halloween

awesome inspiration board i found on the web!

halloween is coming up and it got me thinking, a halloween-themed wedding!!!

how super fun would that be??? okay, i guess it would feel more like a party, but i reckon it would totally rock for guests! dressing up in costumes for a wedding!?

party favours

just thought of an awesome party favour idea! a candy buffet! so each person gets a plastic bag and gets to fill up the bag with different types of sweets on a table. i'm a real sweet tooth and love candies so my picks would probably be jelly beans, peach rings, and skittles. hkgroom on the other hand, is a real chocolate/cookies type person, so he's thinking of mini-chocolate chip cookies, maltesers, and hershey's cookies and cream kisses... something along those lines! yum yum yum! going to try to get hkgroom to see if he can get a source for the mini tongs that you can get from the mong kok candy stores where you scoop your own candies. hopefully we can get the mini tongs engraved with our names and wedding date or something like that. sooooooooooooooo excited!

off camping...

will be camping for a few days in beautiful dai long wan (sai kung). its my all time favourite place in hong kong. taking a break from all this wedding stuff!

day at shek o

save the date 1

save the date 2

aren't our save the dates lovely?!?! wouldn't they look absolutely fab on someone's fridge?(i've got magnet paper and will turn the one we choose into an awesome magnet!!!) photoshop is amazing! i'm sooooooo proud of my work!! hmmm i think i'm liking the first one. will see what hkgroom thinks =)

today was an awesome day! hkgroom took half a day off work and so we went up to shek o golf club to take a look at the place, take some photos for my save the date cards, and also have a nice bbq dinner at night with hkgroom's family.

so it was my first time ever today walking around the golf course (hkgroom played some golf) and got some lovely pics of shek o, the green, the background and everything. soooo pretty there! i couldn't believe how much i was sweating considering i wasn't hitting the ball or carrying anything! gosh, can't believe how some golfers are so fat... with all that walking, they should be super trim!

corset thing

(sorry for the not so great picture! i can't find a hanger with clips!)

bought myself a lovely corset (aka girdle) today for my dress hunting fun!!! quite expensive they are... gosh my one cost over $500HKD! apparently it was already 30% off!

got it from exclusivelymine the lady in the shop was really nice and helpful. i bought the first style i tried on! luckily i tried it on again after i left the shop though because it turned out she gave me the wrong 'new' one. in that, she gave me a size smaller than the one i originally tried. drama continues in that it turns out the sample one is the last in its size and its dirty (make-up marks on the inside) and they're unlikely to get new stock. so i looked at her and asked if i should come back when they had new stock in my size and if they should just give me store credit (i had already paid). she then said she actually had one that would fit me (not the same size as the one i tried on- one cup size higher, but underbust size smaller... i.e. the same thing) but she didn't bring it out originally because someone else had 'reserved it' without paying and its already been two weeks and that customer had still not picked it up.

so i tried on this other one and it too, fit. so took that one instead. gosh... i like the store and kinda like the woman because she was nice. but can't help but question if she deliberately gave me one in the wrong size hoping i would find out too soon because she never even apologized!

ohwell. i wasn't in the mood to kick up a fuss. in the end i got what i want and it was something that fit. i'm happy.

DJ!!!

so my good friend is a dj. dj tai pan dan in fact. he's a fantastic dj and a great friend. born and raised in london (with an awesome londoner's accent), tai pan dan is making a name for himself in the world of house music in hk. he plays in hong kong's top venues: beijing club, finds, W hotel, armani bar... he's also part of the soul heaven team in hk! yay dan!

anyhow, he's going to play at our wedding! yay! bring on the cheesy music!
love you dan!

wedding set continued...

i love the symbolism behind a hand written inscription on the band!

more thinking about my wedding set and our wedding bands! i've always really liked the idea of having our date/names/a phrase inscribed as it gives more meaning to the band. also, if its a time to go 'all out' its now!

i'm not too worried about mine and hkgroom's bands matching as he's quite picky and doesn't really want to draw too much attention to his hands with a ring anyway...

wedding set

YAY!!! went with hkgroom to visit our awesome jeweler again to discuss getting our wedding rings made! because my setting is quite low (there's not enough room for a band to sit nicely underneath my engagement ring) i'm thinking of getting two thin rings (curved pave half band in rose gold) to 'sandwich' my engagement ring. by making the two bands curved, it will allow the rings to 'sit' together nicely without any gaps in between.

the effect would make it look kinda like a halo ring. sort of the picture above =) my only concern is that this 'set' will not really look like a wedding set at all because unlike in the pic above, my ring's band is really really delicate. hmmmm not sure... still thinking...

