actually very annoyed by the service and attitude that we got from the shop. in his words, he said "we're spending quite a generous sum of money on the dress and Giordano could have given us a better service" he said he would spend the money on another shop rather than this crappy service shop. for chris to have such a negative comment could really tell u how terrible the experience was... we ended up leaving the shop without buying anything and not using our $3000 deposit.

i wouldn't say that this shop is a scam, as they really do have some really nice bridal gowns, however, do not expect to have top notch service from them. TOTALLY UNPROFFESSIONAL!!!!

so just a word of advice to any brides-to-be:

DO NOT GO TO DESIGNER BRIDAL ROOM or LUSAN MANDONGUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you could afford it, go to The Wedding Shop, Central Weddings, or White Bridal Couture. i haven't been to these shops yet, but i'm pretty sure u'd definitely get a better service than DBR!!!!

cheers,
liz xoxo

fascinators and sweet nothings

hi followers!!!

i've got loads of wedding ideas in my head right now... but first let me just show off my latest kill :P

ok... i need to confess... i've always been a sucker in fascinators... throughout the past years, i've been secretly collecting them in boxes under my bed. i usually buy them when i'm on vacation (ok.. for no reason, but they'r just so pretty i couldn't resist ok?). a recent visit to an unexpected little shop in mongkok has at last unleashed that side of me locally... =)  check out the pics:

well... again... i'm buying them for no reason... LOL... it's just that... they'r soooo pretttttty... alright alright... i MIGHT use the white one for my pre-wedding photo shoot at epsom.. who knows... =) my plan is... all female guests are encouraged to wear fascinators in my cebu wedding.

as for the groomsmen in cebu, definitely RayBans, and i'm struggling between light grey suit or navy jacket+beige shorts+loafers.

 VS

alright.. about my ideas... as u can see from the title... i put sweet nothings... actually it's sweet EVERYTHING... i'm planning to have a candy corner for my wedding.. nothing too fancy.. just some cupcakes and cookies that chris and i like... and guess what? i've found the perfect little bakery shop to do that for us... check them out: BLESSINGS Cakes & Sweets ... can't wait to call their owner up to discuss it in further details... kekeke~

ok that's it for now... *yawn* good night~

cheers,

liz xoxo

Koon Nam Wah 冠南華

Dear Followers,

for those of you who doesn't know what Koon Nam Wah 冠南華 is, it is one of the oldest company that rents out qungua 裙褂 (traditional chinese wedding dress) in HK. it is well known for their excellent craftsmanship as well as their knowledge of traditional chinese ceremonies. (For history, read the following: http://www.koonnamwah.com.hk/main02.php). as all qunguas are handmade, each piece of the qungua is a piece of art on its own.

i'm so blessed to have bumped into Koon Nam Wah's booth at the wedding expo 2 weeks ago, thus i received their special expo offer (a whooping 10% discount... yippee!! nah.. i'm just being sarcastic) to pre-order my qungua. as a matter of factly, i told the salesperson that i would like to try on Miriam Yeung's qungua as it looks soooo elegant and yet modern on her, but unfortunately she told me that after Miriam's wedding, they've received a huge demand on the dress and the dresses under the same series. currently no dress is available even if you've got the dosh, so i visited the shop in Jordan with that in mind.

did i mention that i'm blessed in the last paragraph? yes... i'd need to quote our English  teacher at epsom for this matter, "THERE IS A GOD (with eyes and index finger pointing to the sky)". miracles do happen and this time it happened on ME!!! when we visited the shop last friday, they happened to have one dress in that series in stock and it's in MY SIZE!!! =)  they called it 密地褂王之王 -_- yea... i know it sounds really lame... but... it's PERFECT!!! comparing the other 褂王s that they have, which are more silvery in colour, this one actually have a tinge of 彩 under that silvery shimmer and look less like a robot.. :P so altho it's a little bit more expensive then the rest... this is it... it's meant to be... kekeke~

so.... YEAH!!! mission accomplished!!! one more thing down!! HURRAY!!!

cheers,

xoxo liz

Projecthead

Hi Followers!

ok.. i din't know i've actually got ppl stalking my blog... LOL... since one of you guys complained that i haven't been updating my blog lately... here is a quick one for you... =)

we had a meeting with event organizing company Projecthead about 3 weeks ago. we brainstormed a lot of ideas in our first meeting with Loretta, their event manager. Loretta was very helpful in guiding us the right direction and letting us know what's the most important at this stage of wedding planning, like... booking the band, which we haven't even started researching on.. the conclusion after brainstorming the theme of our wedding is.... 'WHITE, GREY and DEEP PURPLE" "SIMPLE but with DETAILS"... so... according to our information, Loretta made us a mood board... i was soooo happy with the result... every single thing on the board 'clicks' with me... however... they weren't able to tell us the definite cost that they'd be charging us... and from the look of it... it seemed that they're quite pricey... ('coz i recognized Lee Ka Yan's wedding in one of their photos) sigh... so... i guess we'll keep researching then...

