Photo-picking I- 6 hours

We made another uncountable visit to the bridal studio close to 3 wks after our photo shoot. Appointment was 12/27- 2-6pm, expecting to be done in 4 hours, GEE! Our goal is to pick only 54 photos! From 400 photos, we narrowed down to 80 photos in 2 hrs, which didn't seem too bad. But..... Narrowing down to our goal was tougher than ever! Selecting 30 for album-printing was a bigger challenge, even the photographer and his assistant has a tough time deciding which to include. We spent 6 hours on our 1st pitch.

Next up:
1/10 (2pm)- 修片-Photo alterations
2/20 (2pm)- Wedding day: dress picking

Wedding studio photo- sneak peeks revealed~~~
PS: We didn't pick any of the above, and took a couple photos secretly~ for wedding blog writing purposes.

Photo Shoot~II

Our 2nd-go the following wednesday~ we've become more experienced~
Arrived @ 10am for my make-up session~ and Cliff showed up when I'm almost ready! Waiting patiently for Cliff~ as he gets his makeup & hair done

After 3 hours of studio shoot... it's 3pm! Cliff heads out to buy us lunch as I change into my evening gown for the outdoor shoot.

By the time we arrived @ the mountain... it was one foggy afternoon & skies darken..

the darkness inspired our photographer of the "Dark Knight"... Turned on the car lights & continued for another full hour.

Photo Shoot~I

Dec 4th was our scheduled photo shoot. it turned out to be one of the coldest days of the week!
Make-up began before 8am that day, and Cliff had 30mins to get his hair set!
1st set of white gown~ and ready to leave Getting changed at the carpark >_< for the 2nd set

We ended the day earlier than expected... since it turned dark by the time we arrived at Yang Ming mountain. Cliff was much better at posing... and the photographer nearly gave up on me! argh! Taking photos didn't turn out as fun as expected. mosquito bites, staying frozen for minutes...no bathroom break... late late lunch..

Our 2nd go is scheduled for this weds~ to complete the shoot! Wish me luck!

Engagement Sneak Peeks

8am: Getting ready 10:40am: 1st part of the ceremony included offering tea~ and 2nd part was sitting on a high chair waiting to exchange gifts and rings 11am: Family portrait after the traditional ceremony12.30pm: Making our 1st entrance
It only took us 15 mins for a dress switch & we're ready to make our 2nd entrance~ thanks to Jasmine
Lighting candles at every table

We're Engaged!

Tada! I'm still feeling shy about revealing my outrageous UP-do~but... here it is!Nov 15th, 2009 went by in a swift! Many friends asked if I slept well the night before the engagement, and yes, I replied. Cliff and I worked on our "growing up" & "daily life" slideshow and I must have been too exhausted to stay awake. After snoozing my alarm twice, it's time to hop on the cab @ 7.30am for the make-up appointment. The video grapher showed up @ 8, photographer came at 8.30am, Jasmine arrived @ 9~ and morning was filled with my enchanted ring tone. We finally arrived @ Sherwood by 10am, headed up to the suite 1014~ but no one was there.. Jas & I headed down to the engagement ballroom, ran into the Emcee - my cousin Olivia, and I was told.... the bride-to-be has to hide out! Cliff & family arrived at a well coordinated 10:10am, welcomed by my brother- which is part of the chinese tradition. I'll spend some time later on, describing Traditions 103, once I received photos from all over!

Anyway, the 10.30am traditional engagement ceremony delayed for about 15mins and ended quicky~ I headed back to the suite for a short break, time passed and it was soon 12.30pm, the doorbell rang and, appeared the bridal secretary & Cliff. We weren't feeling anxious as we waited by the door, for our 8 min growing up slideshow & the right musical moment to enter the ballroom. As we followed 3 pairs of hotel personnel down the aisle, all I could remember was bubbles in the air & being in the spotlight. All happened in a blink of the eye. We are engaged, part of my family's reluctance to the fact of "marrying off" their precious daughter & sister is probably dissolved.

7 days to our Engagement

It was another busy weekend, a fresh start of my Sat morning involved some cheerleading at work's annual sports day! Rushed back to taipei, finalized flower corsages @ the florist, & did a final run down with Joyce @ Sherwood hotel. We tested the music I picked for our 1st entrance, our slideshow & the growing-up video we worked on through the night. My cousin Olivia~ our Emcee also joined us for the meeting and did a rehearsal walking down the "imagined" red carpet. My pre-conceived notions of an engagement has completely turned 180 degrees. After our long meeting, we have to give ourselves a treat!
Back to Smith & Hsu for some tea "sniffin"~

Dress Try-outs

Standing & giving rounds of speeches @ our opening day of the Creativity Lab exhibit, I hopped on the shuttle, and off to high speed rail station. Caught the 5.30 train & made it just in time to Western Studio Design in taipei. Jasmine & my mum had already arrived! Gobbled down my MOS burger, we headed on upstairs, being served by Shu-hua, a new gown assistant. We're not supposed to take any photos, but we broke the rules and secretly took a couple until they found out!

