Remedy for Rough Nailside Skin! Finally!

Hi People!
I know it has been long idle from my side to post anything at all in this blog. No excuse given, guilty as charged. But hey, here I am posting something!

Due to frequent bottle washing and house chores that involve direct contact with water, my nail beds had been surrounded by these horrendous rough skins! This had lasted for years without me able to find any products that cure or at least minimize the roughness. Until i found this "BODY SHOP VITAMIN E HAND& NAIL TREATMENT"

To be honest, I often see this product while shopping at The Body Shop (TBS). But I didn't have the confidence on the product. I'm just not TBS's biggest fan *until now*
So, one fine day, I saw their body bath gel promotion for only freaking $5 (with condition: after $20 purchase). Hubby uses ONLY TBS's bath gels, so I decided to stock up. However, what TBS product should I buy in order to be qualified for the promotion? I strolled quite a bit of time there, because simply as I mentioned, I'm not their fan. I'm skeptical about their product. But heck, I need a hand cream. (Just because I left mine in Singapore).

So I tried it for around 2 weeks now and I must say: I'M SOLD! TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!
I'm not sure if my last manicurist did terrific job in demolishing all my skins??? or is it really this product? But I kind of conclude that the latter had saved me!
I can feel the instant difference on the skins! Not only the hand, but the whole nails and the skin around them are moist now! *Jumping in happiness*

Finally, I don't have to feel belittled everytime people stare at my hands. I feel proud of my beautiful short fingers now!

So, this is not advertisement! But if you encounter anybody with the same problem, do give this product a try. Maybe it works on you too.
A little bit pity that I don't have any "Before and After" photos because I was not giving it a serious chance to save the skins. Now I wish I had taken 1 photo of the ugly skin and probably throwing a dart onto it after sharing it here. Bleah.

Anyway. Price is SGD19.90. But great great great product. Smell...not too fragrant..not my type of fragrant, but I will live with it!

I was so excited to post about this remedy for rough skin around my nails because it had bothered me for the longest time and I finally found a product that solve (hopefully) it.

So Good night and Happy Mother's Day All

2 weeks, 3 cities, 3 weddings

Hi Darlings,

I know I've neglected this blog for the longest time. I'm giving it a faint try to relive the blog. But everytime I try to blog, there must be some craps *aherm...pardon* that happened (Mobile blog refused to save, baby fell sick, mad tired, my laptop died on me, list go on and on...) which stopped me to do so. But this time I told myself to brave it and to update as soon as I have the chance. It is a game on.

So, my most anticipated weeks of the year 2012 had passed. It was end of Sep to early Oct 2012. They were wedding weeks and for the bonus, I got to travel to attend the weddings. Hear me? It was HOLIDAY! (Theoretically it was, but bringing baby to travel along is not so much of Holiday definition)

In short, there were 3 weddings to attend. Started with Mery's wedding in Singapore on 30th Sep 2012. Followed by Ling's wedding in Jakarta on 7th Oct 2012. And lastly, Agnes's wedding in Bali on 9th Oct 2012. (YES, are my friends cool or what? They somehow, magically arrange their weddings to be so conveniently dated for me to wedding-hop from one wedding to another)

So the journey itself instantly added my miles accrual pretty fast. There were total 6 legs!!


Little Town -> Jakarta (For 1 night transit) -> Singapore (To attend Mery's wedding) -> Jakarta (To attend Ling's wedding) -> Bali  (To attend Agnes's wedding) -> Jakarta -> Little town

And now I'm back to the reality and will soon update the trips in details. Note to myself: Bali Trip comes first!

Till then, squeeze!!!!
Jumpbeemama

Review: Milk Bottle Nuk vs Playtex vs Tommee

Hi everyone!
It's been a long hiatus since my last entry. Pardon this new mommy as mommy's duty is no joke at all. Sleep deprived, and overweight are my current problems and I'm still working on it.

Today I'm gonna talk about perfect milk bottle!!! Recently, I developed an obsession in buying milk bottle for baby Edward. Spending times in baby department has beaten my previous interest in fashion or so, and getting the perfect milk bottle has been on top of the chart.

