Changed da house,
Changed da look.
BTW, my bathrobe's usually pink
and we don't have a fireplace.
Other than that,
it's pretty accurate...
Psst...click the words above to navigate.
Best viewed, unfortunately, in Internet Explorer.
Monday, September 27, 2004
~ How does the garden grow? ~
Here's a view of the Eastern Formal Garden at New Parliament House, where the ceremony and actual signing are to be held. You can't really see all of it, but there are quite a few garden beds there that are super well-maintained, and they change the flower beds now and then when they feel like it, so who knows what colours the garden will be in by December...(Yes, that's Tony and I looking rather gleeful. Actually, we're squinting. He looks kinda shaggy at the moment because he hasn't had time to cut his hair so it's getting all wavy. He also totally supports the Atlanta Braves, as evident from T-shirt.)
~
Here's the view from the opposite end of the garden. This shot is taken from the spot where Tony and I will be standing on the day itself. There is a row of rose bushes riiiiight at the back and you can see them if you squint. They should be in bloom by December, if we don't have a nasty drought.The people up on the viewing gallery thingy are in no way related to us. They just might be another wedding party, sussing out the grounds before their big day.
Sunday, September 26, 2004
~ Looking at the Leaf ~
Tony's folks are in town, and we spent a good deal of Friday and Saturday bringing them up to speed on the wedding preparations, and figuring out new stuff like wedding photographers and catering issues.
That frankly made all of our hair stand - and neither Tony nor I could envision the other looking faraway at a nebulous leaf somewhere with a straight face. So. After calling a few places that were recommended to us, we dedicated the whole of today to sussing out the photographers. I have to say that wedding photography in Canberra is vastly different from photography in Singapore because most shots are taken outside. Virtually none of them are taken in a studio. Because of that, it has become increasingly important to both Tony and I to look for a photographer that has a good eye for colours, is quick enough to capture the moment because we want a lot of spontaneity in our shots, has a good sense of humour in his work, and is not intrusive. No prissy little photographer going, "No, no, NO... that won't do! Both of you have to drink each other in. Come on people... make love to the camera! Make lurve to the cameraaaaaa..." No hair arranging midway while I'm hugging my mother, no demands for Tony and I to run across Parliament House, swing around a flagpole and then for him to sweep me up in his beeg, strong arms while my veil flails delicately behind me in the wind, absolutely no overt neck-nuzzling and manifestation of boxer shorts of best man... and no leaf staring. At present, we think Stephen from Creative Images will do the trick, but we're still researching.
(I'm actually just about to keel off and sleep till dawn, but I really just felt like I needed to put in an update before I zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......)
The reception, for the uninitiated, will be held at the Wesley Centre, which is really a church building of one of the Uniting churches in Australia. We rented the hall for $26 an hour, and to our delight on our return visit this weekend, found that they have not one, but TWO kitchens and the second one is very, very well stocked with crockery and cutlery enough for a wedding party for 100!
Here's where I wag my hands on either side of my face and crow, "We got a good deal... we got a good deal..." and then do the chicken walk. To nobody in particular. Just spur of the moment, man. Totally inspired.
To cut a rather long and tedious story short, we've decided to explore the repertoire of the spit roast caterers and apply for the Wedding Package, replete with hor d'oeuvres, the spit roast, roasted potatoes and a variety of salads. We'll get some people to help out with the provision of punch and other drinks, and are still exploring the option of a hired tea and coffee station.
The wedding cake will be a CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE, and will be made out of love and good works by Liz Kirkpatrick, because she's heaven with chocolate and that's her wedding gift to us from the family. Aaaawwww...
The people at the Wesley Centre (who hire out their hall more as a service to the community than a profit-making device, really) are a really nice bunch of people. We met with John and his wife Brenda and they really went out of their way to answer our questions and serve us in any way they could.
Which brings me to the point of this blog: the only advice that Brenda gave which turned out to be fantastic advice, pertained to the hiring of a photographer. She said that her daughter had a wedding where
Thursday, September 23, 2004
~ "Thank you, thank you very much..." ~
One finds really odd things on the net.
Check this out:
ELVIS WEDDING VOWSDearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to witness before family and friends the exchange of solemn vows between (first and last name) and (first name) "WHO LOVES YA, BABY?" (last name).
If there be any suspicious minds present in the audience doncha think it's time to speak now or never - their love won't wait.
(First and last name), repeat after me:
It only took one night to get stuck on you,
and now my wish came true, you big hunka hunka burnin' love!
I thought you were nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time,
but now I know you're my teddy bear
'cause tigers play too rough and lions ain't the kind you love enough.
So kiss me quick and love me tender for I can't help falling in love with you.
