ROM & Wedding preparations..

ROM 
Finalized
Venue: Triple Three Restaurant at Mandarin Orchard Hotel
Date: 30 November 2013
Solemnisation followed by a lunch buffet
Estimated Attendance: 70-80 pax (pure family affair as our families are too huge and the location is not sufficient to accommodate any more people)
Justice of Peace: Dr Kwoh Chee Keong (Confirmed via email but have yet to sign consent form)
Engagement ring: Simple designed ring with Solasfera diamond 0.73carat from Jann Paul which according to the boy, is the most premium cut of diamond.
Wedding bands: This time we went to select together. I selected a 18kt white gold ring with 12 x 0.04 carat diamond (total 0.48 carat diamond) wedding band for myself to match my engagement ring and the boy picked a unique designed 18kt white gold ring for himself. Both from House of Hung which we got a special rate as the boy bought the engagement ring from here as well. Note that House of Hung and Jann Paul are the same shop managed by father and son. Placed the order and will be collecting them in end Oct. Can't wait to collect them and maybe we will do engraving as well? :)

Theme: Hello Kitty with pink colors
Bridal Studio for AD/ROM: Went to a few bridal studios (White link, Digio, La Belle Couture, Cangai, bluebay, Olive Suites) but eventually decided on Ricoamona. Boy says that I was rash in making my decision without exploring more options but I was kinda lazy to keep looking when I already set my mind on Rico.
Wine to be served: Bottega Moscato bought from Airport DFS  (I hope 7 bottles is sufficient for my guests; maybe will get 3 more just in case)

 General vibes about the bridal studios I went (purely my own opinion, you may beg to differ):
- White Link: The girl who attended to me was not very friendly and seems to be just brushing me off? So I did not give the studio a second thought.
- Di Gio: Honestly, I really enjoyed the service experience I had over here with a very friendly coordinator (I was attended to by Elson, one of the MUA) who let me try on a lot of gowns and was not pushy in making me sign up for the package! They also have a huge collection of gowns (3-4 levels i think).  But eventually I did not sign with them as I felt that the gowns over at Ricoamona were prettier, more elegant/special and they shared the same MUA/Photographers and management as Di Gio. So I thought Ricoamona would be a better choice although I should have given their wedding gowns a second look.
- La Belle Couture: They tout themselves as having the best gowns in the mid-high range but I only liked the gowns I saw on the first level. I went to the second level and I wasn't sure if it was the lighting or what but I did not like their gowns on the second level and they seem a little yellowish/old to me (Maybe it's just me; not saying that their gowns are not good). But the selection was not very comprehensive and both me and the boy did not really like the girl who attended to us (Again, it could just be our own thoughts). Price & package wise it was similar to what was quoted over at Ricoamona.
- Cangai: You would like this bridal studio if you like flamboyant styles with elaborate designs as they are from Taiwan. But its not really my cup of tea. 
- Bluebay: I love the gowns here! They are very dreamlike and I saw one with like glittering look on the gown. Moreover, we signed up for our pre-wedding shoot in Taiwan with them as they are from Taiwan and have generally a lot of raves online about their photo shoot. But price was a little on the high side, with their AD package exclusive of the men's suits (not sure why they place low emphasis on men. My boy needs to suit up too!) and their evening gown selections did not seem very comprehensive/pretty so we did not sign with them. Although the boy says if I like their gowns more, I can just go for this cause it is easy for him to tailor a suit anywhere. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to do our photo shoot with them in Taiwan!
- Olive Suites: I think they are more known for MTM gowns but they were too expensive for us and out of our budget!
- Ricoamona:  Tried 2-3 wedding gowns and 2-3 ROM gowns over here and I love their designs! Elegant and simple looking yet comes with a dreamlike feel (I like my gown to have the pong pong thing) so that I will look like a princess! Although I'm not pretty like one, but feel like one also shiok right =p The designer, Jesline, was really helpful and good at picking the style of designs that I like. I'm not sure how she knows what are the styles that I like cause even I'm not too sure myself, but she just manages to choose all the designs that I like. I went like "Baby, this one is so nice!", "This one I also like"and the boy gave me the -___- look when I said that cause everything I also like. That was when I know that I will pick this BS already cause I generally like their gowns! If I can easily pick 2-3 gowns that I like over here, I'm sure I will be able to find something for myself for my AD! So we just went back over the weekend to sign the package with them! I know they are a fairly new bridal studio with not much experience but they share the same MUA, management and photographers with Di Gio which also generally has rather good reviews, so I'm quite happy with my pick. I was just more torn over Di Gio or Ricoamona.

In progress
Photographer: Tentatively undecided cause our budget is low for solemnization as we did not want to spend too much for the solemnization. Still in process of shortlisting and negotiation as the bridal studio photographers are fully booked for that date :(
Shortlisted photographers within our budget:
- Yikeshu
- Daniel Ho
- Uncle Philip (recommended by a friend)
Balloon Decoration: Inflate balloons (Setup by a university mate, currently requesting for a proposal for the balloon decoration)
Flower decoration: Not sure if any additional floral decorations required; probably just for the bride and groom chair if required and maybe the hand bouquet? (Managed to negotiate for a hand bouquet for ROM but unsure if I will get one from outside. Will decide after I look at the designs/choices available)

Dress for the girl: Short dress with sneakers/heels? ROM gown fitting scheduled in early oct as I still need to look for matching shoes, one month to slim down seems almost impossible.

Suit for the boy: Boy thinks he will still be slimming down further so he wants to schedule for fitting in end oct.
Polaroids: Need to get more hello kitty polaroid films for the guests
Other misc stuffs to source for: Hello Kitty ring pillow, Hello Kitty signing pens, Hello Kitty wedding plush, guestbook, frame for the cartoon caricature we did recently, easel stand with our photo and details of the event 
To decide on the ROM program and timeline