Wedding Favours

The topic of discussion today is; wedding favours.  Just incase anyone missed my title. 

My favours have already been sorted; I know exactly what I want.

These personalized hard candy lollies are made in Melbourne and taste great!  They're the most popular choice as gifts right now because of the fact that you can have your name and date written on it and modify it to suit any Event.

Their minimum order is 10kg which works out to be about 5000 pieces.  Divide that by 300 guests and each guest (Mr and Mrs) will get about 16 pieces.  Kevin has been fighting with me about this because he reckons 3 or 4 lollies per person is more than enough.  I don't understand his logic.

My dilemma right now is the type of container to present them in.  I've looked at lots of fancy choices like little mint/ candle tins, or fancy heart shaped jars etc.  But ultimately I need to remember that;

i) I'm not going to carry glass jars to Fiji
ii) People are going to discard the container once they finish the lollies

So the mostly likely choice is:


clear plastic pillow pack

These clear pillow packs come flat, so we girls will need to build an assembly line where we put the packs together, scoop out 16 lollies for each packet, then stick on the 'thank you' stickers.

So this is one task you'll all be helping out with!

Ant and I were discussing what type of transport we should choose.  My response?  'I want a mini van!!'  His response, 'No, don't be silly.'

I'm shattered.  Because I really wanted something spacey and comfortable.  Definitely no limo's for me.  Or champagne for that matter.  Sorry Sue!

Save The Date

Saturday Sept 24th,2011.

I would have much preferred Sept 10th because it has a nice ring to it, ie; 10/9/11.  That way I'll never forget my anniversary!

Anyway so the 10th doesn't suit because.

The 17th isn't auspicious, according to my dad.

So the 24th it is!

Apparently Novotel have 3 different rooms available for hire.  Initially we were going for the second largest, the Convention Centre.  It is estimated to sit 400 people.  Then we find out this is 400 people without tables which is completely no good to us!

So we're booking the Entertainment Centre which sits 500 people, without tables.  This should translate to seating approximately 300 people comfortably, with tables.

Our colour theme will be red and gold; Mugs should have a bit to say about this!  I'm not ripping off you colour theme Mugs; these are the only colours they provide in terms of chair sashes and possibly table runners.  The table cloth and chair covers will be white.

Ant sent me some pictures of the Entertainment Centre; it's almost 360degrees ceiling to floor glass doors.  There is no a/c but there are lots of ceiling fans.

Floor to ceiling doors with deck in front

The many pillars

More pillars

My first reactions was, 'Omg, ugly white fold out tables and dodgy chairs.'

Then 'Oh great, so we'll all be swatting mosquitoes all night!'

But Ant said they had already organized to buy citronella candles so that's a relief.

Everyone might have been wondering why my last post was titled 'Cutlery & Plates $5'  Because that's the cost per person for a cutlery pack which includes dinner plates, knife, fork, spoon and paper serviettes.

So if you drop your knife/ fork/ spoon on that night, you can pay $5 yourself for another one. 

cutlery & plates $5

The Kan guest list has been finalized.

We have 100 people on ours which fits perfectly within what we have been allocated.

Initially it was supposed to be;

200 Yam Family
100 Kan Family

50 Ant and I

However, we've since revised that idea because 350 is too large a number.  Not only that, it's also because we want to be able to navigate through the tables comfortably.

So Ant and I will incorporate our friends into our parents list to keep it at 300.  I have 10 seats and I think that should suffice  :)

Now I just need to wait for Ant to check with the Hotel if we can get some rooms for cheap.  It'd be nice if the girls all slept over on the night before the wedding and all ride to Church together.

Much is still to be discussed, such as the start time for each activity.  We're going to have a tea ceremony inbetween the Church ceremony and Reception.

My first tea ceremony!!

According to Google: In the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents and serve them tea. That is a way to express their gratitude. In front of their parents, it is a practice for the married couple to say, "Thank you for bringing us up. Now we are getting married. We owe it all to you." The parents will usually drink a small portion of the tea and then give them a red envelope, which symbolizes good luck. Another variant is for the to-be daughter-in-law to serve tea to her to-be parents-in-law, symbolizing that she is to become a part of the latter's family.

I'm currently trying to find a tea set like the above - black on the inside, red on the outside with and a gold 'double happiness' design.

It'll be a pretty little keepsake after the wedding!

When's the Date?

The answer is; TBA


Ant has finally managed to make a booking with the Event Co-ordinator at Novotel Convention Centre!

