Search for a reception venue.

Another much overdue post, but thankfully the planning is quite on track. Haha. Don’t be fooled by the silence as much has happened as is clearly shown by the lack of time and diligence to update my blog.

If the planning process were written in chronological order, the above items would have been the first checked off the list. For brides to be, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting this done the very moment you agreed to his marriage proposal. We have had to face a few times when the venues we were sorta interested in were already booked for the date we wanted.

So this is how our story goes…

We were sure we were going to get married in the year 2012 and preferably at the end of the year so we had ample time to plan (and save money!). Deciding on the ceremony venue was the easiest to do as we were very happy with selecting our church as the place to exchange our vows amidst our families and friends. My father would’ve been quite pleased too.

The difficult task was selecting the dinner reception venue. We both knew we wanted a hotel reception and we also favoured the idea of a place where it was most convenient for our guests who were mostly from KL. The idea of having our dinner reception in any other place than KL just didn’t fit right with us. We really wanted it a celebration for all to come.

So we searched and decided on three really good and competitive hotels that we liked a lot. We visited a hotel which was apparently super famous and popular for wedding dinners – the Big Gun of the business you could say. The moment I walked into the lobby, I just felt…..

Yup. That’s right. Just felt . … . No “wows”, no short breaths, no heart stop. Just bleh. Don’t get me wrong. It was a nice hotel in its own way with nice interiors and all, but the place just didn’t appeal to me nor to Adrian.

The second hotel we saw was definitely much better than the first. Not the Big Gun, but a rightful contender to the first. It had a very baroque feel and it did feel quite grand, especially with it’s entrance into the ballroom. I just experienced some short breaths and mild palpitations, but I was hoping for a heart drop…which I didn’t quite get. The guy in charge was really friendly and nice to us and we were quite close to sealing our deal, but Adrian and I wanted to make sure we saw all the hotels on our list before deciding for sure.

I have been quite impressed with the third hotel even before scouting for this reason. We have been there before for a Christmas buffet lunch and I really liked the modern facade within the hotel. Adrian and I were invited to a limited seat wedding planning party which was organized by this hotel and the moment we walked into the ballroom, we knew we had found the special venue.

I heard myself gasp and Adrian exclaimed, “This is it” as we opened the doors into the ballroom filled with beautiful lights. We both loved the contemporary design of the place and could imagine having a romantic setting dinner there on our special night.

The best part about the place is that it’s pretty new and we don’t know anybody within our circle of friends who has had a wedding dinner there unlike the other famous hotels. It was a priority to us to have a fresh and new place so it wouldn’t feel so repeated for our guests.

Here’s a hint of our chosen hotel. If you recognize paintings like these hung everywhere in the hotel, you’d know where we would be having our dinner reception.

That, my friends, is my tooth.

This is a long overdue post but the ordeal of that fateful day must be written down and forever be remembered as one of the most painful days of my life… so far.

After writing the last post, Adrian’s tooth extraction took 2 whole hours. The dentist rated the difficulty of his tooth a 10 out of 10. His tooth was so deeply embedded that the dentist simply had to saw his tooth into many pieces to be taken out. It didn’t quite help that I could hear Adrian “oww”ing and “ouch”ing from the waiting room. He came out with his face more swollen than ever and gave a good luck salute to me. That doesn’t look good at all.

So I had an X-ray of my wisdom tooth taken. Mr. Dentist takes a look and gave a slightly more optimistic point that my tooth is not as deep as Adrian and could possibly be easier to remove. Yes. He said could and possibly. No guarantees.

Whoever told me that one does not feel the sting of the local anaesthesia needle and the gruesome pain during the procedure… seriously seriously told a big fat lie. My goodness, I could actually feel the needle going straight down the gum and jaw and as he injected the LA, I thought I felt it trickle down the insides of my neck. I immediately felt a weird sensation in my lips and tongue.

Yuck. So this is what numb feels like?