ring for him

wouldn't this be an awesome ring for hkgroom??? its different and interesting yet simple at the same time! (i think its actually a woman's ring!)

its called 'walk with me' from artisan impact. this particular ring is made out of oxidised silver, yellow gold and rose gold. such an awesome effect! they have another cool ring called 'zero hour' which i think hkgroom might be interested in.

celebrity brides

an awesome place to get wedding inspirations is definitely celebritybrideguide.com they have great photos of celebrity couples, the wedding day, dresses, bridesmaid dresses, rings and the lot! i particularly like the 'love stories' of the celebrity couples!

photographer

OMG photographers cost soooooooooooooo much!!!!

i definitely want amazing photography of the day. of the wedding, this is the one thing that we will have forever. the cake gets eaten and then comes back out, the dress gets worn once (ok, i say this but this is another area i am willing to splurge a bit more on) and flowers simply die! photographs last forever and ever.

just surfing the internet and having a look around for photographers and their online portfolios... and my goodness people charge a lot! just checked out Simon.the.blog who takes absolutely exquisite photos, but he charges over $30k for the day. its a bit out of our budget. Simon would really be my dream photographer, but hkgroom would surely not agree $30,000 for photography.

hmmmm ANN CHOI looks great too! will email her to see what quote i can get.

healthy eating

wow i've been relatively good this week! today i had no breakfast, lunch and a small bowl of chinese soup for dinner. i've totally cut out mcdonalds and all my snacking! yay me! hehehe kinda hungry now... need to keep busy and stop thinking of food!

one year to the day!!!

eeeeek!!! it is exactly one year to the day!!! i'm so excited! rolled over to hkgroom and said 'happy one year pre-wedding day!'

yay yay yay! was going to eat terrible today so i can start eating a bit more sensibly (see previous post) after today. but didn't end up going for my all-time fav, poutine! =( poutine is basically thick chips with gravy and cheese curds (heart attack in a cup) but soooooo delicious.

there is only one place in hk that does poutine, new york fries located in harbour city tst.

no more super unhealthy eating for me... maybe poutine once every few months???

dress browsing and kicking myself for forgetting my camera

am on a high! went dress browsing with mummy and daddy!!! wow, you wouldn't believe how exhausting it is trying dresses on! it was very fun, even though we only tried dresses on in two shops.

i am kicking myself for forgetting my camera though!!! i had every intention of sneaking photos when i was trying on the dresses in the change room to send to hkmaidofhonor but i forgot my camera!

i tried on 7 dresses or so all together, all different styles and materials. i definitely like the lace ones!

found a gorgeous gorgeous dress that looked stunning. *sigh* must go back with hkmaidofhonor when she gets here in december.

congratulations mare!!!

a huge congratulations to my friend marianne and her new hubby adam!!! love you mare and wish you a lifetime of happiness! wish i could be there and will be thinking of you today! xxx

weight loss plan

i've got a brilliant plan. i reckon i need to lose 10 pounds by october 11, 2010 and the way to do that- slowly and steady by losing one pound per month! totally doable!

step one: definitely to stop eating mcdonalds!!!

its terrible, our taxi-pool departs from admiralty station every morning and mcdonalds is right there. seriously. need to stop. i just loooooveee a hamburger and large orange juice in the morning! terrible, i know. hkgroom would freak if he read this! should probably cut out those egg and roasted tomato breakfast baguettes from pret a manger too.

crap... just googled it, there are 250 calories in a normal hamburger!!! gosh, makes you wonder how many calories are in the quarter pounder!

another pic of shek o!

woahoo! i've finally got another picture of shek o club from hkgroom. its a picture of the clubhouse from the green... i think... not as clear as i would like, but its awesome seeing such a gorgeous blue sky and the green grass in the foreground. seriously, where else in hk would we see such a view??? we're heading over next thursday to check the place out again, and take more photos. only after i get some decent shots of our ceremony location, i can make our save-the-dates. i'm so excited! i also got the magnetic paper stuff ($15 bucks per A-4 sheet from the local stationary store... and by local, i mean local!)

hkgroom will likely play golf with there while i get to sit in the buggy and snap away! must remember to charge my camera for then!

wedding planning is the perfect procrastination tool

seriously. i've got a presentation for next monday and haven't even started on the powerpoint. just did the readings and will need to do them again because i've been so distracted its all jibberish.

top wedding procrastination sites:

weddingbee

theknot

instyle weddings

ringenvy

"why exercise won't make you thin"

yes! research suggesting that exercise may not necessarily lead to weight loss!!!! just came across this on time.com.

