Wedding Update 7: Bridal Package from My Dream Wedding.

UPDATED AFTER THE WEDDING: 

We both agreed with My Dream Wedding was one of the big mistakes that happened - I was super quick to say yes to taking the package from them just because they looked really promising and their shop looked amazing with the dresses on display - only to find out later that whichever wedding gowns you choose that is on display is upon extra charge. Also, I pointed to a dress that I liked and asked if I could have that as part of the package and she gave me a yes. When it was our turn to choose the dresses, they told me that this dress has been off the shelf for so long already. Heh. 

Not only that, we were not allowed to enter the "room" that keeps all their gowns. I only shared with them what some of my preferences were and they were the ones who will bring out the gowns one at a time. I remembered trying less than 15 pieces and they told me that was it. 

Despite screwing with our travelling plans and time in KL, they didn't offer to compensate or add anything. Even when I needed to change a gown last minute, they went ahead to charge me about RM1,000. Customer service, zero. 

Let's not get to the photography itself. Many times, we told the photographer the kind of photos we wanted and not want (like at the beach kind of photo), he insisted that we go ahead and take - wasted our time and energy seriously. 

So, in summary, I will not recommend My Dream Wedding to any couples out there. NEVER. 

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I'm starting to feel that we got a very good deal. I may be wrong though. They may have given more upgrades and complimentary items to other couples. Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I doubting this package? It's already too late now because we've paid for everything already! Oh well. We are happy with what has been given to us. 

I hope this is helpful for all brides-to-be in the future. Something for you all to compare, and hopefully, also successfully demands for more upgrades/complimentary items :)

Also, I will be sharing with you on the overall comments and feedback that I've received since I posted on this. All from people that we know of personally and from our experiences of course :)

Later on that below.

My Dream Wedding @ Bridal Fair Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang
13-14 February 2016

PRE-WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT

Inclusions:

Kuala Lumpur or Penang or any overseas location (if my money grows on tree)

Service of a professional photographer and a make-up artist

3 Deluxe wedding gown

1 Selected Swarovski wedding gown

2 set of tuxedos

1 hand bouquet (artificial flowers)

1 bridal make-up with 4 hairdos

All accessories  and hair veil available for photoshoot day only

Fake eyelashes (the only bridal shop at the bridal fair that includes this)

A selection of 40 poses from 150 shots

40 selected photos in digital file (soft-copy)

12' by 12' wedding album (10 pages - 40 poses) - Cover stand-alone album from HK

8' by 12' soft diamond album (19 out of the 40 selected poses)

24' by 30' printed photo with desired frame

10' by 14' table top photo with desired frame (2 pieces)

50 pieces of 4R (5 out of selected 40 poses)

Exclusions:

Transportation service

Toll and bridge fee

Entrance fee to selected locations (if needed)

Body Foundation

Ampoule (acts like a primer, to hold make-up for a longer time)

ACTUAL WEDDING DAY

Inclusions:

1 Platinum wedding gown

2 Deluxe wedding gown

2 set of tuxedos

2 set of accessories

1 set of car decoration

20' by 30' signature roll for guest

1 DVD slideshows (chosen 40 poses)

Exclusions:

Make-up and hair-do

Body Foundation.

Ampoule (acts like a primer, to hold make-up for longer time)

White bow shirt for groom

Nude bra for bride

It is the most common thing that people shared with us and that would be on the extra expenses that you will find yourself having to pay, that ranges from a higher category of dress that you want or the more photos that you would want to have. Something like that. 

Be very careful with all the extra charges because before you know it, it could mount up to the same cost with the package original price. 

However, we were told by Bennie on some of the things that is not given and will be charged if you choose to have it. 

Extra soft-copy with touch up (RM100 per pose)

Request to change gown after confirmation (RM300 per piece)

Photo-shooting on Saturday, Sunday or Public Holiday (RM250) - waived for us yay!

Extra poses into album and soft-copy with touch up (RM160 per pose).
Early collection of photos in advance (RM500) 

TOTAL DAMAGE: RM4,988 (GST included)

Now that you have known of all the items that is part of the RM4,988 package, I bet you also want to know if the "extra charges on everything" is really true or it's just something that only some people will experience.

Based on our experience, this is very true. I don't know if the consultants earn extra income by up-selling their dresses or photos and even if they don't, they sure seemed really pumped up to get people to pay more.

