Old School gifts unwrapped

The 2 types of gifts that I gave out for xmas this year.

Doesn't this bring back some old school memories?

Designed the graphic and got a shop to print it on tote bags for me. Totally love how it turned out :)

Merry Christmas!

Forget about the calories till next year! It's time to eat, drink and be merry =))

Have a very Merry Christmas and a great 2012!

Wishing everyone good health and happiness in the comin' year!

A Garden Party

Received an enquiry about 1.5wks back to quote for ROM decor at Krish Restaurant @ Rochester Park. I am actually quite excited because I have always loved garden weddings. Hotel ballroom banquet was never my cup of tea. How I wish Singapore has four seasons, then we can enjoy garden weddings in the cool breeze of spring. Whenever I mentioned to anyone about having a garden wedding here, they will give me 'the look' and say "no aircon, very hot".

Went down with my partner one Sunday evening to check out the Krish Restaurant. Love the decor! The restaurant design is vintage with a bit of old english flavour, excellent for a nice cosy party. Suitable place for ROMs or small wedding celebrations away from the hussle and bussle of the city. The indoor dining area allows room for simple DIY decor and little knick knacks like those found on Etsy Weddings. With some creative ideas, a nice touch can be added to the wedding.

Source: Krish website

If you prefer something outdoors, there is the bar area which exudes a different feel in the day and night. There is a full shelter now unlike in the photo so you can still enjoy the 'outdoors' without being dampen by the rain in equatorial Singapore.

Source: Krish website

Since it was almost dinner time, we decided to settle our dinner there. The food was quite interesting too, it was Indian fusion. We ate the Tandoori Stuffed Chicken Roulade and Seared Sea Bass for mains and shared the Fudge Cake for dessert. I like the slightly sourish couscous from the Sea Bass dish. I think it was blended with tamarind, very nice flavour and appetizing. The overall experience was good and the place is quite accessible. Approximately 10-15min walk from Buona Vista Mrt Station.

Some pictures of the food. Pardon the poor quality as I took them with my mobile phone.

Tandoori Stuffed Chicken Roulade

Seared Sea Bass

Fudge Cake

Have an old school xmas!

Thought for a long time and decided that this will be the theme for this year's prezzies. Check back on Boxing Day to see what's in there :)

I want my mom's vintage wedding gown!

Wedding gowns these days seem to have lost their simple beauty compared to those worn during our parent's generation and earlier. I wouldn't mind wearing my mom's 1980 wedding gown for my own wedding next time. But she didn't keep the gown and obviously looking at her waistline then, no way I can fit in! Have always been a fan of vintage inspired clothing, bags and shoes. So if I ever get married, the wedding will definitely have a vintage flavour.

The gowns these days are more fancy and elaborate like fashion pieces. Unlike past gown designs which involved using quite a bit of lace giving them a very classy feel. Some of them even if worn today, will still look pretty good and not dated. With that said, not everyone can carry off the vintage gown look. I like those from the 50s - 60s era, just like this piece worn by Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.

If you are looking for vintage inspired gowns, check out The Vintage Wedding Dress Company and Wedding Dresses 100. They have really simple and classic designs. One thing for sure, those dresses look easier to move around in compared to bottom heavy pom gowns.

Make up trial

Suggested to my gf some months back to do a make up trial before her actual wedding day because the look that the make up artist came up with for her photoshoot was rather passe. And she complained to me that the make up artist used eyeliner on her lower lids despite her objecting to it. Seriously, either you are aunty or Captain Jack Sparrow, this liquid liner on the lower lids is dated. Unfortunately, she didn't do a trial before her photoshoot.

Thank goodness she agreed to my suggestion and I accompanied her to do a trial yesterday. Again the make up artist insisted on liquid liner on the lower lids. I knew it would turn out horrendous but agreed to let the make up artist try it so that we could all be convinced that it ain't gonna work. After that I suggested to her to use eyeshadow instead and it came out much better. But before we settled on the right colour she kept using the darker colours which didn't suit my friend because it emphasized on her eyebags. The whole make up didn't come out fantastic but it was probably the best the make up artist could do. For an old school bridal studio with an aunty lady boss, I think we can't expect too much.

Then we went on to the hair. The earlier hairstyle was all let down and with the frills on the shoulder area, it appeared a little too heavy. So I printed a few hairstyles which I felt were suitable and showed them to the make up artist. It was a simple loose / messy style that is combed to one side. Relatively simple actually, I did a few of such styles on my own before by referring to Japanese magazines I bought. But she took a pretty long time to figure it out. The techniques she used were quite old school too. Not quite what I wanted, but the final outcome turned out alright. Definitely much much better than what was used for the photoshoot.

I think I can do a much better job on the make up and hair as a non professional. And I personally think that it is very important to engage the right make up artist and photographer. The photographer seemed to have over photoshop the photos.

I hope the make up artist remembers what she did yesterday and replicate it on the wedding day :)