Post-proposal: First 3 Steps

It's been a whole 6 months since I last updated my wedding blog!
Oh myyyy what happened to the "documenting my wedding journey" plan???

I can't believe that it's been HALF A YEAR! :O

Been meaning to update so, so, so many times, but a lot has happened and there would always be something more important (and urgent) to look into first. Life's been seriously hectic that I hardly even had the time to update the main blog.

For all my dear readers who have been asking me to update and faithfully coming back to this space, I wanna say a million thank you's for being so super awesome, and sorry for being MIA for half a year! A LOT has happened in the past 6 months, so I shall divide all the updates into different blog posts :) 

So, in my absence, I have officially finished my 3-year degree at Taylor's Lakeside (WOOHOO!!!), 2-month internship at Streething (COME ON!), organizing and leading the most awesome cluster (:P) of all- The MINT cluster at Emerge Kuala Lumpur for 2 months (AHHH YEAHHH). Handling the 3 above was enough to take up 99% of my time and energy. Some called me crazy for picking so many things up when my wedding was just around the corner. Perhaps, I WAS crazy, but I'm glad I was as my life was completely changed :)

Now that I'm done with everything else, yours truly is currently and officially a full-time blogger + wedding planner :D I'm just so so glad that I can finally have the time to FULLY focus on the little details of the wedding 100%. It's such joy to go to sleep with wedding ideas being the last thing on my mind, and waking up knowing it's another exciting day of planning our special day!

My morning exercise.

Everyday is an adventure!

Planning and organizing events is nothing new to Boon and I. Him being in the project management field and  handling multi-million worth of projects, while I've planned loads of birthday surprises, etc etc hahahahahaha now I feel so insignificant :P Plus, the idea of  us doing this together, for us, is just really meaningful. So we decided to take our wedding planning into our own hands without a wedding planner, and build everything from scratch.

Since we're the ones planning OUR own wedding, the OCD in us we never knew existed, surfaced. Aside from the occasional, inevitable disagreements, planning our own wedding has been real fun and exciting! It's a good feeling knowing both of us are serious, and in it to make it beautiful :)

Here's where I update from where I left off. Which was basically nothing yet la hahaha. I documented everything in my phone but now that all my photos are all gone, I can only blog with words which is making me feel really depressed right now :( I'm sorry guys...I wish I could have my photos back and share them with all of you :'(

Anyways, will try to make it as descriptive as possible.

Step #1: Choose the Date!

So after all the happy celebrations and surreal feelings, we got straight down to business. The most important FIRST THING that any couple must do before planning all else, is deciding the date! This is clearly a no-brainer, no?

But believe me, many couples get overjoyed about their engagement, that they forget to quickly secure a date for their wedding. Without a wedding date, everything else cannot get started! And especially if you happen to get married in a crazy dragon year like us where couple book churches, hotels and restaurants 2 years in advance, securing a date quick is super crucial!

We really wanted to not delay too long from the engagement to the wedding, as we're really excited about this new life together and also because many married couples advised us not to have too big a gap, as waiting for too long could dampen the excitement of the couple towards their big day.

However, as much as we wanted to get married earlier, we couldn't as yours truly was still studying and I really wanna get everything done and over with before starting a new chapter in my life. Can you imagine needing to attend classes the day after my wedding??!

So with a bit of a discussion with both sides of the family, and after doing all the research on whether the date is a good/bad date to get married (Sigh...Chinese superstitions. Better check, else we MIGHT need to change the date after all is being said and done...which will be a pain. So better do your research, guys! You don't wanna upset your relatives, who will then upset your parents, who will then upset you), we decided to make this day the most special day of our lives!

We decided on the wedding date in less than 2 weeks as we knew we couldn't mess with the Dragon year. Very quickly, the next thing we did:

#Step 2: Book the Pastor!

