Esthee H.

Pleasnt surprise when I got home today!

Check out this hugeeee parcel waiting in the living room for me so patiently. Hee.




Well, not that much of a surprise since I was already sort of expecting it to arrive these few days.

But still, it's always a nice, warm and fuzzy feeling when you receive a special mail, isn't it?

Look how our names are written all over the package!







Some people like to wait until the wedding is over before they share the photos online, so there's still the surprise for guests attending the wedding. But in my honest opinion, guests at your wedding usually won't pay too much attention to your pre-wedding photos simply because there are too many other things to focus on! So I really do think it's okay to share a couple of photos on social media now. Also has the effect of building up the excitement prior to the wedding.

Here's a sneak peak of some of my favourite ones. Actually, all the pictures were so well taken that almost every single one of them are my favourite, :)








Are you coming to our wedding??? :D

Hey to whoever's still visiting this forsaken blog on a regular basis, I'm back!

I know it's been a long while since I've been here. Almost like half a year? 2014 has been filled with so many things that even I couldn't really keep up with what I was up to. It's been mainly work, accumulating life and travel experiences through that and my own self travels, and a large part of it, just lazing around, self-absorbed in my own privacy too, I guess,

The later half of 2014 was nothing short of amazing though!

In August, I brought mum on a Europe trip.

Which I personally think, is honestly the best thing I've ever done since I was born. It was her first ever out of Asia and our first trip together, just mother and daughter. =) We visited Edinburgh, Paris and London and it was supposed to be Fall so I packed light but it turned out to be freezing cold so both of us were just battling the rain and cold and the darn flu the whole time. Still, it was amazing being on a 2 week trip with my mum. It cost a small bomb, even though it was free and easy, but I wanted the best experience for her. And let's just say, it's a little mental to attempt backpacking-budget travel style for a middle aged woman and a small sized kiddo-looking woman like me.

We stayed in decent hotels (thank god for the hot showers and nice comfy beds at the end of a tiring day) and went with reasonable travel means. I seriously can't imagine catching overnight coach buses or staying in budget hostels, though dragging our luggage from the airport to the hotel on public transport was a reality that we somehow managed,

Still, like I said. Best decision ever to go on a trip with mum. It was money well spent and quality time even better spent. I was so overwhelmed with love for her as I watched her get all excited at places of interest and the way she attempts to interact with the locals in her Singlish. And how she'd wash my clothes and socks after a long and tiring day, or wake up way earlier in the morning to prepare snacks for the day. <3 <3 <3 We even had heart-to-heart talks late into the night, and she felt more like a best friend than the sometimes annoying mum that she is back home.

I wish we'd get another chance like this again, to bring mum somewhere. Any amount of money is worth it. And I'll do it again in a heartbeat. (and more cash flow, of course)

Us inside Edinburgh Castle



In front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris


Us doing the typical touristy shot with the poor guard in London



In October, Simon and I went to Korea for our pre-wedding photoshoot with I-Do Wedding. 

We kinda saw it as our honeymoon in advance but we both know that there will be another honeymoon after the wedding anyway, so yeah.
Had a bunch of fun at some places of interest but spent most of the trip mainly pigging ourselves out on Korean food. Which I'm totally berating myself for, up till today because I looked so round in my pre-wedding photos. But really, who else can I blame?

That aside, I still strongly believe in being happy and truly enjoying yourself. Even if it's at the expense of looking rotund in pictures, I AM NOT GONNA SACRIFICE AUTHENTIC KOREAN FOOD.

Will do our Korea trip more justice with a proper post next time, but meanwhile, here are some pictures up for preview first.

At the Hanok Village (Korean Traditional Village) in Seoul

Someday, autumn leaves, I swear I'm gonna get ya.

Bride and Groom (신랑과 신부 in Korean)

It was super cute how they made us wear these gowns so we don't get makeup on our clothes.
And these tags which we wore so they could identify us in the studio. Which may seem a little stupid but there were quite a few other couples in the studio so I guess that's how they remember our names.



Ready to go!