The ever elusive woman returned his phone call today after he twice tried to get in touch with her in the week gone.  An appointment has been set for Tuesday 10am.  We can finally discuss pricing and possible dates!  Not to mention see the venue because I have never been.

The ball is truly rolling because his Priest is also going to ring the priest at Sacred Heart Cathedral's to set up an appointment for Ant's family to see him.

And he's also been told who will head our pre-marital counseling so his mum will be contacting them to find out the requirements because it's a bit hard for me to fly in if there will be many sessions at different times etc.

So it sounds like I've done nothing right?  Wrong!  I have been dutifully dress shopping, as much as I hate it.

Especially when the saleswoman insists on being IN the changing room to help you in and out of the dresses while you are practically naked.  But luckily this was only at one place.  And my underwear didn't have holes, whew!

I made Lyn stay in the change room to help me at the second bridal shop, so the saleslady had to satisfy herself with waiting outside the curtains.  Ha!

Checklist: 12 - 10 months

I am trying to be proactive about my wedding planning so there will be numerous posts on how I'm going in the coming months!

According to an online wedding site, my Checklist 12-10months before the wedding should look like this;

I think we know what we'd generally like. Besides whitening my teeth, I've considered everything else.

The guest list is a toughie because we're anticipating the majority of guests will be our respective parents' guests. 

Novotel Convention Centre sits 350 people apparantly, so I've tentatively estimated the guests will be;

• 200 Yam side
• 100 Kan side
• 50 Ant and I

A while back I asked people who were going to Hong Kong or China to find me some sample wedding invitations.  (It was a surprise to me when Ant said he wanted traditional Chinese invites but I am happy to go along with it).

My Uncle from China sent these.  My first reaction was: YUCK;



Auspicious Wedding Dates 2011

I've been told to get cracking on my wedding planning.

Everyone is keen to know the date so that they can apply for leave.  I myself need to know the date so that I can take the time off!

According to most wedding timelines, I'm supposed to have sent the Save The Date cards out by now.  Ha, I haven't even set the date!

Google has told me the below are auspicious dates for 2011 weddings;

Ideally Ant and I would have preferred August.  We've been told however August falls into July on the Lunar Calendar which is a very bad month as it is the month for ghosts.

It's not something I understand but I'm sure my friend Google can explain it to me if I can be bothered to type it in and read it all.  Right now that's a meh.

So for everyone who wants to know the date, put in your leave for September.  Ant is going to check with the priest (Sacred Heart) and venue (Novotel Convention Centre) whether Sept 3rd is available.  Then 10th if not.

(I know Sept 3rd isn't highlight as an auspicious date, but I'm pretty sure my dad said it was.  Or maybe he said it wasn't......I wasn't really paying attention to my own wedding date to be honest) 

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be getting married.  I would just prefer it to be a simple civil ceremony with my bestest buds and family.  Then buffet dinner where I can stuff my face.

Bye Anthony!

I've just come back from seeing Ant off at the airport.

We're not very fond of long drawn out goodbye's so it's usually just a hug and kiss; very tear-free.

This trip was a long one - he arrived in Brisbane on Friday Dec 10th 2010.  Stayed in Brisbane for a week then came to Melb Friday 17th and stayed with his mum's Aunty at Forest Hill.  Then they came to mine from Dec 23rd.  His family left on 1 Jan 2011.

This morning we woke up at the early hour of 8:30am to have breakfast with Leny Cel and Faye.  8:30am is the earliest time we've gotten up during the 3 weeks he was here!  I blame my late bedtime and wake ups on his negative influence on me.

Cel has been here since Thursday on holiday, and she, Leny, Faye and Angie had gone out clubbing the night before.  Ant and I had preferred a quiet night so we'd gone to Melbourne Central's Tamadochi sushi train for dinner instead.  Breakfast was at Soul Cafe on Swanston Street (cnr Bourke).

I had an Eggs Benedict and a half strength latte.  It was a lightly toasted muffin with two sunny side up eggs on smoked salmon with pesto sauce.  I polished it all off, ontop of the bratwurst I'd bought from Victoria Market.  I must've been very hungry!

Then we had tea at Ren Tea which is opposite the road.  They specialize in Chinese tea - 'Hong Kong style Tea' is what they have written on their shopfront glass window.

The girls all had a taro milk tea with pearls on Leny's recommendation.  Tasted sweet with a light starchy aftertaste.  I had the rose black white tea which was like a normal tea, except with rose buds.  Yum. 

Below are pics of Ant saying good bye to the girls...

As you can see, they weren't really that interested.  Flitter was more intent on trying to blend in with the tree and White Chicken was having a grand time dirt bathing.