Having a Christian wedding is a MUST for us. Not because we have to, but because that's how we both want to get married. And to have that, we needed to make sure that our pastor could officiate our wedding...else, we would have changed the date to suit pastor's schedule. That's how much we wanted our dear pastor to marry the both of us.

Because of our wedding, our pastor had to re-schedule his flight and return days earlier from his trip just to make sure he could be there at our big day. We're both really touched and blessed to say the least :") So so blessed.

So, our pastor is set to officiate our wedding! What an honor :) From here, we started planning!

Step #3: Scout and Book the Venue

Holy Matrimony

We explored with the idea of having a garden or beach wedding, as outdoor weddings are undeniably beautiful. Boon was more keen on that than I, as I'm really not a risk-taker. At least not for our wedding! But after some discussion, we both agreed that the Malaysian weather is not just HAWT, but super unpredictable! The last thing we want is to have our guests suffer under the scorching sun, sweat and smell, or worse, drenched from the rain. Another factor was also the capacity of most beaches and gardens. Our guest list is quite long, and we definitely cannot fit 400+ pax at a garden.

So we decided to get married at our favourite place- our church.

This was the beautiful wedding of Kee Wee & May Shen :)

Thank God the slot was available, and that the wedding coordinator of CHCKL, Eunice Wong was super pleasant to deal with :) Since the confirmation, she has met us up several times to do some follow-up on our wedding prep progress, making sure we are on the right track towards our big day!

Dinner Reception

Before Boon even proposed, each time we chatted casually about weddings and stuff, I would seriously look him in the eyes and tell him that I WILL NOT hold my dinner reception at a Chinese Restaurant. This is because I've had several bad experiences at Chinese restaurant wedding dinners where the waiters were blur and rude, the crowd was super noisy as the floor wasn't carpeted. Every single movement caused noises, and the whole restaurant ended up sounding like a wet market. Lousy audio visuals, and the worst part is that the whole place is too noisy for anyone to hear the speeches made by the Bride & Groom. Because most Chinese restaurants serve good food (at least better than hotels), people just concentrate on eating and nothing else.

But, the thing about holding dinner receptions at hotels is that it definitely costs way more. Having worked in so many events before, my favourite ballroom is still Hilton KL, as I love the modern yet simple set up. But after we found out about the cost, we immediately eliminated the idea. It was crazy and way beyond our budget, as we're also renovating our condo at the same time. After searching high and low for good and affordable hotels yet to no avail , we decided we would to try searching for a good and decent Chinese Restaurant.

After asking most people and couples who have gotten married before us, most of them agree that we are paying hotels for the set up and ambience, while the truth is, most guests look for good food as they don't really bother about the ambience. To choose between ambience and good food, good food would win hands down! So that definitely gave us some hope :')

After searching for the best (and STILL AVAILABLE. The Dragon Year is seriously crazy!) Chinese restaurants, we settled with Grand Imperial!  We really love the ballroom set-up and ambience, amazing food, and great service. Liaising with them has been so far, so good. Things didn't turn out as bad as I thought as this place really changed my mindset about most Chinese restaurants :)


So these were the first 3 things we did right after our engagement!
Will update the rest of the "steps" in the next post! Stay tuned :)

8 years and growing fonder

You know the cliché, 

'Absence makes the heart fonder'?

I used to hate that phrase, cos that was what he used to console me with when we first knew that his job scope included flying around and sailing offshore...a lot.

To think of it, our 8-year relationship has always been sorta semi-long distance.

In the first few years of our relationship, we could only see each other every other weekend, and sometimes when he's busy with projects, assignments and exams, he'd only come home twice a month from Tronoh. That went on for three years.

One of the happiest seasons of my life was when he stayed put in KL for internship for 8 months straight :D That was really nice...knowing that he's around, reachable and well, just...available. 

Many have asked me how I cope when he's so often absent, and how our relationship could still stay so strong. Honestly, at the initial stage of his work life, I resented the fact that he was required to travel. 

