Organizing Wedding Appointments and Dates

There are so many ways to organize wedding appointments and dates, from an actual book organizer to write on, typing in the built- in handphone/ table calendar, download an app or use an Excel sheet. To each it's own because everyone has their own preference and ease of usage.

I don't know how other BTB organised their wedding appointments and dates but I use Excel calendar template for mine. Since I use Excel for planning anyways, I figure I would just squeeze everything in 1 file.

Here's my calendar layout thus far. The template name is Business Calendar (any year, Mon - Sun) from Excel and I edit to cater to my needs. You just type in the year and all the dates are set up accordingly. If you wish to do 2 in 1 sheet like mine, you can copy and paste as values per year unless you are an ace in calendar formulas.

[click to enlarge]

I love it because I can see everything with just 1 look without flipping or clicking additional things.
Having an organizer is ideal especially if you are forgetful or anal tentative in having everything in order. Unfortunately, I am both. It's always good to have everything in check so you know what is coming up next and feel a little bit more in control.

It's also useful if you have a forgetful fiance who keep asking even though you had mention it more than 4 times already. -_-

That's where Dropbox comes in. You save it in your computer/laptop and you can access it via handphone. You can even share the folder with your fiance so if he ever ask the same thing again, tell him to please refer to Dropbox folder. hehehe It's also useful for reference when you are discussing with your family or even vendors. Less hassle since your handphone is always with you.

Of course, with every online file saving, there's always precautions needed. Obviously wedding plans is nothing compared to nude leaks like Apple's icloud issue but it still will freak out any BTB so ALWAYS back it up in your own computer/ laptop hardisk.

Anyways, back to my Excel calendar,

Yellow highlight box: Public Holidays
Red lined box: Important dates
Light blue lined box: Event to take note of.

Sorry for some secrecy. I wish to book and make it official before sharing.

I got to say, this is one of the vertebrae of  the wedding planning spine. It definitely keeps me sane to have things in order (at least for now) and Jhon also has confidence because he also don't want to me miss out on anything. I bet he absolutely loves it that he can be a little bossy yet can 'escape' by saying that he knows very little about Malay weddings. NYEK!

   

Filipino Wedding Superstitions

Click here to read about Filipino wedding traditions.

Just like any other cultures in the world, Filipinos have also developed superstitions that are related to marriage and weddings. So let's go through some of them together.



Pre-colonial customs include the groom or bride avoiding travel beforehand to prevent accidents from happening.

The bride must not wear pearls as these are similar to tears.

A procession of men holding bolos (a large knfe) and musicians playing agongs (small and big gongs) must be done to shoo away bad luck. This march was also done after the ceremony until the newly-wed couple reaches their abode.

Similar to the the agong procession, breaking plates during the wedding reception, in order to dispel bad luck.

Spanish colonisers introduced new beliefs to the Philippines, with particular concern over banning activities that may cause broken marriages, sadness and regret. Wedding gowns cannot be worn in advance.

Black-coloured clothing during the ceremony is not allowed and sharp objects such as knives cannot be given as gifts.

As if a typhoon happening on your wedding day is not disastrous enough, it also means it's an ill omen.

After the ceremony, the bride should walk ahead of her husband or step on his foot to prevent being dominated by him.

An accidentally dropped ring, veil, or arrhae (money) will cause marital misery.

Superstitious beliefs on good fortune include showering the married couple with uncooked rice, as this wishes them a prosperous life together.

In addition, a single woman who will follow the footsteps of a newly married couple may enhance her opportunity to become a bride herself. lol Imagine all the single ladies stalking and following the bride and grooms.

Siblings are not permitted to marry within the calendar year as this is considered bad luck. The remedy to this belief, called sukob, is to have the one marrying later pass through the back entrance of the church instead of its main doors.
As a side note, before I met Jhon, I actually had watched a Filipino horror movie called Sukob. It was real scary (at that time) but the pirated movie I watched lacked of subtitles so I was a little confused. But it was an interesting watch.

All info are extracted by Wikipedia [link]

Obviously, the younger generation don't believe in such things and only applies to the older generation. Luckily, although Jhon's parents do believe in some of the superstitions, they are pretty open minded. They accepted me as a Muslim and Jhon to be a Muslim when they are devoted Catholics already speaks volumes so what is some superstitions right?


   

He's Back!