Color & bow was my style~~but the top resembled a pair of minnie mouse's ears! Off it goes~white gown with strings of roses down the side~ this was the exact same dress I tried on during the 2nd try-out.
Purple Flora babydoll dress~ i liked but didn't make my final decision on it!

Engagement Luncheon Preparation

I've put a pause on wedding planning since the Engagement luncheon is less than 2 weeks away!The weekend right after S'pore was packed fully with pre-meetings with Joyce (our sherwood sales-representative). It's all coming down to details~

Nov 15th, 2009 (Sunday)

10.30 -11am Ceremony

12 noon Luncheon

Right after our meeting with Joyce, we headed on to Smith & Hsu~ where little glass bottles with No. & name of the tea leaves are carried out in a tray before we make our order.

Scones with lemon curd, cream cheese, tea & sandwiches made my day!

My to-do List run down:

1) Timely schedule of the engagement ceremony & the luncheon

2) Table seating arrangements

3) Write a Speech for our guests

4) Video-making

5) Burn my music on a CD

6) Communicating with the video-photographer

7) Final run-down with our Emcee

8) Dress-fitting & measurements

9) Final meeting with Joyce @ Sherwood 11/7- 3pm

10) Photo shoot-dress-picking -this Weds! 11/4- 7pm

Packing up for a short break

Engagement & Wedding planning has been on hold recently, as I wait patiently for the engagement invitations to be ready & holding our 1st meeting with engagement planner at Sherwood hotel. Taking a break from all the planning is so important and I'm desperately in need of one. As I count down my weekend trip to S'pore this weekend~ and continue wedding planning after I return. Studio shoot dress picking will be Oct 27th~!

P2oodle found a comfy spot right on my luggage! & ready to fly off with me! byee!

Make-up trial

Once the hungry ghost festival (which lasts for an entire July: Lunar calendar) ends, weddings are held right after. Joyce, our sales invited us to visit the actual decor of the ballroom right before a wedding is held on an auspicious saturday morning.

With the recommendation by Debbie, we made an appointment with J-video for photography & videography for the engagment. Nov 15th is considered the MOST auspicious wedding/ engagement day in 2009... so most bridal secretaries (for makeup & hair) have already been booked. J-video has a partnered bridal secretary, which I made an appointment for a trial make-up. As I sat patiently getting my makeup & hair done, cliff and my mum checked out J-video's photos & videos. Cliff had a smurk on his face when he saw the heavy make-up. I also noticed everyone looking at me while I took the subway home...Photo is attached below, What do you'll think?

We ended up signing a contract for just the photography & videography. As for the bridal secretary, I 'll have to look online again, and start calling each of them~

Wedding Invites

Though I came across wedding invites by Erin Jang on designsponge.com, which I really really like.. I do not have the courage to enquire the possibility of her designing our wedding invitations and sending them over all the way from New York.

I spent some time last week, downloaded the 30 day trial of Adobe illustration- in order to design my work-namecard LOGO. The name card at Creativity Lab has 2 sides- 1 formal and 1 creative side - which is the one I've worked on. Don't forget and ask me for a new name card, this November, when it's ready as I don't usually hand out cards to friends.

Opps, that reminds me that I totally forgot about celebrating my 1 yr anniversary @ Creativity Lab on 9.16.2009! Anyway, I also dreamed about designing our wedding invitation, but work will be hectic, there is still so much to do!

So, we went on to a cute little store "POPPY" wedding invitations, with my mum and Cliff, picked out 2 sets of cards in no time, unlike the other couple who had at least 5 cards on the table, and were still deciding, after we left!

Prior to Pre-Dress picking II @ 7pm- we took mum closeby to a Japanese restaurant- with Fresh Soba & Udon~ which was simply fulfilling. Dress Fitting was done at the 2F of the studio, Cliff went parking while I went ahead and begun fitting. Kaka- our gown specialist had already lined up a few dresses in the fitting room. 1st up was - (1) light blue chiffon (2)bright red with flowers on the waist-line (3) Burgundy gown- white gown with roses lined from the waist-down (4) pink with silver sequins and silver ribbon by the waist (4) grey +shiny gems (5) yellow with black ribbon. So, I liked the white gown the most, but it's not suitable for an engagement.... so, I ended up picking burgundy (red wine), which, from right up, I said NO NO to a red dress. Since both cliff & mum nodded... One red dress wouldn't kill.

