Some Wedding Advice from a friend

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

A friend FB-ed me giving me some advice sometime back. Moderated some of the views. ;p


Bridal Studios:

• White Link - possible headache - hidden costs, flowers not fresh, bad service, etc. (Do due diligence and google their reviews pls.) 
• If you are intending to MTM gowns, you can actually juz go for a studio that can design and make the style Addy likes. No need to go for the actual designer. May be cheaper that way. 
• Signoria Nuziale's fairytale theme is only like 1-2 page of the album. Not the whole album unless you are willing to pay that much. And your ideas muz be communicated properly. Else you will have photos that really dun like, no storyline, etc. This was 1 friend's experience. Though another friend whom I warned after realising he signed with them headed the advice and had a good experience. So key point is muz be careful in communicating.
• Remember to have everything in Black and White & do not make total upfront payment. At least split into 3-4 payments. Do not accept any "no need to write lah, we will give you".
• Style Weddings is another good magazine.
• Read the relevant thread on www.singaporebrides.com before signing with any studio if possible.
• When you see any contract, nego for the following freebies (a) kua / tea dress for tea ceremony, (b) brothers & father's jackets/suits, (c) flower girl & paige boy outfits, (d) more photos / full magazine style aka digital style layout, etc

HDB

1. Try not to get HDB flats with corridor windows. Less privacy and more problems like pple throwing things in (e.g. cigarette butts). (Booo... mine is already one with a corridor window. bo pian. Few with no corridor windows and corner units are hard to find and ex.)
2. Rem to consider reno costs in your budget. Can pay more for the flat if less reno needed. If you need ID recommendations, mine was Kean from Homeguide.
3. Also calculate if you get any "additional housing grant". Not sure what the new terms are.
4. If you do the flat hunting urself, you can also see if you can find an agent to do paperwork for you by paying abit for paperwork fee. But muz find those that accept this and not insist on the 1%. Paperwork fee can be just a few hundred. Not that little but may save you some headache.

Buying a Proposal Diamond Ring

Image via WikipediaIt was more than 2 years ago when I started looking for a ring for my proposal project.

You can see my ring here! 

Knowing that it would be one of my bigger investments for wedding, I wanted to do some due diligence in researching for the most perfect ring (relative to the price *chuckles*) I can get for Addy.

I'd thought I'd relive some of that by writing down my learnings from that experience.

Buying a diamond ring can be helluva easy thing to do. Just saunter into LeeHwa or SooKee and there're a plethora of diamond rings you can pick from. Or for the rich, just head out to Tiffany&Co and choose one blindly.

HOWEVER, if you truly want to choose a GOOD diamond ring, be prepared to invest in lotsa time and effort into it. (The reference links at the btm of the post will demonstrate so).

Since I was not in the "rich" category and I was quite particular in paying good money for good stuff, I did quite an extensive lookup on the web and walking into jewellry shops to get a "feel" of their products. I would suppose that the effort that goes into doing all these matter more than the ring itself.

Basically, selection of your diamond ring (more specifically, your diamond itself) can be summarized into the famous 4 Cs - Clarity, Cut, Colour and Carat. Let's briefly go through each of the 4 Cs.


Carat
The most spoken about yet I would say, the least important. (Hope that did not throw you off your chair). Needless to say, the larger the carat, the higher the diamond costs due to rarity. The best deals falls just under the "magic numbers" where a little carat increase will pose a quantum jump in pricing.


Clarity
Clarity indicates how flawed the diamond is. Flawless diamonds cost more, cloudy (included) diamonds cost less. Simple?
How clear a diamond is can only been differentiated by a loupe (magnifying glass for diamonds)

Colour
Basically, different colours cost differently especially when it comes to the types of cut as well. The most common "colour" is colourless and the more colourless the diamond is (or less tinted), the more expensive it is.

Cut
This is actually the most important and most complicated aspect of selecting a diamond, not the carats! The cut will determine how much light is reflected/refracted. With that, diamonds can "look" bigger too. There are different aspects of a "cut" - polish, symmetry and proportion. For simplicity, go for GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal cuts. They are certified. Or even better, just go for diamond that are "hearts and arrows" which are excellent/ideal in its category.


Here are some more detailed references of selecting a diamond ring that you might want to refer to.
www.proposalring.com - this site provides a good overview of diamonds from a Singaporean guy (the prices are pretty dated)
www.pricescope.com - this is a good forum where diamonds are discussed
www.goodoldgold.com - this is a reliable New York based jeweller (a friend's friend got a diamond from here)
www.whiteflash.com - this is another reliable USA based jeweller.