And I would like to believe that this does not happen to only My Dream Wedding because my sister was with another bridal brand and same case also. Friends using other bridal brands also gave the same advice so I guess this must be the standard "sales & marketing" tactic in the bridal industry.

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Number 1

My Dream Wedding:
Wedding gowns displayed on the shelves are free to choose as part of the package. 

Friend:
All photo-shoot gowns are kept in a room and we're not allowed to go in to choose. They will take them out, batch by batch.

Me:
Wedding gowns displayed outside are only to be selected for actual day wedding, and not for pre-wedding photo-shoot. Extra RM1,000 will be charged if you wish to select from shelves for photo-shoot. We obviously did not choose any from the outside.

Summary:
They tend to be very general with the verbal offerings/deals. ASK MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS.

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Number 2

My Dream Wedding:
After all upgrades/additional items mentioned, they casually mentioned about an additional signature roll that they will give just for you. 

Friend:
Yes, we have that.

Me:
Yes too. We realized that we didn't need the signature rolls (which by the way comes in either pink or purple) and asked to change it with a table photo frame. 

Summary:
It's not just for you. Don't be naive, like us. Hah. IT'S ALL PART OF THE PACKAGE ALREADY!Change with another item if you don't need the roll.

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Number 3

My Dream Wedding:
We will upgrade the current big frame to a bigger one and two more smaller frame for table top showcase.

Friend:
They gave me one big frame if I remembered correctly. 

Me:
We were given 1 big and 2 small table top ones, as promised.

Summary:
This one may be dependent on the salesperson that served you. I think in this case we may be given more from others? Again, it may be the same as others.

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Number 4

My Dream Wedding:
You can choose 1 Swarovski wedding dress for the pre-wedding photo-shoot, upgraded from Deluxe.

Friend:
They did not give me any Swarovski wedding gown.

Me:
They presented to us 5 Swarovski wedding dress options to choose from, of which I chose one, after trying all five.

Summary:
They may have again casually mentioned about it. So, you must REMEMBER WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TOLD AND ASK FOR IT. 

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Number 5

My Dream Wedding:
In Malaysia, you can opt to take your pre-wedding photos either here in Penang or in KL. Discussion will be made in KL office if you wish to do it there.

Me:
Okay! As excited as we were, they did not mention anything about photographer and makeup artist having no transport. They only just say 'transportation service is not included' to which of course we understood as our own transport. Turns out, we actually have to fetch their crews around.

Summary:
ASK MORE QUESTIONS. DO NOT ASSUME IT'S PROVIDED JUST BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT. 

I'm beyond thankful that people shared their experiences with me, because if not, we wouldn't have known about having to transport their photographer and makeup artist, using our own car yes. 

This is actually not like a really bad comment. It's just they should have talked us through on this. 

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Number 6

My Dream Wedding:
Try the wedding dresses and choose the one you like for the actual wedding day, and we will book it for you.

Friend's Direct Friend:
A week before our wedding, they called and told us that the dress we originally booked earlier has been booked by other couple and that we had to choose another dress, which also means additional costs. We ended up paying extra RM6,500 because it was a week before the wedding and we panicked. 

Me:
This sounds insane. This is so not right and this is not the way to earn money okay. Now that we've been warned on this, we are making sure that we book our dresses earlier and make sure this doesn't happen by writing it out on the deal after choosing the dress. If not, I'm going to call all my lawyer friends on this. Hah. Judson, be on a standby okay? Heh. 

Summary:
BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THEIR 'PROMISES'.

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Number 7

My Dream Wedding:
Promised that the exact location that we wanted to have our photoshoot at was available and need no prior appointment or entrance fee.

Me:
You can read the entire post on the incident here. Madness. 

Summary:
I think they were taking things quite lightly and not double-check on these locations. You should make sure with the team. 

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Number 8

My Dream Wedding:
Choosing gowns for actual day ceremony and dinner. 2 pieces from normal selection and 1 from Platinum series. Groom gets 2 sets of tuxedo. 

Me:
I knew what color I wanted so it was easier to narrow down the dresses. I saw one that I realy really loved but was told that someone else have booked it. Boo! So, proceed to try on other dresses and felt that they didn't have a lot of choices. Most gowns were kept in a room and only staffs can enter the room. The gowns displayed outside is quite limited, especially the Platinum series one. I left the shop feeling like there should be more dresses that I could choose from. Maybe because of the color that I chose. Hm.

