Wedding: the dress

For me, and for most other gals out there, the dress was one of the most important details of my wedding day (apart from the actual getting married bit of course!). I never really went into things with a dream dress in mind, but I knew I wasn't too keen to go and spend a fortune on a run of the mill dress from a wedding shop, or get one custom made and wait ages for it to be created. After lots of searching online I came across a San Patrick Calais dress hugely discounted as it was a sample, and bought it thinking it was the one for me.

The dress arrived and it looked good, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't the dress for me. It was an absolutely stunning design and looked amazing on lots of other brides, but I couldn't get over the fact that it was strapless (strapless wedding gowns are not my favourite) and it felt a bit modern for my tastes. So even though I already had a dress, I kept looking. They say when deciding on your wedding day look you should stick to what you know, and something told me that I needed to go vintage to feel most myself. After spending a few hours trawling Etsy one day and saving lots of dresses to my favourites, I almost had a heart attack when I discovered this gem.

I know brides don't really like revealing what they spent on their dress but I am going to be honest here. This dress of my dreams was only about $250. I couldn't believe my eyes. My mother said she thought it could arrive and be a bit tattered, but I decided to take the chance and buy it. It was after all a perfect fit for me and the perfect shape.

And so soon after the dress arrived. My pulse was racing as I unpacked it, hoping that it would be as lovely as it was in the photos. It was even better. The most delicate rose-patterned lace, with a sweetheart neckline and intricate beading around the edges. The bodice finished in an almost peplum skirt, with the lace's natural pattern forming a scalloped hem. And then the most stunning pleated tulle falling from under the lace to the floor, with multiple layers underneath.

The only issue was that due to the dress' age, there were a handful of small tears in the lace. Also an earlier owner had attempted to shorten the sleeves by cutting at the lace, resulting in a jagged and frayed edge that really let down the dress. I contacted Kate from On a Whim Design to see what she could do to help salvage the sleeves. Though she is a designer first and foremost, she agreed to help redo the sleeves and the end result of her hard work was fabulous. She managed to find a very close lace match and completely reconstructed the sleeves.

After finding this dress, I really do feel that it's worth waiting to find your dream gown. I felt so 'me' when wearing it and I never wanted to take it off. And that's how it's meant to be.

p.s. I followed suit with just about every other bride right now and bought a customised 'Mrs Papain' coat hanger to hang my dress for the big day. You need to have a bit of cheesiness sometimes!!

photographer: Christine Lim / dress: Bohemian Bisoux Vintage / coat hanger: Exclusively You

Wedding: something old, something new

You might not believe this but deciding on my "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" for the wedding was incredibly hard. I had already planned my outfit down to a tee before I remembered this rhyme tradition, so it was hard to fit in extra things to make it work. I am not a superstitious person but for some reason I felt I just couldn't ignore having these components as part of my bridal outfit.

The first two were easy, being things I had already planned on wearing. My "something old" was the vintage wedding dress I wore (more on that in a later post). My "something new" was the pair of patent gold Mollini shoes that were way modern compared to my dress but seemed to fit right in.

The "something borrowed" was a whole lot harder. I didn't have any family heirlooms waiting to be cracked out, I was too particular to borrow someone else's veil, and I am not really one for much jewellery. But then by a stroke of magic things just fell into place - the earrings I had originally bought to wear were too blingy when I tried them on with my dress. Around the same time my grandmother sadly passed away, and I knew I really wanted to try to incorporate something of hers into the day to remember her by. My mother dug up a pair of pearl earrings surrounded by symmetric silver petals of my grandmother's, and they were absolutely perfect. So they formed my "something borrowed".

Though we were not having a church wedding, I knew I also wanted to have some kind of religious symbol hidden in my outfit to honour the faith that comes from both sides of our families. That was when my mother dug up another treasure - a small medallion of the Virgin Mary she had since she was a child. Even better was the fact that it was blue, so my "something blue" category was also crossed off. I pinned the medallion to my bouquet as a secret little detail, and it made me smile to know I had it as part of my day.

Has anyone else had the same challenge finding things that fit in with this old superstition? Or do you know what you would choose for your wedding day if you're yet to be married?

photographer: Christine Lim / dress: Bohemian Bisoux Vintage / shoes: Mollini

One month on

leaving the town hall after our ceremony / with my parents and siblings / my three lovely bridesmaids / stopping for a photo outside a secondhand bookshop

It is so crazy to think that five weeks have already passed since the wedding! Parts of the day I can remember so clearly and others feel like a complete blur. For example, I know that at this exact time five weeks ago I was having rollers put in my hair and the bridesmaids' makeup had already begun. But I can barely remember walking down the aisle - so strange! It's also a weird feeling to have been planning something nonstop and then go to nothing straight after. I find myself still looking on wedding blogs for inspiration and scheming more ideas before I remember that I am already married, silly!

But I look back on the whole experience with a fondness that I hope will last a lifetime. The whole process leading up to the day was one of the funnest times of my life so far and the actual event was so full of love. I am really excited to get our photos back at the end of the month and really break the whole thing down in detail. I was so secretive about the details because I wanted our guests to be surprised but now I am well and truly ready to spill!

In the meantime, here are a few more instagram snaps to tide you over until we get the real photos. And I am keen to know - if you are married, how did you deal with the adjustment to your pace post-big-day?