Charlie & Evon | Our Wedding | 2 June 2008

Photo Selection

Evon and I were at Yvonne’s Creative earlier to select the photographs for our wedding album.  Again, we had to brave the rain and walked briskly from the MRT station to the shop.  We were somewhat puzzled; for some strange reasons, it always rain whenever we had to be there.

When we arrived, we were warmly received by Yvonne and Anges.  We weren’t exactly sure if we should feel at ease with their grins and smiles.  We ain’t thinking they gonna do us harm.  Well, guess for them, it’s probably milking time.  So, here comes the cows …. Ha Ha!

We were overwhelmed by the number of photographs that was taken two weeks ago on 19th January 2008.  The total count was 306.  Unfortunately, our package only entitled us a maximum of 32 foc.  The rest had to be purchased separately (at a premium of course).  We supposed this explained the warm reception.

The selection process was a tough and tedious one.  The first round of selection concluded with 100+ pieces which amount to an additional cost of $4K+.  I peng-san on the spot and Evon nearly fell off the chair.  Goodness!  It was kinda like daylight robbery. 

Then, it’s negotiation on the price and with us having to reduce the total number of photographs to 80.   In the end, we still exceeded our budget…. thankfully, only by a little .  With the small number of photographs we had selected, it’s going to be quite unlikely for us to have a wedding album that can “WoW” the guests on the AD. 

But, as we came to think of it, and slowly rationalize the whole thing, both of us agreed the price to pay for that “WoW” is not the least bit justifable.  What really matter was the experience, the companionship and the memories we had.  Beyond that, nothing else really matters. 

Posted in Photo-Shoot

Wedding Album Photo Shoot

Unforgetable.  That’s it. Coz we simply can’t find a better word to describe our experience at the photo shoot today.

So here’s a little recap of what happened …

10:00 am

We were punctual.  The make-up artiste, Dily, got her stuffs ready and quickly got into action to doll us up.  She gave the both of us a 100% transformation.  Don’t underestimate the prowess of cosmetics and the magic of what make-up can do.  Evon was like a little princess.  She looked lovely and sweet in her wedding gown. I was sooooo … mesmerized …

For the very first time in my life, I put on an extremely thick make-up. Errr… I didn’t really dare to smile or to have exaggerating facial expressions fearing that my face may ‘crack’. Haha. I can’t imagine how on earth the ladies can stand make-up, especially the lip-gloss thingy… yucks! Maybe, the prophecy is true … “ai sui mai miah” … want pretty pretty … don’t want life … anything also can …

11:45 am

After our make-up, Dily was very nice to help us take a photograph.  This may probably be the only piece that’s FOC So, there you have Prince Skinny Pok Pok Charming (ok, dun puke) …. and Princess Ah Bui Bui Lovely.

It’s just a pity we had forgotten to take one before the make-up session, so that we can have a before-after comparison.

11:50 am

Indoor shooting began.  Evon and I were quite tensed up for the first few shots.  After a while, we felt more at ease and gradually, we began to pose as if we were some 天王天后巨星 (superstars) like Jay and Jolin

We brought along our props … the mIRC posters, the “喜喜” poster, our forever friends bears. Special thanks go out to Priscillia for whipping out those posters for us.

All in all, we covered the AD wear, the evening wear and also the traditional costume wear.

3.20 pm

We set off for our outdoor shoot in the afternoon. We started with several casual shots along the stretch of shophouses at Tanjong Pagar Road. It was amazing how an ordinarily looking street can turn out to be a beautiful back-drop for photo shoot.

Evon fell in love with a lalang scenery when she saw a magazine cover page featuring a French model posing in the lalang surrounding. In fact, both of us were really surprised to be informed that the photo was actually taken in Singapore @ Punggol.

And so, our next destination — Punggol Marina.

We braved the odd weather. Raining then drizzling then sunshine. We braved the mosquitoes and insects. The photographer snapped quite a lot of photos for us in the lalang field.

We also took several interesting shots by the beach too. We had balloons. We had rose petals. We had the clouds, the wind and the sand. Everything was perfect.

7.15 pm

Off we went to the Empress Place and Raffles Place for the night shots. Severals photos were taken outside the Old Parliament house and by the bridge that link to The Esplanade. Most importantly, we took quite a number of concept shots at the Raffles Place MRT exit …. The exact place where we first met. I posed in that exact position … at that very same spot … I stood … nearly ten years ago.

Our prayers were answered. Our dreams fulfilled. We were just thankful for everything.

A word of appreciation to Dily for transforming us into 亮仔亮女 (hunk & babe). Of course, we also must thank our photographer, Alex Oh, for his hardwork and Li Juan, for being our most steady chaffeur to drive us around for the outdoor shoot. Without them, this won’t have been possible.

Posted in Photo-Shoot

Getting the Props

We met up with Alex, our photographer, on Monday evening to have a short discussion on our wedding album photography.  We dropped him the brief, stated very clearly our expectations, highlighted our concerns and then got him to plan the rest for us.

