We are in San Francisco!

after 14 hours of long haul flight.. with aching neck and shoulder, we are finally in San Francisco!!

ok..shall blog about my experience about the flight, since most people are wondering how I manage the heavy wedding gown on board..

Thankfully the wedding gown is not very heavy, perhaps less than 1 kg.. hand carrying was quite a breeze with the exception that its quite flimsy to carry around.. imagine a dress that is longer than your height.. the designer at Allure Charix taught us to carry by folding it into half and sling over the forearm.. 

Everybody at the airport was giving me stares.. I guess its just basic Singaporean instinct to give people weird stares when some1 is doing something or carrying something out of the norm.. Haha.. 

Cleared the first round of custom with a breeze, with some difficulty trying to hold my gown on one hand and trying to scan my thumb on the automated custom machine.. Upon boarding the plan, there's another round of custom to clear.. I totally hated this part.. as this is the part where you need to take off whatever outerwear you're wearing, take out the laptop & handphone, handheld cosmetics & facial products (in a small clear ziplock), and other hand carried luggage and  placed them on a tray and sent for x-ray scanning... all these are quite routine since I travelled quite often.. BUT now with the wedding gown, its quite a tough task..  alerted the custom officer about my gown, and have to carefully arrange it on the conveyer belt and watched it passed through slowly on the other end.. 

The flight from SG to HK was full.. so imagine the large influx of tourists and locals on board.. lesson #1 learnt.. try to board the plane asap when your row number is called.. coz we waited to be the last few to board.. thinking that with the huge "load" we have, should let the others go first.. but we are wrong! by the time we are up on the plane, the air stewardesses & stewards are so busy trying to help everybody stowed their stuff up in the overhead cabin, getting the food&drinks ready etc.. called for the steward to help me hang my gown, but he was too busy.. so I just randomnly hung it over the railing that seperates the gallery & passenger seats.. that finally caught the attention of an air stewardess who kindly helped me hang the gown in their closet.. Upon reaching HK, we had to get out of the plane for transit (thou its the same aircraft, for security reason every1 & everything needs to be taken off).. The stewardess told us nicely to board the aircraft earlier for the flight to SF as they have limited closet space, they hung the gown in their cabin bunk earlier (feel so bad to occupy their tiny resting space).. All the stewardesses & stewards on board are really nice, kept sending their congratulations as I alight from the plane..

HK airport was a madrush, imagine all the "ah-tiongs" trying to clear customs alongside in the que.. there was que cutting here & there.. so pissed off but since I'm quite "handicap" with the gown, didnt really bother about them, since there's still about 1 hour before boarding.. there's an uncle who helped to check the luggage, he so cute lor.. keep asking me if I'm getting married in SF or what am I doing with that gown.. but I was in a rush, so the conversation was kept short..

Asked AH to go que up to board as soon as our row number was called.. this time boarded quite an empty flight.. as usual they staff on board the plane looked at me with curiousity and also congratulated me.. One of them even said its quite unusual for people to having their wedding photos taken in SF.. heee

All was good at SF airport, their staff were all as curious who kept asking me what am I doing with that gown.. that was like the 4th or 5th time I  answered.. lol... The most tiring part of the journey was carrying all the luggage (without the help of airport trolleys) and the wedding gown to take the BART (like our MRT) and walking from the BART station to our hotel.. SF roads are not flat and smooth like SG.. their roads are steeper we were practically walking uphill with our stuff and their roads are super bumpy! 

Reached the hotel safe & sound.. and time for bed (its was like 10pm when we arrived at the hotel).. the adventure in SF continues!

Cheongsam (II)

Finally collected my CS!

was quite a mad rush for me.. arranged to meet with Kim on wed.. initially thought that I could collect my CS that day.. But I wasn't quite satisfied with the product.. so I told her to do some modifications.. thankfully that Kim lives in the eastern part of SG and my dear parents are sending me off that day.. no choice but to collect the CS about 1 hour before check in time at the airport..

The final product is good.. mom saw it and was very pleased.. and she had good praises of Kim.. so now we'll have to see what is outcome of the PS.. looking forward to it..

Wedding Monogram (II)

Wedding monogram revisited!

this time round, fiddled with ready made templates..and only just need to add in our names & wedding dates..quite fun.. check the designs here

some samples of what I've been fiddling..

The website has also some DIY templates to download eg invitations, save-the-dates cards, etc.. Useful for all DIY & ala carte brides! :)

Arrived!

