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A Walk Down The Aisle (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 4)

This blog post is a follow up from:
1) "Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)
2) "The Video... (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 2), and
3) What we didn’t tell our guests (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 3)


Hey guys! Hope you had a good week so far, in spite of the haze.

Continuing with the #keepcalmandsayido series, you would’ve already known by now:

1) What we susah people actually subjected ourselves to during the #weddingmonth (by choice, so unfortunately we can’t blame anyone ) Click to read more...

2) How #babybaby and I “fell in love”; and how he proposed (hope you had a good laugh with our dumb down version of the video reenactment) Click to view video...

3) The things we DIDN’T tell our wedding guests…(not to mention how much $$$ we saved by DIY-ing the little things that made the difference) Click to read more...

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Sorry. Side track a bit – If you’ve emailed me from the previous blog post requesting for my wedding planning/budget templates, you should’ve gotten a personal reply from Moi with an attachment of the files; but if for some reason it didn’t reach you, please let me know in the comment box below ya!! Mwah mwah!!

Ok, back to this.

So yeah, I didn’t wear a Vera Wang, yet I still felt like the most special girl in the world because the man I love thought I was worth the commitment of a lifetime.

Out of all the 4 events we had, I'll admit that the last one at the church was the most emotional one for me. I don’t remember crying so much in public. So embarrassing.

Unfortunately for me, our very efficient videographers caught every embarrassing detail, so you’ll have the joy of seeing the red-nosed version of this Panda in next week’s video. Lol

For now, here are the pictures from the actual day, from my hair and makeup with Joey Lau just before 6am (thank you Joey for waking up at such an ungodly time for me!)… 

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…to the quest of “getting Hannah into that impossible dress”; spearheaded by my mummy-in-law and aunty-in-law (please excuse my English lol), assisted by Joey and mum. The 2 superwomen probably grew instant biceps from the exercise of holding up that dress and trying to lace me up. Mafan but totally necessary. What to do? Lol

BTW, thank you Suzanna for the veil, and thank you Aunty Kelene for fixing my dress and bedazzling Suzanna’s masterpiece for me. Loved the bling!!

Point to note for all future Brides: If you’re going to wear a dress like mine for your wedding, you’ll want to make sure you have strong bladder control.

Meantime, at the church, our helpful family members Christian, Joel, Ru and Nancy had their smiles on to orientate our very punctual guests upon arrival.

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I was told that my Japanese family, including Akiko Mama and lil’ brother Tomoki were the first to arrive. Early and before time somemore. I call this the "Japanese timing", from which we Malaysians have a lot to learn.  Tabik [Respect]. 

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Everything was going well and according to schedule that morning (or so I believe) until the team discovered that some of the most important people to the wedding (including the father-of-the-groom and our 2 opening emcees) were stuck in a plane that could not “park” according to schedule. I’m not sure if those were the exact details but that was what I was told; apart from the standard “don’t worry”. Yes, I understood at that time that nobody wanted the bride to have an anxiety attack. 

Dunno whether to blame the airlines or the airport , but really kesian the people in the plane and also kesian the guests at the church who had to wait.The entire family felt so bad, and I felt even worse for not having a contingency plan to keep our poor guests entertained during the wait. 

[p/s: Perhaps something for you to keep in mind when expecting out-of-town family members at your wedding.]

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Anyway, we thank God for such patient and understanding guests who made all the difference, especially since they had every right to get upset about the delay.

Thank you David Oh for keeping our guests updated in the hall during the wait. 

Thankfully, once the event started with Su Yen and Su Lin’s opening, everything else just fell into place…

We rolled this video...

...following which, Dad walked me down the back of the auditorium (which was no easy task in that poofy dress and tall-shoes).

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Reverend Kevin – our spiritual father, mentor and friend – graciously committed his entire morning to us and undertook the ceremony in spite of his hectic travel schedule. I'll save the details of the ceremony for next week's video post. :-D

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Before we knew it, the BIG day was over... 

...and it was time to toss the bouquet. Guess who caught it?!!! 

1pm. A sigh of relief, as that meant I could finally drink something and stop worrying about bladder control.