It was a real struggle, knowing that this is a dream job for many...that he could do what he likes, not needing to do what he loathes (that is to sit in office 9-5), and also, what he's really good at. Plus, the pay is not that bad at all.

At the same time, I felt that it was unfair. To me.

All these years that we've been together, he had always been away. I didn't understand why I had to be the sacrifice of his job, why at the expense of myself.

I felt stuck, and it was truly a 'pekchek' feeling. I really hoped that he didn't have to always be away, but I couldn't exactly stop his from pursuing his career, robbing him of his opportunity to succeed. That'd be very selfish of me.

I just had to, well, make do with it.

Slowly, as he traveled more often and as time passed, it became less difficult to let him go. I learned that with every job, comes with it its very own requirements.

Just like mine, for example. My job requires me to ALWAYS plaster my face with makeup (even if it means waking up at 5.30am to wear makeup), wear 4-5 inch heels, stand long hours, and smile for the cameras (no matter how moody or unwell you are). Sometimes, I'm also required to dress to kill. Those are my basic job scopes. It may appear to be glamorous and easy, but trust me, it is not. It's bad for your skin, back, legs, and FEET! It destroys your body.

While for him, it is to travel. I came to understand that it is also difficult for him to be away from home. Traveling for work, especially to foreign countries alone gotta suck, and loneliness creeps in like an uninvited guest. No matter how positive you are, when you're alone for so long, you can't help but to feel it. That's when I realized that instead of being a burden, I should, instead, be a support and his cheerleader.

Now, does absence make our hearts fonder?

The answer is: Yes, yes, and yes.

I don't know if it works for other couples, but for us, it really does make our relationship more interesting. In a way, I feel that this is healthy for the both of us...for our individual growth. Whenever we're away from each other, we give each other space to grow, time to do what we like, and we work really, really hard.

I'd use the time to quickly rush my assignments so that when he's back, we can hang out peacefully. Besides that, I'd spend my time with my family, and catching up with friends, so that when he's back, we can hang out and stick together like glue :P

And also when he's away, I try to work as much as I can, so that when he's back and have his offshore leaves, we can enjoy the fruits of our labor together, eg: make trips and eat eat eat :)

Maybe this is me being optimistic. Maybe it's a change of perspective. Or maybe, I'm just consoling myself.

But whatever is it, I'm just happy that I no longer resent or struggle as much anymore. I still get really emotional when he goes off, but it's getting better each time. I've become stronger emotionally and more independent, but I immediately switch to my 'princess' mode when he comes back....automatically. Heh I guess some things won't change :)

*

After being away in Labuan for close to 3 weeks, he came back for a week, and has now flown off for approximately a month. Really sudden, but I've learned to manage expectations and accepted it gladly. To see and know that it's hard for him to leave me, is good enough for me. I'm assured...and that makes me okay :)

Of course, I hope that one day, he wouldn't have to travel so much anymore, and I can wake up to his face every single morning. But until then, we shall just try to love this cycle ;)

P/S: Thanks for working so, so hard, baby. Let's both work hard together :) To the future.
P/P/S: I know this is no wedding-related post, but it's just something that I wanna read back on this blog, in the future. Hope you enjoyed reading ;)

Meet the In-laws

The (ideal) process of love:

Boy meets girl.

Boy proposes.

Girl says yes.

And they live happily ever after.

If only life were this simple.

And if only weddings (really) were about TWO people, tying the knot their own desired way, at their dream location, and with their closest friends.

And of course, 

if only weddings cost less, and money is abundant ;)

It would be a blissful journey of preparation. 

See, in the Western culture, prolly this could be easily achievable. But if you come from an Asian background, there are lots (and LOTS if you really adhere) of traditions, customs, laws and regulations that we must follow IF we still want to keep our parents and grandparents in our lives. 

Okay, very dramatic but it's true.

The recent movie, The Wedding Diary is a classic example of an Asian wedding.

