Eat, drink and be married!

Fairy dust has settled with our appreciation dinner for our bridesmaids and groomsmen..i suppose we all need some form of closure since it started off on a high and all good things have to come to and end - i surely wish i can stay in a honeymoon suite in every vacay. Penning this as a finale before we move on from all the glittery bits is somewhat bittersweet.

Finally it's time to reveal what DIY projects I undertook for the big day, after keeping mum and sheepish in the earlier entries. 

I truly never thought that I would be this crafty...in fact, arts and crafts is never my kind of thing. And like any other bride, I wanted my angpow box, hand bouquet to be unique...I even toyed with the idea of a crystal bouquet which would cost hundreds into the thousands depending on intricacy of design...and then the next question is what for? Ideally I'd have loved for my bridesmaids to carry fresh flowers but with the big day being so near Valentines - damn you, florists for upping the prices, it would bust my budget terribly.

What started off as just the angpow box became the bridesmaids bouquets, groomsmen boutonnieres, candy table flowers, pompoms, banners - the road of no return indeed.

Ang Pow Box was the first to get completed. We are admittedly not arty farty people but this was one of those things we were willing to be somewhat creative for.



We wanted to keep the budget low but not compromise on the way it looked - like budget chic? This comprised of a random snow chip box, A4 paper box and a cereal box. I became a garang uni woman because of this project.

The funniest thing had to be, we made this even before designing our whimsical card.




 We all heard your ang pow votes - baby yes.


I'd advise all DIY brides to start ahead of time - I started sometime 6 months before trying out the fabric, finding suitable tutorials and in all honesty, I really only wanted felt daisies and they became horrendously labour intensive roses. ;x 

 

The first of the many steps involved in completing 1 single felt rose. We all sat down as a family like a factory line up - every one had a piece to cut and I never knew how 60 roses or more could kill so many weekends. If anything, this preps me for any craft work my mini may require years down the road.



A labour of all our hard work with every single rose cut and glued together. I never hated roses this much till now - for all the layers.



Just really thrilled how these all came together. The reds formed the bridesmaid bouquets.



All pretty and ready for the march down the aisle.



Spot the handmade roses and boutonnieres! The boutonneires were comparatively SO easy to make and they actually outlasted the fresh flower corsages the bridal studio provided.



Someone cheekily told me red goes well with cream and once again, we went bonkers with the cream roses.



 How it all came together, at least it was a tentative design. We tried so hard to keep to a whimsical Alice in Wonderland theme - hence the soft toys, wine bottles and signages (thanks Pearlyn for the help!!)



It was supposed to look like this but on the actual day too many things went wrong for them to all be on the same table.



With random scraps around the house, we decorated our own Brides and Bridesgroom chairs. Would you believe me if I said these were organza runners from my mom's table arrangement?



All hail Daiso for 15 pieces in a packet of $2 pompoms. I tried creating my own that ended up looking bigger but less uniform. They were used in the lunch reception tentage and the ones stringed above but had I known Daiso had these, it'd have saved me SOOOO much trouble!!!



Spot the banner behind that we painstakingly put together and looked so small in pictures. On hindsight, maybe I should have just got balloons instead.



At church :)



Hopping onto the instagram bandwagon.



On the actual day. :) See how my roses ended up as a table piece during the reception at dinner?



My DIY candy table.

Have fun, all you bride to bes!

Our bridesmaids and groomsmen were chosen well ahead of time...call us kiasu but it's always better to book their time and well, try to get all things sorted out before the great panic starts. There will be cases of dropouts for unforeseen circumstances so then, planning ahead always helps.

Choosing bridesmaids has to be one of the more delicate matters ever in planning a wedding - pick those that have a sense of humour, aren't a bigger ganjeong spider than the bride is (rule of thumb being only the bride has the darndest right to be the most spidery bitch on the actual day) and of course, lots of fun. As much as it is important choosing the right groomsmen to aid the groom picking his bride, the bridesmaids help to facilitate the process.

How many? Who? Mind boggling questions. I picked my sister (of course), jc chums that have been through naughty and good times with me and university friends who made the last leg of education so fun. On hindsight I should have gotten 4 each to form 8 for 8th february but...having a perfect 10 sounds better too! I've watched videos that showcase a band of brothers enough to fill the frame completely - but whatever works really.


And thankful we both are for friends who so very willingly agreed. Out with the old wives' tale on three times a bridesmaid and you'd be left on the shelf!

We found every reason to gather them to eat, talk, drink and of course, make merry.

Bridesmaid Meetup - About 3 months before the big day

It was a getogether session more than a party-party: I shall save the hen's party for another entry. I needed everyone to meet everyone and at least appear friendly when the cameras start rolling (LOL). Ambitious me wanted to meet at least twice before we all gathered for the big day but as we would have it, I only ended up with 1 private session and another all in.



My customized boxes of treats. :)  



Brunch we had and it was basically a round of introductions and briefed everyone on their roles and responsibilities.

So glad that these dearies have been so accomodating - entrusting their bridesmaid look to me completely and I am SO sure, they will give the brothers a time of their lives!

Groomsmen Meetup: 1 month before the big day (Men are usually tardy when it comes to meetups).

For prosterity's sake here's a snap of the gallant folks when they met up to conspire how to gate crash. A tip though - try to get one who is loud enough to bring up the spirits of the rest and lucky or not, the hubs had 2 complete virgin groomsmen...!

I wish I could just embed our same day edits video by Lighthouse Studios here but for the interested, here's it: From Miss to Missus.

Time has flown so fast by...we've gone through my first birthday as a missus, our first valentine's day as a married couple and now we're working on our next biggest project - not the baby but the house. Weekends are spent at hardware shops, furniture shops...lighting shops....nope, we are not headed the ID way...! A more indepth entry on that another day. Until then, we are slightly more than a month to our honeymoon! :)

On hindsight, I should have just gone ala carte with the pre wedding photographer and perhaps hired an external vendor decorator (heading down to the church for the decorations was tough business the day before!).