For the tuxedos, please do not expect to get the nice formal typical type of tuxedo. It's either long tail tux or patterned tux. Not many choices to choose from to be honest.

Summary:
You should maybe have other colors in mind when selecting the dresses as they really do have quite limited choices, and I wouldn't say that their designs are spectacular. I was not very impressed. 

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Number 9

My Dream Wedding:
Making appointments for photo-choosing and gown-selecting. 

Me:
It was quite difficult for us to make date/time appointment as we both only can go after 530pm on weekdays and they are usually full on weekends, but I was quite impressed on their service because they were very helpful to make it work for both of us, so win.

Summary:
I think their business is doing really well because there's always so many people in and out of the shop whenever we were there. However, their service is pretty good. I like! 

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Number 10

My Dream Wedding:
Making appointments for photo-choosing and gown-selecting. 

My sister:
You will find it very difficult to choose photos within the limit and they will sell to you per piece basis and offer you "special" package. 

Me:
This was so funny. There were so many of you who warned us on this and told us that it's almost impossible to choose only 40 photos and once we both disagree, they will come out with special offers. Thanks to you guys, we were mentally prepared to choose only 40 photos. The consultant tried to convince us on some photos that we didn't want because we got chun-chun 40 photos. She even tried to sell us a special package of RM1,000 for a huge plain light brown wood frame with 10 extra photos. SIAU MEH! We were shocked at the price that she mentioned. She lowered it down to I think about RM300 but it was a no for us. We were not going to spend more money on this. Hello. We already spent RM5,000 on this entire thing so no thanks.

Summary:
Before you select the photos with your better-half, please discuss and agree on what you guys really want. It will really help with the entire process. It's like once both of you are on the same page, no one else can be featured in that page. Stand strong people! :)

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I guess if we could give a summary of it, we won't say we hate to the core of the services provided by My Dream Wedding. I think they are not perfect and they are probably not looking into becoming the best bridal brand in Penang. I think they have accepted too many clients that they should because their dresses seems to always be very limited due to the reason 'someone else have booked it'.

I don't know. I may not be fair to them by saying that.

I have people emailing me to ask on whether they should choose My Dream Wedding and it's the one question that I cannot give an answer to.

I feel that people will most likely be drawn to them because of the posh image that they try to portray. Just a look at their shops and you will feel like this bridal company confirm is famous/popular/well-to-do and with the price that they offer, you will feel like it's a good catch. 

Is it really a good catch? 

If I was given another choice, I would survey around more before deciding. They won my vote (in the beginning) because they took us to their shop and showed us all the fancy dresses and their 'quite-glamour' looking shop. Immediately I felt so princess-ish. Hah. 

But all is good with us because we're not haters like that. Heh. 

If you feel like this is the one, then this is the one. Despite all the negative feedback from people, you just need to make sure you do your part and be very careful because all bridal shops tend to have the same 'behavior'. Hah.

ENJOY EVERY BIT OF THIS PLANNING OKAY?

Fun times ahead :)

I decided to update on this post with more experience-sharing so you will not go through the same thing we did. Despite all the things that we went through with them, I think in the end it's where you stand and how you "take care" of yourself that will make all the difference. Heh. For our case, I'm thankful that we're not the kind of people who will demand for a lot of things when they screw something up or show angry faces whenever they sort of disappoint us. 

Blessed 28th, Me.

Bye February. You've been superb okay. 

I celebrated my twenty-two birthday this month this year (yeah right) with a group of people that I truly care about and love being with. 

I laugh a little harder and uglier whenever I'm with them, so yes they made the night more special. 

For those who were not invited, sorry okay! I do not have the budget to do a big one and that doesn't mean I don't care about you. It's just everyone has that list of closer friends right? Heh. Uncle Lim, don't angry ah you not invited to the pajamas party. Hah. 

Yes, you've read that right. I have always wanted a pajama party since ever. I cannot make my wedding pajamas themed right? So, perfect to do it at my own birthday party. Heh. 

I also feel that it is really important that in any event, you need to be engaged with a really good photographer so you can forever remember the special day. Your special day. It was the nicest thing when Eulene said yes to taking photos for my twenty-eighth and now that the professional is on it, I have one less thing to worry about. 