1st Dress-picking

Upon receiving a call from Western design studio-'s Emma, I was told that i was scheduled at 7pm for engagement-dress picking! Gee... we've been miscommunicating via email all this time, right from the beginning. It's a work day... and I'm an hour away..

Anyway, I hopped on the high speed rail right after work, grabbed a burger and headed over just in time. Since I had only asked for 1 dress for the engagement luncheon, we estimated to complete in 1 hr. But it took 2.5 hrs... and worst of all, still undecided!

We communicated on the style, color of my preference and Kaka- gown assistant went on searching for appropriate dresses. More than 15 dresses has been eliminated.

I figured I'll be dead tired last night, but I flipped & turned all night. 2nd appointment has been made, this Sat, for more dress try-outs! Fingers crossed!

Wedding Date & Location *finalized*

We've finally signed the contract with Grace Hill over this past weekend.
April 10th, 2009- Ceremony + Dinner banquet

Coming up in the next few months:
1) 1st round- engagement dress picking- Sept 16th '09
2) 2nd round of Dress picking ---to be rescheduled----
3) Studio shoots -Dec 4th'09
4) Engagement & Wedding invitations
5) Engagement+ wedding -Video making
6) Meeting with Grace Hill's wedding planner -Dec'09
7) Guest lists
8) Choosing -Photo-video-graphy
9) Honeymoon planning

Engagement Planning

Engagement ceremony will be held in the morning, followed by luncheon, according to chinese traditions. It was meant to be a smaller party, with just close relatives of under 50 people, and having a larger wedding.

Since we chose to hold the wedding at Grace Hill, the number of tables is very limited (25 and under). Thus, we chose to hold a larger engagement party (hosted by my family) in order to accomodate most relatives from my side of the family.

So, for the past few weekends, I've ran around places with my parents, grandparents for venue searching! From Regent, Grand Hyatt, World Trade Conference 33..... most auspicious dates were already booked! We were lucky to have found Sherwood Hotel, their ballroom can only fit 144 guests and our estimated guest list will just fit perfectly~

Engagement Date: Nov 15th, 2009

***For friends living abroad: If you are travelling around Asia during Nov, let me know~

Grace Hill- Meal Tasting

Prior to visiting Grace Hill at 6.30pm for meal- tasting event with cliff & his parents. I skipped the formal dinner held after the IAF conference for a visit to Grand Hyatt and later on to Grace Hill.

Upon arriving at Grace Hill, we were seated, had name cards and the menu printed on gold paper~ More than 6 courses were served, and we were given a tour of various facilities once again. Grace Hill in the night time had a more romantic feel, while candles flicker along the steps..etc.. Whoo, I was glad that the meals turned out delish~ and cliff's parents seem more inclined to choosing Grace hill over Hyatt.

Traditions 102: Meet the Parents

Both sides' our parents, the "matchmaker", Cliff & I met over lunch on 8/22~ So, I learned about the tradition that Cliff's parents have to formally come over and ask my parents to marry me off, with the assistance of the "matchmaker"... sounds strange to me.

We didn't meet via a "matchmaker" and I did kind of say yes, after the proposal...

I figured, if Cliff came over and ask for my dad's permission, that should be fine~ but Nope, we followed traditions 102.

We met and had lunch at 鴻廚 ~a restaurant instead of meeting at my parent's. There was nothing special other than daily conversations and slight discussions of tradition 101: wedding date, locations...etc

3 hours of lunch and off we went shopping for the wedding band. My parents have finally realized that some support should be shown via wedding planning, and to take some stress off my shoulders. We made a visit to potential wedding locations the very next day at 1) Grand Victoria 2) Grace Hill.

My mum in front of G.H

Wedding Studio Package

Wedding shoot (2 sets of gown+ evening dresses+ instudio make-up+ fresh flower bouquet)
Outdoor & studio shoots will be taken within a day starting from 8am~~hopefully 7pm
Date: 12/4/09 ( Fri)

Engagement- 1 evening dress ( instead of the usual 2!), I'll rather enjoy my meal~

Wedding day-Bridal Gown & 2 evening dresses
I'm also planning on 1 gown & just 1 evening dress for the night, but we'll see if it'll be ok to break the regular taiwanese wedding traditions that the bride walks the red carpet 3 times in 3 dresses!

Traditions 101: Choosing a Wedding Date

Choosing a wedding date is a major decision in all cultures. Mywedding.com suggested couples to consider the summer/winter breaks in order for the convenience of friends/familiy's to travel over.

