These are my wedding photos taken at Jacky Studio Kuching. The photographer, Jacky is famous for being a professional in the photography field. Well, yes... i will comment tat he's a really good photographer. Until today, i am still very satisfied with all my wedding photos and although i looked thru my albums or dvd, i never get bored with all my photos. ;))
Our wedding package was quite costly. Overall it costs us more than RM4k. The package came with 3white gowns + 2evening gowns + 1traditional costume. Thanks to my dearest fren who helped me picked the perfect white gowns. I extremely loved the gown with the 'fish tail' design and oso with a sexy top used for my outdoor snapshots. And the other white A-line gown with the flowery mixing a bit of halter neck design was extremely gorgeous. The final gown was to be used indoor and for formal snapshot. Tis gown has a very long train, perfect for a church wedding with the train trailing behind when i walked down the aisle. It wasn't the actual gown i'd picked, howeer i love this gown juz as much as the first one i picked. This gown had small shells sewn on it. :D
We told Jacky we prefered outdoor snapshots more than indoor. We purposely told him we prefered seaside and oso greeneries. For my evening gown, the lady at the studio helped me to pick 2 gowns perfect for my figure, a green A-line gown n oso another blue gown. As for the traditional costume, we picked traditional Chinese costume n we both looked really cute!
Enjoy viewing!
Our Wedding Car
Our wedding car was a black BMW 5Series and now when i think back, i realised how beautiful it looked and how lucky i was. Our 1st choice was actually my father-in-law's black Toyota Camry, and to me it is a good enough wedding car. We had also confirmed with Jacky Studio about the colour of our supposed wedding car, and we'd even went to choose the perfect deco and also the colour of the ribbons and organza needed to deco our wedding car.
However, at the very last minute, my father-in-law went wid hubby to place an order for a new BMW 5Series. He even asked hubby wat colour he prefered, and hubby said black will be a nice colour for a BMW. I still thought the car wouldn't be in time for our big day, but PRESTO!... everything was juz in time. My father-in-law had even got back the old Mitsubishi Pajero carplate number (bcox they traded in the old car) QKE 8989 for the new BMW. A nice and auspicious number for a wedding car!
We purposely chose this pair of wedding bears as the front piece decoration of our wedding car. Thank goodness Jacky Studio has this pair of gorgeous bears and i needn't waste anymore time to hunt for the perfect wedding bears deco for our wedding car. I really love the bears sitting on a heart-shaped bed of red roses... the colours of the ribbons and organza we chose to use for car was white and gold, and i was thinking if the elders will object to it, because only black and white and non-red seems to be less "lucky"! ;)) Luckily there's still some red colour on our wedding car. For the back of our car, we chose to place a wedding bells deco. Actually i tot it kinda gives ppl christmas feeling, but i owest loves christmas and yes... the feeling of wedding bells chiming!
This was how our wedding car looked like early morning when it reached my house.
Another closer view of our wedding car.
Our Wedding Rings
We bought our wedding rings at TOMEI 1Utama, Petaling Jaya on 29th January 2007. That time hubby & I purposely went to KL to shop for the stuffs tat we'll need for our wedding. Our wedding rings was one of the main item we need to hunt for.
I owest prefered simple wedding bands with simple design, and the same goes for hubby. We both discussed wat would be the most suitable rings for us and i told him i would opt to go for couple rings. Besides that, I would prefer a ring with a wide band rather than a solitaire ring. I understand tat a lot of gals will prefer to go for solitaire rings, because it's more elegant and feminine, but my personal opinion is tat i think simple matching bands holds a closer meaning as "the bands of marriage".
Matching couple rings will be my first option and of cuz there wouldn't be any solitaire ring meant for a guy and if it does, i'm sure hubby will never want to wear it! =)) It was really very hard to find the perfect couple rings, a pair tat would suits both 'him' and 'her' perfectly. Tat's because for hubby a ring with a broader band looks nicer, but it'll look awfully clumsy on my finger.
