wishb

Thursday, July 30, 2009

People have been expressing concern over my last blog post and while I am grateful for their comforting words, it occurs to me that perhaps I should clarify what I meant.

I know that weddings can't be perfect and that the marriage is what really matters. The previous post had nothing to do with that at all. I was simply expressing frustration that people whom I paid to do things were not doing them well, and I hate that. Ordinarily I would just cut my losses and find someone else to do what I wanted, but the wedding deadline makes that impossible, and so this frustration is wedding-related. It doesn't actually mean that I'm unhappy with how the wedding is going. It just means that, as usual, I have to watch as people do things that I could have done better myself. Apart from, of course, my patient boyfriend and eminently capable bridesmaids.

Other than that, wedding prep is going marvellously - thank you to everyone who asked - and we'll see you next Saturday! :)

posted by zyn :: 10:58 PM :: 0 Comments :: permalink


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naming and shaming

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

With nine days to go before the wedding, I am so stressed I am sick. These are the people responsible.

1. Bridal Veil by Michelle Huimin

From start to finish whatever positive experiences I've had with them have been overshadowed by feelings of disappointment. The first sketches they gave me for a wedding dress were clearly unimaginative standard drawings that they churn out for every bride, and everything I wanted to change about the drawings would have cost more money. In the end, after a lot of back and forth-ing, I found a dress that I could be happy with. Of course this dress will be replicated ad nauseum for other brides; I've already seen one version. By the time I got round to designing the evening dress I was so worn out I just went with one of their usual designs. I'm planning to wear it for an hour at most. It's plain boring. In order to make it more interesting I agreed to have a longer train, which makes me a sucker for paying an extra $500. This is my biggest single wedding regret.

Not just that, but the make-up artist they assigned to me is lousy as well. She did horrible make-up for me at the trial, which I didn't realise until I hired Liren Neo to do my photoshoot make-up and the difference was so significant I was prepared to pay her an extra $1k so she could replace my (free) Bridal Veil make-up artist. And when I called the Bridal Veil make-up artist to find out when she could come down on the actual day (why do I have to call HER??) it turns out she can only make it 45 minutes before my day's programme starts, because she has ANOTHER bride to do before that. So I either settle for 7.45am and rush the make-up by 8.30, or I have to start at 6.15am. WTF.

Screw Bridal Veil. Nothing but headaches. I tried to complain about them in the Singaporebrides thread but my post was removed because the spineless moderators said it was defamatory. It wasn't. Screw them too.

2. My Mandarin Collar

Worst cheongsam experience ever. This one actually really did come the day before my photoshoot - at 9pm, to boot. It was too loose. No time to alter. Ruined my photos. Also, they screwed up the first version and wanted to charge me for that in addition to the final dress. I hate them.

3. Angelique Boutique at Centrepoint

Ordered my bridesmaids' dresses from here. Not a single one fit on the first try. I've had to go down practically every weekend for the last month and a half just to keep altering and refitting the dresses. But so far I haven't found a single place that makes good bridesmaids' dresses.

People who have made my life easier:

1. Lynn from MySummerScents

The florist decorating my solemnisation venue. She's very nice, and so are her photos. Quick responses and generally efficient demeanour. We'll see.

2. Ng Sen from Marina Mandarin

Absolutely awesome woman. Perhaps the only person I have met in my life who is as super-admin as me.

3. Pretty girl with short hair from ExpressPrint in Chinatown

Did a great job on the solemnisation invites, one of the biggest highlights of the wedding for me.

4. Esther from The Card Room

Also did a great job on the tea ceremony invites, plus threw in these gorgeous shiny thick envelopes for the cards.

5. Helen from Kentrich Printing

Super job on the dinner invitation inserts with next-day completion. Love them.

5. Ted Collection

They are designing a cheongsam for me, which, from what I have seen so far, is set to be my favourite dress out of the bunch. Still, it's only nine days left and I haven't seen the finished product yet. Potential for disaster: 50%.

6. Hun Leng from Raffles Town Club

Efficient and thorough. So far my tea ceremony is likely to be the smoothest event of the day.

Okay that's it for now. But this list is sure to be updated soon.

posted by zyn :: 3:46 PM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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