Fit For Royalty

The Dress has been revealed.

not to brag, but i had a feeling that sarah burton would be designing it (okay, there have been reports of leaked information from alexander mcqueen that kate middleton was very keen on having burton design her wedding gown after she saw the dress burton designed for tom parker bowles' bride in 2005), since it would have been the best way to pay homage to one of britain's most shining beacons of fashion.

perhaps the duchess of cambridge's choice was cemented by burton's first womenswear collection for alexander mcqueen last fall, which i thought brought some much-needed reprive and sensibility to mcqueen's satorial antics.

two thumbs up for burton, who succeeded in not only inheriting the best elements of the fashion industry's enfant terrible, but also designing a beautiful, timeless gown that is truly fit for a queen.

the duchess's choice may have been a tad conservative, but i liked that she didnt overdo any of the dress details or go with a ridiculous 10m long train. and the veil was simply elegant.

kind of reminds me of grace kelly's gown though, which to me is still the best wedding dress ever.





however, what really caught my attention was the long column sheath worn by pippa middleton, which was also designed by burton. simple, form-fitting, understated - now that's what i call a dress!

Long Overdue

We've been married for four months but our wedding pictures only arrived in the mail this week.

it's a small shame not being able to look at the photographs at the height of our nuptial glow, but we had fun trawling through the pictures anyway.

ken and i arent the posey-posey sort, so we decided to forgo the de-rigueur pre-wedding photo shoot in favour of a short picture-taking session after the wedding (considering how we were blanching at some of the poses our photographer had us do during the shoot, i'd say that was probably a very good move).

surprisingly though, most of the posed shots turned out pretty okay. here are a few of my favourites:

Married (Again)!!

So now you are no longer registered as a swinging single in Japan.

the day we got married all over again at the city office.

出嫁咯！！

It turned out to be the best day of my life.

despite the many hiccups, to me everything was perfect. we ate, drank, danced, sang, laughed and cried. i never knew that so much love could ever exist in one place at one time.

how sweet it is to be loved by so many people. i should be so lucky.

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Preparing the table gifts and favour boxes for the all-important favour cake:

Favour cake boxes with the monogram stickers that i had specially printed:

The final touch - ribbons:

Then finally, ta-daa! My very own handmade 5-tier favour cake!!

Collecting our marriage documents from ROM. Somehow we were both really nervous:

An hour after the wedding - me and his grand foot:

I didnt eat a thing at the reception so it was a relief to finally sit down to a quiet meal with ken:

Him with his ah pek t-shirt and "i'm so gonna drink" pose:

On the way to the wedding after-party (my bro's in the background):

Breakfast the morning after at the Tiffin Room:

Ken wearing my glasses cos he forgot his overnight bag:

Him trying very hard to channel Tony Leung:

The Tiffin Room:

The sumptuous Christmas tree at the hotel lobby:

Checking out:

The Next Miss Popular

Hello, my name is Serinah and I am in the running to be the next Miss Popular.

i'm participating in a contest that doesnt require me to answer questions about alleviating poverty or promoting world peace. i dont even need to strut the catwalk in my national costume or parade around in a bikini.

but i do need to prove that i am interesting and loved enough to fill 120 seats in a ballroom. which doesnt really seem all that difficult, does it? i mean, other (lesser) mortals have managed, with a great degree of success i might add, to pack more people into even larger venues.

but you see, the theory of relativity presides over such situations. if you have 500 seats, you can invite every other third-tier friend or random hanako or taro you know, with very little need to think about the dynamics of your relationship with such people. the act of extending an invitation in such a situation is not loaded with meaning simply because there is no need to pass your entire social circle through a sift into its various ranks and levels so that you may filter out your inner circle from all of the rest.

when there are only 100 blanks to fill in the guest list however, things begin to take on a bigger meaning. it translates into the necessary selection of a choice few. which also hints at the shock that awaits you when the people you tagged as your "close friends" choose instead to sit on the invitation or reject coming altogether.

and so, here i am gripped with the fear of being treated as the second/third/fourth-tier/unranked friend as i send out save-the-date messages to my potential guests.

i'm really not in it to win. i'm just hoping that people will love me as much as i love them.