Our eventful morning concluded very efficiently, thanks to my Superwoman Jamie, Wonderwomen sisters Gloria and Victoria, Superman Joel Liew, my very gracious mummy-in-law and aunty-in-law, Mui Lin and the brilliant team.

Thank you Cayman and Li-Hsia for coordinating the busy weekend with Mui Lin and assisting Jamie, Gloria, Victoria and Joel in the setup the night before; thank you Sean Teh, Charis Tan, Vincent Kusuma, Wilson Lee, Cheryl Lee, Edmund Lee, Desmond Ng, Anna Leong, Min Yang, Chee Heng, Yuan Yuan, Ed Jane, Johnny Ng and Sabrina Chin for looking after our family and friends throughout the entire morning (not forgetting the venue setup and staying up so late the night before).

Terry and Wei Shen, thank you for sweating for us and managing our traffic flow in the unbearable Malaysian heat.

Thank you Adrian, Angelica, Emloyd, Jacob, Sharon Boon, Tressila, Johnston, Yin Har and Eleazar Ting for leading us in Praise and Worship; and thank you Zia Hao, Kim, Kelvin Lo, and Kelvin Su for making sure our ears were not abused haha. You guys did a brilliant job with the sound!

Thank you Brian Tan and Michael Tong for looking after the lights; and thank you Yee Wen, Ryan Tay, Lee Peng, Grace Khor, Francis, Tze Ken, Andrew Lee, Vernard, Sandra Boon and Dsir Shooter for the making the magic and doing such a brilliant job with the TV/media and cameras. Gordon Lee, Nelson Tan and Thomas Lee – you gentlemen made all the difference by managing all the corresponding facilities that weekend, thank you so very much.

Next week – pictures with our guests, the video that made me cry over and over again and the colour of my wedding shoes (which were not white BTW).

Love you!


All photos (unless otherwise stated) by Cornelius Lim

Design/Concept/Direction of all “A Walk Down The Aisle” materials (invites, wedding favours, stickers, food toppers, guest photo printout template, button badges, etc) by Joey & Regine Khor. 


Source: http://www.hannah.today/keepcalmandsayido/
tags: wedding, ceremony, church ceremony, church, marriage, bryan lee, hannah tan, confetti, vows, vow, modern wedding, deco, family, guests, relatives, rings, bouquet, toss, keep calm and say i do, how to, malaysia, unity, kuala lumpur, love, City Harvest Church, City Harvest, CHCKL, Hannah
categories: wedding, Relationships, Love
Wednesday 03.05.14
Posted by Hannah Tan
 

What we didn’t tell our guests (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 3)

This blog post is a follow up from:
1) "Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)", and
2) "The Video... (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 2) :-D


As a first-time bride, I was disillusioned by the fact that BIG BUDGET = PERFECT WEDDING 

While an unlimited budget for your big day is always nice, it definitely doesn’t mean you can’t have the perfect wedding without breaking the bank.

“Just remember there is someone out there that is more than happy with less than what you have.”
— Anonymous
“Happiness is not having what you want. It is wanting what you have.”
— Rabbi Hyman Schachtel

If you’re a bride-to-be, here are a few things I learnt from this wedding season, which may come in handy when planning your big day:

1) You don’t have to wear a Vera Wang to feel special on your wedding day

Every bride is said to be most beautiful on her wedding day, regardless of whether she’s walking down the isle in a designer gown…or not.

Fact is, you don’t have to wear a branded gown to feel special. Ladies, it’s not the gown. It’s you.

Having a label to your dress is always nice, but these days, pretty gowns are not exclusive to the rich and famous. You can even own a stunning dress for just under RM1000, so don’t stress ya. ;-)

 

2) Can’t afford to hire a wedding planner? Relax, it’s not the end of the world.