So he started the procedure. Pushing the gums away from the exterior of my tooth, sawing the visible portion of my tooth into the bits you see above and pulling them out. Yeah, so far, no extreme pain, but the horrible sound of the saw cutting through the tooth.

Then came the nightmare. I felt pain. Real pain when he tried nudging the root of my tooth out. Sure I was anxious and jittery but I really felt a terrible sensation from within my gums.

“Oh, you feel pain? Alright. I’ll add on more LA,” Mr. Dentist says.

Then comes the ugly sight of the gigantic needle as he injects more LA to numb the affected area.

He nudges again.

PAINFUL!

“Still painful? Okay. I’ll inject some more.”

Needle.

Nudge.

Pain.

LA.

Needle.

Nudge.

Pain.

That cycle pretty much went on a few more times for at least half an hour. For some reason, he could not quite find the exact spot of where the LA is working and every time he tried tugging and pulling my root out, it simply will not let loose, and when it did get loose, my root just wouldn’t budge.

Stupid wisdom tooth.

By this time, he had already used up 5 vials of LA and I think I was on the brink of an overdose because by now, I started developing left facial palsy. I could not blink my left eye. Now, I started getting REALLY scared.

Oh. So this is what facial palsy feels like?

I actually had to use my hand to close my left eye. So I tried asking with my half numb lips and tongue the dose he had already injected in and did a mental calculation whether we had overdose myself. He assured me that we hadn’t. He knew what I was thinking. I wasn’t so sure.

That big screwdriver-like thing to normally yank out the root was not working because of the pain I felt each time he tried to dig my root out. He called his assistant to bring out another tool which looked like big pliers and already-visibly-frustrated-at-how-my-stubborn-wisdom-tooth-root-hangs-on-in-its-cozy-corner Mr Dentist was ready to give it a big yank out. I’ve never felt so frightful like I was when I was a child and my mom was going to yank my baby tooth out. I gave a hand signal for him to do it S-L-O-W-L-Y as I brace for the worst pain to come. The pliers still didn’t work. It couldn’t get a good grip on my tooth.

Now what?

He gave more LA. This time I think he hit the right spot. The big screwdriver to literally scoop my tooth out didn’t feel so painful. Oh, but the compressive sensation when he does it…I can’t even describe what a dreadful feeling it is!

“Almost…. almost there.”

Oh, for goodness sake, won’t you come out already, you useless tooth?

“It’s out!”

I gave out such a loud sigh of relief, I actually thought I had given birth to a baby! (Being in O&G everyday does not help in situations like these!) I looked at the clock. My procedure also took two whole hours long.

Wow. Even I could perform a caesarean section faster than my tooth would come out!

He went on and gave my three stitches in my gum. My face was still numb and the palsy was still there. By the time we reached home, the pain had become so awful, I couldn’t even get a shut eye. It was like a throbbing dull pain from within the skull that hurts the bone and the jaw. I lost my appetite and I didn’t even know what I could do to take the pain away. We had already popped our celebrex pills and the pain was still there.

The next few days were the worst days of my life.

Post-op day 1: Hungry but could not eat. Trismus (the inability to open mouth) was definitely there. Developed fever with chills.

Post-op day 2: Still feeling feverish. Porridge for lunch, porridge for dinner. The only thing that differed was between chicken porridge and pork porridge. Face super swollen and jaw felt crazy warm.

Post-op day 3: Even brushing teeth was difficult as the toothbrush could not reach certain parts of my tooth because of the trismus. I can’t fit a spoon in my mouth because of the trismus. I literally had to suck the food from the spoon. Let’s not even talk about biting or chewing.

Even when it was the day to take out my stitches, I still could not open my mouth wide enough and was worried that the dentist will not be able to reach in. Thankfully he could with the limited visibility.

Today, I’d say that it has improved a lot but it’s still there. Maybe a 90% improvement? Still feeling the tensed jaw muscles and I can’t quite open my mouth as wide as I could before. Gosh, I wonder how long it would take to fully recover?