Up to date, Edward has been only using 3 milk bottle brands (only...?), which are Nuk, Playtex, and Tommee Tippee. And the billboard gonna be:

Best for:
Newborn-6 months: Playtex Ventaire
6 months onwards: Tommee Tippee (Breastfeeding baby) / Nuk wide neck bottle


1. Playtex Ventaire

I came across this brand when I was still pregnant with Edward. Was flipping some British Motherhood magazine which recommended this product as a colic reducer bottle. We didn't use this bottle until the second month when I got the chance to shop. I got one at Takashimaya and came back for another 5 after using it.

Pro: The bottle comes with a genius design like below. I have problems describing it in words.

Images from ToysRUs

I think it really reduces the colic problem in newborn. As we know, most newborn has burping problem. With bottle that allows more inflow air, the higher chance colic problem will come in the middle of the night. But eversince we use Playtex Ventaire, we realize sudden decrease of burping needed on Edward and lesser fussy times for him too.

Cons: Limited choice at Takashimaya. In addition, the 3 different parts make it 2 times more hassle in washing the bottles. And when baby screamed for milk, it takes longer time for us to prepare because we have to assemble the bottle parts ...So if you have to master the art of crying music in order to use this bottle :)

Tips: Get the crystal clear series. It's beautiful and easier to clean. :)

Will I recommend this product? Absolutely yes for newborn especially.


2. Tommee Tippee

I've heard many raves on TT bottles but at that point in time, I was pretty happy with Playtex bottles up until Edward was 5 months old and my itchy back turned me to invest on 1st TT bottle. Turned out that Edward loves the bottle so much that makes me loving it too. The fact that it has extra wide neck makes washing it a breeze task and the ultra soft teats are supposed to replicate mother's nipples. They are available in 4 teat flows:
Slow for newborn. Medium for 3mths+. Fast flow for 6mths+. And varies flow for 0mths+.

Will I recommend this bottle? ÝES. If you are breastfeeding and switching to bottles, plus your baby has no colic or reflux problems.


3. Nuk
This is the first brand that was introduced to Edward. On the 2nd week of breastfeeding, I had sore nipples due to poor latching and had no choice but sourcing it to bottle feeding. I was told that Nuk has the best nipples for newborn and I personally think it was just alright. Maybe it's because Edward sucks very well, hence the standard nipple was usually almost all into his mouth.

I stopped using Nuk up until we got him the wide neck bottles. But honestly, I dont find any special factor to make this bottle 'a must have'.

Will I recommend this bottle? Probably only if you have hard time buying other brands because this brand is easily found in major supermarket unlike TT or Playtex.

That's my review and happy bottle hunting,mamas!

Signing out,
Jumpbeemama

Pregnancy 1: Edward's Arrival

After 37.5 weeks being pregnant, there was one thing I wanted badly, was to be un-pregnant ASAP. The pressure on the pelvic, the trouble sleeping, the backache, and many more had my pregnancy physically unpleasant and worrying.

Baby's initial estimated due date was 2nd november, however doctor diagnosed me with short cervix, which means I wouldn't be able to make it full term to the date (last post: preterm labor threat) Therefore, hubby flew in early to anticipate earlier labor than the estimated date. So here we were waited and waited on week 36 onwards for his arrival with the help of tons of medicine and hormone injections.

After waited for a week or so, all of us (inclusive my family) were getting impatient and over anxious for baby arrival. Many suggested me to walk more to induce the labor naturally. Some readings suggested yoga. Some even said eating spicy food may help. So out of desperation & over-anxiety, I did try all the above mentioned.

Saturday, 15 Oct 2011

I was silently wishing that baby might be out on that day because 15 is always special day for both hubby and me. My mom suggested us to go to temple and pray for smooth delivery. We went and I was joking about how I will give birth the day after because the Goddess of Mercy had heard my prayers.

When dinner time arrived, hubby suggested me to walk the long way to our dinner place. May I add, the long way is also an incline pathway for disabled or cycles. It's a long slow walk but it sure triggered the contraction the day after

Sunday, 16 Oct 2011

I can still remember vividly every single details of the day. I woke up around 0730 and found that my water might have  broken. I was hesitating if I should wake hubby up because I was unsure if it's the case. Finally, I woke him up and he was surprised cum unprepared for the morning news.