We were told to bring some props such as

• Champagne
• Bouquet of flowers
• Courtship bands
• Balloons
• … oh shit … what else huh?

Anyway, we will bring whatever we think are memorable and of strong sentimental value.  We just hope to have an album that can bring out our journey from 10 years ago till now.

Alright!  Everything is set and we’re good to go.  This coming Saturday, 19th January 2008, Evon and I will transform into super-models and we are going to shine (ke ke … the cameras better have flash) like some world class super stars.

Stay tuned! For our next electronic direct mailer (EDM).  If you are keen to subscribe to our latest updates through the EDM, drop us an email at:

ourwedding@charlienevon.com

We will put you into our mailing list and keep you posted on our updates! Cheers!

Posted in Photo-Shoot

Gown Fitting - Episode 3

Despite the rain, Evon and I arrived at Yvonne’s Creative at about 7.15pm.

So this evening, I finally get to try out my tailor-made white pants as well as the suit for the AD.  Goodness!  I think I really do need to go beef up a bit more, especially my shoulder blades.  Everything’s perfect except for the pants being a little tight.  However, when it comes to the black suit, I can’t help but to “associate“myself to Andy Lau in the movie 无间道! 

For Evon, her gown fitting session this evening turned out to be a little disappointing.  The outdoor gown that she had previously selected for the photo shoot seemed to have been altered.  It didn’t fit her a single bit.  We expressed our displeasure and off it went into the tailor’s workshop for an immediate alteration.  As for the evening gown, we shared a common perception -it’s either you like it or you don’t.  It’s still very much in a WIP state and we are really keeping our fingers crossed.

We were also rather disappointed by the fact that our preferred photographer (xiao-cai) will not be able to take up our assignment due to some personal reasons.  At least, that was what we were told - the part about personal.  However, there’s something bizzare that gave us the impression that xiao-cai might have already moved on and is no longer with YC.  We don’t know.  Just our wild guesses.  Maybe someone out there has got the answer.

In the end, we had to go through the works (yes! balek-choose-again!) of two other photographers and pick the one of our liking.  Thankfully, it didn’t take us long and the decision was unaimous.  So, comes Monday, we will be meeting Alex, our photographer to discuss on the locations of the shooting as well as the list of memorable items to bring along for the photo shoot.

More info on the shooting will come shortly after we meet up with Alex next Monday. Hope everything is going to turn out fine.  Otherwise, we’ll definitely going to be damn sianz.

Posted in Wedding Preparation, Gown-Fitting, Photo-Shoot

Sourcing :: Videographer

After work, Evon and I dropped by Wedding Paparazzi to check out their quotations for the Wedding Day videography service and at the same time take a look at their portfolio. 

We had a hard time locating the office.  Thankfully, we met a kind soul who showed us the way.  It’s really kinda ”ulu” though.

We viewed a couple of their recent productions.  On the whole, we were rather impressed with their creativity, shooting style and their avid attention to details.

The sensible thing to do next will be to get a few more quotes to do some comparison.  We just want to be sure that we get the best deal at the most affordable price.

Posted in Wedding Preparation

Printers … Where are you?

Alright, the first blog for the brand new year 2008.  The calendar on the desk says … 6th January 2008.   Oopz!  That means we have only about 148 more days to go before our customary wedding.  Time is running out! … panic …

We’ve got to start looking out for printers soon.  No.  We don’t mean Canon Bubble Jet or HP Deskjet.  We refer to the people (or specialists) who are in the business that does printing of the inset for the wedding invites. 

From the last conversation that we had with the event manager at Hotel Intercontinental, we were informed that we will only be provided with the envelopes and blank cards.  As for the inset, we are required to look for our own printer to have them printed.

Guess it’s time to start asking around for quotation soon.  Maybe it will be a good idea to find out such information from those newly weds and get them to refer us to their printers.

Posted in Wedding Cardz, Wedding Preparation

Photoshoot Prep

The wedding album photo shoot has been scheduled on 19th January 2008.  Please join us in our prayers as we pray for good weather on that day…. T-Gong bao you (天宫保佑) please. 

The coordinator from Yvonne Creative has helped to confirm the appointment for the make-up artist and photographer.  Everything’s ready on her end.  On our side, it’s the last bit of preparation on the clothings for the outdoor shoot.

In conjunction with our Christmas shopping, we took the opportunity (actually hor, that’s an excuse) to also shop for the clothings and accessories that are needed for the photo shoot.

Charlie bought:

• 2 x long sleeves shirts from Raoul ( #000000, #ffffff )
• 1 pair of black leather shoes from Renoma
• 1 pair of black leather shoes from Beetle Bug

Evon bought:

•  Nothing yet (This can be damn scary!)

Also, we did facial together at a facial spa located in Orchard Road.  I can’t believe it.  I actually stepped into a facial spa with my wifey, did a facial treatment that lasted for about 2 hours and foot the bill with a grin.  OMG!  I must have kanna some sort of gong-tau (black-magic) yesterday to join her in such an activity.  After I stepped out of the spa and took another glance at the receipt, “Ouch” was the keyword!