Mr. Dentist says that I have another wisdom tooth on the other side that’s malaligned and may need removal in the future.

No way. I’m not going to go through that gruesome agony ever again.

I used to tell my younger friends to consider dentistry as I thought it was a good job and easy going with not too much going on as compared to a doctor. I take that back. Dentistry is not for the weak hearted.

…tooth extraction.

Sure, ask me why a lady in her late twenties would want to blog about her tooth extraction, let alone only having her first at such an age?

Doctors make terrible patients. Such a term becomes all too familiar among us in the medical field, simply because it’s true, well, especially when it’s me.

It all started when Adrian dragged me to his family dentist for a routine visit. I am very uncomfortable when it comes to going for a dental appointment. The last time I’ve been to a dentist was shamefully, at least 10 years ago. So life was good, no toothache, thus there’s no need to see a dentist. When I finally did go under the scrutinizing eyes of the man behind the mask, I heard the most dreadful words ever.

“Do you feel pain?” as he probed and poked into the depths and corners of my teeth and my gosh, pain wasn’t even a good word to describe it.

It gets worse.

“Ah! I see you’ve got a hole in your wisdom tooth and it’s the kind of hole that cannot be patched or repaired. We’ve got no choice but to have it taken out.”

I felt my heart fell into the cushions of my guts.

Oh no.

So we scheduled an appointment for our tooth extraction.

Yup. You read that right. Both of us needed a tooth extraction. We both have wisdom teeth that didn’t quite grow the right direction. Unfortunately for me, mine developed a hole because of a gap where food collected and couldn’t quite get cleaned out. Adrian bravely agreed to have his tooth extracted too although his wasn’t quite as urgent as mine.

The night before the appointment was terrible. I started imagining all the worse things possible and the excruciating pain which is bound to be felt after the procedure. Now these aren’t groundless imagination y’see. I’ve read friends’ experiences about how painful it is after the extraction although the procedure itself was practically painless. The side effect that the dentist told us to expect was trismus. Wow. Super assuring. I actually felt like an impending doom approaching. Can’t talk, can’t eat and just simply feeling a long term pain that will not go away. Oh by the way, as doctors, we came prepared with our own medications. Celebrex, paracetamol, tramadol, you name it, we got it. We even prepared midazolam for a PRN basis just in case I developed a panic attack before coming to the dentist. Haha.

So here we are. Right now, at the dentist and Adrian courageously went in first. As for me, I’m sweating and palpitating in anxiety.

Impending doom. Impending doom.

I’ll see you on the other side of the tunnel.

If I make it.

A friend suggested that I should pen down and write on my blog of my preparations for my wedding. Sort of like a wedding blog, as it’s known. So I thought, why not? I have been wanting to write, really I have. There’s so much things I wished to share because planning for a wedding is, well, has been, thus far really quite fun.

The process started off much faster than I imagined and even a year before our planned date, we pretty much have most of the ground work settled. If this blog can also serve as an advice to engaged couples to be, here’s one huge tip… Book your vendors EARLY. We had to face some disappointments for some vendors we really liked because they were already booked for our date! So couples, once she has said ‘yes’ to that ultimate question and you’ve decided your date, start looking and booking your vendors asap.

Right from the beginning I knew we needed a wedding planner to assist us in our preparations for our big day. It wasn’t so much for the organizational aspect of a planner, because we’re pretty good at keeping tabs at what’s not done and what’s needed to be done. I needed a wedding planner because there was absolutely no way the boring plain me could ever in my lifetime come up with an unforgettable wedding. I needed someone super creative whose fresh ideas could bring me out of my thinking box and make me go… Wow.

Adrian and I envisioned our wedding to be different from the usual. We wanted to do away as much as we could from the cliche. I don’t know about you but have you felt like it seemed like we go through a motion whenever we attend someone’s wedding? It’s as if we knew when to expect what and how to respond when it comes.