MENTAL NOTE: need to make a 'mood board' for our wedding later on so that we could show it to other companies.... kekekeke!!!! :P

Cheers,
xoxo liz

i'm sorry jimmy

hi followers,

gosh... i'm so sorry jimmy choo... i know i've been wanting u all my life to be my wingman on my wedding day... but... but... but... badgley mischka is.... is.... is.... TOOO HARD TO RESIST...  :( i know u would understand right?

these Badgley Mischka Owen shouts elegant and chic.. and quirky... and they have my size on http://www.myglassslipper.com/ AND they're on SALE!!! i mean come on... who could have resist these lovely adorable darlings??? they're on their way to my mail box from america now and i can't wait to try them on!!! YIPPEEEE!!!! 
xoxo liz

who's the biggest loser?

hi followers!

don't get me wrong... but if u'r familiar with UK telly programmes, u'll understand the 'loser' that i'm talking is not:

instead i'm talking about :

so my biggest loser regiment #1 began last saturday with a session of Thai Kick Boxing at Chok Muay Thai, and i hope i'll be able to continue this at least until my wedding day. it was actually quite fun! and it really did work out my whole body... 'coz i could feel that my limbs and abs are aching still after 2 days... :P

cheers,

liz

the ideal wedding shoes

hi followers,

as a shoe-a-holic like my mum, we've always had trouble storing our shoes... as a result, my mum came up with the idea where every time when we buy a new pair of shoes, an old pair has to go... but i think this time we're going to make an exception for these shoes.... my wedding shoes =)

THE shoes have to fall in the following criteria:
- 4 inch or above heels
- peep toe
- wedge front

the problem is... i still haven't decided what colour i should get... white? beige? silver? or even gold?

when chris and i were on our way to ritz carlton for a afterwork drink yesterday, we saw a pair of very decent silver jimmy choos. totally perfect for the occasion... however... they only have 1 pair of size 36 in the entire HK and it's been reserved by some other customer... so.. i'm 2nd on the list now... and i'm hopeing that other person would give up these gorgeous bling bling shoes...

the 2nd pair that we saw yesterday was a pair of gold glittery heels from miu miu:

very discoy and sparkly... and they look absolutely fabulous on my feet... i'm talking about smoking hot... but the only problem is.. it's in a shade of dark gold.. >.<

what do u guys think? any other suggestions??????

xoxo liz

shanghai... oh... shanghai...

hiya followers!!!

since i haven't been blogging at all... u must have wondered where i've been for my long weekend right? well... i bet the title of this piece has given the answer away... yes!!~ i just came back from shanghai... and it's too bad that i wasn't able to blog 'coz china apparently has blocked blogger.com too :( so... here is some catching up to do...

the main reason that we went to shanghai was  (other than the obvious reasons 小楊生煎- yummy dumplings and 阿娘麵- yummy crab meat noodle ;P)  to prepare for my dowry, and check out the wedding gown boutique My Wedding Atelier at Pennisula Shanghai. i have to say... i was totally overwhelmed...

mission #1 pearl shopping:
spent 2 days in the same shop shopping for white and gold pearls... it wasn't an easy task as there were soooooo many different kinds of pearls to choose from (sizes, shapes, colours, shininess, blah blah bla) but thankfully everything went smoothly with the help of the owner 玲紅 and her sister 玲玲, with their patience and expertise, we've found and made ourselves some exquisite necklaces, earrings and rings (all with a 'friendly' price as my auntie and mum were 'long-time' customers)... so... mission accomplished: gold pearl necklace with earrings for my traditional red 'qua' wedding dress and white pearl necklace and earrings set for my wedding gown, gifts for my bridesmaids... e-mail me if you would like to check them out the next time u go to shanghai 'coz their price is way lower than retail price but much better in quality...

mission #2 wedding gown:
talking about wedding gowns... i've finally visited My Wedding Atelier in Shanghai and have tried on T-H-E G-O-W-N... it's a wedding gown - Arielle by Monique Lhuillier and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL... the original piece comes with a cape, but it could be worn without... altho it was a little bit too big for me, it's still the BEST gown i've tried on =) the minute i walked into the shop and saw that dress on the manikin, i knew it's meant to be.... Shirley, the owner, was very nice and helpful and has also suggested gowns by Jenny Packham, and urged me to try them on. it is true that the floaty silhouettes are more suitable for beach wedding and they were all very well constructed... but u know... once u've set ur mind on something wonderful... it's so hard for u to change... so now the only concern is the cost... :( Shirley said they've got some new dresses coming in in oct... that means there's still some time for me to think...  everytime when i think about that dress my heart aches a bit... it's so close yet so far away... *sigh*

xoxo liz

dream dress? or not so dreamy afterall...

