We actually got a couple more things tied down during the span of 1 week! Visited Ted Collection again today to confirm that we're using their services, and paid the $500 deposit. As usual the men were very bitchy and even bitched about pregnant brides who only told them after the dress had been made, and showed us the very same dress in question! But wow. We both LOVED that dress! Anyway, we are working on a very comfortable schedule here for the dresses. We can chill out for the next few months and work on conceptualising everything first, then head back in Feb for a discussion on dress design. The dress should be complete by June, ready for photo-taking.

We also firmed up on what the dinner will be like, including a rough itinerary and some sort of theme to go by. I used to think that themes are plain cheesy. Stuff like Shanghai themes, pink/blue/gold themes etc have been used ad nauseum. I'm pretty excited by what we decided on. =) I realise now that perhaps, themes aren't as cheesy as I thought. They kind of serve a function even - to streamline the planning process, and ensuring innately that the aesthetics fit well together. You might not end up with a stunning piece of eye-candy, but at least you probably will not end up with an eye-sore either - not unless the theme colour happens to be a lurid, shocking pink.

Finally! I think we're set on the designer for Yanxian's wedding gown!

We visited Ted Collection at Sago Lane today. They aren't the typical wedding boutique, but rather a tailor that specialises in cheong sam, but have since ventured into wedding gowns. My first impression was that they were quite friendly - I received a reminder call from them yesterday that I have an appointment today, and we met up with the designer for some discussion as well. To be honest, they aren't cheap. $2700 for a wedding gown to rent, a tea dress to keep and an evening gown to keep. That being said, the dresses are all bespoke, so it's actually VERY reasonable. A good bespoke suit would cost half that price alone, to be fair. Their fabric is of reasonable quality, and I like the insurance I get that I'll be paying just a set amount for the dresses - compared to those wedding boutiques that lure you in with $2000 packages but slowly start charging you $70-90 per extra photograph, $600 for extra lace on the dress and so on. I prefer honesty and knowing what I'm getting into.

Anyway, it looks like we're treading down the path of doing it a la carte. We'll probably use their tie-up florist and make-up artist though. In this case, we pay the respective vendors themselves, and not the wedding boutique, so that's cool. And that's the actual day makeup/hairdo and bouquet/car decor settled! How cool is that!?