Our search for the perfect wedding planner began late last year. We met a few which we shortlisted through our Internet search and each different planner had their own pros and cons and they came from a wide range of charges too. There were planners which we felt had strong points in their skills of organizing the event, but seemed to lack in the creative section, which we felt was our main priority. There was a group we met who had no doubt, strong creative skills but seemed to lack in experience as it was just formed recently. We were a little unsure about placing our one and only wedding of our lives in a group who was new in the business.

There was one who stood out long before we began our search. We saw her portfolio online and we were immediately captivated. Her displayed works seemed to be created from a person who had the inborn talent of recognizing the beauty of colours and the inherent power of bringing together shapes and items into something truly magical.

I told Adrian that it’s as if we have found my fairy godmother although technically she should be a fairy god sister because she is so young. But there wasn’t a fairy godsister in fairy tales…so let’s just stick to the term fairy godmother.

The moment we spoke with her over coffee, we knew our wedding was in good hands. She was super professional and we were quickly drawn to her. Knowing we had a wedding planner took a lot of the burden of worrying off our shoulders.

So far, we have had some pretty exciting ideas and I can’t wait to reveal them when the appropriate time comes.

As always, much has changed since 1 Jan 2011 but the aspirations and hopes still remain the same. I’m praying that this year would be sweeter than the years before and I know it would be. There’s a huge step I would be taking this year that would alter the rest of my life.

I’d love to quote again what I wrote last year for its meaning holds equally true even in 2012.

So here’s to the new year, friends. For its many trials and confrontations we’re bound to face, that we may gain strength and courage from above to look them in the eye, tackling them head on with wisdom and grace that we may emerge as conquerors at the end of the day. For the days when it feels like it’s not worth it, we’d stay focus on the prize that awaits us at the end of our race. For the blessings that will be showered upon us in the days to come, that they may not go unnoticed like before, but that we’d count them one by one and be thankful. For the love that is found in family and friends that surround us, that we’d cherish and learn to love and give back immensely more – to those who deserve it and even to those who don’t.

And to commemorate the new year, I’ve redesigned my blog.

Huge thanks to my super talented sister. She is one creative kid.

It’s my all time favourite iPhone app game’s birthday and these cute little feathered creatures are turning two!

What’s makes it even more cool is that Rovio will be updating its app to include MORE levels to play today! *dances around in excitement*

I’ve shown my undying love for this super addictive game by posting my Angry Birds Achievements in the past – both Part 1 and Part 2.

May I be given permission to brag more?

Here’s the beautiful stars from Angry Birds Seasons.


2011







 

 

 

2012

 
And the latest addition for this Christmas season. Clearly it’s only be played up till yesterday as they only released each level per day. (sooooo sloooowww….)

NEXT!

Angry Birds Rio – considerably an easier game to play compared to Seasons with much better graphics, imho.

Pictures have said enough..

We were pretty excited to announce our engagement to our families and small group of friends and what better way to celebrate it in his mother’s newly built house in Nilai.  We’ve posted most of the pictures up on Facebook but here’s a few I’ve chosen to put up here.

His mother was super kind enough to handle the venue and the catering section of it. We were pretty much just in charge of coming up with the guest list.

The cake, of course, how could any party be complete without a cake? We didn’t want an ordinary round chocolate/cream cake with the bride/bridegroom figurines on the top – plus, that wouldn’t be quite right for an engagement party.

I was so pleased to stumble upon Mama Min’s blog. She is one heck of a super creative and talented cake designer. Seriously, the cakes she made and showcased were so cute and beautiful.. and I knew at that instance, I’d like a cake designed by her. He was totally in for it too.

Then came the question of what kind of design would I want for that day? That was a tough one to get through. It was silly to have the typical wedding cake design when it wasn’t even a wedding yet! Since my engagement ring wasn’t going to be with me for that day as it was sent for resizing overseas (which takes a month long.. and I was missing having it already!), so what a better way to have a cake to commemorate the missing ring, so to speak.