Everything is romantic and rosy after the time of proposal, to the time you tell your parents about it. Just like in the movie, everything was since decided by their parents.

To make matters worse, different ethnicity and lineage (Is it called lineage? Like Hokkien, Canto and Hakka?) each has their unique sets of rules and method of getting things done. Reaching a mutual decision could use plenty of give and take; compromise on each side of the family.

In many cases, the wedding preparation journey really is like a tug of war.

Many of my friends who try to be filial would have a wedding banquet of 70-100 tables, of which 70-80% of the guests are total strangers.

These strangers consist of parents' close friends, not-so-close friends, old school friends, business partners, potential business partners, colleagues, ex colleagues, relatives, ancestors (think grandpa's aunty's cousin's brother), neighbors, tai-chi mates, line dancing friends, drinking kaki, and many more.

It really isn't ANYBODY's dream wedding....to have people who don't know you "celebrating" the biggest day of your life with you. It's so shallow, it's depressing. No different from putting up a public event or a show.

On the other hand, there are friends who from the moment they told their parents they were gonna get married, they put their feet down and told them that it will be done THEIR way.

From the date, to the wedding banquet location, menu, flowers, dresses, house location and deco...everything.

Of course, certain number of tables will be entitled to them for them to invite their friends and relatives, but not on a big scale. Because normally friends who do weddings their way would do it in a small, cozy setting. Trust me. 

When most people witness a small, humble beach wedding, they would say it is their dream wedding. Exchanging vows with the wind in our faces, witnessed and celebrated by people who matter.

Their parents might be a bit unhappy or very upset, but the couple couldn't care less.

As for our situation, I would say, we're truly blessed.

Both of us have parents who are genuinely happy and thrilled about us getting hitched. In fact, they already knew about the proposal long before it happened, were involved in the planning process, and even waited for the good news and the story of how it all happened.

Just a few weeks ago, on the 4th of Feb, both our families had the official "Meet the in-laws" session at both our favorite Thai diner, My Elephant at Section 17, PJ.

*jeng jeng jeng*

They've all met each other at some event way back, but this time was different. It was the first time both our parents experienced this as we were their first child to be married. It's cute to see how gan jeong (nervous) all of them were...wondering what topic to bring up, discuss, ask, say, answer...

Of course, we prepped them beforehand that each sides of the in-laws are not the demanding type, and are real nice people. So they could relax a bit :)

To be honest, they all were really nice to each other, and just trying their best to make the discussion a smooth, successful, conflict-free one. To both my daddies and mummies (if you happen to read this post), thanks for being so kind to each other and especially to Boon and I. We both had to be the most stressed up human beings seated at the table!

If either of them offends/feels offended by the other, there goes our future marriage. Things would definitely be awkward and not so nice for us.

But thank God that both our parents were so graciously kind with each other. Both sides had their expectations kept at the very minimum and even tried to eliminate the (endless) traditions and customs simply because we're modern families (oh yeah hallelujah!), and simply because they don't want to trouble/burden us :')

After the "Meet the in-laws" session, Boon and I started evaluating the meet-up. And we came to a conclusion that our parents love us and they try to make our wedding preparation as smooth and beautiful as possible. They handled the whole discussion in such a civilized manner that I'm so impressed by them :O

I'm just so happy :)

Now that the said "obstacle" (which was nothing like an obstacle) was done and over with, we can now go ahead and plan (some more) in peace :)

This is how he went down...on one knee.

It was the month of November, the month of my birthday and our anniversary.

At the same time, it was the season again. The season when he goes offshore/onshore hundreds of miles away.

Having been used to him travelling around for work and being absent on important dates, I have always prepared myself for the worst.

To give me a little comfort, he told me, "Don't worry, dear. I may not be around on our 7th anniversary, but I'll definitely make your birthday an unforgettable one. Plus, it's a special day- 20.11.2011!"

Since then, each time he was away, he'd cheer me up by reminding me that 20.11.2011 would be a special day. And that I would never forget that birthday.

