Frankly speaking, one blog post holds insufficient space for me to include every detail, thought and moment, from the process making of Edmund & Pamela's wedding, ALLLL the way to the 24th of October. So based on my own memory, this is how I remembered things went...
I vaguely remember, it was about a year ago when Edmund proposed to Pamela. It was the night of Christmas Eve 08, also the night before they flew off to Taiwan. After having dinner at my place, he got down on one knee and popped the question infront of my family and family's friends. (which to him and Pamela were total strangers at first sight) Soon after, it was a new year and we welcomed the year of 2009. A few months passed and one fine day, I remembered receiving an SMS from Pamela. Together with their parents, they had decided on the special date for the wedding, 24.10.09. Never did I know that it would come and go just so quickly!
The few months of preparation were tough on the couple. Being newly weds, they had NO IDEA where to start or how to begin planning for it. I still recalled I bought a bridal magazine for Pamela on her 22nd birthday in February. Then, she suggested we head down to Borders to browse through more magazines & books on weddings and bridal stuff. They should know by now, that getting married ONCE is more than enough, and preparing for it is not as simple as you thought it would be.
In early June this year, I remembered following the bride to her custom-made gown fittings at Bridal Veil, the groom getting custom-made tuxedo alterations there as well. The next news I received from the couple was that they had picked the venue of the wedding dinner and you would never guess where they decided upon!? The ever so grand Island ballroom at Shangri-La! From that moment on, I immediately saw a grand wedding coming our way, and by then, we were just 3 months away from the wedding!
The next big thing before the arrival of the wedding were the pre-wedding photo shoot dated 3 July 2009. I remembered following the couple to town the day before and we did a little last minute shopping for accessories & shoes. After catching only a few hours of sleep, little did we know that there was a long day waiting for us. The day started at around 8-ish in the morning where we arrived at Studio Sago, Chinatown. While the couple was getting ready and taking their glamor studio shots, I was incharged of dressing the bride, taking care of Copper and getting lunch for everybody. That same afternoon, we headed out around for the outdoor shoot, and my oh my, all I can say is that IT WAS AN EXPERIENCE WORTH WAKING UP FOR. I've always been interested in photography, but clueless about every bit of it. So following the couple was an eye opener, especially when you have such a 'flexible' bride with natural features and poses I would say? (HAHAHA) We went to places I've never been to before, like this very old house somewhere behind a church and the Choa Chu Kang race track near the cemetery. These landmarks portrayed beautiful real life backgrounds and the pictures turned out just beautiful! The night ended at 1030pm, I still remembered we had Boon Dong Kee chicken rice and it was a rather quick and quiet dinner as all of us were famished & exhausted, and we three looked forward to a good shower & a good nights sleep that night.
My favorite picture of the day!
In the next 2 months, I remembered Pam telling me she had to booked food tasting appointments and meetings with the hotel to pick out linens & color themes for the ballroom dinner. I also remembered the couple having to make trips to Chinatown to purchase the chinese traditional materials needed for the morning tea ceremony such as tea sets and auspicious decorations to put up at home. Busy, very busy!
The month of September was very tensed for all including family & friends, as we began to bite our finger nails to wonder if we missed out on anything. I remembered the bride & groom having to crack their brains just to finalize the guest list so they could write and sent out invitations. Everything from that moment on went by so quickly it was difficult for us to grasp each moment. Meetings after meetings, with the hotel, florists and Event management crew called for last minute decisions. I don't know about the couple, but for me, it meant that there'd be no point of return after everything was finalized. I myself, was busy too in composing the Wedding schedule & check lists.
Soon to come, it was October and the girls and I put together hen's night for our lovely bride. She must have been the luckiest & most spontaneous bride I've ever seen in Clarke Quay! I shall just keep the details to myself but it was definitely A NIGHT TO REMEMBER for several of us ;) You could say that after that night, Pamela was no longer allowed to date or find an interest in another man other than Edmund. (haha) She pampered herself with facial appointments and I also realized she restrained from ruining her fingernails that month. After several days of dieting and healthy eating, the day came for her final gown fittings. To all of our relieve, she was able to fit in the dress perfectly. Being dressed in that satin white gown and being properly buttoned up, (and I mean each and every button!) I bet she felt confident in being the most beautiful bride she'll ever be.