Posted in Wedding Preparation, Photo-Shoot

Gown Fitting - Episode 2

Earlier this evening, we dropped by Yvonne Creative for our second gown-fitting session.  Incidentally, a new collection of wedding gowns happened to arrive just a day before.  Evon was kind of in luck to be able to make her second pick.  Of course, it was very nice of Yvonne too, to let us do so.

- - - The first gown - - -
As Evon walked out from the changing room … I was once again … (jaws dropped) … haha.  Fortunately, I ain’t wearing any dentures.  Otherwise, it’s going to turn out a little messy, and I’m probably going to look like a tee-ko-pek.
- - -

- - - The second gown - - -
Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  It’s simply too loud and too glam.  Come on!  It’s supposedly to be a wedding gown and not some Prada fashion show.  No jaws drop for this piece.  My only response was “erm … umm …”
- - -

Hence, it really didn’t take us long for us to make up our mind to go with the first one.  That will be the one for our AD and studio photo shoot.  Simple & Sweet. 

Damn!  No wonder people always say “A woman is the prettiest in her wedding gown“.  After she went back into the changing room, I headed back to the sofa with a grin ( yah … it’s literally ‘tau cheo’ … 偷笑 ).  Never seen her so ‘chio’ before :p … or … was it simply the effect of the make-up? woahahaa ….

As for Evon’s make-to-measure evening gown, it’s about 80% completed.  Just the embroidery of the crystal beads with some minor alterations and it’ll be done.  To be honest, the design that we had chosen, together with the fabric selected and the cuttings, it’s either you love it or you hate it kind.  Thus, both of us are keeping our fingers ( X ).

We also got to meet our make-up artist, Dily.  A trial make-up session was scheduled for the purpose to let Evon meet up with her to test out her make-up style.  All went well.

I described Dily to be “超酷” or what we often known as the ’see-bei cool’ sort.  She’s fast and she’s very observant.  “Your face tum-pok cannot make it leh” - she delivered that to me in a very mild and subtle tone …. Instantly, low morale! Sianz 1/2.  Dini gave us a short briefing on the things to prepare and bring along for our wedding photo shoot.

Alright, all set.  Our wedding photo shoot is scheduled on 19th January 2008, Saturday.  I prayed it will be a bright and sunny day, and that everything goes ’soon soon’.

Posted in Wedding Preparation, Gown-Fitting

2 more …

We are on the look-out for a professional videographer who can help us to piece up a video montage of our actual day wedding.  Still searching …

At the same time, we are also searching for a flash developer who can help us to create a pre march-in movie clip that outlines our life story.  Still searching …

We have only about 183 more days to go before our Big Day.  Counting down … with excitement and anticipation …

Posted in Wedding Preparation

Gown-Fitting - Episode 1

Evon and I went for our first gown-fitting session this afternoon at Yvonne’s Creative.  Both of us were really excited about the whole thing and in our minds, we thought “Finally, it’s our turn! Hee Hee.”

As usual, we were late.  Yes I know it’s a bad habit.  But then, what to do?  House-keeping is a compulsory activity for the both of us on every weekend.  Since we were out yesterday, we just got to get everything done today.  Our appointment was at 4 p.m.  We arrived a quarter past 4.  I supposed it wasn’t too bad after all to think that we got out of the house at 3.50 p.m.  Thankfully, we lived near to town and we managed to hop onto a cab when we reached the main road.

When we arrived at Yvonne’s Creative, the shop was rather crowded.  There were a few couples who were also doing their gown-fitting.  Some of them were into their final round of fitting and that literally meant their “Big Day” would be just round the corner. Evon communicated her preferences and likings to the bridal executive.  It didn’t take long before the executive pulled out a collection of gowns from the rack and Evon was off to the fitting room trying them out.

When Evon walked out from the fitting room, I was like … WOW …

- - - Guys, you must be thinking I am exaggerating.  I used to think that way too, especially after having watched those soap-operas and Hong Kong Cantonese drama serials.  Yet, at that moment, my mind was blank.  I knew of nothing except that Evon really looked lovely and beautiful in the wedding gown ( Evon’s gonna be at cloud-9 if she sees this ) - - -

Evon tried out 6 wedding gowns in total.  It turned out that the first piece and the last piece seemed to be the best fit.  Hence, it’s for us, or rather, more for her, to decide which gown to choose.  So eventually, we decided to go for the last piece because we thought the design was more trendy and would give her a more natural appeal.

Okay, so we’ve chosen her first gown.  The next session will be the fitting of her made-to-measure evening gown and the tea-dress.  I supposed it’s also my turn to try on the suit.

One thing that really amused me was I ended up making the second payment without even trying on anything.  Only measurements taken for my pants.  So, I guessed it’s true.  When it comes to wedding, the groom is only there to pay $$$.  Urghhhh!

“That moment in a woman’s life is when she’s in her wedding gown.”  ….
Charlie Loo

Posted in Gown-Fitting