(First name) "WHO LOVES YA, BABY?" (last name), repeat after me:
It took a hard headed woman to make me king of the whole wide world.
I thought you were the devil in disguise but you turned out to be my puppet on a string.
I used to live in the hotel down the end of lonely street
but now it's viva las vegas 'cause I need your love tonight.
Please take this moment to exchange your gifts of love.
By the powers vested in me I now re-pronounce you "husband and femme" but remember, there is no return to sender. You may kiss your cousin. Please join me in welcoming Mr. AND Mrs. "WHO LOVES YA, BABY?" (last name). Folks, this has got me all shook up, so please love me tender.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
~ Vow wow wow ~
Stephen Randall came over last night for what was supposed to be Marriage Counselling Session 5, but we ended up tossing ideas for the programme for the reception and the ceremony.
I, [insert name] take you, [insert partner's name] to be my lawfully wedded husband/wife to have and to hold from this day forward for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and cherish till death do us part and with this ring, seal my vow... Or something like that. I'm sure there are a few other prayers in between. However, after witnessing many such wedding ceremonies, I had decided very early on in my dating life that if some kind gentleman out of his wits were willing to marry me, I'd have a ceremony that is more... personal to us. Which is why it is a happy coincidence (I'm sure God has a huge hand in this) that Stephen Randall feels very much the same way, and almost insists that each ceremony is unique to the couple. Vows, he insists, should be mulled over, created and declared to each other without prompting. As to when the couple should kiss each other at the end. Steve is almost squeamish about having to say, "And now, you may kiss the bride..." because, as he reckons, who is he to sanction kissing during the ceremony anyway? After Stephen left, Tony and I knuckled down and started writing thank you notes to those who gave engagement presents. One of the gifts we received was a matching pair of DKNY watches, which were really tasteful indeed. As Tony was musing over a non-cheesy, non-corny line to write in the thank you note ("It's TIME for us to say thank you", "I know we're gonna have a good TIME with this..."), I came up with this short ditty: Thank you for the watch so cool, 'Cos now Velle won't be late for school And Tony's watch's seen better days Yes, DKNY really pays... Okay, I know it ain't awesome. But Tony, who's a brilliant thinker but who also professes not to ever "get" poetry, much less write it, quipped, "Maaan... you're gonna write the BEST vow, and mine's gonna SUCK!" So yes, we're gonna write our own vows... anyone got a good idea of how to start?
Having been involved directly with more than ten weddings in my lifetime, thanks to my family's bizarre knack for wedding decorations, flower arrangements and what-have-you, I've seen quite a few church weddings up close, and they always ran like this:
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
~ Sound the trumpets ~
As soon as we called Tony's parents and alerted them to our *situation*, Tony's dad pretty much cleared his office work (imagine huge sweep of arm across office desk) and as of Thursday, both he and his wife will be DRIVING down from Brisbane to Canberra. We should expect them to arrive either late Thursday night or early Friday morning.
The concept of In-Laws in my life is still relatively new to me, so I'm kinda awe-struck by the no-questions-asked, consider-it-done kind of response that can only be described as Familiar.
Yes I know that they are his parents, and they will respond in the same way my own madcap family will respond when I ask for help. And of course I know they want to be involved, and we've been looking for the right time and space for their support to be of great use (no point getting them to come down when things haven't gathered momentum yet). It's just that occasionally, something happens and I sit back and think, "Whoa! I've got another family now!" And it especially blows my mind that I now have someone active in my life to call Dad.
It's a huge relief knowing there's extra hands on deck that have the same passion and determination in making things work the way we want things to work. I'm also really thankful for family in Singapore that are as determined and passionate because I don't even have to think about the reception in March, at this juncture.
That just frees up my time to do other fun stuff. Like full-on Health Examinations for Immigration, replete with HIV test. Oh joy.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
~ To Twack a Mocking Bird ~
Not feeling much like explaining lots.
Not feeling much like saying lots on the matter, really.
Somehow, our notion of the kind of help we are soliciting greatly differs from that offered.
For the first time, my stance as the Chill-Out Bride has taken a bit of a beating. What started out as an exercise in delegation has quickly deteriorated to impatient and quizzical expectation of hand-holding.
We are tired, we are miffed, we are baffled, we are discouraged, he feels highly misunderstood and maligned, and the last thing I need at this juncture is to face Super Bride with my fried hair.
Friday, September 17, 2004
~ Rings on my finger and Bells in my prose ~
Yes, I'm back in Canberra, typing away on the lousy iMac keyboard in my office, after about 10 days of intense Wedding Flurry in Singapore, the land I also call home. I'm glad to be back, although what greeted me on my arrival were 10 days' worth of mail still stuck in my letterbox (which my housemates have failed to clear), a broken towel rack, a messy kitchen, a broken cooking pot, bills, a missing couch from the living room (?!!!) and an equally squalid bedroom. Sigh.
