She says: Behind the Scene – First Hand Experience

Although I have been married for almost 3 weeks now, I am still loving the wedding and its process. I guess I have found an avenue to merge my love for design, beautiful things and people. I love working with different characters and create different looks for specific people. Fingers crossed that I could do this for a living!

Anyway, I just want to share from my own experience during the whole wedding process from planning to the execution as well as the aftermath.

In my opinion the most exciting time of the whole wedding process is : THE PLANNING. Because it’s the time you let your imagination run wild, time to dream and be excited about your wedding!

A crucial advice for hands-on bride, like myself, try to finish everything at least 2 days before your wedding. These 2 days is crucial for transition from a wedding planner to the bride itself. Meaning, don’t let the details of the actual day divert your attention  from the importance of the event itself. It is your own wedding day. Don’t let your attention be scattered by the decor that you missed every second of your ceremony. I was talking to myself.

Nobody warned me about this. I didn’t have that transition from ” Wedding Planner/Decorator/Designer” to “the Bride”. My mind was still working as the wedding planner. Thank God Lily was there to help me to coordinate. It eased my mind by half. Make sure you delegate all the planning and vendor coordination to your AD coordinator 1-2 days before. I know it was hard to let go, but you gotta do it.

My make up artist and videographer asked me to relax and I can’t because I skipped this transition. My mind was too pre-occupied with a lot of thing that I even forget to put my veil down during the march in! But I manage to salvage the situation somehow. Allow a transition time to switch from “the wedding planner” to “the bride”.

When you choose to do an outdoor wedding, you need to be prepared for the unexpected. We didn’t expect the flower arrangement or even flower bouquet to attract bees. But it did. Bees were swarming and hovering over my bouquet and the table arrangement. I was mortified! Some of you was wondering what was I doing flagging my bouquet during march in! Yeah, I tried to shoo the bees!

Another thing to take note is read your contract well! Every single details, especially about the payment and responsibility. The post-outdoor event was such a headache for us and the helpers. The security guards keep demanding for cleaning up of the venue on the exact day. It boils down to the vendor’s prior agreement to clean up the venue. Make sure your vendor knows what to do after the party!

Every wedding will have its own drama. The more organized, the less drama. But don’t be afraid of the drama, it makes the wedding more memorable! We had our drama during the second march-in. Will not go into details, but please settle all money payment before your dinner start. Make sure you know the charges for everything, including the ampule, hair setting, etc.

Learn to smile and find your best angle! I learned that during my photoshoot in Taiwan but somehow totally forget about it during the actual day. My smile was more often awkward than natural!