Arrvied Feb 24th

My sample invites arrived today!!

It came in this morning's post and I had a grand time ripping the envelope open with my workmates crowding my desk.

I ordered two sample cards; one is Ant's choice that I attached in my previous blogs, and below is the picture.

And below that is my choice.

 

Ant's choice is shit.  It's very complicated because the 'double happiness' paper-ribbon thing needs to slide off when you read the card.  And it folds out on both sides, then you have to fold the paper insert up.  Most complicated. 
 
My choice is stunning; the card is made from red satin paper so it is luxuriously soft to the touch.   It is very basic, with your standard phoenix and dragon on either edge of the card.  And smack in the centre is a double happiness sign that is glued on so won't flap around.  Very classy.
 
I asked 6 of my workmates and they all preferred my choice.

Out of interest, I looked up the tracking number and it still said the same thing it did in my last post under Sample Shipped.  ie; it was still in transit from Feb 14th.  Nothing is more reliable than Australia Post from the looks of it!

Now I've got to courier the cards to Fiji so that Ant and his family can have a look at it too.  Then it has to be couriered to China for the relatives to find a printer.  They'll need to get the satin lining exactly like my sample or I will not be impressed.

Luckily for me, the receptionist is away today so I can slip my personal mail past the temp. Yay!!

Sept Leave Dates

Yesterday just before closing time my Manager sent me an email request to book in 30min today to talk about my Sept leave request.

This is the leave dates that I had put in for;

I was unsure what the meeting would entail because there has never been an instance where a meeting had to be scheduled to talk about your leave dates. 

I've just had that 30min meeting, and the news wasn't all too bad.  They will let me have 4 weeks out of the 6 that I have requested. 

So I will have two weeks to prepare for my wedding, and then two weeks after that for everything else.

However there is a condition with my 4 weeks leave being granted - I can't take any more leave for the remainder of this year.  (Unless I pull a sickie, but I've been good and come to work every single day since returning to work mid Jan.)

Still Waiting

I'm most disappointed; my sample invite has not arrived yet.

Postage to Australia should not take more than 5 business days I personally think!

And how can my item be sitting idle since Feb 14th??

Ant has confirmed his cousins from overseas are coming.  All the way from the U.S and Canada even!  All the more reason for his parents to put on a big event.  How fun for me.

And I don't know about our Islands/ Hotel trip because his mum wants us to remain in Suva for a least 3 days to hang out with the relatives.  That means I'll need to stay with them until Tuesday!  What's more awkward than having to stay with the in-laws?  Having to socialise with their numerous relatives too!

Cooking and food

Last night Hoa came home and said these dreaded words, 'Nancy, can we start a weekly roster for the cooking?'

7 whole days of having to cook?? Great.  Now I'm going to have to start googling easy recipe's.  

When I told Ant he asked, 'us as in me too or you two?'  That was pretty hilarious.

He's in Tonga for this week and the next.  I was seriously considering flying in for a short weekend visit, but not after seeing how long the flight is.  And flights are not regular at all even though it is quite cheap.

Anyway so there's not much of a wedding update with him gone.  Though he did mention his parents would probably look at caterers since food is a major concern.  Although it's still so early stages yet, I personally don't think it needs to be addressed until April even.  Actually maybe I should look up the 7 month timeline to see where I should be at.

His parents have suggested shark fin soup as a starter.  And lobster as one of the other dishes.  Lobster.  Who serves lobster at a wedding in Fiji?  They spoke briefly to the owner of Chinatown Restaurant on Cumming St and he was quoted a large amount for those two extravagances.

As long as I actually get to eat on the night, I'm happy.

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: On The Great Ocean Road to Adelaide

Sample Shipped!

Not too long until my sample wedding invite comes in the post!

I ordered two blank cards from H2Cards - the first is one that I have previously posted in my post 'Officially Booked'.  tThe second is a similar in design with the dragon and phoenix, but a single fold.

I was super excited and wanted to add a picture of the tracking update but I can't seem to get it to save as a JPEG so the blog is rejecting it.  Bummer!

But basicaly I will holding my potential wedding invite next week!!  The next step will then be the wording - in both Chinese and English - then it'll be posted to China for the relatives to find a printer. 

The aim is to have the invites distributed in July - early August.  This will give guests at least a month's notice which I think is more than sufficient.

Initially Ant and I confirmed we would add a little note insert with the card - a witty poem asking for monetary gifts.  Unfortunately his parents dad has told him us not to be smart alecs and that we absolutely CANNOT ask for monies.