Pain level: 1/10

We rushed to TMC immediately with my mom and younger sister too. I was still bubbly, goofy and excited about the labor. We bumped into Lilian, a lactation consultant whom my elder sister always brag about. She wished me smooth delivery and there we off to the admission counter. As of then, I could feel the water stream was getting stronger. Pain level: 2/10

We were then told to proceed to labour ward. And coincidentally my gynae Dr. W.K. Tan was also there, perhaps there was another mother delivering too under her care. 16 Oct must be a hot date for delivery. The observation room was actually full house. There was no bed for me! Dr. W.K Tan swiftly asked one of the nurse to guide me to delivery room. So, I wasn't kept at the cramped observation room for waiting. Instead, I was placed at a spacious delivery room to wait for full dilation.

Doctor then checked my dilation, and informed I was actually 1.5cm dilated. She was pretty sure that I should be able to deliver before dinner (another 8hours to go). At that point of time, pain was minimum and bearable. I was texting friends, joked around with my nervous hubby.

Pain level: 3/10

At noon time, a sharp continuous pain started to attack. A severe menstrual cramp like. And I know this was going to get crazier. Nurse informed me that I was 5cm dilated. I shouted for epidural after laughing gas failed to comfort me

Pain level: 100/10

By the time the anaesthetist came, the pain was intense. Honestly, I just wanted the needle to go in fast and end the pain. The pain level was 1000/10, but when the epidural went in,... It is all fine! Happidural as the nurse said

At 1600, I was fully dilated. After pushing for an hour, doctor finally vacuumed baby out of me and baby Edward was born.

I can remember vividly Edward's look and cry when he was just born. Couldn't help myself but crying for the happiness too. He was a tiny baby but cried loudly.

Was eversince blessed with his arrival and enjoying watching him grow up.

That's how God send me my little angel

Pregnancy 1 : Week 33 Preterm Labor Threat

Friday, 10 Sep 2011
I woke up with pretty unusual pressure on my left hip. I figured it must have been the side sleeping posture that caused it. Told my mom about it, read some books and articles about it and concluded that it was just part of the pregnancy parcels.
I was supposed to attend my afternoon yoga class held at Tanglin mall, but after many consideration, i decided to miss the class. (wise decision, now i think back)

Saturday, 11 Sep 2011
Couldn't manage to sleep till 1 am morning as the hip pain was getting from bad to worse. Finally found peace by sleeping while sitting upright. However, woke up at 4am as i felt minor frequent contraction on my lower abdomen. I suspected it as braxton hicks or any other false alarm, however, boy it is getting stronger. I decided that i must go to my gynae the first thing in morning before other patient reaches, and couldn't put my mind to sleep anymore.

Thank God that my younger sister was off work that Saturday and managed to company me to clinic. We rushed to the clinic and was the first one checking in (winner!). But wait, nurse told us, Dr WK Tan was on leave and only be back by the next day. As I told them, I had this contraction, nurse directed me to the 2nd floor for observation right away. I was attached to a machine which tracks my foetal heartbeat and contraction.

The result was brought to Dr Benjamin Tham, and I thought to myself this will be just a procedure where he will say.."don't worry, nothing is wrong" but turned out, he told me that he will admit me for a day for monitoring and steroids injection. This is because I am experiencing cervix shortening and may deliver the baby by the next day. I was flabbergasted.

I was immediately bombarded with lotsa medicine to stabilise uterus contraction and all. I was still dumbfounded that I might be delivering my baby by the next day. Hubby was rushing to Singapore as well as my parents. I was injected with 2 steroids injection to mature baby's lung and bombarded with medicine and monitoring device to make sure no more contractions happening before I could be discharged

Sunday, 12 Sep 20011
Dr WK Tan finally is back, although it was Sunday. She visited me and ensured me that everything was under control and I was discharged. However, I was to meet her again few days later to monitor the pregnancy. I was also put under bedrest (of course, with toilet exception)


After my meeting with Dr WK Tan, she told me that I might be born with short cervix. This means she is almost positive, my pregnancy will end up as preterm labor. However, as long as I can keep the baby inside until 36 weeks, it should be fine, she said.