it talks about the idea that exercise may keep one from losing weight as after exercise, it stimulates hunger! therefore, after exercising, you eat more. also, it goes on about after having vigorously exercised, people tend to 'relax' more at home as they have already done the hard work. this vigorous exercise + relaxing does not mean burning more calories than someone who is moderately active the whole day as they are not 'compensating'. interesting article!

i catch myself doing this actually... i'll happily order a big hamburger with fries after a workout to 'reward' myself. eating this is waaayy more calories than i burned during my work out! hahahaha can't wait to send this article to hkgroom.

guest list

finally hkmum has given me a list of people! and holy cow, 45 people who are 'just family'. gosh! seems like a whole lot for a wedding of 120-ish (conservative number) people... hkmotherinlaw has already given us a list from her side. basically hkgroom's side is looking at around 45 family invites with a 90% turn out. with my side however, as the majority of family are overseas, i've counted 10 people off the bat who are unlikely to come.

anyway, just subscribed to the knot where they have a guest list manager tool. pretty cool as i can keep track of my 'A' (just family) and 'B' list, guests and their guests, whose side of the family the guest is from, how many invited, how many and who has RSPVed etc. not bad. scarily, my list says 212 people will be invited (hkgroom will have a heart attack!) with 86 people on the 'A' list.

this website also has lots of information and pics on dresses, hairstyles, rings, colour schemes, honeymoons, real weddings, and even a place for people to host their own wedding website! very very cool. great way to keep guests informed about the wedding.

speaking of wedding websites, hkgroom and i will buy our own wedding website domain on our wedding date so we only have to pay for a year's subscription. i need to get more info from hkgroom as to which company's service we will use....

music

"if music be the food of love play on"

-twelfth night, william shakespeare

music, music, music- hkgroom and i are soooooooo different when it comes to our taste in music. i'm all about mainstream stuff- i like songs with lyrics and stuff that is catchy. hkgroom on the other hand, is completely different. so when i asked him if there are any particular songs he'd like at our wedding, he said it was hard because his type of music is totally inappropriate for a wedding. anyhow, we spent a good two hours on youtube looking up songs. and we may have found the song for our first dance!!!!

on the same note, hmv now has a service where you can buy single tracks! each track is $8 and up and whole albums are $40 and up! fantastic! with no itunes in hk, i have been listening to the same stuff over and over again. i'm very very excited to make a list of new songs i want to put on my ipod. basically, you go to this little machine and search for the songs you want (you can even test the song by listening to a sample of the track). a receipt prints out which you take to the counter and the people burn it onto a cd for you, or put it directly onto your music player. not sure how they would put it directly onto the ipod though, as i thought the technology only allowed music from one itunes onto the one ipod to prevent sharing.... not sure. anyhow, super cool of hmv to have this service! and no doubt we will be using this to look up songs for our wedding!

centrepieces

been looking at lots and lots of flowers and their arrangements online and am considering simple flower centrepieces, using calla lilies as well as it would tie in with my bouquet. we already have one florist in mind for the lilies, and so i checked out ikea for vases. rather than this oval-y shaped one in this picture, i'm thinking a tall rectangular shape. super typical of ikea not to have this type of vase in their hk store... so i checked their us store and ta-da! i'm perhaps thinking of the 8 1/4 inch rektangel vase for only $1.99USD! only downside is that 8 1/4 inches isn't actually that big of a vase and may look 'silly' as such a small centrepiece... might have to get something bigger to add a bit of grandeur to the look. hmmmmmmm......

happy china day!

wheeee! one of the great things about hong kong is that there are loads of public holidays! going to the government's website, i counted 17 public holidays this year. woahooo!

wedding wise, today was great as hkgroom and i walked around tst and found calla lilies in the market going for $30 per flower! granted, they were 'left overs' from the end of the day and so they looked a bit droopy and not too nice, but seriously, $30 rather than the $120 from armani. needless to say, hkgroom was sold and announced i could have a massive bouquet if i wanted! =) didn't get their name card or phone number as hkgroom was confident he would remember where the shop was (along haipong road, in the wet market, first stall on the right). will definitely keep them in mind!

uber expensive flowers

i have always known i wanted calla lillies as my bouquet. they're gorgeous and super simple. they've got that simple elegance to them. love love love them. randomly walked into armani fiori and oh my gosh! they're beauuuutiful but holy cow they were charging $120 per flower!!!! apparently they're flown in from the netherlands.... i told hkgroom and his jaw just dropped and told me he hoped that i would be sensible. all i could say was 'yes honey'.

armani fiori is located at charter house in central.