So we hope that all our guests will realise we don't need toasters or clocks or anything like that which will be difficult to transport overseas.  Money however would be easy :)

Once the invites are out, I need to put the word out that we would prefer monies.  And hopefully nobody is stingy enough to give us fj$5 like at Dom & Alice's wedding.

Page 1 or 5

Recently I compiled a Word Doc of potential dresses for the big day.

Then like every good bride, I went about trying to find them in the bridal shops to see how they looked on me as opposed to a perfect six foot model.

It was there in the bridal shops that I discovered I wasn't a good bride afterall; there were girls in there whose weddings were like 2yrs later and they were already trying on dresses!!

Anyway, so I've got about 7months until my wedding and I'm still hming and uming over what I'll be wearing.

At least I've narrowed it down to two.  They've been chosen because they're gorgeous and have interesting bodices.

The first one below I've dubbed 'page 5' because that's where it features in my Doc!

I love 'page 5' because it'll create a fuller bust I think.  Unfortunately I have not been able to find this in any of the bridal shops I've been to.  Or perhaps it was there but I wasn't looking hard enough.

Then there's Page 1.  I was able to try this one on at Fairytales Bridal in Puckle St, Moonee Ponds.  It's a very flattering style and very fitted which according to the saleslady, 'shows off my figure'.

It hugs my hips very closely, but it doesn't make my wonky hip obvious.  I love that it's a one shoulder because that's something I've been certain about from the start.

And I love the cupcake boob - I think it's very charming.

But even after this post, I'm still undecided.

 

'the' song

Lately I've been looking up songs for our first dance.

My current fave is one that I'd never heard prior to finding it on a wedding website.  I think it's an oldie but I definitely like it more and more each time I listen to it.

David Pomeranz - On this Day

Here we stand today
Like we always dreamed
Starting out our life together
The light is in your eyes
The love is in our hearts
I can't believe you're really mine forever

Been rehearsing for this moment all my life
So don't act surprised
If the feeling starts to carry me away

On this day
I promise forever
On this day
I surrender my heart
Here I stand take my hand
And I will honor every word that I say
On this day

Not so long ago
This earth was just a field of cold and lonely space
Without you
Now everything's alive
Now everything's revealed
For the story of my life
Is all about YOU

For if you feel the cool winds
Blowing through your nights
I will shelter you
I'm forever here to chase your fears away

On this day
I promise forever
On this day
I surrender my heart
Here I stand take my hand
And I will honor every word that I say
On this day

I've been rehearsing for this moment all my life
So don't act surprised
If the feeling starts to carry me away

On this day
I promise forever
On this day
I surrender my heart
Here we stand like our plan
Please say you'll always look at me this way
Like on this day

You can listen to it on youtube here and fall in love with it like I did.

Ant and I were thinking of taking classes for the first dance, but seeing as we won't have that much time together before the wedding, we'll probably end up shuffling on the dance floor.

And we'll need to get a live band that is good enough to sing this song, preferrably as a duet.  

Officially Booked

How exciting; Ant paid the deposit for Novotel today morning.

Sacred Heart and the Exhibition Centre are both booked officially for Sept 24, 2011.
 
The next pressing matter is the invitation.  He's found a card online that he loves and I like.  It has the mandatory dragon and phoenix foil stamped in gold on the front, along with a double happiness ribbon.
 
The card opens upwards. 

Initially we were going to ask mum's relatives in China to place an order once Ant and I had decided on a design. 

Now he is leaning more towards ordering it from the seller he found online; costing is US$2.  With the Australian dollar doing so well, that is really not a problem for approx 250 cards.

censorship

When I created this blog, it was to record all the memorable moments in my life.  And what is more memorable then my wedding day?  The entire planning process is every bit as exciting as the day itself.  And the fact that I'm able to share and discuss all the planning with my closest friends who are spread out all over the world and willing to fly in to help me and share my big day, that makes it pretty memorable.

All my posts (and comments on my posts) will be something that I will enjoy reading later in life.  And dare I say it, maybe my kids will enjoy reading it one day.

Unfortunately I now need to be careful of what I post on my own blog.  This greatly disappoints me.  That is an understatement.

I have been told not to reveal too much about my own wedding.  I was asked why I had to tell my friends all the little details, was I trying to show off?


Anyone who knows me knows I am not that type of person.  Anyone who knows me would not ask such a question.

'Delete everything' I've been told.

What I shared with my closest friends, I did it out of excitement.  I did not post on facebook which is open to all.  I posted on my blog. My obscure blog that is only known to 11 people.  MY blog.