I'm praying hard that baby will be fine and calm until week 36. This is to ensure that he can be treated like a normal baby instead of admitted to NICU.
Please pray for me and baby...

Pregnancy : Overcoming the Fear

This maybe a pointless rant post...

Recently, I started to develop fears against the labour process. Baby is now 30 weeks old and it is only 6-10 weeks away from welcoming him to the world. However, as closer to date, I realized that it won't be too far from the pain which many women failed to find the perfect word to describe it. Agonizing is just underestimation of the pain, they claimed.

1 month ago, my elder sister gave birth to my healthy nephew, Lincoln. We often share information during our pregnancy as we only differ by 3 months away. I deliberately asked her how the experience was, and how painful the process was. She told me: 1000 x our menstrual cramps. I was not too encouraged with that. When I had my menstrual cramps, I literally curled myself in the bed and swearing while panting. So, if that is magnified by 1000 as she described, I may lost my mind.

My hubby just texted me few mins ago to share about water birth and asked me why we were not offered this option in TMC. I told him right away, I can't go pure au naturale for this birth. I don't think I have the courage. I will absolutely opt for epidural to minimize the pain.

I have frequent nightmares about giving birth. I'm not sure if it's normal, but it is not pleasant. Last night, I dreamt that my gynae telling me to c-sect my baby out because it's already more than 30 weeks..duh!

I tried yoga, reading books, talking to my mom, getting some wise words from hubby, but none is helpful. One of my friend told me to just don't think about it cos the baby is already there and no turn back this time. I guess she is right, but.....

6 weeks away ....wish me a smooth delivery, people

I see you, my son!

So, yesterday, we decided to give 4D a go after contemplating for sometimes. Looking at my sister's adorable son makes us curious about how our son will look like.
So, here it is, our 28 weeks old baby boy and we can't wait to finally hug you in our arms.

Xoxo,
Mommy Bee

My Daily Skincare

I don't have perfect flawless porcelain skin, but I do try to maintain the daily rituals to keep my skin fresh and radiant as much as I can. So, today, while I am still amused by our newly bought Dunbo, he's going to present my step-by-step daily skin care. Below are in chronological order of my routine.

1. Milk Cleanser: Simple Cleansing Lotion
I use this daily, mostly at night before sleep to clean up my day make up. Even without make up on, I usually will still use this as it gives me assurance no makeup residue.
However, warning: Clean up your face with water and followed by facial wash as soon as you finish applying this. It tends to be a little oily, so avoid it gets clogged into our skin
I missed out to shoot Dunbo with this product, but here it is snapped from Simple Skincare website.

Pros: It is suitable for my sensitive skin and does not leave red marks when we wipe with cotton pad.

Simple Cleansing Lotion

2. Facial Wash: Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar
This is one of my best finding of all skincare product that I use. Historically, (i hope history won't repeat), I used to have very bad facial skin condition after my trip to sun-filled Bali. It was beautiful island but did big harm to my skin as it's humid, hot and let alone unhealthy food routine.
I lost track of doctor that I had seen to resolve the condition, was prescribed with 101 different kind of facial wash from doctor but nothing seemed to work. Until one fine day, I came across the forum and they mentioned Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing bar for sensitive skin. I thought it was nothing to lose situation and gave it a try. This product is non-perfume and cleanse my skin thoroughly.

Usage: I use it at least twice a day, Morning and night.
Pros: Cheap, non-perfume, work for my sensitive skin
Cons: Difficult to store as it is a soap bar

Dunbo & Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar

3. Toner: Kose Sekkisei Lotion
I've been using this toner for years, starting when I was hooked with Kose product range. But slowly as my skin got more sensitive, most of Kose products were abandoned by me. But, this product is still suitable for my skin up to today. I'm not really sure what toner function to our skin. However, it does give me a fresh feeling after facial wash.

