Well after being alone for about 21 years of my life, I’m making this huge decision to get hitched at the tender age of 25. There are many reasons involved, some romantic, some practical, and some for the sake of the people (note it is plural) closest to me. One thing’s for sure though: many people will think it’s foolish, many will question my finances, many will question our maturity, many will think it’s shotgun and look for a growing tummy on the wedding day (lol)…..but I personally feel that in the end, it doesn’t really matter (reminds me of linkin’ park) what other people think….
So here’s my short story of how I got to this stage!
1. Make the decision first
For one reason or another, after 2 years plus Chewy and I started talking about getting married and the wonders of it all. And you start noticing married (and sometimes young) couples on the street. Then we decided that now’s the time….
2. Talk to our parents
I broached the subject with my mum and Chewy’s parents, and of course, they were shocked at first. At that time I expected failure already. But to my pleasant surprise, they agreed! Maybe it’s due to our determination or maybe it’s due to some other reason, but the important thing is, we got the go-ahead….
3. Make the proposal
It may sound weird to propose after the fact, but the truth is, ours was a totally unconventional situation as we were getting married way before the ‘right’ time. So I felt that it was important to get agreement from our parents and Chewy first before making the all-important proposal on bended knee and all that (the details are too embarrassing to divulge)….
4. Choose the date
We wanted 5th March as it was the date we got together (after 3 tries but that’s for another story). But alas, the geomancers foiled our plan and recommended 24th Feb. Which is good because it falls smack in the middle between Valentine’s and 5th March. I’m sure other couples will go for cliches like Valentine’s or 9th Sep 09, but that’s not our style.
5. Find the hotel
Sourcing for a hotel with good facilities and reputation, yet with a reasonable price, was hard as most hotels were really ‘high-class’! After rejecting the likes of Furama with their stuffy image and some others, we settled on Hotel Rendezvous. (thanks Joe for bringing it to my attention too) Most importantly, we had to do this really early so that our date won’t be taken.
6. Find a solemniser
We wanted to have the solemnisation at our wedding dinner to save time and trouble travelling to and fro to ROM (and show off to more people in the process haha). This was easy for a geek like me. Just browse to Style Weddings and look in their forums for the most sought-after solemniser!
7. Shoot the wedding album
We approached the bridal firm, Style Bridal, as we had previously made a couple makeover album with them and we found their photographer pretty good. It was tiring having to take photos indoors and outdoors (luckily we did both on separate days) but it was a fun experience! What spoilt it a little for me was that some locations were ‘used’ by other couples already and the photographer was a different one and didn’t really do a good job of getting us into the mood….
8. Order the wedding rings and try out the gown
This had to be done early, as the rings have to be custom-made to our sizes and this took about 2 months. We ordered ours from GoldHeart, one from their Celestial series, and I absolutely can’t wait to show them off! Then it was off to try on various designs for the wedding gown (Chewy of course) and for me, it was a simple decision. A white set and a black set…sob why doesn’t guys get more attention!
9. Print wedding invitations
This was straightforward as the hotel already recommended a print company to us, and it was just a matter of giving the required names, no of copies, and choosing a colour and template. What was NOT easy though, was choosing guests.
10. Invite your guests
Frustrating! You have to lay out the tables seating, decide who eats halal or vegetarian, try to fit those who know each other into the same tables and send smses to invite them! The nice thing though are the messages of congrats you get. These produces a warm feeling in my heart….
11. Plan your wedding
This is where it starts getting stressful! You have to meet up with every single person involved in the wedding, and plan every single inch of the day from when you wake up to brush your teeth to where you put your foot during the march-in. I will leave you to find this out for yourself but rest assured, screw-ups are inevitable!
12. Guo Da Li
For a Chinese, the tradition is to choose a day for the groom to bring over some stuff to the bride’s house, and gosh come back with an armload of stuff! I brought over some oranges, wine, the 4 pieces of gold for the bride and the bridal price. All in a old-fashioned basket! And to my shock, I came back with 2 washing basins, 2 toothbrushes, toothpaste, more oranges, 2 lamps and lots more.
13. Create and test the wedding picture slideshow
Most people might outsource this, but I decided to make our own. Choose the pictures and music, go to the hotel to test them, and all is set!
14. Collect wedding flowers and gown, make final arrangements
That’s what we did.
15. Enjoy your bachelor’s night
And finally, your wedding night. If you read this far, congratulations and look forward to more updates from me!