Needless to say, once I announced my engagement in the Ladies Bible Class in Singapore, the Aunty Network was activated. Annoucement in the following week's church newsletter included a short paragraph about my quick visit to Singapore, and mention of wedding bells in the not-too-distant future.
I have to say that as the plane pulled out of Changi airport and took off, I really started to miss Singapore, the family, and whatever tenuous thing my flight represented. This is it, I realise. The next time I see these city lights, I'll be Mrs Hibberd and my life will have changed forever. (Dramatic music)
On a brighter note, one of the perks I've completely overlooked when getting engaged, is receiving engagement presents. So far, we've received a few vouchers, some lovely photo frames, a guest book for the wedding, matching watches, and a traditional tea set for the bridal tea ceremony. Says Tony, after we've unwrapped the latest stash, "Wow! We should get married more often! 10th anniversary... 'We're getting married again!' This is great!"
One of the other things my trip to Singapore enabled me to do, was to get really nice wedding bands. In the end, I settled for a matching pair instead of getting two identical bands. After a lot of to and froing, where pictures were downloaded and sent, and opinions were shared and budgets were discussed etc, we got a dual-toned 18k white gold pair that was unique in design and yet was not too 'out there' so that it wasn't recognisable as wedding bands or worse, looked pretentious.
Tony never really saw what the rings look like till I bought them and brought them back to Canberra. Thankfully, he likes them and finds he can live with them. We've always been partial to dual-toned rings for reasons obvious to ourselves and others who know us very well, so I'm glad it turned out all right.
I've also been checking out other wedding blogs, and chanced upon this one that kept me in stitches because she was just so candid. You have to scroll down to the one about the rings because that's my favourite.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
~ Mission BWF Part Deux ~
My mum has declared that she's never seen a bride-to-be shop so quickly before.
as of last night. So really, the bridal trousseau is pretty much settled. We've even managed to get lingerie (tee hee hee), and take a serious look at wedding bands because they cost so much less here. Last Saturday was spent browsing through 8 bridal boutiques in total - 4 in Tanjong Pagar, 4 at IMM. And because this blog pretends to inform on occasion, I've decided to give a brief run down of the places we went to. I have to say that Wedding News won hands down, so we went back on Monday for a full appointment, and made the down payment 2 hours later. We got the shoes on the same day, and the matching jewellery yesterday. Singapore is such a land of plenty. I'm really gonna miss living here.
I have to say I'm quite satisfied with the progress made, since touching down in Singapore on Friday night last week. It's Wednesday, technically 3.17pm Singapore time, and I'm not out of the house getting 101 stuff sorted out because we've already settled:
Thursday, September 02, 2004
~ Why living in a rental is not a walk in the (ball) park ~
I was just talking to my mum, Tony, my housemate Qing, my videographer Liam and basically anyone who was willing to listen (the student whose citations I was correcting...) about Canberra's real estate agents and how they all SUCK.
Interestingly enough, I was also using a lot of terminology like "curve balls", and how unexpected it all was, just "coming out of left field".
I don't even KNOW what coming out of left field really means.
There is just too much to explain right about now, but basically they've managed to spectacularly stuff us up in terms of accommodation-post-wedding-in-Canberra and pre-wedding-reception-in-Singapore. They've somehow managed to fly in the face of Normal Industry Practices by breaking two (02) clauses in the contract, and seem hell-bent on paving the way to the land of Abject Stupidity and Unreasonable-ness.
(Darn. If only I can remember what the name of the real estate agency is!!! Their already-soiled name escapes me. Most probably covered in spit.)
Well. At least I'm learning crisis management in the process, as my mother pointed out to me. Tony and I are quite possibly going through a bedlum of stuff in 6 months what some couples experience in 5 years put together.
Always look on the bright side of life (insert whistle here).
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
~ Nailed it! ~
The invitations are finalised! Tony and I had spent a couple of days brainstorming with the concept, and finally were able to put something together that didn't make our hair stand, adequately reflected the humour that holds our relationship together, and had enough of the aaaawwwww-factor to be a wedding card.
We were, however, rather trepiditious, because there is a part of the invite that we feared might offend the good sensibilities of certain crowds, which was why we brought a few samples (a 'safe' version and the real one) and showed them to the Good Works group, which is helping us with the catering.
After a few shouts of laughter as soon as they saw the original version we came up with, we decided to stick to our guns.
It also helps, after running around like chooks without heads, that we've become less concerned about what people think, and more determined that there can be a truckload of advice, but the decision is finally ours.
Big statement, tough as nails to put into practice.
