Pre wedding photos

I initially did not want to take pre-wedding photos because I thought that photos on D-Day would be more meaningful. At least I would get to wear my wedding gown just once, with all the hair, accessories, the full blown attire once.. which would make it even more meaningful.

Also I wanted the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride in the gown until she walks down the aisle. But thanks to Eileen, I was sucked into the glory of pre-wedding photos!

And a week after my session, I would have to say --- THANKS, EILEEN!! I DID IT! Well, if we are going to do it, do it right :) So admittedly, I went a bit overboard (a bit is understating it). My back seat and car boot was filled with "stuff" i had to bring to the venue. I had 5 different attires, shoes to match, accessories to adorn and a box full of props.

We started at 6am - yes 6am, and ended at 8pm!! No kidding!! The weather was merciful, the team was fantastic (Cindy of Beauty Haven for makeup & hair, Eddie Lee for videos, Yeh of Wondrous Vision for photos, Anies from Garden Fairies for flowers, Debra from The Olive Branch for venue)  and it made my experience from the other side of the fence (i always help setup the scene but not BE in the scene) fantabulous.

We really had a great time - as there were lots of laughter, jokes, Bollywood-scenes of us running around and even deep-water diving!! The venue - Garden Fairies - THE perfect venue for photos because we had all the picture-perfect elements -  water, white picket fences, tree houses and nature in all its wonder. We even took photos in the loo! That was how gorgeous the place was.

With the photography session, I took it as an opportunity to test out my shoes, gown and accessories to see what would work and what would not in real-life weather. And good thing i did too because I am now an expert in flipping my wedding gown skirt.

For us, having the right group of friends with us is very important and with the right synergy, the right team of people made the session a whole lot of fun. With the experts at hand - I am proud to say that i entrusted our team entirely with everything -- meaning i didn't look in the mirror to check my hair & makeup, i didn't check and recheck Yeh's photos and i told Anies to weave her magic and do what needs to be done with my bouquet.

Trust the experts you get because they DO know what's best for you. What's the point in engaging their services if you need to check and recheck whatever you need?

A preview of the photos just confirmed that it was all worth it.

A Wedding Planner's Wedding - Part 2

I had written all about my wedding on my own personal blog. You can view it here. To elaborate, I agree with Leticia - people expect your wedding to be a WOW factor simply because you're a wedding planner. That a wedding planner's wedding would be like - Princess D and Prince Charles and all that jazz. I think different strokes for different folks, people.

I feel sometimes, people forget that a wedding is not about other people, but it is about you as a couple, celebrating your union together with people who are important in your lives. Unfortunately, in our Asian society, a wedding is a showcase, or rather, an "announcement" that is necessary to make. Especially with our parents. Which is why, I usually recommend to my clients to have another separate intimate wedding that reflects their personalities and one more to keep the parents' happy. Like me - I went for THREE receptions - one for ourselves in Bali where we fell in love, one for my beloved Grandma back in the kampung and one for our parents in KL.

Some may say - one wedding is bad enough, but THREE??! Trust me, it was really quite enjoyable for us. Except the tiring flights back and forth since I am based within the Indochina market. Other than that, once you learn to 'let go' and say "I'm going to have a great time, come what may," - you'll realise that everything simply falls into place.

I've seen many a clients who walked down the aisle with a look of intense stress because they are afraid of not playing the role of a good host well, they are worried the decor didn't impress the guests, they are worried the guests are not liking the menu, etc. For me and my other half, I was only worried about timing our walk so that I reached the end of the aisle right on the chorus :)  Having said that - I had a team working behind the scenes to make all three of my receptions run like clockwork - and all I had to do was just be a bride(zilla). Not just because I am a wedding planner, but I seriously, recommend a wedding planner - even to wedding planners themselves!

Sure, in the process, I've had my fair share of emotional blackmail and family pressure to make the wedding a "grand" one. I did give in some, but I've had to threaten to call off the wedding a number of times - and I knew my Dad would rather starve than to have me continue my single-dom - so that helped in getting my way a bit. And when I decided to omit all children from the wedding in Bali, I was told I was being extremely over-the-top bitchy, but you know what? Firstly, it is my wedding and secondly, if you were a good friend to me and knew me well enough to celebrate my wedding day with me - you would understand why this is so important to me! And if you don't understand that point - then, I'm afraid..... you know.

So as Leticia says - wedding planners are still normal human beings getting married. But deciding on what to do and how you do it - is probably what differentiates us from the rest - because through years of experience, we have seen what our clients go through and we may not want to go through the same shite.

Once, I was handling this wedding and the client put me at a table together with some of her "BFFs" for dinner. I was really quite appalled - because these catty girls started bitching about the entire wedding! From the bride's gown to the theme colour to the favours, to the music! Here's a thought : Are these the types of "friends" you actually want celebrating with you on your wedding day?  

Leticia is planning for her wedding this coming 10th of the 10th of the 10th. Actually, she was already planning for her wedding before I had my wedding! Knowing Leticia, her wedding will be very beautiful too. Whilst I was a bridezilla in my "I-want-it-Simple-Simple-Simple" ways, Leticia is a bridezilla in her own ways (Kris Wong will vouch for that!!). And I am still sore that she made me write the excerpt for the lighting of the unity candle for her (and I wrote it oh-so-beautifully that her parents thought I was a good Christian girl) and yet - I am not allowed to read it at her wedding :P

**Bali Wedding Photo taken by Yeh Poh Chung of Wondrous Vision