hi followers,

just received an e-mail from vera wang about their spring 2012 bridal collection. out of the collection, there's only 1 dress that captured my eyes:

i really like the colour of the sash and the mermaid shape and lace of the dress. however, i've set my mind on a dress with a sweet heart neckline...  so wish me luck everyone... and my journey of dress searching continues....

cheers,
liz xoxo

catching up

hi followers,

so... what have we confirmed/booked so far in the past 2 and half months?

1. venue for ceremony:
shangri-la mactan cebu - fell in love with this place straight away... we've always wanted an exotic overseas wedding... so when we visited this place the day after our engagement during our vacation in cebu... we instantly fell in love with this place and have the dates that we wanted reserved... love love love it! maureen the events manager was exceptional helpful and lovely and followed up by sending us some vendors that their hotel recommends, like MUA, photogs, videogs, bands, florists, etc. (mental note to self: will need to check them the list out ASAP)

2. venue for reception in hk:
inter-continental HK - since we're having quite a lot of tables (min. 35 tables, i'm hopeing we're not going to have more than 40 that night -_-) there aren't that many venues that could cater the size of our banquet, so we ended up shortlisting 2 venues: inter-continental and ritz-carlton. ok... let's talk about their pros and cons:

inter-continental: pros - big marble staircase, spacious cocktail area and ballroom, old glam,  well-known and great reputation for their wedding banquets; cons - looked a bit old fashioned and needed a bit of touch up (however, renovation of the ballroom is going to take place in aug 2011, so i'm crossing my fingers that the 'facelift' is going to restore the place to its former glory)

ritz-carlton: pros - new stylish hotel, modern chic, wonderful assistance from their assistant director Elkie; cons - it's new, so service, food and reputation is yet unknown, the minimun payment is extremely expensive, no staircase unfortunately, private area wasn't private enough.

THEREFORE, our conclusion is, we're opting for old glam, and would rather play safe than going for something yet unknown, and i'm so looking forward to inter-con's 'facelift' =)

3. make- up artist in HK
my friend S has recommended Polly from Faces to me as Polly was her MUA for her pre-wedding photos. went for a make-up trial not long ago. first impression was Polly was a bit awkward and came off a bit snobbish, but gradually when the atmosphere has warmed up we became more relaxed and conversation started to flow. it turns out Polly is an abrupt and straight forward person and was not afraid to raise her opinion, and frankly i would rather work with someone like her.  the result of the make up and hair were wonderful and altho i didn't give too much clues of what i want ('coz i seriously have no clue what suits me best) Polly was able to give me the perfect hairdo and make up. as a result, i paid for the deposit on the spot 'coz i know Polly is THE ONE.

4. wedding photography + video
S has also recommended Johnny Productions to us for wedding photography and video, so we booked ourselves an appointment and met up with Johnny himself and Susan the photographer. Johnny showed us their work and we especially love their overseas work. however, since they're one of the most expensive team in HK, the offer that we had was kinda way out of our budget, so we went away and slept on it.

in the next two weeks, in order to broaden our options, we've also met up with Martin Yu and Givefunla. both were wonderful photographers and videographers, but we still couldn't 'forget' about the work by Susan and Johnny.

just when we've decided to go for Givefunla for their photo and video package and do some more research on local filipino photogs in cebu, Johnny gave us a call and promised to give us the best SHOCKING offer possible, and invited us for another meeting at his studio. both chris and i went in to the studio prepared with a budget in our minds for a hk + cebu package, and we were very honest with Johnny about our budget for two countries. so we came up with a solution where everyone is happy: johnny and susan are going to do our cebu wedding (YIPPPYYYY!!!!) and johnny's second team is going to do our hk banquet (and i'm hopeing that Walter will be available for that). altho the outcome of the total amount is still a little bit over our budge, it is still affordable. (i swear i can lower my expectations of my wedding shoe options :P). so it's a DEAL!!!

THANK YOU CHRIS!!! YOU MADE ME A VERY HAPPY BRIDE-TO-BE!!!! *muah muah muah*

cheers,
liz xoxo

first post!!!

hi followers,

i've finally got this blog ready and this is my first post!!! *round of applause* used to blog daily while i was studying at high school... but when time goes by... it became a bit tideous and there goes the story... lol... anyways... let's hope that God would give me the will power to blog until our big day!!! muahahahaha...

cheers,
liz xoxo