Red hot bride - ladyluck3

Growing up, I have always associated weddings with expensive chocolates. Well, I don’t really know if the chocolates used in wedding favors are actually expensive but it sure tastes good! I cannot deny the exquisite taste of the sinfully rich chocolate that melts in your mouth.

Once, I asked a wedding planner at a wedding I attended last year if these chocolates cost a lot. The planner told me that it depends on the couple’s budgets. Some bought expensive chocolates (think: exquisite chocolate truffles!) and let the taste speak for themselves while others bought ordinary looking chocolates and candies but went the extra mile to dress them up in magnificently. I have seen plenty of those at a chocolate specialty store I went to, they looked too good to eat! Gold dusted chocolate balls, dainty chocolate bars wrapped with thin red ribbons and each red bow with a pearl in the midst… It’s simply too wonderful for words!

I’ve yet to decide what sort of chocolate favors we’ll be giving out (my fiancé lets me decide upon this completely… he won’t dare intrude on my area of expertise!) but one thing for sure, it’s going to look simple and edible. I don’t want favors which look too good to eat because the guests are just going to bring them home, ogle at it and forget to consume it. Such a shame if they are left uneaten and thrown away!

Other than that, we’ll have individual wedding favors for every guest – a pair of lacquered red wooden chopsticks with our initial M & N engraved at the end of every chopstick. Chopsticks represent “pairs” and baby dust to the newlywed couple, according to the Chinese believes. The guests will receive their chopsticks when they arrive at the guest reception counter.

Each guest will have an individual square fondant cake with our initial on it as we’re probably using a dummy cake for the cake cutting session. Furthermore, to cut a real wedding cake and distribute to every guest would be rather hectic and effortful. Fondant cakes are always my choice – appealing, cute and we can use it on all occasions.

Wedding favors are our token of appreciation for the guests and we don’t really mind giving them what is within our budget.

My fiancé is going on and on about the performances he has planned for the reception. If he wants to be the one who’s totally in charge with the schedule and programs, so be it! I’d rather spend my time doing something else which demands my attention and pique my interest. Nevertheless he did mention a few programs that he’ll be organizing during our reception.

a. A dedication moment – is it for me? I’m not really sure. He probably wants to say something touching to make me cry on the spot. I don’t want to smear my makeup on my wedding so I’ll try my best not to cry! =)

b. Toasting session – My mom who’s Malaysian Chinese told me that this is a must, to thank the guests for attending the wedding and to bless the newlywed couple with auspicious wishes, in other words, to urge you to get a baby soon. Sighs.

c. Chinese orchestra performance – oh yeah this would be my favorite. I’ve always liked orchestra performances and I was active in the orchestra back in school. Looking forward to this new cultural performance and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the performer is not my fiancé. What if he has been secretly taking er-hu classes?? Lol.

d. The Moments slideshow – a slideshow with all the lights off to show everyone that I was naked on the sofa when I was 5 months old, how we got our heads shaved and things that would probably make me blush, ha ha. We’ll be showing our pre-wedding photos as well!

e. Songs – we’ll be playing our songs repeatedly again and again throughout the banquet when there’s no one speaking on the stage.

Most of my friends are still single but I’ve got a galpal or two who are now happily married with kids (they married right after they graduated!). They have passed on some great budgeting tips which I think are quite useful and appropriate, and I would like to share it with you brides-to-be:

a. Always allocate extra money for everything in case there is an inflation or sudden price hike. This should be done no matter the economic situation because who knows what will happen in the future? It’s better to save for a rainy day before a storm occurs!

b. Have at least 5000 dollars extra in your bank account. Do not empty your savings account or else you will have problems handling emergencies. Imagine how it’d be like if you or your spouse needed the extra funds for medical emergencies!

c. Stick to your budget, don’t be fickle minded. Never ever cut down on other expenses just to fund for something else which is unnecessary and different from your original plan.

d. Get a special planning handbook, do surveys on the prices of everything you need for your wedding and update it from time to time. You’ll find it very handy especially when you have the book to make price comparison easier.

e. Do not underestimate the cost of your wedding expenses. Do surveys and ask around, get quotes before you start writing your own budget plan.

f. Keep unnecessary items out of the list. Items such as flower bouquets for the parents, or even unnecessary extra jewellery are not necessities.

g. Do not ever take a loan for your wedding. You do not want to be in debt even before your wedding.

h. It is not advisable to get things that you cannot afford. Make do with what you have and be grateful for it.