Usage: twice daily, morning & night. Wipe entire face avoiding eyes using cotton pad
Pros: Fresh feeling to face.
Cons: Slightly pricey
**Now with Japan radiation news around, I start to wonder if I should change. Recommend me good toner if you know one for sensitive skin, please!

Dunbo & Kose Sekkisei Lotion

4. Eye Cream: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex
I just started use my first bottle of this eye cream. I'm still not convinced that this eye cream works for me, hence I just use it because I've bought it with very expensive price.
It was said to suppose to reduce the look of every visible key sign of aging: lines, wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, more

Usage : Twice a day, after toner
Cons: Expensive :(

Dunbo & Estee Lauder Advanced Night Eye Repair Synchronized Complex

5. Serum: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Complex Cream
I was introduced to this product by my sister in law. She has this flawless skin everybody will praise her kind. So I started to be copy cat and used this product. This has been my 4th bottle and still loving it. I love how the skin turn out dewy after we use it. Tight and silky feeling.

Usage : Twice a day
Pros : Easily absorbed, non-perfume
Cons: Expensive

Dunbo & Advanced Night Repair

6. Booster : Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Concentrate
Hmm what should I say, age had caught up? Serum itself is no longer sufficient to keep my skin rejuvenated. After consulting with the sales person (maybe wrong person to consult to), I decided that I need booster every 3 months to let my skin cells reproducing itself.

Usage: Use for 3 weeks, every 3 months duration. Only 1 time at night
Pros : Love the night after feeling
Cons: Pricey

7. Moisturizer: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream
Another Cetaphil products that I will rave on. Actually I'm a big fans of Cetaphil and would love to use it for all my skin care steps. Unfortunately, Cetaphil doesn't have complete range of product such as serum, booster, toner and so. Hence, I have to browse around for other products to cater for those needs.
Back to the moisturiser. I loveeee this product to the max. Not only it moisturizes my skin, but it also treated my eczema. I brought this cream to Melbourne on our winter trip, and it works perfectly to clear the itchiness on the side of my cheek due to developing Eczema. I can't say more how much I love this cream.
My only worry is now that Cetaphil has repackage this cream, I'm not sure if the new ingredients are still the same as this current cream.

Usage: Twice a day or when necessary. I apply it to my lips too sometimes
Pros: Cheap and good!
Cons: Haven't come across one :)

Dunbo & my Fave Moisturizing Cream

8. Sunblock: Shiseido Sun Protection Lotion Spf 40
Last step of my day skincare is Sunblock. Ever since I moved back, I figured more freckles are coming up. Not helping much with the hormone inside me currently as I'm pregnant. Sunblock is almost essential armour for me to fight the mighty Sun!
I sourced for Shiseido Sunblock after many recommendation and turned out I kinda love it because it helps my make up application too!

Usage: Once a day after moisturizer
Pros: Absorbed easily
Cons: There is this funny smell that maybe some people can't take it

Dunbo & Shiseido Sunblock

I figured out my Dunbo did a great job introducing these products. My advice to all pregnant mom out there to not neglect their daily skincare routine as you may not want to deepen the damage hormone could do to your skin while you are pregnant

Hugs,

Current nail muse - China Glaze 601 Lubu Heels

I have been having this nail lacquer for months before I really have time to apply it.
This evening, while hubby is out for his sport routine, me under my flu medicine influence, decided to do some DIY pedicure and menicure in my rooms. Yes while the baby bump is not too big to block my view, I still managed to do pedicure myself :)

Today, I decided to use China Glaze Lubu heels. I must say, I love the texture of this lacquer so much. So much that I think I betray my OPI lacquer. LoL. This is my virgin China Glaze lacquer but I'm impressed on how watery it is. No thinner added.
And color comes out easily even out.

Let me observe for couple days whether the color lasts!

Base used: Ecrinal base anti-stries
Top used: Seche vite
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Half way there!

Baby is now officially 18 weeks old. By now, i'm halfway there to see baby. Doctor revealed to me on 16th weeks that I have 60 percents of baby boy chance. Wew!