James Allen - this is where I got my proposal ring! :)

Home Renovation - CASE Model Agreement

http://www.case.org.sg/Image by clevercupcakes via Flickr

We did our renovation in Aug2010 and now we are proud owners of a 3-room HDB flat.

About why we did not get a bigger house - that leaves it to another time to describe.

But I would like to share about an important resource/document that no home owner should miss before they embark on home renovation in Singapore. It is called THE CONTRACT.

Whilst you think it may be a hassle to engage a lawyer to draw out something, a contract is something anyone can draw up. Luckily there is a template available for us already.

Given the notoriety of the home renovation industry, Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) has provided a model agreement for any home owners to use. The links are as below:

• Model agreement on home renovation by CASE
• Back up copy on Google Docs

It was great for me because the contract really gave me an ease of mind. And our contractor did a fantastic job for us.

If any of you have any experience using the Model Agreement by CASE, please share it with us here too!

Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort - Style Weddings Island Romance 2011

Those who are getting married, please look at this! Thought it looks pretty good especially with all the artistes. :)

Taiwan Wedding Photo Taking Trip - Day 4

This is the 4th day of our Wedding photo taking trip to Taiwan. After a long day before out taking photos, this is a fantastic rest day for shopping and eating!

My favourite Taiwanese dish - Lu Rou Fan 魯肉飯 (Taiwanese Pork Belly Rice)

We ate at a nearby food court near our Hotel @ Sheraton Taipei

Addy ate a dumpling!

Went down to XiMenDing 西門町

Can't miss the Ah Zhong Mien Xian there.

Look carefully at how big the bowl is compared to Addy's hands

She single-handedly wiped out the whole bowl..

My second serving of Lu Rou Fan somewhere in XiMenDing again! Yum!

Some fish cake soup thingy.

Addy at the local pharmacy shop not unlike our Guardian or Watsons.

Here we bought helluva lot of face mask - 我的美麗日記

It's like so cheap compared to Singapore - $0.80 a piece there compared to here. 

This is quite hilarious

Night Shopping at WuFenPu 五分埔

It is known for wholesale clothings!

Din know why but we were eyeing some Chinese traditional clothings for our wedding then.

Contact of the shop in case you are interested.

Walked to RaoHe Night Market 饒河街 after. Nice dumpling buns and stuff!

Succulent!

The very first night market in Taiwan!

2 friends we made there

Self sustaining gardens - don't even need water at all!

More food - noodlesss

End of day after finishing up at RaoHe night market. 

Took about 2 hours to walk through it.

Taiwan Wedding Photo Taking Trip - Day 3

*This post is long overdue... and I think this post is key in this trip!!

We woke up super duper early on the 3rd day. Think it was about 6am. This was because we needed head to the studio and do make up for Addy. 

It was a no-camera day as they forbid it (brrr...) Later we would know why they disallowed it. So hence we did not take pictures until we started photoshoot proper.
The following photos are bought from the studio.

The first place we went to for photo taking was bu pi liao 剝皮寮. It is some historical place with an old house look.
You can see the photographer directing us for one of our poses. 
It was sure funny.

Here's me changing into my white suit. With some help.

We had a taxi rented for the whole day. Do note that we have to pay for this ourselves and not included into the package. 

The makeup artist is helping Addy with her hair above.

Another of our shots at 剝皮寮

The next place was at Dajia Riverside Park

The balloons.. yes.. we have to ask them to help us buy.

A tip would be to bring as much props as you can for your own photoshoot.

A humiliating moment for the hubby?

 

nono.. this is even more humiliating.
Can't remember what I was doing but definitely, not peeing.

YangMingShan National Park is touted to be a MUST-GO place in Taiwan for wedding photoshoots.

Because of the scenery.

Walk till my legs were aching. Addy still looks so happy.

Still in the National Park but the weather became bad all of a sudden. 

It's one thing that is difficult to anticipate and bad if you are taking photos overseas as you may need to reschedule or make do with the photos you might not want.

We went to a few more places but the photos can be seen in the actual shots only.

The above is our last stop at some thematic restaurant.

And yes! Dinner! After a long day with no lunch.

Yes again, I paid...

Sleazy!

At the beach near the restaurant!

Tired ah! After a whole day. 

We reached back the hotel after 10pm..