One of the struggles for the night was food preparation. I wanted to cook but then again I was so not in the cooking mode. 

It was either Passion of Kerala or Thai Food. 

I did my round of asking around and guess who the winner was. Obviously not Passions of Kerala, although I have been looking for people to eat with me. In Penang, it's quite good okay. No fight if they go KL. Heh. Devi's FTW.

Okay, I think I will spare the details because I myself am very excited to go see all the photos! AMAZING WORKS by Eulene :)

 

 

Thanks again Eulene for all the photos! 

It was such a great night. I went to bed smiling that night :)

Thanks to everyone who helped made it a meaningful-before-kahwin-birthday-party! Love you guys to bits :)

Now, I am looking forward to other things that are going to happen this year. Baby number two and signing of that life-changing paper to name a few. It's going to be a great year. I just know it. 

God be at the center of all this. 

To the Mister.

I miss you, a lot.

2016's CNY.

Chinese New Year is over, guys. It's overrrrrrr.

That's it. 

I have managed to collect about 90 packets of those red goodies and total of about RM871. Yeah, that's pretty a lot compared to other years. 

I remember that in my early youth days, it's always less than RM200. Oh goodness. 

This is one of the rare years for sure, but still okaylah. Not too bad for a final grand exit to the other side. Heh. 

First time my table so clean and proper because the lions came to visit. Apparently my table too clean already that's why raw vegetable thrown onto my table. CAN YOU SEE THAT?

But but I, I just clean the whole table? Hah. 

Toodles now. 

Wedding Update 6: My Dream Wedding.

UPDATED AFTER THE WEDDING: 

We both agreed with My Dream Wedding was one of the big mistakes that happened - I was super quick to say yes to taking the package from them just because they looked really promising and their shop looked amazing with the dresses on display - only to find out later that whichever wedding gowns you choose that is on display is upon extra charge. Also, I pointed to a dress that I liked and asked if I could have that as part of the package and she gave me a yes. When it was our turn to choose the dresses, they told me that this dress has been off the shelf for so long already. Heh. 

Not only that, we were not allowed to enter the "room" that keeps all their gowns. I only shared with them what some of my preferences were and they were the ones who will bring out the gowns one at a time. I remembered trying less than 15 pieces and they told me that was it. 

Despite screwing with our travelling plans and time in KL, they didn't offer to compensate or add anything. Even when I needed to change a gown last minute, they went ahead to charge me about RM1,000. Customer service, zero. 

Let's not get to the photography itself. Many times, we told the photographer the kind of photos we wanted and not want (like at the beach kind of photo), he insisted that we go ahead and take - wasted our time and energy seriously. 

So, in summary, I will not recommend My Dream Wedding to any couples out there. NEVER. 

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I've mentioned on Wedding Update 5 that I would spend more time updating one solely post on how we got to this bridal shop. Also, check out Wedding Update 7 to know more. 

I don't think there is any couple that we know of who are so chillax when it comes to this part. We didn't bother looking out at different bridal shops/packages until when I happened to know of a Bridal Fair at Paragon Mall last week. 

That also I casually told Mut if he wants to drop by Paragon Mall and just to do some survey on it. I guess thankfully he did and we decided to take 3 hours off our Sunday noon and checked the fair out. 

In the beginning, we didn't think that it was already late for us to sign a bridal package despite marrying each other in September. It was until when every vendor that we talked to gave us that shocking expression that made us realized that we should quickly deal with this and not delay any longer. Heh. 

The first bridal brand that we stopped at was Kuang Yee Bridal Collection. To be honest, I think they spent too much time talking about how new their new studio is and how they have another upcoming one. I think their idea of building all the outdoor 'seasons and styles' into their indoor studio is genius because not everyone can afford to fly to Japan to capture snowy-shots. 

For us, we wanted everything outdoor. No roof. Yes to the sun and yes sweat all. We do not want the snow experience if it was going to be a fake one. So, I guess for this, it wasn't a selling point for me. Most of their concept is Korean-based and we do not really like that.

Oh and also they kept showing us a lot of similar photos (same locations) and stressing that those are not models because models will look too good to be true. But who knows right? Heh. 

When we were about to leave to another bridal brand, the lady-boss came and sat next to Koay. She started offering exclusive items like upgrading my dress to a Designer's level and giving us more frames/photos. 