I was having brunch with my bridesmaids the other day when one of them asked me “So dearie, tell me, what’s YOUR song?” I blinked a little before finally comprehending her meaning. I smiled and told her that both my fiancé and I have do not only have one song, we have 5 =)

During our wedding banquet, we’ll be playing and repeating these 4 songs – the songs that represent our relationship and let everyone know what we’ve been through all these years.

From the very beginning of our relationship, we’ve been using the song “Courage” from Fish Leong, a local singer, as our theme song. We really needed a lot of courage to maintain our relationship which was previously opposed by his parents, what with us being young students at that time and all. Our journey was accompanied by tears as well as laughter, just like what is written in the lyrics.

Next, we’ll have Avril Lavigne’s “Innocence” which reflects how brilliant and perfect our private moment is, especially on our wedding and we don’t want the love to fade away. We want to express our wishes to NOT change a thing about the most precious moments of our lives, and to live on together as though we have just met as innocent friends.

If you ever watched the movie “Enchanted” with award winning actress Amy Adams in it, you’d be in love with John McLaughlin’s song “So Close”. The lyrics are so gorgeous and I believe every woman would be touched if a man were to sing this song to her under the bright moonlit sky with diamond-like stars scattered across the Milky Way.

My fiancé’s current favorite song is “Fall for you” by Secondhand Serenade. He’s trying to emphasize that he would be falling for me that very night over and over again. If this is not sweet of him I don’t know what is!! =)

And lastly we will be playing my current favorite tune by the charming American idol champ – David Archuleta, titled “Crush”. This song was the key that brought us together, right? Everything fits just right, in the end…

A little note about my wedding invitation: while most of you already know that I’m to have my wedding outside of the country, lots of friends and relatives have expressed regret that they cannot make it to our grand event. Well, for this reason alone my fiancé and I have decided to throw a small cozy dinner especially for those who will miss our wedding ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’ll be a small modest affair at a local Mexican restaurant (my fiancé LOVES Mexican food!) which we have reserved for the entire night. The proprietor knows us because we’ve been regulars there since their opening earlier this year and he has agreed to close the restaurant to other guests for one night only. Fancy that, how generous! =)

Now, on the subject of wedding bouquets, I am sure most of the brides to be out there choose their flowers according to the overall wedding theme. I am no exception. Most of the flowers used for our wedding will be white or red or a combination of both colors. Flowers in our list are roses, calla lilies, gerberas, stephanotis, and hydrangea. Some of the flowers like stephanotis and hydrangea have to be ordered one month prior to our wedding date, which I’ll confirm with the florist later on.

My wedding bouquet consists of 9 white calla lilies and 9 red roses, accompanied by some hydrangeas or stephanotis. The stems would be cut to the same length, wrapped in white satin ribbon. The shape of the bouquet is round.

For the corsages, we’ll be using nylon roses of red and white as well. To D.I.Y corsages, we’ll need ribbons, pins and glue to make it. It’s pretty simple though and I believe anyone can do the job. Just cut the ribbon into desired length and glue the nylon roses onto the ribbon itself. Add on a pin to secure the firm hold of the roses. For the men, we’ll be having rose napkin corsages, probably in red as well.

For those who are not confident in DIY-ing just like that, you girls can take a short flower bouquet arranging class. Whether you decide to design the bouquet yourself or have an expert do it in the end, it’s still good to learn something new!