According to chinese traditions, choosing the wedding date involves combining the couple's (lunar calendar) birth-dates + birth-time, usually sent in to a "master" to select the "best" date for marriage. There's a high chance that if we followed this tradition, the "master" might give a wedding date for 2009 instead of our plans for our wedding in 2010! I've also heard that the date might even be on a weekday, rather than a weekend...

So it's decided, we'll not follow the entire chinese tradition. Choosing a relatively suitable date for marriage on the lunar calendar ( most calendars have detailed descriptions of - whether it's a good day for moving/ travel/ wedding/...etc). Various versions of the calendar are online, making it a lot more accessible.

Parents from both sides agreed, however, they are still contraditory when it comes to deciding a date. So, we've finalized.....In addition to selecting a "suitable date", we'll have to make sure our birth-year ( Year of the Rooster ) does not clash with the lunar calendar!

Western Design Studio~

Being recommended to visit a wedding studio with an "experienced" friend, someone who's married and knows the hooks on photography packages..etc. Emily was going to meet me at Chung-Shan North Rd (where the string of wedding studios are located in Taipei). Appointments were made but long story short, I didn't get to go with Emily.

While poodle spent time at the SPA, getting her full body scrub & hair cut, Cliff and I found time to check out one place~ Western Design: famous for british hand-made wedding gowns (英國手工婚紗) . OK, I didn't pin much hopes, as I'm still debating between the value placed between photography techniques V.S Choice of dresses. CH's photography style was common, so to speak, dresses are well liked by most taiwanese ladies (baroque, princess-like). Bridesmaid dresses from CH are only cream-colored, the common trend in Taiwan.... my 1st reaction was "gee what?!" since I promised my bridesmaids that some color- either pink/lilac/tiffany blue would be ideal.

Western studio on the other hand, has beautiful gowns, as for dresses.. I've been worried with the lack of choice. Photography: unique, with a focus on people, and the scenery as a backdrop. Sales: Emma offered to allow 2 dresses for try-ons right when we walked in, but I was in aw,"ok, so let's view the albums 1st, i said." After glancing photos on the computer screen, we went upstairs to view dresses and curtains closed as Emma helped me put on the "poof" gown, and then the 2nd gown "lace" with intricate gems~ and then to the 3rd "simple" gown, I requested. Gee, the dresses got tighter one after another, I'm wondering how I'm going to enjoy my wedding meal >_<" Also, bridesmaid dresses do have colors, but I haven't seen them. So, almost 3 hours was spent, and after coming down to details, it was a time for negotiation. Since Cliff liked most of the photographers' style, with one in particular that I really liked, we made our final decision! This particular photographer has been booked all the way till Nov'09.
*Our date has been set on 12/4/09~ weather will be perfect, cool, with autumn in the air~

Blings & Wedding Studio: C.H Wedding

Thanks to the Typhoon Holiday this past friday, meetings were cancelled and we drove back to Taipei in spite of the pouring rain and blazing winds, and had a stay-home-lazy afternoon off. Sat was 8/8- Father's Day, where P2oodle's spa was closed from Typhoon day-off and we both sent my dad off @ the bus terminal to the airport.

From Cartier, George Jensen, Tifanny's, to Hearts On Fire. We've shopped and looked around for a wedding band, wedding ring & necklace throughout Taipei. We've learned a great deal about diamond cuts...basic 4C's Clarity, Carat, Color, Carat weight.

Hopped on the yellow cab, and off we went on to our 1st visit at C.H wedding studio, closeby Cliff's home in Taipei. After being introduced by a sales lady, served with a cup of tea, we glanced through 8 large albums, were given a briefing on studio packages, taken upstairs for a peek at the wedding and evening dresses. The sales lady tried figuring out my style and taste for dresses, which deemed as a major challenge.

http://www.c-hwedding.com/

2nd & 3rd spot- visited

Travelling up Yang Ming Mt to visit wedding locations were called off as a result of inconvenience, so we narrowed our search to Taipei-Neihu area. So, 2nd & 3rd Grand Victoria Hotel & Denwell banquet. We've ruled out Denwell right after we saw it.

Our visit to grand Victoria Hotel was on a hot sunny afternoon, just when the lobby was over crowded with guests saying good-byes after the wedding banquet. It was an auspicious day to get married. Couples in Taiwan usually picks a suitable wedding date that are matched between their birthdays and the lunar calendar.