Just FYI, for any couples out there that are interested, Ido-Wedding returns all the unedited raw photos that were taken. You collect it from the agent in Singapore in CD-ROM format and basically select your pictures during your free time at home, put your selected files and comments on what you'd like them to edit on a excel sheet, send it back to them, and wait for the album to be sent to you.

We have our raw photos with us now (took only about 1 month for them to send them over) but I don't want to reveal the pictures yet. Shall wait till it's closer to our wedding date.

WHICH BTW, IS HAPPENING ON 30 OCTOBER 2015.

Yep, date is fixed so mark it down on your calendars people!

Exciting months ahead. :D



In November, Simon unexpectedly got sent to Houston for a 3 month work assignment and I was fortunate enough to visit him over Christmas. 

The best part of visiting during the festive season is that nobody wants to work during that time, hence, he had plenty of time to spend with me. In fact, there wasn't a single day which he had to go to work and left me at home alone. But between that and the Christmas Sale that was going on, I couldn't really decide which was better.

Seriously, I mean it. THE SALE!

We went to the outlet mall 4 times in total. Tell me about it. I spent all my USD the very first visit to the outlet mall. The rest of the other 3 I used I credit card. FML.

This is solely my haul but hey, don't say it's a ladies thing because Simon's already done his homework and his word of advice - online shopping in States always gives the best deals.

His shopping is way out of line, I tell ya. Boxes and boxes of them all carefully stacked up and tucked away in the corner of the house without me knowing what they were until I asked!


But anyway, of course I didn't mean shopping weighed more than visiting him. How superficial is that, really???

I kind of really needed to see him at that point in time and I must say that I am very very grateful for the chance to visit him. It was nice, just having the two of us in the house. It felt.... whole. Ok, I felt whole.

It was just the kind of warmth I needed for my Christmas.

But spending Christmas in States meant that almost all the restaurants were closed. So we very spontaneously attempted a Christmas dinner despite the fact that neither of us are experienced in cooking, and invited darling Rita (a colleague of mine who was on a Houston trip) and her junior for the Christmas dinner. Her junior played us out in the end. But I guess she knew better than to join us, maybe. Haha


Us preparing our Christmas dinner. 
Check out that huge ass Salmon!

I said Salmon, not Simon.


Darling Rita who so very politely sat through the entire dinner without a single complaint about the food, except for that it way too much for her.

Honestly, I don't know how she sat through every course. Amateur Chef Simon and I basically smoked through all the dishes. Poor thing!

The two people whom I spent 2014 Christmas with

All decked in Christmas colours and being more happy over the company than the food, I think!


It was Houston Rockets VS Portland (whatever they're called) that day. And Simon confessed it was the cheerleaders that kept him entertained more than anything else. Hmm. That I don't blame him. This guy knows his stuff! haha

In between is just mainly work and me bumming around at home watching trashy American TV.

God, all these wedding preparations are really giving us a huge headache. So many things to consider, so many things to plan! I didn't think there'll be such a long list of things to do, not until now when the date approaches.

Okay, we haven't got a date yet because we're still waiting for the tong shu (the lunar calendar) to be released so we can calculate 2014's auspicious dates. Will update once I get the dates!

I have no idea why Simon and I are so superstitious about it since both our parents are pretty relaxed about such stuff. Same for the wedding banquet, it seems as though we are the ones who want to get married the traditional way, instead of our parents' wishes. Weird. It's usually the other way round for people our generation. But for some reason, it doesn't feel complete to me if we bypass all these traditions.

Anyway, speaking of the many things to prepare for, one thing we stroked off our list is finding our bridal studio for our Actual Day.

We booked our pre-wedding shoot with IDo-Wedding and we'll be shooting it in Korea. Pricey as it was, we went ahead with it because we really liked the photos. Since an overseas shoot doesn't include gowns for the actual day, I needed to either buy or rent gowns for my AD.

Some people go to China or America to buy gowns since they're more affordable over there, I decided against it because there is no way my wedding gown is gonna fit in my wardrobe. Even I'll be shifting to my new home in future, I'm pretty sure I won't have space in my wardrobe. If you bought your wedding gown, surely you'll want to keep it. It'll probably turn yellow and end up in the storeroom years later.