Take a look at the magic Mama Min came up with. I mean, isn’t it a gorgeous cake or what? Nobody actually thought it was a cake at first. I didn’t even have the heart to cut it to eat. By the way, it was an orange poppy seed cake.

Here’s a picture of the two families together.

My loving family.

He wanted a reunion for his university friends as well… so here’s a group of the Moscow grads.

So now that we’ve got the engagement party out of the way, we’re on to the next item from the checklist.

There’s so many things to get used to once you’ve become engaged. For instance, to start referring to him as the fancy F word (which is no other than fiancé, mind you) and to get accustomed to wearing a ring on your finger when you’ve never been wearing one for your entire life. There’s so much to do, so many people to see and so much decisions to make (that costs a lot of money!).

I took this off a wedding website called the Knot for just a glimpse of what’s in store for the year 2012. Pretty stressful just looking at the list!

• Congratulations, you’re engaged! Announce your engagement to family and friends. Consider making the announcements in local newspapers. – CHECK (refer)
• Having an engagement party? Set a date, choose a location, create a guest list and mail invitations.  - CHECK (refer)
• If you’re having an engagement party, start a small gift registry now.
• Decide on the budget, and enter it into your Budget Tool. - CHECK
• Start the guest list.
• Determine a time frame for your wedding date. Narrow down your wedding date to a few weekends that don’t conflict with other family events.
• Need help from a professional wedding planner? Start searching for one now, since the help provided can make the next decisions easier.
• Search for a ceremony venue.
• Search for a reception venue.
• Choose a colour scheme for your big day.
• Book your wedding planner. Record deposits and payments in your Budget Tool.
• Start your wedding workout routine now! Eat well, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep. You may even want to join a gym or get a personal trainer to give you some motivation!
• Create your wedding website.
• Search for a photographer.
• Search for a caterer.
• Search for a florist.
• Search for a videographer.
• Book your reception venue.
• Get inspired! Browse your favorite wedding dress gallery to get ideas for your own dress!
• Search for a band.
• Search for a DJ.
• Book your ceremony venue.
• Book your caterer. Begin working on a menu.
• Book your photographer.
• Finalize your guest list.
• Set up your registries.
• Search for an officiant.
• Search for a ceremony musician.
• Book your florist.
• Book your videographer.
• Start shopping for your gown.
• Choose the members of your wedding party – maid of honour and best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ring bearer, flower girls as well as your ushers – and invite them to take these roles.
• Start shopping for bridesmaids gowns and flower girl dresses. View gowns in every hue and for every body shape.
• Reserve blocks of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests. Add accommodations and travel info to your wedding website, so your guests know what to expect.
• Send save-the-date cards (be sure your guest list is finalized first). Include hotel information for out-of-town guests, if it’s available, plus your website address.
• Search for a wedding cake maker.
• Order your wedding cake.
• Search for a wedding stationer for invitations, plus place cards, menus, announcements (if you’ll use them) and thank-you stationery (which you may need to order now).
• Search for rentals supplier if you need to rent chairs, chair covers, a tent, etc.
• Book your band.
• Book your DJ.
• Book your officiant.
• Select your wedding dress and place the order.
• Book your invitations vendor.
• Book your ceremony musician.
• Discuss rehearsal dinner with the groom’s parents.
• Select your bridesmaids dresses and flower-girl dress, and have your attendants place their orders.
• Search for a vendor to help with your hair, makeup or any pre-wedding pampering.
• Contact out-of-town guests and notify them about the hotel block and other discount travel information.
• Finalize your order for event rentals.
• Check your gift registry.
• Plan and book your honeymoon, including travel, accommodations and activities.
• Choose groom’s attire; will you purchase or rent?
• Purchase accessories for your gown, such as a veil, shoes, undergarments and jewelry.
• Schedule your ceremony rehearsal and alert your attendants, officiant, and ceremony musicians of the date and time.