With that, she wanted a small favor from both of us. 

"I want to feature you both inside our 'promotional items' because I love the way you both looked like a couple. Very loving!"

Something like that along the line. 

Straight shocked. Bangga a bit la but mostly shocked for someone to say that. She then turned to Koay and asked if he's a professional model because he's very handsome. PANDAI CAKAP TO THE MAX. 

After that, we walked to Anovia and Obsidian and spent quite some time in both places. Most of the packages are the same and their price ranges around RM3999 - RM4999. Must plus GST on top of that some more okay. 

At this point, we were both so mentally exhausted. We went for a quick toilet break and that was when I realized that Koay preferred Kuang Yee Bridal Collection. Aunty knows how to do sales I tell you. She immediately got Koay's heart after all the handsome face and model. Hah. So funny. Adrian Koay will deny all these 'accusations' that I just made, but we all know deeply that compliments like these usually will affect one's decisions. HAHA!

Anyway, we decided that we would go for one more before deciding. We kinda had to decide that day because the promotion ends then. 

We walked over to My Dream Wedding, which I have been eyeing from the start because the booth's set-up is pretty nice. Their backdrop photo also damn chun. 

We sat down and a lady came and gave us a few albums to look at without saying much really. It's as though she was observing what kind of a couple we were and sell her package accordingly. 

We opened the albums and immediately I was almost sold. Their outdoor photos were nothing like what we've seen so far and they are all unique and amazing. Koay felt the same. She asked us more questions related to preferences and style. Then, she offered us to the shop to take a look at the wedding gowns and tuxedos before saying yes. 

We were not going to say yes so fast okay. She hasn't even told us the price yet. 

As we were walking up (yes their shop is at Gurney Paragon Mall), she casually mentioned a few upgrades that she would give to us provided we sign the package that day and one of which got my attention was the upgrade to their most exclusive collection, the Platinum.

More on that details next time okay. 

We walked around in the shop and realized that I was falling in love with this brand even more. I didn't say it out because I didn't want Koay to make a decision based on how I feel. It was more on what we both think of the price and items given. 

We put on our poker face and as we talked even more on the package, the lady named Bennie kept adding complimentary upgrades for our package. 

Maybe it's supposed to already be in the package but from what we gathered, at that time My Dream Wedding seemed to be offering more complimentary upgrades compared to other bridal shops.

Also, the best part is that our photo-shoot will not be in Penang, which was what we really wanted. We love our little island but in terms of photo-shooting, every place doesn't seem that unique anymore. 

After all the talking, I looked at Koay and was looking into doing a bit more discussion.

"Go ahead with it babe. Just take this one!"

I straight opened my eyes so big that it's bigger than goldfish's. I kid you not. It's not a small amount okay, but I have to admit that deep inside my heart, I wanted the package too. The concept and style is very 'us'. 

I am very blessed to be marrying this man and I must have been doing things right (heh) because for Koay to seal this deal without a long time to consider is just almost impossible. 

To be honest, he did look a little worried later that day because we do not have all the money in the world and every time we spend on something else (wedding-related), it pains the pocket a little more. 

But you know what?

He called the next morning and told me that it's all okay and that he wants to make me the happiest girl on that day because this is once in a lifetime event and as long as I'm happy, he would be also. 

I straight cry.

Okay, I did not cry lah but it was really sweet for him to say that. So not him by the way. Money is not the thing that makes me/us happy. For me, as long as I have him beside me, I'm happy :)

So, there you have it. 

I will probably share more on the price and what we've got in the whole package next time. A big item is ticked and we're somehow glad that it's done deal.

Except for the fact that this year, I can no longer plan for any holidays :( Moolahs no more.

Koay's Love Language #16.

One day while stuck in a non-moving traffic jam, he received a Whatsapp message.

Him: *opens the message, click download the voice message and hears them out loud*

Me: *looks at his serious face, thinking confirm this is about work so no disturb*

Him: Yeah, okay. Sounds good la actually. *while still listening to the long voice message*

Me:  *looks at him with both my eyebrows raised and burst out laughing so loud that he terkejut*

Him: What? Why you suddenly laugh? *the voice message ended while I was laughing*

Me:  WHY DID YOU TALK TO THE VOICE MESSAGE? YOU KNOW IT'S NOT A LIVE PHONE CALL RIGHT? YOU KNOW IT'S RECORDED RIGHT?