After going to so many jewellery shops, we finally found the perfect couple rings at TOMEI. It certainly costs us a fortune, but since we were already there in KL we might as well buy tat pair of suitable rings instead of going back empty-handed. Our pair of white gold couple rings costs us RM2060. My ring was a simple white gold band with a diamond stone and simple design, whereas hubby's was juz a simple white gold band with similar design as mine. Tis was the only pair of couple rings tat looked perfect on both of us, as it's not juz the usual rounded shaped but slightly oval with a slight curve on top of the ring where the stone sets. This way my ring not only looks like a simple band, but with slight 'solitaire' design. ;))
the ring cushion bought at Lovely Lace KL.
Bride's Dowry
In Chinese weddings, there are forever so many rites and customs to follow, and all these rites are sometimes different according to different dialects. Both hubby & I are Foochows, and since my mum is Hakka, she needs to consult my 'ah Ning's (uncle's wife - my father's brother's wife) about Foochow's tradition and customs. My family had been quite close with my father's side since young, and luckily too that when sis got married about 2 yrs ago, mum had already been introduced to some of these Foochows customs.
I am truly thankful to my dearest sister ah Ming for helping me to prepare my dowry. She's talented in decorating stuffs and even some very simply things, she'll haf to ability to transform it into sth presentable. She always haf the patience and interests to do tis sort of things, which makes me truly fortunate for i am not gifted with these ability or talent.
All the stuffs tat i need to bring over to the groom's house, my mum & sis helped me to prepare for it. I never went shopping wid them for any of these stuffs, now tat i recall back, and mum & sis juz helped me to settle all these 'troublesome' stuffs! ;)) Sis even took so many nites to help me to decorate and wrapped up all the stuffs nicely. Mummy & dearest sister ah Ming, I love you both very much!
These were some of my dowry tat sis personally decorated for me :-
Below is the photo of a potty wrapped up nicely with an angpow inside. Another is a photo of a pair of ceramic dolls with wobbly heads which we bought when we went shopping in KL for our wedding stuff. Sis said the dolls are very nice, so it must be wrapped up nicely.
These are the gold jewelleries i brought over to the groom's side on the day of our wedding. My mum has a lot of daughters, so she owest tells us she couldn't afford to present each of us with gold jewelleries as our dowries. So she advised us to save up and to buy our own pieces of jewelleries for ourselves. In that way, it'll be fairer too.
That's why i owest collected 50cents coins in a glass jar, and when i think i haf enuf, i'll used tat money to buy a piece of gold jewellery tat i favour. If the money i'd collected wasn't enuf, i only need to fork out a small amount of additional money in order to buy tat piece of gold jewellery. I practiced tis habit from my sister. Besides tat, hubby oso bought me quite a lot of the jewellery during the last few years of our courtship. Whenever it's our anniversary, my bday or Valentine's day, he'll rather buy me gold jewelleries instead of soft toys or flowers and chocolates, so tat i can start to save up for my dowry.
Mother-In-Law on our engagement day back in 12/12/2004.
and some i bought them wid my savings.
1 by Uncle King Huat & wife,
& another by Uncle King Ching & wife.
Also there's a pendant given to me by my best fren, Mek Mek, as my engagement gift and
2 of the biggest 24K gold rings there are our traditional engagement gold bands.
There's a pair of long, dangling earrings given by Mummy,
another ring type earrings by sister ah Ming,
the heart-shaped earrings by hubby back in 1999 (if not mistaken)
and a bracelet given by hubby as our engagement gift.
The rest are additional gifts from hubby or
the ones i bought wid my savings.
Of course the jewelleries above are only the ones from the bride side. On the following day, i got another 24K necklace from my mother-in-law, a 24K bracelet from his grandma, 2 more gold bracelets from 2 of my sister-in-laws, and another white gold necklace from my eldest sister-in-law. The rest of the groom's relatives mostly gave us gold rings.
