Me and my boyfriend met in junior college, him being my senior. In my JC, everyone had their own class benches, and the senior and junior class would share one. We became a couple before the first three months was over, and had been together ever since. Probably unlike other couples, we got our house before he proposed. But anyhow, he became my fiance on our sixth anniversary, and from that faithful day, our wedding planning begins.
Wedding is not a new thing in my household. Having three other siblings who marry early allows me to have the chance to experience attending and helping out in weddings, before planning and vexing over my own. Not to mention, they are always there to provide me with valuable advices should I come across a difficult decision.
But mind, this is YOUR wedding. Everyone has different expectations of their wedding, and hope that their wedding will be the most special fairytale ever told. And over the process of initial wedding planning, I realised that this can be achievable if the following scenario exists:
1. You must go through this with your other half. Man are man, they will tell you that they are fine with anything. MAKE them, if not, THREATEN them to participate. It doesnt have to take a lot of effort. My solemnisation planning only started when my fiance started working and have to stay in on the weekdays. Thus, my role was to source for the venues, florals and photographers and email them to get relevant quotations. After which, I will forward these emails to my fiance. hoping that he really read through them. We then arrange to meet the wedding vendors over the weekends and make these informed decisions, TOGETHER. Not to forget, my fiance, being the better one with money, will constantly remind me of our cash flow situation.
2. Get support from family and friends. Let’s face it, the process of wedding planning, can get tiring sometimes, especially when you are tied down with work and have to make a million decisions. Friends and family can sometimes give you invaluable advices, if not, showing that they are excited over your wedding suffice. I find much joy in discussing my planning process with different friends. Some of them will probe to ask for more like a curious little blue bird, some will be all excited over it and make you think that your wedding will be so much fun, and there are others who are motherly figures and be concerned over your expenses. But whatever it is, they give you assurance that they are happy for you and no matter how unglam or unfun your wedding turns out to be, it is your wedding and they just wanted to be a part of it.
3. Do your homework. As a lot of my colleagues will say, google is man’s best friend. Just google “solemnisation venues in singapore” and you will be led to many well-known local forums or even some personal blogs. These are insightful resources which sometimes, may give you an overdose of information. Also, there are many local and overseas wedding magazines on the racks of bookstores. Within the magazines, you are able to know more, and compare the many many wedding vendors in Singapore and also be amazed at the many wonderful and creative ideas by the couples. And of course, do look through photos of your friends on facebook. From there, you can judge for yourself if this is what you want for your wedding.
4. Find out what you and your other half want. You have the resources, you have the advice. But ultimately, what do you want? It is not an easy question to answer, but you do not have to have the answer immediately. If you are like me, a ganchiong spider, all the more you should take some time to flip through more resources, have more discussions with your other half before you decide that you have the answers. My fiance and I revise our budget every single week to reflect the changes in our expectations.
Last but not least, allow me to be cliche and say this, enjoy the process of planning with your other half. Though we are both tied down with work, we enjoyed going down to our wedding vendors on the weekends to discuss our wedding. I am not confident of making my wedding the most whimsical fairytale of all, but I am sure the wedding planning process would be our most romantic piece of memory.
Wedding is not just about a day of traditions and a piece of paper. I find it utmost romantic when two people are willing to go through the long and tiring process of making decisions, DIYing wedding favors all in the midst of working full time. And all this trouble and efforts, just to let your family and friends immerse in your love and happiness. That to me, is weaving your very own beautiful fairytale.