Him: *looks at me then at his phone* OH SHIT. *embarrassed to the max*

Me: You're so noob wei! I thought you work so much till crazy already for a split second. You answered to a recorded voice message. Just know this okay, that this I will forever remember. Heh.

Him: G!

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That was one of the day when traffic jams didn't feel like a torture. We laughed for so long and even after we got home, we would still be laughing on it. My huz-to-be is a noob. 

Wedding Update 5.

Oh hello there.

Let's see when is the last time I updated anything on this.

Oh okay. Not that too long ago it seems. Pretty fine with me :) To make your life easier, nah. 

I just realized the the countdown bar on the side is not helping at all. It's giving me all the anxieties that I do not want to feel, not at this point of time. 

Okay okay let's not get distracted now. So many things to update for this one.

WEDDING DATE

If by now we still haven't confirm this one, we should both be crying now. Our Save the Date should be going out real soon :)

WEDDING VENUE

We struggled for few months trying to get a good place to hold our wedding ceremony that can fit at least 100 people, but all the nice places can only fit up to 60 people. So, as painful as it was to make this decision, we have finally agreed to do it in church. 

As for the wedding dinner, we had also confirmed it by paying our first deposit on earlier this month. 

WEDDING DINNER MUSIC BAND

He is a very big fan of Jazzhats so of course we went on to ask for their quotation and they came back with RM6,000! SO SAD OKAY!

This is a lot of money so pending la. 

HONEYMOON

Yes, if you have read the previous post, you would know that this one is a tick in our non-existing checklist. Heh. 

WE ARE GOING TO INDONESIA! APA KHABAR?

Specifically, to Bali and Lombok. Bali comes top on honeymoon destinations in Google so okay okay then. Lombok ah? To be honest, it was my first time hearing the word Lombok when he suggested the second place for honeymoon. 

I was like, "Whatttt? Where is that?"

Apparently, it is becoming more famous of a destination so okay for me too! The Lombok part we have yet to confirm any hotel or activities (do we actually need outside activities? HEH!) because that's his part to handle already. 

We haven't got the air-tickets to Bali yet because I believe there will be some kind of promotion coming up soon so we will just wait on that.

PRE-WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT

I am so happy that this one is a done deal. I have been scratching my head to make a decision of whether hiring a freelance photographer or get a package from a bridal place.

Of course I went with the package deal. Ain't nobody got the time to rent dress(es) for both the photoshoot and wedding or come out with ideas on where to do all these photoshoots. I am not hyped enough to do all this research. Also, makeup artists all how. G!

I may be the laziest bride-to-be in the entire universe.

This one I will share more in details on my next Wedding Update!

BACHELOR PARTY

His friends has got that sorted out for him and it's happening sooner than expected. No, not in March. SOONER! Keep in mind they had just planned this not too long ago. 

End of this month okay. If this doesn't freak Koay out, it is freaking me out. Everything is happening too fast. I think once he goes for this bachelor party, the getting-married-feel will kick in already! 

Oh and this is no regular bachelor party because THEY ARE GOING TO BANGKOK! So nice okay. Probably wild and all but I trust Koay that he won't do anything 'too much' for me to handle. Heh. 

GOWNS/TUXEDOS

This was one of our biggest concern. Believe it or not, we are both not that vain but still, we want to make sure we both look amazing that morning/night. Isn't that one of the main concern for all bride and groom-to-be? 

If you say no, you are obviously lying! Heh. 

One of the perks of taking a bridal package is that there will be wedding gowns and a few set of tuxedos included already. So, that's another win!

WEDDING RING

G!

Another item that is going to be costly. GG. Nope, not confirmed yet. We will be looking into this soon enough.

GUEST LIST

Biggest headache of the entire event! BIGGEST. Kid you not. 

Our problem now is having too long of a guest list. Our venue cannot cater to so many people leh. Now headache is this. We are afraid of offending people if we don't invite them and I believe that this has always been a concern for all couples-to-wed.

If money isn't an issue, we would have our wedding dinner at Straits Quay Convention Hall where they can cater up to 200 tables or something. 

