In search for our humble abode...

We have made our first baby step into applying for a HDB flat today. Without knowing the correct procedure and the so called rules and regulations for first time buyers, we went to Toa Payoh HDB Hub to gather more information.

This is the time when I truly understand terms that were being used frequently in the property market like COV (cash over valuation), BTO (Build To Order), Resale and the different grants available.

We took some brochures home for further reading and were told to apply for flats through the HDB website when they open resale flats and BTOs for ballioting.

Next, we embarked on our first recce trip to source for suitable ROM locations.

First stop: Labrador Park

It was a nice coincidence that they were in the midst of preparing for a solemnisation at the venue and we mananged to sneak in for some photo shoots.


The entrance to the solemnisation party



The reception area


The table settings and decor of the venue




The solemnisation is held by the pool side


The solemnisation will take place in this beautiful glass house that seems to sit in the pool



A closer look at the glass house reveals that it can hold up to 20 guests



It's good that the glass house is air conditioned


A bird's eye view of the venue

Verdict: A very beautiful garden venue for solemnisation but the hot weather is a killer. It does not seem to have a wet weather programme, even if it does, the marquee is going to spoil the beauty of the venue.

Not sure how it will look like in the evening but from the look of it, I do not see any lightings around the place.

We emailed the contact person from National Parks, wanting to go down for a site visit and to discuss in further details but there was not any reply. This is a good enough reason to strike this venue off our list.

Fairy's Inc

There will be high possibility that we will be getting our wedding bands from Fairy's Inc. Joo and Jayven's rings were from them, that was how I came to know about this wonderful jewellery shop that can customise the rings.

That day I messaged Joo to ask for their address and I called them yesterday to make an appointment on 10 October. The date is a little far away but the designer is out of town until 2 weeks later.

I hsve already got a concept of what I want in my ring's design and I'm so excited to hear what they can do for me!

Swissotel Merchant Court

We went for another wedding exhibition at Swissotel Merchant Court last Saturday, 19 Sept.

The turnout was not very good as we were still able to redeem the complimentary customised MyStamp despite reaching there 5 hours after the exhibition started.

Here it is..





This personalised service is by SingPost. There are 2 different packages:

Package 1 (Max. 2 different photos)
5 sheets of A4 Personalised MyStamp + Free Special Edition MyStamp
Cost: $68

Package 2 (Max. 2 different photos)
5 sheets of A4 Personalised MyStamp + Free Special Edition MyStamp + Personalised Datestamp service + Free photo frame
Cost: $108

Most likely we will be taking up Package 2. The plus point is that SingPost can help with sending out the mails for you!

The Catering Manager from the hotel talked us through their wedding dinner packages from now till March 2011. As we would only hold our wedding dinner in May 2011, we have to go back for the revised pricing again.



Their food in the menu were pretty standard so are the prices. What impressed us was the one-night stay at the hotel after the dinner. It was their Jade suite which would have cost $1,500 per night!

The room was huge with a living room, a balcony, 1 or 2 bedrooms (I can't remember) and 2 washrooms, of which the one attached to the Master room comes with a bathtub overlooking the back of The Central Mall.

If we were to sign up with them, it would have been for the suite.. But let's not cast the stone so early. Who knows other hotels might offer similar or even bigger suites! Haha

We were also shown to the swimming pool where solemnisations could be held. It was a coincidence that there was a couple having their ROM at that time. I did not like it cos' everybody has to squeeze under a small pavilion.

There was only one bridal studio at the exhibition - La Belle. Henry has heard of it but not me.

I was not too keen on their package although they allow couples to pay them in installments. What matters to me most is the collection of wedding gowns they have. If the wedding gowns suck, I would not even want it even if they offer to us at 50%.

Losing weight

Today marks the first day my weight-losing regime.

I went for a jog around the house and on the way, stopped by the gym-like working out area to do some exercises too.

There's still a long, long way to go..

Had a short discussion with Pauline on the upcoming preparations for the big day. She gave lots of good advices! We might be going for yoga lessons at Leng Kee together pretty soon!!

Wedding Venues

I have just printed out a whole lot of venues suited for solemnisatioins and weddings; there was about 100 over of them.

Out of that many, only one pathetic one seemed suitable. We will continue to source for more. We might be making appointments for a couple of venue-viewings this coming Saturday.

Henry sent me a propsal on our wedding plans. How sweet and enthusiatic of him to be so actively involved in everything. It included our location for house, ROM venues, hotels and even invitation name list!

I have just watched Fann Wong and Christopher Lee's pre-wedding show on Channel 8 earlier.

I like her ROM dress!!! It's a cute white pom-pom dress and what attracted me was the translucent organza-like shawl(or whatever you call it) that she put on.

Apparently, it was designed by Keith Png, a local designer. Visit his blog at http://keithpng.blogspot.com/2009/05/fann-wongs-rom-dress-by-keith-png.html

He has a concept shop, Hide & Seek at 22B/C Hong Kong Street. Maybe we can drop by to take a look.. but I bet it will cost a bomb!

Friends

Met up with Haiqi, Hui Han, Shena and Jasmine today and we went into the discussion of my ROM preparation.

I can tell that they are pretty excited for me.

We started discussing on how I should inform and invite my friends. The choices ranged from invite cards,e-invite, sms invite to face-to-face verbal invite.

I told them I have the intention of customising the invite cards and writing them by hand. They were all so enthusiatic and even offered their help to write the invites together over a dinner!

I felt so touched that my friends wanted to get involved in the preparation of my big day..

09/09/09 is a...

beautiful date and a perfect date to discuss wedding dates. Haha!

We had a rather harmonious talk at night regarding the big day. I am willing to compromise to hold our wedding earlier as I think the most important thing is to walk down the road ahead of us, hand in hand. A dream wedding boils down to nothing if the couple can't get along well after their marriage. So, we shall start learning from now onwards.

We came up with a few dates to consider for the ROM:

- 24 Feb 2010
- 24 May 2010
- 10 Oct 2010
- 24 May 2011


I think the first 2 dates are just way too soon and third one will be popular but too ordinary to be unique.

Hence, the best choice is still 24 May 2011. Maybe we would just have the ROM and customaries together..

The Inevitable

We have finally quarrelled "officially" over our wedding preparations.

He wanted to move the wedding date forward and have everything done and over with by 24 May 2011.

Initial Plans:

ROM - 24 May 2011 (our 99th month)
Customaries - A year later

He cited the reason as not wanting the various old folks to wait too long.

I was, of course, unhappy because I wanted to stick to the original plans so that we can have ample time to prepare and make this our perfect wedding! To have everything completed by 24 May 2011 would mean that we would have the ROM next year..

There are just two major issues standing in our way: MONEY & flat. Period.

Surprise

Haven’t been posting for quite some time when Flora asked me one day for the log in ID and password…

Wanted to create another blog since this was my operation but Flora can’t wait to post.

We will sit down to discuss the setup of the new blog, our new blog… and then link both blog together…

Hmm… what shall we name it?