So we shortlisted a couple of bridal studios and visited them to find out more about their AD package. The two studios that we considered were: La Belle Couture & My Bridal Room.

Both studios were personally recommended by people I know who had engaged their services so both I knew I could trust on in terms of services. I shall share my experience with them here for the benefit of others since I myself greatly benefited from those who shared their experience online too.

My Bridal Room:

First studio we visited because of the raving reviews we found on forums. Also the studio my brother & sister-in-law engaged for their shoot.

Service:
Service is top-notch. I doubt anyone else will argue with me on this. Everyone I know as well as the reviews online all agree that Uncle Quek (the boss) has a very warm and friendly approach. That's MBR's entire business approach. You can trust on every staff to be absolutely warm and patient.

Even if you're not signing up with them today, they're definitely not pushy and won't pressurize you into signing up with them. Feel free to walk-in, or make an appointment and still keep your options open. No black faces nor offers that last only for that day. Just tell them your concerns and negotiate for something you want. They'll do what they can. If you need more time to consider, just let them know to hold your package and they'll do it. Of course, they will tell you not to take too long as prices can increase anytime.

I must emphasize again that service is top-notch. I particular like Wendy as she served my sister-in-law two years ago and she was so sweet. She'll give you suggestions on what type of gown suits you best since she's a gown designer herself. She's also my friend's coordinator this time round and my friend is absolutely pleased with her.

The lady who served me this time is Grace and she's also very sweet. She's of a little more age and says all the right things. She knows very well how to handle people and made all the appropriate small talk to my sis and mum who accompanied me there. We never once felt a tinge of discomfort with her around. She volunteered to show me the selection of gowns to help us decide. Most studios won't bother unless you've already signed up with them.

She even let me try loh! I tried two very gorgeous ones and fell in love with both instantly. Didn't dare to try more since I was still open to options and felt very paiseh trying on those heavy gowns when I still wasn't a customer yet.

One thing I'm sure of, service at My Bridal Room will never disappoint. 

Gowns:
Here are a random few photos of the gowns I took from their website.


Chio right?! I randomly select the gowns still can be so gorgeous.

Another thing to note is that MBR's gowns are all included in the package. They aren't separated into premium range or normal range so you can select any one of their gowns without having to pay extra.

Here's a sample that MBR posted on singaporebrides.com's forum and it so happens that the bride involved is my friend! So I thought I'd share it here.

This was quite interesting because the horse later on had an erection and it was more strikingly obvious than it already is now. HAHA.

Anyway my friend had a fabulous time and she looks great in the photos. Also, she didn't have a single bad thing to say about Wendy, her coordinator!

Photoshoot Quality:
Photos wise, I was greatly impressed with my brother's wedding album and that was 2 years ago. Till this date, I am still impressed by their photos. They remind me of the Taiwanese style kinda of photo shoot. They're very good at taking lively, cute, bright photos. They made my bro and sister-in-law looked so awesome!
Take a look at their sample photos, they'll be most happy to show you. There was a wide range of album cover material for you to choose from too.

Negotiation:
Grace got Uncle Quek to speak to us when we wanted to negotiate and it was pretty simple with him. He laid everything flat on the table. What will cost money and what not. What he can't bend he's also very straightforward about it. You may feel that he's very inflexible but he'll also explain and justify why he's being so inflexible about it. It's also good because you know he's pretty standard with all the other couples. You don't feel as though you're not bargaining hard enough and you're losing out. I liked it that way because he doesn't make you feel like you owe him a favor when he grants you one of your bargains.


Here's MBR's website: http://www.mybridalroom.com/
Ask for Wendy or Grace if you're making an appointment.



La Belle Couture:

The second studio we visited. Overall feel was that La Belle was much more negotiable than MBR. We generally felt as though they were more flexible than MBR as we were able to play around with our package more. But we later on realised that it's a tactic because they don't lay everything out on the table, you gotta bargain for it. AND BARGAIN HARD because you can get it. It's a very different approach from MBR so it's really what works for you.