AH just told me that the tuxedo studs that he ordered from Ebay have arrived..!

yay~ now we can finally visualise how his white shirt will look like when we collect it next week.. was quite worried that it might not arrived on time..

Sidetrack abit.. I've finalised the design of my CS with Kim last Sat.. she commented that the colour I bought was abit dark for me.. but AH love that colour.. oh well, as long as the man is happy.. Since he is paying.. hiak hiak hiak~

I may be changing the design to a short CS, either knee length or 3/4 length.. there goes the 1 metre+ of cloth I bought.. AH say long CS looks like waitress (idiot right).. When I wanted a long CS initially, he just kept quiet.. After Kim drew the design of CS, he commented its too "waitressy".. Grrr.. Maybe I'll just ask Kim to make a top out of the remaining cloth.. or donate to her, in return for a cash rebate.. :P

Shirts settled!!

FINALLY settled AH's shirts for PS & AD.. after going to 3 tailors over the last 2 weeks..

30.5.10

Read thru reviews from SG Brides Forum.. decided to go to this shop "Personality" at Peninsular Shopping Centre.. We were quite dissapointed that they were closed for the Labour Day long weekend and will be back the following Thurs..

As such we dropped by another tailor on the same level, Tessuti Collezioni.. This tailor was recommended by Allure Charix.. The shop is definitely a more atas shop compared to Personality & Men's Tradition.. Didn't want to waste our trip and AH brought along his evening suit from Dan Stevensons.. We just went into the shop.. Told the tailor, David, that we wanted to tailor an evening tuxedo shirt to match my evening gown, the colour and texture we wanted.. Initially, he showed us the swatch for normal cotton fabric.. which we didn't find anything we liked.. Then he moved on to show us the higher end fabric, popularly known as Italian fabric.. Most of my male friends who tailored their shirts highly raved about Italian fabric & swear by them.. But of course the price is doubled too..

Looked throught the swatch of the fabric, found something that matches our citeria.. a whopping $180 to make a shirt.. and we also needed another white tuxedo shirt (which of course selected normal Eygptian Cotton).. However, AH could not come out with a design he liked and he also wanted to see what Personality has to offer.. So we put it on hold & left the shop..

In terms of service provided by the shop, felt that both of their staff (tailor & his assistant) are kinda of aloof and sacarstic.. But definitely not as bad as one of the tailor (shall not mention the shop name) in the same shopping mall.. AH didn't feel comfortable getting shirts from them too..

Went back to Men's Tradition.. crowded & packed as usual.. Told Uncle Daniel the colour we're looking for.. He said he don't carry the colour we wanted.. He does have a similiar colour but it wasn't the texture we were looking for.. so left the shop & headed home..

06.05.10

Headed straight to Personality upon reaching Peninsula.. The shop was relatively empty except one family who is making suits & shirts for a upcoming wedding.. We told Eric (the tailor) what colour we wanted.. I even wore a similar colour blouse today.. so AH just indicated that the colour we wanted is a shade darker than what I'm wearing.. Headed straight for the Italian fabric swatch since the usual cotton swatch are the same for every tailor.. Eric showed us a few books for Italian fabric which we didn;t see at Tessuti.. flipped through them and TADAH!!! Found the colour we wanted! Not 100% but at least 90% to what we wanted.. Its lyrca stretch material but was out of stock :( .. Eric say he will try to call the supplier to see if they still have enough to make a shirt.. Meantime he told us to choose an alternative in case the supplier doesn't have enough.. We flipped through the swatch and found another fabric which is also around 85-90% similar to our idea.. Its cotton mixed with yarn and there's still in-stock available..

We chose a normal white fabric to make a white tuxedo shirt as well.. Eric will go ahead to make the shirt with the alternative fabric we chose if the former is unavailable.. His prices are slightly cheaper compared to Tessuti.. Eric is also very friendly & he has worked in the bridal line before.. Read in another forum that Eric is/was the chairman of the Tailor Association in Singapore.. So he gave quite good advice and design ideas too..  Thumbs up for his service & AH is a happy man..

Oh ya, while we are choosing our fabric.. There's this law intern who wants to make a suit for his practicum.. Eric was explaining to him what he needs & other misc stuff.. so  I told AH to secretly 偷师 for tips.. :P

Now we''re left with his accessories for his suit.. Continue the hunt..

Personality Shop (Eric)
Peninsula Shopping Centre #03-24
Tel: 6337 2459

Tessuti Collezioni (David)
Peninsula Shopping Centre #03-17
Tel: 6337 2320

Men Shirt Designs

Some shirt designs to share.. AH is super particular about the nitty gritty stuff of his suit & shirts.. here are some homework we've done.. Majority done by me..

