Check Yes or No

Found this good checklist in Her World: Brides magazine...

18 Months Before

• Set wedding date. Have standby dates ready.
• Determine your wedding style and budget.
• Get recommendations for wedding sites and service providers. Start attending wedding shows and scouting for locations.
• Book venu. Some months are particularly popular. eg, August to January, so you'll need to book early.
• Begin a diet/exercise regime and start getting into shape.
• Start a folder with sections for dresses, suits, flowers, etc to file away ideas. Make a checklist and check off as items get done.
• Start reading bridal magazines and check out bridal salons.

12 Months To Go

• Book a wedding planner if you need/want help
• shop for your wedding bands
• Select your bridal party attendants, bridesmaids, etc. Assign them their duties.
• Shop for florists, makeup artists, planners, favours, etc.
• Settle your wedding stationery design if yours is custom made

9 Months To Go

• Book wedding date with ROM, church or Justice of Peace.
• Confirm venue if you haven't done so. Discuss menu.
• Buy wedding bands
• Organise entertaintment. Ask for vendors' quotes and plan your music selection.
• Confirm salon, dresses and suits. Book hair and makeup.
• Shop for bridesmaids' and groomsmen's outfits, and your accessories such as heels and jewellery
• Compile the guest list with your fiance and both parents
• Enquire about wedding car rentals
• If you're having a church ceremony, plan the programme and get quotations from vendors.

6 Months To Go

• Confirm all vendors for music, invitations, flowers, etc. They can begin work.
• Reserve rooms for overseas guests
• Confirm menus and liquor

3 Months To Go

• Finalise guest list and start planning seating arrangements
• Confirm transportation for yourself and out-of-town guests
• Send reminders for venues and solemnisation officiant.
• Research and book photography/videography packages
• Confirm all wedding decor ideas, bouquets, centrepieces
• Send out invitations for out-of-town guests
• Discuss different looks with hair and makeup people and go for trial runs. Confirm looks.

2 Months To Go

• Send out local invitations
• Confirm that out-of-town guests have received invitations and settled accomodation details
• Choose thank-you gifts for attendants
• Organise seating arrangements

1 Month To Go

• Chase late RSVPs, finalise guest list and seating arrangements
• Confirm that your gowns and those of your bridesmaids will be ready on time
• Prepare fees or hongbaos where applicable, eg for officiant, and your "sisters" and "brothers".
• Start breaking in your shoes so they won't pinch on the day
• Fix a date for a church rehearsal (if you are having a church ceremony) two weeks before the wedding. Notify attendants.
• Confirm all other arrangements that have not been finalised.

2 Weeks To Go

• Have your church rehearsal or run through the day's duties with attendants
• Collect dresses
• Enjoy your Hen and Stag dos
• Arrange for bridal flowers to be sent to your home early

1 Week To Go

• Finalise all minor arrangements that haven't been done, eg Has your partner passed the rings to teh best man?
• Arrange for a bridesmaid to accompany and help you on the day - this takes the stress off you
• Give all payments to the best man; leave him to pay the respective people
• See if you and your fiance can get away for a day spa - pamper yourselves with a few luxurious treatments.
• Rest and relax so you'll both look great on your big day

On The Day

• Let your chief bridesmaid or planner take charge of everything, which includes reminding the other attendants of their duties.
• Relax and enjoy you wedding day!

Realise that alot of things haven't been done! If we count down, we only have about 2 and a half months to settle ALL things. Phew. Stressed.

Need to do the following:

1. Design and print invitation cards (look at the checklist - we are supposed to have already sent out cards to the overseas guest! No wonder his relatives are complaining.. hehe)
2. Confirm guest list and dinner seating arrangement - THE BIGGEST HEADACHE.
3. Plan and prepare church wedding - Order of Service, caterer, tentage...etc. Even the table cloth for the reception table is not ready!)
4. Powerpoint slide show
5. Shop for parents' clothes. Its quite tough to dress mum up - she's conscious of her big size so can't wear sexy gowns, cheongsams look TOO old... sigh. Dads are easy, just buy new shirt and rent the suits!
6. Renovate our new house. Now still getting quotations from various contractors.
7. Brief all our friends about their duites!

My advice to all friends who plan to get hitched some time soon... START EARLY! :)

Slim is GOOD...

... coz no one wants to buy my ex-FAT and THICK handphone!

Is it that ugly?

I had wanted to trade in my 3 year old ancient but in EXCELLENT condition (hardly any scratches, functioning as brand new) Motorola V620. At first Singtel was offering $60 trade-in value for it, but I missed it and it is no longer on the "wanted" list. So decided to try my luck in those small handphone shops. My sis (who had just traded-in her Sony Ericsson dunno what model for $100 when Singtel only offered $60) tried to ask how much my Motorola was worth. The sales person almost fainted when he heard that my phone actually has an antenna. Ha. So much for "excellent condition".

Then Elisha went with me to try get it sold. He brought along his well-worn and extremely battered, non-working joy-stick old Sony Ericsson handphone to see if anyone wants it too. He sold his yucky phone for $20 and still no one wants my "excellent condition" Motorola! I can't believe it! I gave up. I'm keeping my Motorola as a spare phone.

Anyway take a look at my NEW SGH-U600. Never make the same mistake twice. This time, nice and SLIM phones for me! Worth every cent of $298 that I paid for.

I chose the neutral white version (on the left), but was debating whether to get the garnet red (on the right). In the end, to match Elisha's WHITE Dopod, well.. heh.. I got the white one. It does look like a miniture version of his PDA!
Although I'm really not a gadget person, quite glad that I got it. Finally, I can proudly show off my SLIM and WEIGHTLESS phone instead of having finger-ache everytime I have to reply an sms with my brick-like Motorola V620.

Another plus point is its 3.2 Megapixels, half shutter, auto focus and flash camera too. Although Motorola had an in-built camera, it was very lousy and could only produce blurish images. Cannot upload unless I have Blue-tooth enabled PC too. So troublesome. Sumsung uses a convenient USB cable, which can not only upload photos, but also allows me to synchronise all my data from the handphone with my lappie.

Love my new phone!