We printed out on our invitation cards tat we do not accept angpow from guests because according to hubby, one of Foochow's custom is they are treating ppl for dinner, so they don't want to accept their angpow money in return. We are grateful enough tat all our relatives and invited guests can purposely turn up to celebrate this happy day together with us. In return, a lot of our guests gave us presents and a lot helped to publish advertisements on newspapers as a way to thank our family.
These are some snapshots of part of my dowry the nite before.
In one of the pic above, there's a picture of a pair of inflated tanglung. Tis is a very special Foochow custom, why we haf to follow, i really dunno. But tat pair of tanglung is to be hung on our wedding car the next day when the groom comes to pick up the bride!
Some Memorable Additions
Among the stuffs I prepared purposely for my wedding was my special pair of wedding shoes. This pair of wedding shoes was bought back in 2004, a few weeks right after our engagement. At tat time, hubby's eldest sis was at KL shopping, and when she came across this pair of elegant wedding shoes, she thought of getting it for me for my wedding day use. However, we thought it was pretty early to tie the knots juz after our engagement, so I'd saved up my pair of white wedding shoes until this very day for the purpose of accompanying me as i tread on the red carpet, down the aisle in my wedding gown!
It's also the most expensive pair of shoes I had ever owned, with the price of the shoes exceeding RM200. With its pointed tip and embroided body, this pair of white heels are definately wat i haf in mind as a pair of perfect heels to be worn by a bride. Although my shoes will be hidden inside my gown mostly during the whole ceremony, they made me feel so elegant and beautiful on my wedding day! ;)) Moreover, there is a part of the Foochow custom where the bride's brother will help her to slip on her wedding shoes before she steps out of their house! Thus, i really appreciate my sis-in-law's effort to help me to select this perfect pair of elegant wedding shoes for me. Following are 2 snapshots of my white, elegant pair of wedding heels!
I didn't really haf a specific cheongsam design in mind though, but i wanted one with it's length reaching my knees, for a long one seems a bit more 'traditional' for me and i was hoping tat i could wear it for other occasions in future, perhaps on CNY.
I owest assumed tat I wasn't bless with 'very typical Chinese' features, and wondered if a cheongsam would ever look good on me. ;)) Thankfully when i was shopping wid hubby a few weeks back before our wedding, we spotted a red, elegant cheongsam on a mannequin at one of the boutiques in Crown Square. I hesitated to try it on, bcox i wonder if i could fit into tat cheongsam. Tis traditional chinese costume is well-known to show off a lady's figure if sewn wid the perfect measurement, and in my mind a cheongsam not tailored-made especially for my figure, will definately look horrible on me! In the end hubby succeeded in persuading me to try, and deep in my heart, i was terribly hoping tat it'll fit me so tat i don't haf to waste anymore time to hunt for the perfect 'hui men' attire.
Presto! The cheongsam fitted me perfectly, juz as well as a tailored-made one. At tat moment, i immediately fell in love with tis piece of cheongsam, and we hadn't even asked for the price of it yet. Luckily when we asked the salesgirl, it's still considered a reasonable price for a cheongsam made of silk and with embroided flowers design on it. Weeks later when hubby and I went to KL to shop for our wedding stuffs, we actually came across an exactly similar cheongsam at one of the boutiques there, priced at RM499! Can u imagine tat? It was way above the price we paid for in Kuching. Phew!
and I must really thank my best fren, Mek Mek, for helping me
to take a snapshot of it for my remembrance.
Wristlets Corsages for Bride's 'Ji-Mui'
Now wat are these lovely bunch of budding pink roses? Wid tiny pearl beads, matched with white ribbons and laces?