While good wedding planners make pretty valuable lifesavers, not everyone can afford to leave it entirely to the professionals; and unless you’re opting for an unconventional way to commemorate your big day, here’s a checklist that should help you get started:

9 months to 1 year before the wedding:

  1. Determine your budget
  2. Select the date (you may want to have a few options, just in case your preferred venue or officiant is not available on your selected date)
  3. Start a wedding folder (inspiration boards, references, etc.), determine your wedding theme (if applicable) and a rough idea of the things/activities that will take place your big day
  4. Decide on your wedding party, and give them a heads-up
  5. Get started on a guest list (having a gauge of the total number of people attending will help with the location shopping)
  6. Decide on the type of location, and ask for quotations based on item #2 and #5 above
  7. Book your officiant and find out the relevant procedures for getting registered in your respective area (if you’re in Malaysia, go to the nearest JPN office to get more details)
  8. Shortlist your preference for photographers, videographers, caterers (if your venue isn’t supplying the F&B), florists, entertainment, etc.; ask for quotations
  9. Book your pre-marital counseling classes/sessions, as I always believe that it is important to start your marriage on the right foundation

I’m happy to share the rest of my checklist and budget template with you, so if you want copy, just pop us an email at catchme@hannahtan.com ;-)

Detailed planning is vital but that only constitutes to half the battle in the world of weddings. The other half is execution. And if you’re the bride, you’ll need to learn to delegate. Yeah, if you read my previous blog post, you’ll know that I had to go against every fiber in my being to obey #babybaby and

1) Stay away from the venue during the setup process, the night before

2) NOT sneak a walkie-talkie under my wedding gown. Lol

So the point is, you’ll have to delegate. Jeng jeng jeng.

Identify at least 3 key people that you can trust to run your actual day – 1 to manage the front of house (guest arrival/registration, ang pao collections), 1 to manage the vendors & photographers/videographers (arrivals, timelines, setup and tear-down at the venue, etc. assuming that it is not handled by your venue providers), 1 to manage the actual flow of events/activities/entertainment (itinerary, audio visual, emcee, etc.).

Yep, there’s more to consider than you think. That's why it is always best to get into the details and mentally visualize the flow of your day as early as possible in the planning process. From there, create a checklist of things that you'll need at the different stages (you can keep adding to the list as you go along, so don't worry if you missed out one or two things in the first round of "brainstorming" with your husband-to-be/event planner. From there, you can start listing down points for your briefing to the people who will be helping you out; to avoid unnecessary confusion and stress for everyone involved, during the actual wedding week.

Meantime, if you're looking for some economical ideas for your wedding reception, here are some of the things you too can DIY (at very minimal cost):

p/s:  Our family members played a very big part in this; so good luck convincing yours to help out too! Hehe.

KIDS' KIT - a lil’ something to keep your little guests busy (both hands and mouth) during the ceremony.

Lollipops can come in handy, especially with the noisy few, so make sure your ushers are stocked. Hehe.

I printed the mini colouring "book" from this website [http://lovelyindeed.com/diy-activity-book-free-printable/].

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PERSONALISED FOOD TOPPERS - We basically just stuck 2 pieces of paper to each toothpick, although it's actually more complicated than it sounds. 

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WEDDING BROCHURE to orientate your guests (if there’s anything specific you need them to do or not do, social media hashtags, itinerary, floor/seating plan, etc.)

ANG PAO COLLECTION BOXES (we wrapped and re-used empty tissue boxes)

TOILET DECO (simple black print on coloured paper, laminated)

CONFETTI BAR (small pieces of coloured/shiny paper for the mixing pleasure of your guests) :-D 

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Hope this helps. :-) Will share the pictures/video from the church wedding in my next blog post. Till next Wednesday, mwah!!!! Panda hugs. xxx

All photos (unless otherwise stated) by Cornelius Lim

Design/Concept/Direction of all "A Walk Down The Aisle" materials (invites, wedding favours, stickers, food toppers, guest photo printout template, button badges, etc) by Joey & Regine Khor. 


Source: http://www.hannah.today/keepcalmandsayido/
tags: DIY, decorations, deco, wedding, pre-wedding, church ceremony, church, hannah tan, bryan lee, checklist, how to, food deco, food toppers, confetti, bar, kids, kids activity, kits, bags, goodies, goodie bags, guests, family, children, brochures, printout, template, hannah, City Harvest, City Harvest Church, CHCKL, love
categories: wedding, Relationships, Love
Wednesday 02.26.14
Posted by Hannah Tan
 

www.hannahtan.com