Wedding Guide Asia

Jon shirtless... you can't take the Kuching outta the boy!:)

In Malaysia, it’s not unusual for students to be sent abroad during their teenage years to further their education and get a taste of what life is like in the western world. Having grown up in Kuching, I saw the bulk of my classmates move down under to Australia (I, the anomaly, was sent to N.Z!) and some to England. The irony of it all, was that I found many of them would somehow end up dating fellow Malaysians albeit been miles away from home. Well, why not – after all only another Malaysian will ever get what it is to be ‘truly asia’ ;)

Jonathan Jong is my classmate’s older brother and we all used to hangout when back in Kuching for the xmas hols. I can still remember when he met the lovely Sylvia Tan, years and years ago, while they were studying in the U.K. Be it a case of Kuching boy charms Penang girl, after nearly a decade their love story took a walk down the aisle and around the world as they got married in 4 different places! Enjoy.

Club Med Kanifinolhu (or Kani for short!)

Everyone dreams of a wedding in the Maldives. And there are so many nice resorts – which one did you end up choosing?
JJ: Maldives is made up of thousands of islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We stayed in Club Med Kanifinholu which occupied its own island.
ST: Our chalets looked out to the sea. We would wake to the soft lapping of the waves and venture into the pristine beaches on our doorstep with barely another island in sight. Perfect!

We heard you had four weddings!
ST: We had a registration ceremony in Cambridge where we first met, then exchanged our vows in the Maldives. This was followed by a church wedding in Kuching and a traditional Chinese wedding in Penang!
JJ: It was a good idea at the time but I should have realised that I now have four anniversaries each year!!

(more…)

Sylvia at her wedding to Jonathan - in the Maldives!

The Wedding stationery

I’ve always believed in the old adage that first impressions are the most important.  The wedding venue, dress, flowers and even miniscule details like best man gifts are often at the top of every bride’s priority list. Alas, many tend to forget that the first impression a couple makes on their wedding day – starts even before guests cast their eyes upon the gorgeous Vera Wang dress or savour the sumptuous ten-course meal. The wedding day begins from the moment the first wedding stationery is sent out.

I recalled a vivid memory of receiving a wedding invite from the most stylish couple I know. The invite came couriered, our names were handwritten and even the invitation card was flawlessly printed on crisp thick woven-pressed paper held together by a delectable cream and lavender ribbon. Everything was almost perfect, but as my eyes scrolled down the penmanship, there was not one but two grammatical errors. Unfortunately, most of us mortal souls cannot help it and still judge a book by its cover. Needless to say, that very stylish couple threw a very stylish party, yet that imprint of grammatical errors never left my mind throughout the whole wedding. It is amazing how the first impression can leave such a long after-effect.

The Wedding invite

A funky invite by Ohplay (wedding invite designers)

The wedding stationery is usually the first notion a couple makes that so publicly reflects their tastes and tenor of the wedding. The wedding stationery may include save-the-date cards, RSVP cards, thank-you notes and many more. However, most tend to concentrate on the actual wedding invite itself. Frequently, wedding invites are chosen based on the overall wedding theme i.e. a traditional Balinese wedding theme is often accompanied by Balinese styled invites. Most guests have seen enough of the ‘double-happiness’ logo on a red and gold card, or that very tacky invitation card with photos of the happy couple. If your guests need to be reminded of what you look like, then they probably should not be invited to the wedding!

There isn’t a right or wrong way to choose your wedding invite. However, the invitation cards should infer a sense of originality and imagination. Start out with the basics such as the colour of the background. Wedding does not necessarily mean ‘white’ or ivory only. Certain brides choose to express their sense of style through use of colour whether it is in the most vivacious burgundy or a subtle meadow green. The more traditional wedding invites are portrait and folded, but for the modern bride a simple square design is preferred.

Add on a few personal touches such as a decorative motif (imprints of hydrangeas or peonies to reflect your bridal flowers, motifs of seahorses for a beach wedding) or monograms of your initials may be used. Lastly, you may add on more decorative effect such as a delicate gross-grain ribbon or vintage lace as a binder. The stationers often charge a small fortune for such ribbons, therefore if you would like to save a few pennies, venture into the haberdashery, buy the ribbons in bulk and tie the invitation cards yourself.

Less is more for the wedding stationery. The more motifs or patterns there are, the more expensive it is to print. Hand-engraved wedding invitations with edging ribbons are also very costly. Therefore, my advice would be to keep the wedding stationery as simple as possible. If you approach only the wedding stationers, the mere mention of ‘wedding’ often doubles the price tag. Hunt around your local printing shops, you may be surprised at how flexible they are with price and how creative they are. You may need to provide them with your own basic design but this will bring out your creative flair and rest assure that your invites will be one of a kind! My wedding invites were printed by an art design company who deals with fashion and advertising, hence I managed to save on the pennies and yet tap into brilliant artistic talent!

Lastly, if the wedding budget is tight, save on everything else and go for a simple classic design. Buy yourself a calligraphy set and you can hand-write your invitations to provide an elegant and personal alternative for a smaller wedding. Skimp on everything, but never skimp on the quality of the paper that you print on. I would suggest no less than 110lbs or 500g/m2.

Wordings of the wedding invite

Get that grammar right!

(more…)