Now, you must be thinking, "Careen, why didn't you see that coming?". I'm usually pretty sensitive to these silent plannings and such, but call it the 'divine blurring of God' or something, I really didn't have any suspicion when he said it would be a special birthday. 

I just thought that he was just being sweet as always, wanting to make my birthday special, just like how he did for the past 6 years. This sweetness had not been anything new. I know, I'm lucky :)

So, the day before my birthday, he told me to bring along my swimwear, and a nice dinner dress. Not knowing where he would be bringing me to, I just obediently followed his instructions. 

When asked what time he'd be picking me up, he said he wanted to give me ample time to rest, so he'll arrive at 11.30am, we'll go for brunch, then we'll start our day. Something in me felt a little disappointed that almost half of the day would be gone by the time we finished brunch. But the thought of not having to wake up early was too awesome that the initial disappointment quickly diminished :D

So I woke up at 11am #likeaqueen, packed my stuff, and hopped onto his car.

My mum and sisters asked me to enjoy my day, as they ALL knew what the plan was. In my mind, I was like, "Wah...so grand eh. Whole world knows..."

Still camhoring as usual, totally oblivious to what was in store for the day.

After brunch at my favorite Pan Mee place, I started asking where we were headed.

Since the only thing I brought were

1) My bikinis

2) My dress & heels,

I'd expected it to be a trip to Sunway Lagoon and dinner at some nice place after, since he had always wanted to make a trip there for a long time already. But, he drove past Sunway and headed to LDP! 

Then I thought, he must be bringing me to his (HIS!) favorite Hot Spring at Sungkai. At that point, I totally lost the mood.

FYI, I'm the type who loves to be relaxed and pampered on my special day. And the last thing I wanna do on my birthday is to queue with thousands of others at Sunway Lagoon, or be traumatized (again) by the UGLY GIANT OCTOPUS at the hot spring.

Credits: Google.com

My nightmare!!! I dislike Sungkai solely because of this!

Whoever came up with this octopus slide idea has got some really weird horror fantasy! Yucks!!!

Just when almost all my hopes were crushed, he turned into One-U instead, and parked at One World Hotel.

At that point, two questions popped up in my head:

1) Why are you bringing me to swim at One World Hotel?

2) WHY ARE WE GOING TO A HOTEL-MOTEL-HOLIDAY INN???

As we walked into the hotel, and as he was checking in at the counter, hundreds of other questions popped in my head.

"Mannn, what's going on?"

"Mann, how much is this gonna cost?"

"Mannn, what am I gonna tell my parents??"

"Wait, my parents KNOW!! They allow?? Really???!"

"Mannn, WHAT'S GOING ON???"

"Mannn, is my bf gonna rape me...ON MY BIRTHDAY???"

"...and my parents asked me to ENJOY MY DAY???"

Of course I know he wouldn't. But I watched and read too much about 'American teenagers raped and killed by boyfriend on prom night/valentine's/birthday', that I wondered if it would ever, EVER happen to me. Plus, he kept scaring me by telling me that he brought me to the hotel to rape me then sell me off. Which  is his tagline, all the time. 

I was actually more concerned about my parents. So I asked him if my parents knew about the plan. He said they knew about all the plans of the day, and proceeded to explain everything in detail.

"Well, you did mention to me before that your skin is becoming dry, so I arranged a spa/scrub session for you this afternoon...hopefully it'll help your skin."

*In my mind I was thinking, how is the scrubbing session gonna help my dry skin?? But I didn't interrupt...cos I was enjoying his sweetness :P

"Then you can take your time to prepare for the dinner. There's a nice bathroom and dresser for you to get ready in the room."

*He knows how I'm particular about clean bathrooms and proper dressers. And how I love to take my time to dress up.

"Plus, if you wanna nap also can."

*He knows I'm the Queen of Naps :P But of course I wouldn't wanna nap on my birthday! That's a complete waste of time!