These beautiful wristlet corsages above are especially hand-made by my best fren, Mek Mek! I had no idea tat she was preparing all these wristlets for my 'ji-mui' (the bride's lady frens) all the while. She told me she had a little gift for me, but this is really considered a BIG gift to me. It'd never come across my mind to make wristlets for my 'ji-mui' for i'm really not good when it comes to handicraft. But it'll be a wonderful idea having all the well-dressed ladies tying these gorgeous corsages, be it to their wrists, their shoulders or simply around their necks, to show tat they are from my 'ji=mui' geng! ;)) Deepest thanks and hugs to dearest Mek for forever playing her role as a caring and thoughtful fren, helping me to make the best out of my big day! *HUGS*
Church Decos
Our holy matrimony was held at Sungai Maong Methodist Church, known as 'Mong En Tang' in Mandarin. Really very thankful to hubby's 2nd sis, ahPing sis and her husband for helping us to arrange for the venue. Sungai Maong Methodist Church is situated at Stapok and was considered quite a new church then. 
We spent quite a lot for our church decoration. It was done by PFDC Florist at Central Park Kuching. Again the 'tau-ke-nio' of PFDC knows ahPing sis quite well, so she gave us some discount. Tis is oso the florist hubby will owest go to if he wants to get me flowers! Haha... maybe bcox he's only familiar wid them thru his sis, and they owest helped him to wrap up 'special' and bigger bouquets! When we went to discuss about the church decoration wid them one morning, Maggie, the florist even exclaimed "so u both are finally going to tie the knots!". She said she never saw me b4 but she owest delivered and wrapped up flowers to be sent to me and she finally saw me tat day. Hee!
We wanted a wedding arch of cuz, decorated wid fresh flowers and i prefered white lilies the most. White lilies are pretty costly, but white lily holds a special meaning between us for during our courtship for tis is the special flower hubby will normally buy for me. ;)) But the arch couldn't juz be decorated with white lilies alone, or it'll look pretty plain. So we asked for pink roses and white orchids to be added onto it as well. The arch alone costs us about RM800 and when Maggie said she couldn't give us any more discount, she promised she'll give us more flowers on our arch and make it look really elegant!
with blooming pink roses and fresh white orchids!
Besides flowers on the altar and stands, decorating the aisle was also a main aspect. Until then did i know tat organza are so expensive. We didn't choose to decorate our aisle wid fresh flowers, but instead we opted for balloons to make it more special. Most of these balloons hubby bought from KK especially for our wedding deco. Some of the balloons haf the chinese character double-happiness ('shuang xi') and hearts printed on it, and some in lovely red-heart shaped itself. The most special of all was a gigantic 1m heart-shaped red balloon, which hubby bought for RM50+ and not including the labour charges we had to pay for inflating it wid helium. (hmm... but it bursted on tat morn when they blew it up, so i had no idea how it actually looked like!) So when the gigantic balloon bursted, Maggie immediately replaced it wid a pink balloons arch floating across the hallway.
The balloons deco along the aisle was also something Maggie and me designed together. I thought the red heart-shaped balloon looked extremely perfect inflated within another transparent balloon, with pink metallic balloons surrounding it. The cost of inflating all this balloons was RM1 per balloon with air, and RM3 per balloon with helium. Tis was juz for inflating the balloons only and of cuz we bought the balloons ourselves and hubby spent almost RM200+ for all these balloons. The florist explained tat they can only inflate all these balloons on the big day itself bcox if they do so the nite before, the balloons will be smaller and the helium balloons can only last a few hours. So they'll haf to go to the church early morn to decorate everything... minding tat they r using fresh flowers!
Altogether our church deco costs us RM1500. It was pretty costly but the church looked perfect and unique on our wedding day!
Our Agenda Booklet
This is a picture of our nice agenda booklet. We bought the cover from Trinity Bookshop and we truly, truly appreciate hubby's 2nd brother-in-law (ahPing sis's husband) for helping us to prepare the content inside. Both hubby and I are not chinese educated, however we owest attend mandarin service at church. Since i'm a kid, my whole family attend chinese service at church, and even when i grew up, i still prefered to attend chinese service than english service. Brother-in-law took the initiative to help us prepare the agenda of our holy matrimony. And special thanks to all my sister-in-laws for taking the trouble to help us to fold the cover and printed material as well as helping to string the booklet with pretty ribbons.We both fell in love with tis exact booklet cover the first time we lay our eyes on it. It sez "LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS..." and yes, tis is exactly the kind of 'bear' i owest haf in mind. Tis is part of the reason i love teddy bears so much, because i feel tat it holds a very meaningful meaning!
