Dear all, please take time to read :)

Firstly, I'd like to thank all readers who've been supporting my blog. I hope you find the information and tips I have shared useful to you.

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My partner and I have a dream, a dream to create an apparel brand that signifies kinship and family bonding, something we adore and very much believe, and thus the creation of My Dear, Amber. With months of planning and execution, we finally think we're ready to launch.

We have a long route ahead of us to achieve our dream and it will be delightful if you can be part of our journey. We will greatly appreciate if you can support our cause by Liking us on My Dear, Amber’s facebook page: and subscribe to our newsletter either through our facebook page or livejournal shop. :)

Do share our facebook page around too if you may, otherwise we are glad you spared some of your precious time on us and we would like to express our sincere thanks.

Thank you all for taking time to read this and hope you may find something you fancy!

Love,
Eric and Carol
My Dear, Amber

Things to note

We have finally decided on a montage and first march in song!

Montage: Javier Colon feat. Natasha Beddingfield - As Long As We Got Love

First March In: K-CI & Jojo - All My Life

Songs that have yet to be decided on are the solemnisation song (to be played before I enter with my dad in hand) and the banquet playlist. I'll update again when I have a more complete list.

Usually COMPASS license of the song played in your wedding montage is covered by the videographer you have hired. But not for the other songs played publicly. Do check to see if your videographer has it covered in your agreement. You wouldn't want to be caught and charged $600 on your wedding day. :(

As for the other songs (banquet, solemnisation playlist), the venues you have booked (hotels or restaurants) have an album of songs which they already possess licenses for playing publicly. Do check with your banquet or solemnisation venue on the songs they have. Should they not have the songs you want, you may burn the songs into a CD but do bring along the originals. I wouldn't risk it on my big day.

While we're on this, some venues are more "stingy" with lending their audio and video equipments. These lead to hidden costs if you're not aware of it. I have seen cases of when a banquet hall actually has 2 projectors but have only stated 1 projector to be used for FREE in your agreement. Be very sure and specific when going through the agreement with your banquet coordinator.

Things I asked for my banquet:
1) Usage of ALL projectors/screens
2) Usage of audio equipments
3) Reserved tables (You'll never know how many people are not gonna turn up at the very last minute)
4) Choice of flowers and decorations (They usually have themes you can pick from)
5) Children to be allowed to squeeze in with their parents without being charged as an additional head count
6) 2 Mixes of a dish to be allowed, half spicy, the other non-spicy for the crowd. Especially when my father and brother can't take any spicyness.
7) Helpers room
8) Discounted rates for additional rooms
9) Corkage waiver (This is another hidden cost if you're not careful)
10) Complimentary parking coupons
11) Use of their angbao boxes
12) Food tasting, any choice of day and time (Some only allow weekdays/lunch time)
13) 2 Nights of stay for the bride and groom
14) Food be served to our room after everything's over
15) 2 VIP lots
16) Free usage of function room for solemnisation
17) Printing of wedding poster
18) Red carpet (Some venues actually charge you for this!)
19) Rehearsal
20) Early check-in
21) Late check-out
22) Breakfast in bed the following day
23) Credit card promotions (I'll cover more on this later)
24) Canapes and drinks to be served during reception (Some charge a whooping $42 per platter of 10 canapes. That's daylight robbery!) Do check if they allow external caterers for that.

Some credit card promotions are valid for payment of the down payment while others, require you to pay the entire banquet cost with a certain credit card. I was lucky enough to get a good deal. I only paid my downpayment with UOB card and am paying the remainder with Standard Chartered Manhattan World.

(I can't believe I'm advertising this even though they've pissed me off with a big mix up in my credit card application. Still pissed but hey, at least they've corrected it.)

Let me do the math for you. You may receive maximum $200 rebate per quarter for a minimum sum of $3000 charged to your card a month. (That's capped at 5%, $200 per quarter when you meet $3000 in expenditure in a month)

Lets say each banquet table costs $1000 after all prevailing taxes and service charges, 30 tables in total.

Total cost: $1,000 x 30 tables = $30,000

And you've already paid $5000 for down payment upon booking your banquet.

After downpayment: $30,000 - $5,000 = $25,000

Your HTB and you both sign up for Manhattan World. That makes you eligible for $400 in total rebates per quarter. If you start paying 1 year in advance (some venues allow accumulated payments before your big day), that makes it $200 x 4 quarters per year x 2 credit cards = $1,600.

After rebates: $30,000 - $1,600 = $28,400

Average cost per table: $28,400 / 30 tables = $946.67

While these calculations apply to mine, it may not necessarily apply to all venues. Please check with Standard Chartered and your banquet coordinator for best payment method. :)

Hope these information helps!

Wedding Day Itinerary Draft

I know there's BOUND to be changes. But here's a rough guide to my wedding day's itinerary. We will be having our ROM on the same day. The solemnizer I have picked would be Mr Chan Kai Yau, the solemnizer who wedded my brother.

0530 - Bridesmaids arrive at Bride's place to get ready for gate crash
0600 - Makeup artist arrives at Bride's place
0700 - Groom arrives at Bride's place with grooms men
0800 - Go to 1st destination for photoshoot
0900 - Arrive at Groom's place for tea ceremony
1000 - Go to our place to eat eggs, change into tea dress, etc
1100 - Arrive back at Bride's place for tea ceremony
1200 - Buffet lunch at Bride's place (I'm not intending to let anyone starve that day!)
1330 - Arrive at hotel for early check in
1730 - Solemnizer arrive
1800 - Start solemnization
1830 - Change to evening makeup
1900 - Guests start arriving
1930 - Groom joins crowd
2000 - Guests get seated
2015 - First march in
2030 - Play montage
2100 - Change outfit
2130 - Second march in
2200 - Champagne toast (Not sure if there's gonna be a thank you speech)
2230 - Photo taking
2300 - End the night :)

- To be updated!

Slim Spa

Hello ladies, I'm back to update you guys on my weight loss project I've blogged about awhile back.

Slim Spa has got to be the most expensive, most useless slimming product I have ever used in my life.

Why the sudden change of tone? The slimming effects stopped after 2 weeks, at 3kg weight loss. And then it just came crashing back from then. I even put back on 2kg ON TOP of what I started with. That's terrible.

I also suffered very severe gastric pains from the poor instructions of when to take the pills given on the slimming product box. Even though I wasn't sure I was seeing better results after the initial weight loss, I pressed on. I really needed to lose that few kilos before the wedding shoot.

I fell very ill after finishing the products. Severe headaches/migraines and gastric pains haunted me for 2 weeks. I lost 5kg because of that.

Blessing or not, I did manage to fit very nicely into my gowns. I didn't even need to go in from bottom-up. But it all came at a price.

Well, ladies who are just as desperate as I was, who are putting on weight despite trying every means to lose them, I feel your pain. I really do.

While I understand fully that results differ from each individual, I wanted a proper explanation as to why I piled on extra weight even on a slimming product that failed to achieve weight loss for me. And the burning sensation I get in my stomach that makes me burp and barf all the time. So I tried calling SlimSpa to complain about their products. Their reply was that I should try their detox products for a month before attempting to use the rest of the slimming product line.

Was the experience worth $360+? It was worth it. Now I know never to introduce ANYONE to SlimSpa unless they want disappointments.