"I have already made reservations for dinner, and after dinner, we come back here to enjoy the lounge k?"

*He knows I love all the live singing and drinking at lounges :))

"Your parents know about this, that is why, I have agreed to send you home tonight"

Me: Huh? You paid for the room but we're not staying over??

Boon: Yeap.

Okay, this makes more sense right now. I felt so bad that he paid so much just for me to have a nice place to get ready for dinner. But I gotta admit that it's really sweet of him :')

So yeap, instead of going to the spa, we went to walk walk and watch movie in One U instead. Cos I didn't wanna scrub my dry skin (hehe), and I don't wanna spend my birthday at the spa alone while he rots away.

So I took my time to get ready,

camhored, 

and brought my growling stomach for some pampering!

One thing that was pretty unusual was that throughout the day, he kept taking pictures of me.

Tamarind Hills!

See what I mean? He does take pictures of me but not this much! (Many more pics taken but I don't wanna bore you with my vanity shots) Yet, I didn't suspect anything. I think I was really blinded and feeling too fluffy to care :P

Throughout the dinner, he kept tweeting and checking tweets too!

This was so not him as it usually takes him days to realize I tweeted him. But well, I thought to myself that maybe he was just excited and happy that I enjoyed myself :)

It was a great dinner. Superb food & impeccable service :)

Duck and Lychee salad. With loads of chili padi in it! Not for the faint hearted!

Some totally awesome platter.

Yummy lobsters!

The best dish- tempura lamb or something. Superb! Best lamb ever.

And as usual, the bf just gotta feed me with vegs! He finished most of the mixed veg tho :P

The view from our hanging cabin

Throughout the dinner, he walked away to make/answer some phone calls. Since it was a usual thing for him to answer work calls on our dates, I didn't suspect too.

More camhoring after dinner...to stall time? ;)

Tamarind Hills is beautiful, and recommended for fusion food lovers!

So after the dinner, we headed back for a couple of drinks at the hotel lounge. I was walking towards the lobby lounge when he walked me towards another direction (I almost bumped into his friends that's why! More of that later on) and said, "Oh, they are giving hotel guests free drinks at Level 19."

Free drinks. Why not right? So we went up, but before that, he suggested we stop by to visit the swimming pool (To stall time again!). We went there and it was closed.

So we went back into the elevator to the Level 19 lounge (If it ever existed! I was conned all the way!), and he said, "Dear, I think we better go back to the room to check the brochures for the opening hours of the lounge, scared later closed, just like the pool, then waste time."

So okay, we walked towards the room, and as I was halfway talking, he opened the door and I let out a mild scream.

Taken from the hotel door peephole.

What greeted me was firstly, two human beings with a camera and video camera each, snapping and filming away. Yes, it was Adele and Jeff. I immediately knew that this was not as simple as just a birthday celebration. But then again I could be wrong, so I still didn't expect.

I was so surprised and blur that I almost walked onto the candles on the ground. My mind literally was on a cloud. It stopped working. I could not, and did not think. I was surprised, scared, nervous, and just basically lost in the situation. 

My heart basically lost its rhythm. It was offbeat and beating a million times faster than usual. The suspicion that maybe this is a proposal, as well as the play-safe-me who told myself not to expect made me feel all dizzy. I just told myself to keep walking (straight) and enjoy the moment...of this birthday celebration/maybe-proposal.

2011 was the 7th year that we had officially been together. So the bf thought of giving me 7 gifts who the year's anniversary present. This was the first of the 7 :)

To be honest, my mind was so lost that I could not really read the words on the card. I read, but I couldn't internalize the words. All I knew was that he made really touching promises :P I didn't even notice the color of the petals. Wait, I didn't even realize there were petals!

Boon must be thinking he shouldn't have spent hundreds on them now :P

He picked the cards, and I read them. Well, I really tried! :P

This is the "You're-so-cheesy-but-actually-I love-it" look.