Grand Victoria, one of the contemporary hotels offers 2 banquet halls to which one of which parents will prefer, as it is a hotel (grand ambience) offering up to 450 guests ( 38 tables) ! The garden & patio, plus convenience for foreign guests makes it hard for me to decide between Grace Hill and Victoria. Another concern with Victoria, are the negative reviews online: poor service & snobbish attitude, in comparison to Grace Hill. Our initial contact was with sales, they seemed somehow less professional in comparison to other sites we've visited. It's simply a struggle trying to find the perfect location: to please guests of all ages, parents..!

Visiting our 1st wedding site

An appointment to Grace Hill was made over the phone, and were told that it'll take 1.5 hrs for the visit. As we headed there, a number of couples were also checking the place out. It's more of an unconventional wedding venue, with outdoor reception areas, indoor dining, a church-like building for ceremonies to be held compared to most hotel weddings in Taiwan. Parents/Asian parents seem to care more about the grand ambience of a hotel wedding and basically dislike my idea of a garden party~ One limitation of Grace Hill is the limited number of tables (ie: limited no. of guests we can invite). Since this is only the first visit, we'll visit some hotels in Taipei and figure out our options.

When Cliff Met Peiya

The first time I met Peiya, was actually not on the plane, but in front of Martha Cook, the all-girls dorm in University of Michigan. My friend Albert, who barely knew Peiya at that time, asked to enter the all-girls dorm to use the bathroom. Fortunately, Peiya was kind enough to let the weirdo in..that's the first time I could remember seeing her.

When I really got to know Peiya was in Jan 2000. Right after attending my cousin's wedding, I hopped onto the plane back to Ann Arbor. On the AA transfer flight from LA to Chicago, I was sitting by the window, reading my 侯文詠散文集, when destiny fell right in my lap. Well, technically, she sat beside me.

For some reason, I knew she was Taiwanese, and I had seen her somewhere (I have seen her before!), but I just couldn't remember who she was (where did I see her?), I wanted to know her name, I NEEDed to know her name! Being the shy guy... I didn't dare ask her name. Just as I was still frantically trying to squeeze every last bit of my memory out, she got up, and went to the restroom.

OK. So my memory failed me, so what, my brain was still working. The pretty girl had stuffed her plane ticket stub into the front seat pocket. Ahh yes... remember kids, never ever stuff personal info into front seat pockets. They get stolen, by people like Cliff.

Peiya Liao. Aha! Yes, the girl I've seen once in Martha Cook. She's my friends' classmates; she's Taiwanese, who lived in Singapore before, just like I did; and she's the most beautiful girl I've ever met in my life. OK, so now I'll just have to wait for her to come back from the restroom. I'll take a deep breath, introduce myself (hey didn't we meet before... blah blah blah), it'll be easy, we have common topics, it shouldn't be that difficult. Well, the thing is, she never came back to her seat. She just disappeared.

Luckily for me, I found her sitting by herself, during the transit in Chicago. So, I took a deep breath, introduced myself (oh hi! Peiya?) as if I knew her. She told me she wasn't feeling well, which explained leaving her seat for business class. We didn't talk much, we didn't have that much time, she wasn't in the mood to talk either. Later on, after we arrived in DTW, I offered to help with her luggage, which was jam packed with dumplings. Peiya the Polite told me I could get some from her afterwards (which I gleefully said SURE!).

That's how we met. And I'm sticking to it.

When Peiya met Cliff

We have two versions of the story of how we met.

Here's my part: It was the end of winter break '99, on American Airlines from LA to Detroit. Found my seat right in the middle of 2 guys, an asian boy in MICHIGAN t-shirt reading a chinese book sitting by the window. "He looked familiar, probably Taiwanese", I thought at the back of my mind. I took my seat, and felt really sick right after I took the seat. A kind air stewardess offered me a seat at business class, grabbed my bag and left! Upon arrival at the Detroit airport, Cliff came up to me at the luggage claim, offering some assistance. I had two HUGE luggages, and Cliff wondered what was in it, since I flew in from LA instead of Taiwan. It was frozen handmade dumplings from LA and of course, I offered some. He was kind to offer me a ride back to Martha Cook, but, another mentor was picking me up.. From then on, we became friends in college, as we both took Japanese language, by coincidence.
A birthday wish via email reignited our conversation again after busy college days. We met again in Japan 2005~ during my stopover from to NY to Taiwan. Our cyberspace communication lasted while I worked in New York and while Cliff studied graduate school in Japan.

Big apple proposal

As I made my trip back to New York after completion of the KAI certification course, Cliff arrived and joined me for a short NY summer vacation. We met up with friends, my ex-coworkers and re-visited places when Cliff visited me in back in winter 2006 while I worked in NY. Central Park, one of my favorite places in NY was when he popped the question!