Our Wedding Invitation Card
Tis are some scanned pictures of our wedding invitation card. I was given some samples to choose from and this is the design i liked most. I really, really must include samples of our wedding invitation card here for my darling husband to view in the future. Whenever he sees other's wedding invitaion card, he'll owest say tat it look like ours. Then it's really not like wat we haf, but he still make the same comment everytime. =))
Members of Our Wedding Procession
Ours was a church wedding, and like all other church wedding, there's bound to be a wedding procession. It had never come across my mind to haf such a grand wedding procession, for i only thought of using bridesmaids, best man, a flower gal and a page boy as the ring bearer. My 1st choice of flower gal and page boy was no other than hubby's niece and nephew. Both Calven (hubby's elder bro's youngest son) and Amanda (hubby's eldest sis's only daughter) have had previous experience as a page boy and flower gal, so I can rest assured tat they wouldn't freak out at the last minute. ;))
However, hubby being the youngest in his family, his sisters had different ideas in minds. Thinking tat hubby was the last among their siblings to finally tie the knot, his sisters suggested tat we haf more than a pair of flower gal and page boy. In the end, we had 3 pairs of flower gal and page boy! The 1st pair was definately Calven & Amanda, with Calven holding the Holy Bible and Amanda as our ring bearer. Ryan & Grace formed our 2nd pair of page boy & flower gal. Both Ryan & Grace are hubby's 2nd sister's (ahPing sis) son & daughter. The final pair, Calvin & Cheryl. Calvin is hubby's brother's eldest son whereas Cheryl is ahPing sis's eldest daughter. So all our flower girls and page boys are hubby's nieces & nephews! Hahaha... tat's the priviledge of being the youngest in your family. U haf such a big bunch of kids around!
As for my bridesmaid, I tot of not having only 'a' bridesmaid, but 2 bridesmaids instead. The reason for tis is mainly because my sisters after me are a pair of twins, and it'll only be fair enough to have them both as my bridesmaids. I bought 2 white dresses especially for my twin sisters when i went shopping in KL. These dresses are purposely chosen for them so tat they can wear them on my wedding day, playing the role as my bridesmaids.
As for the best man, hubby purposely invited one of his buddy over from Sibu. His Foochow buddy and fren since primary school, Teck Yong, was the ideal selection as our best man. Teck Yong juz gotten married not long ago before us, and he's familiar wid all the Foochow rites and rituals. A best man plays an important role during a wedding for he is expected to guide the newlyweds in the ways of marriage, thus a married best man is more preferable for he himself have had similar experience and will know how to carry out his role. During the paying-respect & also the tea-serving rituals, the best man will haf to announce and guide the whole ritual. We are truly thankful to Teck Yong for he really assisted us a lot on our wedding day.
Last but not least, a special thanks and hugs to my dearest Uncle KingChing. He'll be the one with the special honour of guiding me down the aisle towards my husband-to-be, and gives my hand to the groom! Uncle KingChing purposely flown all the way from Marudi, together wid his whole family, as well as my other cousins. When i asked if he could be the one who holds tis special honour, playing the role which should have been honoured to my dad if he's still here with us today, Uncle KingChing was so nervous and said tat he didn't haf any experience before. Uncle KingChing is my daddy's younger brother, the 6th brother among their siblings. Although Uncle KingChing was nervous, I can also sensed tat he was feeling excited and thrilled at the same time. The next minute he was asking me wat shud he be wearing, and if he shud go searching for a tuxedo immediately! Hahaha.... I, myself, am quite close to tis uncle of mine, and whenever he's in Kuching, for sure he'll definately dragged me to accompany him to watch movies in the cinemas, no matter how late the movie is! For one of his main love other than photography is to watch movies. Very sorry to say in the small town of Marudi, there is no cinema yet, so it's one of Uncle KingChing's main target when he comes to Kuching!
