Sooooo I was proposed to one year ago and after slacking for half a year, I started stressing about wedding preps since my pre-wed shoot is in about 2 months' time.
My fiancé, D, and I have decided to have our pre-wedding photoshoot at Cambridge, since he is based there for his PhD and I'm flying over to meet him, so why not right? For our wedding, we have also agreed on a simple, intimate and fuss-free wedding luncheon. With that in mind, I thought planning would be easy and more lenient on our pockets, but oh, how wrong was I.
From finding the perfect gown, photographers that you can connect with, MUAs that you can trust, wedding venue that suits all our needs and other nitty gritty stuff, everything required much time and thoughts. Therefore, here I am, penning my journey down, hoping brides-to-be who see this will find this useful. Everyone (or most) goes through this once in a lifetime, starts off as a noob and ends up as an expert advisor. As I learn along while I share, do leave a comment for me if you have!
For the first post, I shall briefly share the 10 milestones that requires decision making as we brides-to-be starts our planning journey! P.S. I am only midway through this process myself and this is what I gathered so far to be a systematic way of planning, which may or may not work for all.
There is no right or wrong way to plan your wedding. But as a start, it is always good to sit down with your fiancé and think through how both of you envisage your ideal wedding to be like. This is very important in my case where D is based in UK and here I am in Singapore alone making plans for our big day. D is all about being simple, less thing the better. For me, I'm cool about that, but it still has to be beautiful and memorable. After all, it's once in a lifetime.
As the saying goes, wedding is not just about two people. Do speak to your parents and future-in-laws if they have any objections to your plans.
Budgeting is crucial too. Stories about couples ending up in huge debts after wedding is not uncommon and no one should plan for that! Do not have the expectations that you will earn back from the red packets. I never believe in making guests pay exorbitant amounts for red packets or hope to earn out of a wedding. Weddings should be happy occasions where your family and friends come together to celebrate the union of a couple, not worrying about how much they should put in a red packet so as not to lose face or help the couple cover costs.
Work out your finances and give yourself a budget on how much both of you can afford for a wedding. One very useful tip is to start a joint savings account and start saving a portion of your savings every month leading up to your wedding. D and I started this about a year before he proposed and we have a comfortable amount to work with now.
Popular wedding venues usually get snapped up very quickly, and most hotels and wedding-worthy restaurants open their booking dates one year in advance. Find a date, or month, if you guys are not picky, before you start your search for the right venue.
Similar to wedding venues, good wedding photographers and MUAs are highly sought after and usually open their slots for booking one year in advance. If you are not picky and plans to get a wedding package from bridal shops, this can be part of their packages.
This is usually a big headache for brides-to-be! We only get to wear the white gown and claimed to be the most beautiful once in a lifetime, so finding that perfect gown is necessary and therefore takes time too. Give yourself enough time to visit as many bridal shops as you can and find the one.
Most important group of people after your family members. You probably already have an idea who these people will be, but don't assume that they will be available for your wedding! Make them feel important and special to be part of your wedding with an official invitation! That will follow up with finding the dresses, suits or "costumes" for them!
Apparently, good solemnisers get booked real fast too. You will want to find someone who can understand you and your fiancé, lighten the mood and make you feel at ease on your big day. If you are religious, having someone of the same religion to solemnise your wedding may be important too. Some solemisers are good in mandarin or dialects too, which you may want to consider if you have elderly folks and relatives at your wedding too.
Chinese traditions that the older generations may be particular about. Betrothal gifts (过大礼）can be dependant on both families' dialect groups and includes the four gold jewelleries or what we call 四点金，as well as wedding dowry (聘金), an amount to be given to the bride's parents.
The symbol of lifetime union and commitment. You gonna wear this for life so don't think too lightly about this!
Think hand bouquet and corsages, invitation cards, wedding cake, door gifts. Things to keep your guests occupied and happy like photo booth, dessert table and coffee bar.
I hope this is a good summary for brides-to-be! Will elaborate more on each point as I plan for mine as well.
love,
M
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