1. must be winged collar.. and AH wants a small-medium winged collar and the tip must look exactly like this.. seemed that winged collar shirts have evolved a bit recently..

2. If pleats are needed, they have to look small, defined & closed to each other.. There are 2 kind of pleat available.. hand woven or machine woven.. machine woven pleats are commonly used as the pleats are consistent & cheaper..

3. Tuxedo dress studs are used in place of buttons here.. Checked out that Taka do sell them but around $100 for a set.. Decided to go to my faithful Gmarket & Ebay to check them out.. found a set of studs + cufflinks for USD$19.. Cheap! now waiting for their arrival..

4. This is considered a big winged tip.. The collar has evolved to go without the conventional bow tie.. so the tip is now bigger.. complimented with an onynx button.. I love how the onynx button matches the shirt.. probably will go hunt for 1.. Decided to go with this design for the evening shirt, but with a smaller winged tip, probably the same as the white tuxedo shirt..

This was the initial suit & shirt design I wanted.. I even emailed the DJ where he has gotten his shirt.. and he gladly replied me that it was from Zara.. Sad to say he bought it last year.. and definitely Zara doesn't have it anymore.. The bowtie is attached to the shirt by the way, not an additional accessory as I thought it was..

If you're interested in the bow tie.. This kind of bow tie is called "Kentucky Colonel Bow Tie".. For the economical one, can get it from People of Asia (POA) in Marina Square.. or order it from Gmarket Korea or Ebay.. Those who can afford better quality one.. can get it from The Executive at Republic Plaza Raffles Place.. Needless to explain why this bow tie is called Kentucky Colonel Bow Tie.. the photo explains itself.. Heee :)

  

Men Suit Design

After spending alot time on my gowns & cheongsam, its time to focus more on AH's shirts & suit.. AH bought an OTR Tuxedo suit from Dan Stevensons at Marina Square last Dec.. There was a sale there and he was really blessed to have found a suit to fit him well.. Only the length of the pants needs to be altered.. Other than that, everything else fits perfectly fine.. :)

Initially we only wanted to have 1 suit to keep things simple.. But ultimately feel that tuxedo suit is more for the evening function & probably will match my evening gowns better.. Hence, decided to get another suit to go with the wedding gown.. But those OTR suits, are usually business suit, no choice but had to MTM one.. So I went on my trustful Google and start looking for men's suit design..

1. Peak lapel.. Lapel is the "collar" of the suit.  This lapel design is more commonly used for formal wear.. and was revived back to fashion by Armani in the 1970s.. Peak lapel suit is usually worn with French shirt & cufflinks to complete the formal look.  The classic design for peak lapel suit is with 2 buttons but recently the fashion is to design them with 1 button.

2. The tuxedo suit that AH bought is a one-button suit.. So thinking if we should get the same design or get a 2-button suit.. 2-button suit are more formal and it will also make the man slimmer..

3. As we wanted to keep things simple & minimal.. We decided to go without the waistcoat and cummerbund.. So its gonna be just a simple classic black suit with winged collar shirt to go with a bow tie..

Some tips I found on the net for groom's wear.. Hope it helps! :)

Bridal Bouquet

I wanted a hand bouquet for my PS to add some variations to the styles.. After researching & getting quotes from florist in US, I reckon it wasn't quite worth it to get a fresh flower bouquet.. 1 bouquet ranges from $150 onwards, depending on the flowers & arrangement.. As such, I decided to get a faux flower bouquet from SG instead, a faux bouquet ranges about $40-80.. and it can be recycled for other purposes too..

Upon researching for bouquet designs on my fave wedding site.. I stumbled upon some designs that I liked.. and the colour scheme matches that of my WG too.. Looking at the stunting colours & varieties of flowers used.. AH decided that we shouldn't save the money & should get real flowers bouquet instead..

Here are some ideas I got..

My finalised bridal bouquet design

The bunch that I chose consist of plum calla lillies, pink orchids & black magic rose (the colour of the rose is black magic).. Initially wanted to add embellishments and/or feathers to the bunch to add on more varieties.. But it will cost another usd $25 more.. plus tax etc will be about usd $191.. CRAZY!  So I decided to skip the embellishments, just keep it to flowers only.. I doubt there's such colourful calla lillies available in Singapore, I've only seen white or light pink calla lillies..

Now I just hope that the florist can stay as close as possible to this design of the bouquet.. really love the deep intense colour of the rose & calla lillies! :D