So people please. Spare us this part. Don't get angry with us okay. We would really love to have all of you to attend the wedding and celebrate with us but we really don't want to go into this marriage full of debt just to please everyone :)

This one obviously not done because there are still so many people adding to the list and we're just pretty overwhelmed right now, to make any of this kind of decisions. Soon to be confirmed though. 

WEDDING THEME/COLOR

This was one of the exciting things that we had gone through. Yes, we have the colors of our wedding already and all thanks to our very-gifted-amazing Designer. None other than Le Roy :)

WEDDING CARDS

Seriously, we worry not at all because we trust completely on Le Roy and his amazing works. 

DECORATIONS

This one also we no worry at all! The best person to do this for us is obviously Uncle Phillip Khoo! Nothing is impossible with this man. So, anything can go wrong on the real day, but its okay because we've got Uncle Phillip! :)

There you have it. Bits and pieces of this event. Ahhh, still so much things to decide on, but we will have fun on it because this is going to be one of the biggest event of our lives. 

Peace out yo. 

3D2N Cititel Midvalley, Kuala Lumpur.

I almost forgot about this post okay.

Oh myy. 

Okay, here goes. 

No need to say also you will know that when it comes to the mad city, there are so many parts of KL that has so many hotels all around that you will probably need to do a lot of reading up reviews and google for photos to see if they looked like what they claim to be on their website. 

First, you will need to know which area you wanna to be generally at, most of the time. There's Puchong, Cyberjaya, KL City, Sunway and the list goes on. I'm not from KL so I cannot tell you more on the locations and what-nots. 

Being in KL for so many times already, most of the time for shopping and quick getaway, I have already known what are the 2 top favorites of mine. 

The Capri by Fraser and The Signature Serviced Suites & Studios.

In a heartbeat I will always search them up in Agoda and Expedia and if (only if) the rooms are fully booked or the prices are really high, I will opt for others. 

This time, I stayed at Cititel Midvalley. 

It's no surprise why this hotel is picked. It's located right next to one of the most visited shopping mall in KL, so come on. No need to spend money on Uber can go shopping all-day err-day. 

I think most people on business trips would prefer to stay at this hotel because it's so centralized (again depending on where your business trip takes you) and when you finish work, you can just walk to Midvalley Megamall for dinner and shopping. Best of all worlds indeed okay. 

The room is not a big room so please don't put high expectations. Heh. If not, when you go in, you sure disappointed to the max. Hah. It's surprisingly not too small either. It's bigger than the boutique hotel I stayed at in Malacca. Estadia Hotel its called. 

Click here to go see how small that room is, but it was very comfortable okay. 

Back to this.

So yes, I think it's a very convenient hotel to stay at if you're planning a trip to KL for a short shopping/eating weekend. 

Here's to more staycation soooon!

28.

What is so important that I am sacrificing my sleep to write this?

It's my birthday that's why! Heh. Tebal punya muka ni. 

To be honest, since I turned twenty-five (yes, I'm going to be honest about my age just this once!
 Heh), three years ago, I became very reluctant to celebrate birthdays, particularly my own. I don't look forward to it. I don't feel it, the excitement and all sorts. 

I really don't know if this is part of growing up and everyone that is at my age or older have went through it or are still going through it, but yeah I am feeling it. 

This year however, despite all the 'negative-energy' from every part of my body, I have decided to organize my first ever birthday party. No, I am obviously not turning one. I would be the world's genius if I am writing all this, being a one-year old girl. Hah. 

Never have I ever have a birthday party. 

Heh. 

I thought that before I am called by another last name, I should have a birthday party for myself and I am sorry if you are not invited because budget is a concern so only a handful of people are going to be a part of this. 

Gosh never thought it would be this mentally tiring to convince myself to go ahead with the whole thing because I actually really don't want to have it in the first place, but then I also want one before I kahwin. So how. 

I actually don't want to do anything extraordinary on my birthday and don't want to make it an event also. What have gotten into my brain seriously?

Regret also pointless already. Hah.

Turning twenty-eight makes me realize one important thing. 

I've always find it really fulfilling when I grow stronger mentally and emotionally, and I have always known that it is always most effective through difficult moments, especially heartbreaks. 

I have had a handful of heartbreaks since last year's birthday and it's crazy for me to 'assumed' that through all those painful times, times when simple/easy expectations were not met, that with time I get stronger. 

NONSENSE.