As expected, 9 days came and gone and now my other half is back and I am complete again. hehehe

His chipped tooth was removed but due to time constraints, he can't get his teeth fixed so he has to do it in Singapore. So for the mean time, senyum manis.... =P

 Jhon didn't bring his ez-link card so had to use the standard ticket. I very the suaku and the card looks cute.

I also managed to satisfy my craving of the Chicken Salad at Istanbul Gourmet.

After the late lunch, I followed Jhon home to keep his luggage and we walked back to my place to pass me clothes he bought for me and my nephews. Mean while, selfie time! It's so unlike me but the new handphone and feeling physically good about myself helps. =p

I look like a bug eyed chipmunk but that's how I look so... accept aje lah.

   

We'll Never Be Royals...

Like Lorde sang;

"And we'll never be royals (royals)
It don't run in our blood
That kind of lux just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler)
You can call me queen bee
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule
Let me live that fantasy"

BUT on our wedding day, it's a chance for us to be King and Queen for a day.

Jhon and I are pretty adamant on neutral and/or pastel colors for our dais/ pelamin for 1 big reason. To have a sweet and simple atmosphere but with a wedding outfit color that packs a punch. Specifically, a royal color.

Royal Blue

[Pinterest - Veronica Levchenko]

[Pinterest - Pilo M]

Royal Purple

[Pinterest - berina]

[Pinterest - Megan Curran]

Royal Red/ Dark Red

[Popsugar]

[aliexpress]

Royal Green / Emerald Green

[1-moda]

[dhgate]

Personally, I love dark and deep colors on dresses because even if the design is simple, it still stands out. Plus, since both of our skin (especially me) are on the fair side, I think we can compliment the colors well. 

   

Leaving (not) on a Jetplane

I've just sent Jhon away this morning at the airport for his yearly 'balik kampung' trip. I did not follow this time because 'tengah nak save duit nak kahwin lah'. Especially Jhon had to visit his dentist there to fix his broken tooth (that's why he does not show his teeth when he smiles in photos lately), he will be spending a lot in this trip.

I am jealous because his sister just gave birth to a a very cute baby boy and EVERYONE said little Jayden looked like Jhon as a baby. I wanna see in real life!

I also can't wait to see official baby photos taken by Jhon while he is there.
OUR future baby suppose to look like this ah... Not more China genes please. I want Spanish genes pulak. lol

Anyways, Jhon will be away for 9 days which is the shortest trip there. Mostly because he didn't make full use of the Chinese New Year holidays like he usually does and leave 'pun kena' save for wedding. =P

Meantime, this is what I will do until he comes back.

lol Okay, maybe not so miserable to a point I am just staring out the drain window but definitely staying indoors and do couch potato things.

   

Snow City in Singapore 2016

This is the second time Jhon and I went to Snow City and the place had improved a little since 2011.
[read old post here]

This time around, we went with my bro's family and Syazan, It's basically the same family we always hang out with lah. hehe It was the first time for everyone else and I could not wait to see how the kids would react.

We first entered an small area with cool ice sculptures all around with a mini ice slide. This is also the beginning of our enormous collection of photo tickets. Bertepek you know?

.After exiting the room, we find ourselves to a small area of more displays and just to the right of it was the 3-storey snow slide.

Me and my over sized gloves

 
It was as fun as I remembered it and as usual, I slid as many times as I could.

Syihab looked scared here but he was actually very cold. It was the cutest thing (also kesian lah). He was shivering, there was even ice down his pants and his nose was red but he still wanted to play with the snow.

The place now also has a second storey but it had limited displays and clearly had more room for improvement. Other improvements I would love to see was finer snow and they need to have timed snow fall to make the experience more fun. Just like at 2 Degree Ice Art  Jhon and I went last year.

Family portrait.

Syazan with his biggest white smile.

And of course, Jhon and I and we were looking forward to see the snow mobile again so we can take a photo for nostalgic reasons.

4 years difference between photos and we looked so different. To be specific, old.... espcially Jhon. lol Maybe in 4 years time, we should come again and do the same pose again. hehe

Anyways, everyone had a wonderful time and that's all that matters. I bet it was a nice experience for everyone to experience bedek snow. Guess how much my bro spent on 9 photos? 99 freaking dollars man! And we had already skimmed way more than that with the photos we actually took.
I guess it's the disadvantages of going with a group especially a family because you just can't resist the photos.

Seriously Snow City, you should either charge lesser for entry tickets or charge WAY LESSER for your photos.

So if you ever visit Snow City, just be prepared for the photo charges lah eh.