The Bridezilla VS the Budding Groom

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not quite the bridezilla I made myself out to be.

yes, i can fork out almost 16 dollars for a Brides magazine and without taking any of the "what bride are you?" quizzes available online, i instinctively know that i'm what they might term "a classic bride". i know which colour palette to use for my wedding and i already have theme shades all carefully thought out for the reception.

march-in song? check.
guest entertainment? double check.
customised invitation cards, escort cards and wedding favour boxes? hell YES.

but when it came to my gown, i sold out after five shops and three days of shopping. i'd always thought that i would scour every single bridal boutique in singapore before deciding on The Dress, but really, every gown you try on does fade into whitewash after five minutes. and before you know it, you find yourself trooping back to the first store and buying that very first dress you tried on (well, not quite the case for me but close).

but while i come to terms with my broken ambitions as a bridezilla, it's very heartening to know that the man is experiencing a transition that is quite simply the opposite of mine.

he was never one to believe in marriage. for a long period of time i was worried that it wasnt on the cards for the both of us. but then he came around and made it happen. and i know he did it for me.

now that he has slowly warmed up to the idea of having a wedding in singapore, he is beginning to partake in the fun of preparing for it. he's excited about the wedding bands, he's asking me if he should tailor a suit and he's thinking of all the people he should invite to the reception.

and now, it seems that we might actually have one in okinawa afterall.

it means so much to me that he's enjoying the process because it's finally starting to feel like we're doing this together. and for that, i'm more than ready to let go of my bridezilla tendencies, because it's always more important to have a groom who is ready to step into his new shoes.

The Question

To which my answer was "Yes".

my heart didn't skip a beat and my breath didnt catch in my throat. to be honest, i had been given a plain vanilla option and it was even a little disappointing.

but i awoke the next morning to the joy and comfort of knowing that this man would always be mine to have. and then suddenly it felt as if all i've ever wanted was to see my name next to his surname, to wear his ring on my finger, to refer to him as my husband in front of my family and friends.

i can hardly wait.

Waiting

You know things are getting out of hand when:

1. you find yourself holding your breath even when there really isnt anything exciting happening.

2. everytime he calls your name, you reply with an overly-pregnant "YES?"

3. you keep checking your diary for all the possible dates that you might be asked The Question.

4. you find yourself seriously considering the amazing bridal photo shoot package your friend just went for.

5. you have this urge to wring his neck and scream "WHEN? WHEN? WHEN???" everytime you see his face.

this is SO stupid.

False Alarm

Over the phone last night, he asked me what size I was.

my heart skipped a beat, my breath caught in my throat and the joy in my voice became openly discernible.

turns out he saw a coat in a vintage store and wanted to buy it for me, but no, i wasnt a size 10.

all i really wanted to say was: my dear ken, my ring size is a US 6 (but in case it doesnt fit, we can always re-size it?).

i am starting to heap all my eggs in one tiny basket once again, despite the constant reminders to myself not to do so.

on a lighter note, i went looking for my graduation kimono (hakama) last week and i'm pretty happy with what i picked.

Em from Thailand and I:

The Bridezilla is Back!

This is possibly a very funny thing to contemplate, but there are so many pretty dresses in the world and only one wedding in every girl's life. imagine the gravity of the situation. pick the wrong dress and you'll never get a second go again.

bingeing on creamy confections on brides.com now that i can afford more time for meaningless surfing on the internet. reem acra takes the cake for autumn 2010. her dresses are light, fluffy and above all, ethereal.

Notes From the Bridezilla

Okay, it's 9.51pm and I'm still stuck in the grad room, but I HAVE to tell everyone about this.

as usual i was surfing the brides.com website for some late-night R&R and i chanced upon this! carolina herrera's collection for spring 2010!

herrera's my favourite gown designer, but her pieces cost 10,000 sgd and upwards so i'm really just building sandcastles in the air here. but with this latest collection, she has just succeeded in outdoing herself, and almost every other top designer showing this season. wedding dresses are not usually the medium where designers can allow their imagination to roam free; most women would never risk looking too different on their big day so gowns are always designed according to the tried-and-tested silhouettes and made with safe fabrics. hence, the "see-them-once-seen-them-all" surfeit effect you get when you flip through bridal magazines these days.

with herrera this season however, she has managed to turn every gown into an art piece. each dress is named after a prominent painter, and all the pieces so beautifully personify the essence of the artist. check out the monet, with the layers of tulle that feature handpainted waterlilies. every gown says a lot about the woman who wears them, and it is amazing how herrera manages to craft such interesting storylines and details from a single dress.