Murakami:
Are you a ROM-bride or Banquet-Customary-bride this Dec?
By now you should have:
1) Found a Bridal Studio (BS) that either make-to-measure (MTM) ur wedding gown (WG), evening gown (EG), teadress (TD), or allows you to rent their off-the-rack (OTR); If MTM, you need to go discuss design of ur gown at least 3 months before and of cos you need to search the web or go to shops that sell gowns to try out some and see what colour/silhoutte/neckline suits you..
2) Found a BS that takes indoor studio and outdoor shoots for you. Of cos it can differ from or be the same BS as (1). The photo shoot (PS) would be 3 months before your actual day (AD) which wld be sep, thus ur 1st appt for ur MTM gowns wld be jun. [Of cos there're brides who choose not to take such photos..]
3) A banquet venue. By now, it wld be hard for you to find a place to hold ur dinner, unless u choose a weekday? In fact, are you intending to have one? You'd need to consider if it's a hotel/restaurant, ur budget, lunch/dinner, buffet/sit-down, the no. of guests... [Of cos some brides do away with the banquet]
4) If you need an auspicious date to get married, then you need to go find a fengshui master who knows how to cal wedding date, time to fetch bride, time for bride to go home, Guo Da Li & An Chuang dates, etc. I can recommend the temple (subsidiary of the Bugis Guan Yin Tang) at Joo Chiat Place, you only need to pay a small token..
In the months to come, you also need to consider the following, of which some are optional:
1) Make-up artist & Hairstylist (May be provided by BS)
2) Professional Photography & Videography
3) Preparations for the various traditions (Guo Da Li = Future Husband (FH)'s family bringing cakes, oranges, etc. to ur house to ask for ur hand; An Chuang = someone who puts bedsheet for ur new bed on a gd dae)
4) Duties of ur wedding coordinators (Guest list, Helpin u with make-up & gown, Recep...)
5) How much angbaos to give the various helpers
6) Wedding Car & Deco (May be provided by BS)
7) Bridal Bouquet & Corsages for ur FH & Both fathers (May be provided by BS)
8) Shoes/Accessories/Corset for you
9) Jacket/Pants (May be MTM or OTR from BS), Shirt/Shoes/Tie for ur FH
10) Clothes for Both Parents/Jie Meis/Flower Girl/Bridesmaid/Best man
11) Source for emcee
12) Think of programme for the night
13) March-in song & songs thru-out the night
14) Printing of wedding invites
15) Food-tasting at the venue
That's abt all i can think of.. And pardon me if i'm inaccurate abt anything.. I yet to even ROM!
Also, you might also wanna plan for
1) Buying of flat
2) Reno of flat
3) Honeymoon (Normally hotels wld have provided free nite stay = Mini Honeymoon)
I'm sure the more-experienced brides-to-be (everybody else here), will be in a beta postion to answer you!
If you're an ROM dec 04 bride, you can also join the rest of us in the "ROM in Dec 2004? Come share experiences!" thread!!! The brides in this thread are more of the customary-banquet-brides.. Except for me!!! hehe..
Hope there's some help!