I took a week off work just to help in the last minute wedding preparations. Since my sister & brother in law were the Emcees of the dinner, I had to liaise with them and find out what entertainment they could provide for the evening. Endless dinners and meet ups with the band too, to brainstorm and discuss, then finally 2 days before the wedding, we finalized the program and prepared the march in songs and video montages. It was a sleepless week but being ladies, we were very on track and I must say, very efficient too.
OH, wait. I must include that since many of the bridesmaids were busy with work & school, we had to find last minute evening dresses! It was a panicky moment as you know, when it is just a week before and you haven't got a single thing to wear for the evening! It's every girl's nightmare! Thank goodness though, all the girls looked great that night, and not forgetting our sexy white dresses that morning too ;)
We were down to the last day, 23.10.09, the day before her BIG day! We went through our list over and over again, it went something like that: Waxing - Check!, Manicure & Pedicures - Check! Corsages - Check! We spent the afternoon sewing & putting together the corsages. Thanks to our talented bride, she did most of the sewing. Some of us had hair pins and some of us had hand corsages. The bridesmaid and I spent the last few hours preparing a list of games for the Groom's gatecrashing. With the help of Min, Ju and Liana, I was able to call it a night before 12. We didn't stay over though, afraid that many of us would be unable to sleep. I went home, masked and knocked out for about a good 3 hours before it was time to be up again.
2:30am, my alarm rings. I snoozed. 3am. I got out of bed. I put on my white off shoulder dress (the same I had worn for my sister's wedding!), dolled up, and gathered my bags together at the door. My cab arrived at 4:30am and I managed to reach the bride's house at 5am. The day commenced from there, everything from waking up the groom, to crashing him at the gate, to tea ceremonies after tea ceremonies and lunch. Talking about it now, just makes me miss the mad rush I felt the entire day. To our surprise, we were on time, on track the entire morning. In fact earlier I would say, but all was good thanks to every body's cooperation :D
Well here's a sneak peak of some wedding pictures we took with our own cameras.
As I recall, it was about 7am. The bride together with Liana & I, waited in the room as the groom get's 'saboh-ed' outside the house door by the other bridesmaids!
Arriving at Carribean, the bride & groom present house. Let's do a check, ok. Bride & bridesmaids still looking good at 10am :)
We arrived at Pasir Ris for the last ceremony and lunch, though we were half dead already. I remembered being so hungry but too lazy to even chew and swallow. There after, it was time to head to the hotel to prepare for the evening. Boyfriend picked me up from there and lucky for him, we had an extra car to transport our 'barang barang' to the hotel. After checking it, we got to rest just a tad bit before showering and dolling up again. The bride on the other hand, enjoyed her short nap in the bridal suite at Valley Wing. And I must say that it is one hell of a suite, especially the bathroom. Haha. I bet she enjoyed the complementary L'octaine products as well.
After the ROM ceremony, there were pre-dinner cocktails & mingling of guest before the ballroom doors opened.
First course is served! Food was good, well at least the ones who were at the table most of the time (ahem, my bf. lol), said so.
The guys or shall I say the boyfriends, on the left. Ok exclude Ian. And on the right, PIMP JJ with the girlies.
A unique wedding banquet with games and entertainment, live band performances during dinner by Nelson + partner, a unique march in not forgetting a very long 'yam seng' on stage. The evening ended at 1130pm after all the picture taking. Then it was time for the after partay in rooms 1126 and 606. (as if there weren't enough drinking for the night already) I remembered drinking from the bottle of red wine, feeling very high but still sober. And together with Liana, we were shouting on the top of our lungs when we gave a toast to the newly weds, right in the middle of our hotel room. Boyfriend says I was just a little too happy that night. But I was! I'm really glad that everything went well, and I have to say that I am really honored to have been the maid of honor and event coordinator.
Like Pam says, we, the bridesmaids were all-in-one, to translate to hokkien, "bao ga liao". It could never have been better without the girls and the enjoyable atmosphere they created amongst ourselves.
I'm just wondering now, who'll be the one to be next in line to get married. :D
Like Pam says, we, the bridesmaids were all-in-one, to translate to hokkien, "bao ga liao". It could never have been better without the girls and the enjoyable atmosphere they created amongst ourselves.
I'm just wondering now, who'll be the one to be next in line to get married. :D