My beautiful baby 16th week scan, sucking thumb

Currently, I can gulp down almost all food without any problems anymore. However, I still have some food that I prefer not to touch, like: petai! (I used to be a big fans of petai fans, mind you)

I've been down with severe flu, cough and fever for the past 4 days. Sorry baby to put you on earthquake survival training this early. I bet you could feel some shakiness when mommy coughed. But I really tried not to cough my lung out every night. Daddy E has been sleeping without air conditioning to compromise my flu too. Poor him.

Oh, one of my good friend, Meggie (aka. Charlotte) is currently expecting a baby too. Her baby is 8 weeks younger than mine. I think our kids will make a good pair of friends. Just like the mothers.
Lincoln (my sister's baby boy) is coming to the family soon too in July. EDD: 19th July. For some reasons, I pray hard that the date will remain on 19th July and not even touching close to 20th.

My next scheduled trip to local gynae is 24th June 2011, and scheduled trip to Singapore on 25th June 2011 for thorough 20th week checkup plus spending my birthday there with my family. I miss my family heaps that words cant explain :(

Meanwhile:

Medicine taken:

• New obimin,
• Omega fish oil
• Antibiotics for flu, 
• and antibody vitamin (that's mouthful of medicine)

Week 18th:

• Just started to use BabyPlus lessson 1 ( a drum/gong sound kit played 2 times a day for baby. Was told that baby will turn out to be more alert and calm but I received mixed reviews and decided to give it a go. No harm)

Current cravings:

• Fruits fruits and fruits!!!
• My mom's (baby's grandma) sweetened glutinous ball (tang yuan)

The Little One

We couldn't contain our smiles when we saw the "2 happy lines" on the pregnancy test kit 3 months ago.

2 happy lines

Positive!!!

It's been 14 weeks now and I still cherish the magical feeling baby brought to me. Be it the morning sickness (maybe not too much), the nausea or the cramping, it alarms me that a little fellow is interacting with me in his/her own way.
So yes, I'm officially pregnant and baby is so far growing very well. The last time we measured, baby is 7.6cm which is the size of our fist. My baby bump is not very obvious yet but I could feel it there.

Everynight, before sleep, I sing the lullaby to baby. "Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top....". I just hope baby can sleep soundly after hearing it.

2 days ago, I experienced brown spotting and it totally freaked me out. We rushed to the hospital to get the check immediately. After the long queue, it's totally a relief to hear baby's heartbeat, that shows baby is fine. There was some internal bleeding but nothing to worry. Doctor just prescribed me with Duphaston to heal the wound.

I can hardly wait for baby next scan. Somehow, we are building our own family. Our own ship with new joiner. Baby, Mommy & Daddy loves you. Grow healthy and smile for us soon! :)

Wedding Theme - Singapore

Yours sincerely, being type A is a very perfectionist species when it comes to my own thing. Call me selfish, but I don't appreciate criticism about my stuff very well. I just love to have my own thing look good in my own eyes. Therefore, when it came to planning my own wedding, I naturally turned into a friendly bridezilla. My wedding coordinator at Mandarin Oriental, Bethany, actually had a big nightmare because she had to meet me for 4 times just to discuss about the details in my wedding. No beating around the bush, I just showed her this inspiration board that I created to make things visually same page for everybody involved

Theme: Romantic Peach Garden

After four meetings, lots of discussions, plenty of compromises, we came to a conclusion and tasks for everybody. Mandarin Oriental, in turn, promised to deliver a beautiful garden stage (instead of their standard "sad" board).
Being an indonesian, wedding party is closely related to glamour and beautiful venue. Therefore, I approached Dream & Design wedding planner duo to discuss the possibility in using their service. They are great in my opinion, but it's a steep price tag to my budget that stopped me in signing the contract.

Me and my very nice & talented friends (Ling, Yuni, Mery, Suganda, My lovely younger sister) decided to do DIY for our venue decoration. I started to contact major florist in Singapore, flipping the magazines  for ideas. My mom & aunt were very sweet to agree to purchase white plastic fences and artificial flowers all the way from China. So, with all the hardwork, teamwork, and bits of money, we managed to make the wedding evening as lovely as I always dream of.