Basically, it's the "tao-yen!" look :P

The Shu Uemura skin purifier/makeup remover was the second out of the 7 gifts.

When I saw that, I burst out laughing! The bottle was all oily and yucky, and the ultimate question is, "Who brought it from my bathroom??" :P

This is how the trail looks like. Now looking at it from a conscious and normal state, it spells effort and it's beautiful :)

The gifts were followed by my Shu Uemura Eye Shadow palette, Swatch, D&G perfume and a necklace.

The necklace was missing cos I was wearing it :)

Then, I was led to a huge heart of candles...to my 7th gift.

I was just "OMG-ing" the whole time.

With a box resting on a bed of petals.

At that point, I knew this was it. But I still couldn't believe it.

The proposal that I'd dreamed about since little and discussed amongst girlfriends, is here...for real.

I was too blur to even have a good look at the ring.

Boon had always threatened to propose with some rubber band or RM1.90 ring from pasar malam. So when I saw the ring, I burst out laughing.

I couldn't help it. I laughed also because I realized just what a good con man the bf was. Everything was so well-planned! See his guilty face there :P

He passed me a bouquet of flowers (which I later on realized were my favorite flowers), led me into the ring of candles, took the ring,

...and went down on one knee.

He held my hand firmly, and started answering my favorite question that I always throw at him (which he never answered),

"Why do you love me?"

I felt him shiver when he was holding my hand, and to know that he was making a public confession (with all the recordings around), I knew that he was taking a big step of faith, going out of his comfort zone...just so that he could marry me. 

"I love you because you complete me."

As cheesy as it sounds, I felt his sincerity. 

And that made me tear.

He asked me to marry him, I burst out laughing (again),

and I said "yes".

Shortly after, humans started popping out of the curtains (Boon's sisters), and the bathroom. Those humans were my sisters. All of them! :')

And more humans popped in from outside!

The now, excited fiancé screamed to all the humans who popped in, "She said yes! She said yes!!!", and went on cheering on his own.

I was taken aback by his hyper excitement and happiness. I'd never seen him this happy and excited. It made me realize just how much he wanted to make me his wife. That was priceless :')

My super long time friend, Joanne was there :')

Knew her since I was 9. She knew all my first crush stories.

My dear leaders, David & Shirley were both there too!

Thanks for making time for us. You both are the best :')

I dunno what made us look like that...hahah but I guess we were just happy :)

And then, they asked us to smooch.

My new best friend ;)

Boon's friends asked him to reenact the proposal as they were all outside and missed all the action. 

Pat Pitt and Chronicles :)

Checking out all the well wishes from all our friends. Thanks for taking time to make those videos. I really appreciate all of you :')

Jia Ying who waited for the good news and texted right after! As well as many other friends who texted, called, FB and tweet-wished us. Thank you all. I remember each and everyone of you, and I truly appreciate you :')

Long long long time friend :)

Boon's buddies since Primary + their other halves!

My CHCKL family :)

My sisters + new sisters :)

All of them did not just come to celebrate, but to help setup the whole room. Thanks for coming 2-3 hours earlier and staying throughout the whole night.

You guys are the best :)

Those beautiful photos were taken by our dear friend, Adele Ng. She never fails to capture priceless moments.

Thanks Adele :) Check out her page HERE!

The proposal video was shot by Jeff, the cousin. It'll be shown in the wedding :) Thanks Jeff!

Some behind the scenes photos.

When all the shoes were still there :P

It was beautiful. 

My favorite Calla Lilies and roses :)

To my fiancé,

Thank you for taking a year to plan on how to make my girly childhood dreams of having a beautiful, meaningful proposal come true.

You never failed to be thoughtful, detailed, and excellent in all you do. And thanks for always thinking for me, loving me, and trying to make me happy.

You are the best, and I have a major feeling that it will be a great and fun journey of planning (it already is!) for the big day together with a person such as you.

Can't wait to spend my life with you.

I love you :)