Service: 
Not quite the same family/homely atmosphere I got from MBR. The staff were generally younger and hence the studio also felt more modern, sophisticated. I wouldn't say service is bad, just that the salesperson we spoke to wasn't particularly nice to negotiate with. I shall not mention names since he's also trying to make a living.
I'd choose to talk to MBR staff over him anytime but that's just ONE person in La Belle. I don't want to generalize the whole studio that way. Will update on this part again.

Gowns: 
Note: La Belle's gowns are all included in the package.

La Belle's gowns are known to be gorgeous. They're always having shows to display their latest collection and I can tell they're absolutely proud of their gowns. Simon also commented that La Belle's gowns seem more sophisticated and classy compared to those at MBR.

But when I went to look at their gowns, none caught my eye the way the other two gowns at MBR did.

Though I have to mention that it was because Grace at MBR made the effort to show me those two gorgeous ones that she thought I'd like.

The salesperson at La Belle didn't, he left me there to explore on my own but I didn't because I could only take a quick glance. Who knows, I might find something I love since they're famous for their gowns? (please let me find something I love!)

Oh, and their outdoor gowns range is definitely more extensive than MBR. Their outdoor gowns also include quite a wide range of the long gowns, while MBR mainly offers short dresses. This was a huge selling point for me since we are only considering outdoor shoot.

Here's one that I found on their FB page and I think is gorgeous.

This one also not bad! Their gowns are also all available for you to choose from. No separation into premium range.

Photoshoot Quality:
Photos wise, I prefer La Belle's photography style. Not that MBR's isn't great, but it's a personal preference for Simon and I. We felt that MBR focuses alot on the couple and their shooting style is generally more close-up. La Belle's photos seem to focus more on the scenery/background and their graphic editing also has more variety. Again, they seem to take on a more classy look while MBR offers the bright and cheery style.

I must say the graphic designer is very proud of his works so he'll be most happy to show you what he can do.

Negotiation:
Bargain, bargain & bargain.
BARGAIN AGGRESSIVELY!
Had two other couple friends who signed with them and it was only after comparison that we realized our packages are different. I think Simon and I weren't aggressive enough so we didn't get the best deal. :( We were so soft-spoken the salesperson was actually louder than us.

You can say they're more flexible than MBR because they offer small things, which you don't really need and can be traded off for other things while MBR doesn't really. (MBR offers all the basic essential stuff hence they're cheaper)

To sum it up, BARGAIN.


La Belle Couture's Website:
http://www.labellecouture.com.sg/
Ask for a lady because the guy we spoke to like not very flexible. haha. I felt like I was begging each time I bargained.


PRICE:
Do note that there's a difference in $400 between the two studios. They each offer different things. You can email me for more details if you like, I'll try my best. :)





After the extensive research online and making two trips to each studio, we decided on La Belle. I don't know if it's MBR's softer approach that lost or what but I was a little sad when I signed up with La Belle. I felt like I was missing out on MBR's good service and I was actually sad to not be able to continue my journey with them. I knew I was in safe hands with them but I can't help but like La Belle's photographers more.

It was the photography style than won me over. It was the style that I wanted and I knew MBR wasn't able to produce that. It doesn't make sense paying for good service but the end product doesn't deliver what you want. Deposit paid, and we're looking forward to gown-fittings and further discussions with our coordinator and photographer!



I mentioned earlier that all these preparations are causing us headache and I must admit, they're a hassle and waste of money really.

But I've never felt more excited planning for something. I think Simon feels the same way because it seems to draw us closer together and we both have a greater sense of reality that it's really happening. Speaking to professionals and asking around friends with experience really gives us a heads-up on how to plan a wedding. Previously we had been so lepak because we thought we still had plenty of time, but honestly, it's never too early. Start early so you can get things settled first!

Deciding on a bridal studio can take so long, what about the other things?!

Next up, selection of gowns I'M VERY EXCITED. HEEE.