Beautiful wedding cake
Cake Toppers was ordered from Amazon.com

Beautiful fences and baby's breath.
My mom brought this fences back and
friends painfully arranged flowers one stalk at a time

The garden stage I love.
The flower stretch cost me $500

DIY Table number done by Ling.
Add a very peachy garden feeling

Personalised Guest Card (seat numbers) sitting on the bed of grass
By: Ling

Beautiful Corner for my Picture galleries.

Special canvas photo frame from Ling

Now, some behind the scenes photos.

And it turned out to be one of my most beautiful night so far.

Hand Bouquet : $150, Flower Matters, Millenia Walk 
Venue Florist : $400, Far East Flora, Thomson Road
Dress: Sponsored by Isabela Irene
Stationeries : Sponsored by Ling
Stage Decoration: $500, Mandarin Oriental
Stage fences & flower: $100


It's still much lesser than engaging third party to decorate it for you. :) DIY if you can.

Wedding Gown Dreams

Every bride-to-be dreamt of the day they wore their THAT ONE DRESS! Yes, not Chanel little black dress or Herve Leger bodybelting dress, but that one special wedding dress. The same came to me. Like a typical bride, I wanted my dress wow-ed my guests (eventhough it's a fake wow~ just give it to me). But also unlike other typical bride, I have 2 chances to wow my guests because I had 2 wedding reception to hold: Singapore & Indonesia. "How awesome is that" you said. It was nightmare, let me tell you.

That was equivalent of double job in almost everything. I was up to my neck especially when I was much involved in every single details of the preparations.

So, for the wedding held in Singapore, I decided to wear a brownish gold evening dress and only 1 dress. I'm one of the luckiest brides because his sister is actually a fashion designer. She is very young but trust me, this girl knows how to rock it!
So, one day when I flipped the magazine looking for the perfect style, I came across this design from Zuhair Murad. One of my favorite designer for his haute couture. His style is so classy and perfect for red carpet night. I was just swooned almost instantly. It's a romantic dress I've been longing for. And I know I want this vibe on my dress.

Zuhair Murad Fall 2010 collection I fell for

So, after much discussion, we decided to go with the improvised style to flatter my figures.  Came upon numbers of problem with the fabrics, but finally we settled with very simple tulle and some embroidered laces.

This is how the dress turned out to be...A little darker though

As for the matrimony in Indonesia, I was again inspired by Zuhair Murad's collection and decided to go for that look. I have to admit that it wont ever be as beautiful as ZM's collection, and we won't ever have that budget for wedding gown. So, I showed the designer the dress and we started to chose the fabrics together at Pasar Baru, Jakarta. Not in my life I would understand that there are hundreds, thousands kind of laces to choose from. In duration of 15 minutes, all color started to look the same for me. Let alone the details of the lace. -_- Just not my forte!

Wedding gown I want (minus the skirt and train details)
Photo: weddinginspirasi

How my dress turned out to be..I love it

Everything turned out pretty combined with my pretty custom-made lace wedding shoes. It was done at Yongki Komaladi. I was at first set no expectation about the shoes, mainly because seeing and been to their office. I thought they won't ever come out with shoes I'd like, but again with the maxi white dress, who'd see the shoes. But I was proven wrong. BIG WRONG. My shoes is on my top of the list to flaunt!! They are FrickinEdgyFabulous! :)

Full Lace & embroidered shoes by Yongki K

 Enough for the wedding gown. I won't have chance to wear it anymore, but I'd love to see my good friends, my kids or some people dear to me to wear them. So use your one and only chance and get your pretty dress - Once in a life time! :)

Wedding - Choose Your Venue

Hello world! how's your day today? I was back to my parents's place for almost whole day today. It was a relaxing day, as the old folks say "home sweet home". Honestly I have zillion things to blog and on top of that, catching up on those wedding stuffs I had left for some time.

Back to our wedding preparation stuff, this post should be dedicated to exclusively "Choosing your perfect venue". The first thing all couples should do, IMHO, once they decided that the game is on is SET A DATE! Alot of stuff stay linked to this date. It plays one of most important part in wedding planning.