I realized today that I did not get stronger. Maybe 40% I was able to control what I say or how I react to it, but the other 60%?

I would say that it was slowly turning into bitterness, silent anger and ignorance. All these three buddies decided to build up a box somewhere inside the heart and hide in there for as long as they could. 

It was only tonight that as I spend time with God, He reveals all of those. 

Did I really get emotionally better/stronger by letting time go by and pretend that all will be okay again? Or the fact that it is okay if sometimes you swallow it and keep telling yourself it's okay?

No.

Not at all. 

Only God could give us that strength to be emotionally leveled-up. 

You can go through nonsense moments and you may think that it's all okay already since it's not stirring you easily anymore. Wrong. You are in fact one level down because you WILL have an extra room for bitterness and you would not even know it. That bitterness will indirectly control of the way you talk to a particular someone, makes a certain kind of decision and the kind of person you slowly turn into.

Unless you pray and you ask God to help you.

If you don't, you are not going to level up. 

Tonight, I did just that. Tonight, He came down and rescued me. I think I was literally drowning inside of myself. Phew, boy did that felt good. 

Thank You Jesus. 

Oh, and know this one thing. Humans will fail you, confirm they will fail you but God will never fail you. Knowing and understanding the fact that humans will fail you, will makes you realize that you should always put a reasonable expectations on one another because healthy expectations drive people. Heh. At least it drives me. 

Well, here's to a great twenty-eighth birthday for me :)

Here's a song that helped me through. Listen to it okay?

Pre-CNY Feel.

ONE HOUR TO A LONG WEEK AHEAD!

Yes, I am counting down. As tired (mentally) as I feel right now, I still have extra energy stored inside somewhere for party tonight yo!

I feel like this CNY will feel like this for one last time for me that is. Next year it will feel completely different I bet. Obviously for now I am loving the angpow collecting and all, but I feel giving angpows could be very fulfilling also. I don't know. For now, I need to collect as many angpows as I can. 

Also because my birthday is coming also maybe that's why I'm feeling everything in. Hmm. This year's birthday also feels really different. I remembered I didn't feel like celebrating last year because I felt so.. old? 

I don't know if that is the perfect word to use, but yeah. 

This year however, feels like I have to go all out because it's my last year of being single? Okay, not really single, but just not like legally attached with someone. You know what I mean? Like my last name is still Khoo. Oh wait, it will always be a Khoo. Heh. 

It's not like I feel after tying that knot means like everything won't be as nice but its just that feeling of going into something really new. 

It's like relocating to a new country for good. New place, new culture, new bedroom and new sleeping partner. Not that I have a sleeping partner now or whatsoever. Basically, I feel my life will change and I am looking forward to it no doubt about that. 

I guess the few months left with no preparation (G!) is giving me all the reasons to do big on any events before I sign the paper. That explains why I am feeling so broke right now. Hah. Oh well. 

Back to Chinese New Year feel. Although I hope for a fun season, so far it feels nothing like that, yet. I didn't even buy clothes till the final week and through Zalora. That was how desperate and moodless I was to get into the season. 

Now that it's just minutes away, I AM FEELING IT OF COURSE. 

So here I am wishing all of you a great Chinese New Year with people you love! Go and collect/give all the angpows in the world yo!

Koay's Love Language #15.

One Step.

A STATE OF MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL STRAIN OR TENSION RESULTING FROM ADVERSE OR VERY DEMANDING CIRCUMSTANCES.

definition of stress

Yes, I have been under a lot of this lately. So much that sometimes I use more energy to hold the tears back into the eye-socket than the energy used to play captain ball on Sunday. Heh. 

I am not liking this part of the new role, but it is good for me. I am learning so much on a fast speed and I know for sure there is a reason behind all this. After all, I have got the Big Man on my side at all times.

I will get through this. 

Anyways, huz-to-be is not physically here for the next five days but his words are always the most encouraging yet. No need long-long essay okay. When he writes more than two sentences, that's like super good already. Okay, wait. He did write TWO times on the proposed plan. Heh. Well, I guess the expectation is going higher then. 

Turns out all I needed to hear was, one step at a time. 

I have probably said that a thousand times today in the span of nine hours. Oh well. 

He always knows what to say text. 1 bonus point for you, huz-to-be. Now, go kick some behinds at the tournament! 

Four days left for a long holiday. Yesssss.