Once couples get their date set, the next thing to do is to choose the wedding concept and venue.

It's game ON! Get a DATE!

For our case, things were slightly more depressed and tiring in comparison with other couples because we lived in different countries physically. Thus I had to visit and chose venue, mostly by myself. Sometimes I went alone, and sometimes I was accompanied by my siblings, mom, or friends. It was sad, stressful part of the game. However, all couples just have to go through it. So, hang on tight, bride/groom!

Firstly, determine the number of guests you are inviting and your budget. Once you get the estimation, this should scale down venue options quite a lot. I'd like to highlight to all brides-to-be out there for not choosing the venue before you make your initial draft of guest list. This may cause you to sacrifice either one, your friends (because you have limited number of seats) or your money (and haphazardly invite friends in order to fill the seats)

Second step, visit each shortlisted venue and at the same time visualise about concept of your dream wedding.  In example: if you always fancy high ceiling classic wedding, chandelier litted room, a function room wedding won't make your soiree as perfect as you always dream of.

European Dream Wedding I used to have

Next, do your research by visiting numbers of bride forums. (For myself & many Spore resident brides, Singaporebrides is a very famous and richly visited forum. For indonesia brides, you can always check out Weddingku). From there, bride can share their thought or read on the venue review by various people. However, do note that imposters are out there! So, use their review at your own risk.

After all the above step, you should have a handful venue list to choose. This should ease you (or not really) in choosing the venue. Take me as example.

For my party, I always know I want something small and intimate dinner. A dinner which consists of 90% of my close friends (and maybe some seat fillers...oops~). 100 was my rough estimates on people I'd like to invite. However, I did give a room for that number, just in case I missed out some friends. So, I called up hotel and gave them 100-120 as my estimate number of guests. From there, I scaled down quite a number down into less than 10 hotels.

I know I always want something classic for my party. Flowers, high ceilings, grand entrance are those elements I couldn't strike of my checklist. Knowing what I want, this again scaled down the number. Any hotel function room/ball room that has pillar was taken out from my list. Hotel that has dark long entrance was also not my choice.

So, in the end, the final saga was between Four Seasons Hotel - Crescent room, Raffles Hotel- Casuarina Suite, and Mandarin Oriental Hotel- Garden Suite. And I will give my honest opinion on those venues.

I must say, I love Four Seasons Hotel so much that I still fancy to hold I-dunno-what party there (maybe my son's wedding). The Wedding consultant was so nice x 100 that I felt so bad to say no to her (her name is Elaine). She was so helpful and tried so hard to conjure what I wanted. But, sad to admit that the room is way too big for my 100-120 number of guests. I did not want too much of extra room in my party because that would create the empty feeling. So after so much deliberation, gone were the options to hold it there. ** I do not have pictures for 4seasons :(

Second option was Raffles hotel. Everything was fine and smooth. It was almost perfect and I was so close to ink the contract until I attended the Raffles hotel bridal fair. I wouldn't kick a fuss about their service, the wedding consultant, venue or anything. But it just wasn't perfect. With a little minus on each features, I realised it wasn't my perfect venue anymore. Especially the food was in medium note and not fantastic to me.

Casuarina Suite I wanted to hold my reception.
I went when they are cleaning the room, the pictures don't do the justice here

After so many rounds of virtual voting process in my mind, the winner was Mandarin Oriental Hotel - Garden Suite for hosting one of most important night of my life. I was assured that food won't be something I should suspect. I was also pretty comfortable with a wedding consultant who is quite savvy and understanding my dream wedding (her name is Bethany). And most importantly, as the venue name do the talking, the room gives me a cosy garden affair I wanted. Sad to say that the ceiling was on the low and plain side.  The stage too was tad empty. But I was pretty confident to turn the place into fabulous party venue. Now on hindsight, I thought nobody would notice that once they sat down, except the bride.

Garden Suite Entrance

The hideous stage, IMHO

Table arrangement : Happiness

View from the other corner

So, I inked my sign on the contract and tore my wallet hard with the deposit to the hotel and that's it! I started whatever I wanted and needed with the wedding preparation