• Finalize the text for your invitations and place the order. Also consider purchasing thank-you notes and wedding announcements from the same vendor.
• Book your hair and makeup appointment.
• Book accommodations for your wedding night.
• Search for a transportation vendor.
• Choose your bridesmaids’ accessories (shoes, jewelry, etc).
• Choose groomsmen’s and ring bearer’s attire (including a rental shop if they’ll be renting formal attire).
• Discuss and confirm party plans for bachelor and bachelorette parties, as well as any shower that is offered, with your maid of honour and best man.
• Provide guest lists to your maid of honour and best man for your shower, bachelorette party, bachelor party and other social events.
• Address your invitations (they should be mailed 6 to 8 weeks before the event, so leave yourself plenty of time if you’re using a calligrapher). If you’ll be sending announcements, address them now as well.
• Book your transportation vendor.
• Finalize the menu and service details with your caterer.
• Design and create favours.
• Schedule gown fitting appointments. Your first appointment should be directly after you receive the gown and the last appointment should fall no later than three weeks before the wedding.
• Purchase your wedding bands.
• Ask your readers to be a part of your ceremony. Begin a search for readings and discuss them with your officiant.
• Mail out wedding invitations.
• Confirm number of bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces with your florist.
• Purchase a guest book and a few nice pens.
• Purchase or make gifts for your bridal party and close family. Don’t forget ushers, flower girls, ring bearers and readers!
• Track gifts received from guests and send thank-you notes.
• Check on your hotel room blocks to ensure important guests have made their travel arrangements.
• Order alcohol (wine, champagne, liquor) if they are not included in the catering contract. Discuss with your caterer to determine how it will be transported to the wedding.
• Design your ceremony programs and print them. Create menu cards for the reception tables, if you’ll be using them.
• Research local marriage license requirements. Schedule a blood test appointment if one is required in your state.
• Write your vows if you choose to personalize them. Send a copy to your officiant.
• Alert your wedding party to the rehearsal.
• Determine your ceremony music selections and send the list to your ceremony musicians.
• Shop for all additional accessories like undergarments, jewelry, headpiece, bridal purse, etc
• Pick up wedding rings and check the inscriptions before you leave the store.
• If you have a DJ, work on a list of ‘must-play’ and ‘do-not play’ songs. Be sure you also send them selections for your introductions, first dance, cake cutting, etc.
• Finalize any special preferences, readings, or other ceremony details (in writing) to your officiant.
• Create a wedding day schedule. Send the information to your wedding party and vendors.
• At your final gown fitting, bring a friend to learn how the bustle will be tied.
• Obtain a marriage license.
• Call guests who have not yet RSVP’d for the wedding and rehearsal dinner to get a final head count.
• Pick up your gown. Before leaving the shop, try it on to make sure there are no additional alteration to be made.
• Give final head count to the caterer. Confirm set-up instructions and menu items.
• Verify with your reception venue to make sure your vendors will have access to the site when they need it.
• Confirm head count, delivery time, and location with your wedding cake vendor.
• If you’re having a receiving line, determine the order everyone will stand in .
• Determine any wedding day assignments for members of the wedding party and make sure they’re aware of their duties.
• Create your seating chart. Make place cards or give typed names to your calligrapher.
• Confirm delivery locations, times, and final arrangements with your florist. Make a list of who will get bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres and recruit someone to oversee this on the wedding day.
• Confirm the rehearsal details and wedding day schedule with your officiant.
• Pick up tuxedo/suit and try it on at the shop. See if there are any additional alterations to be made.
• Prepare your toasts and thanks to family and friends.
• Give the seating chart to your caterer, reception venue manager and wedding coordinator.
• Send your transportation vendor the schedule, addresses and contact phone number for the wedding day.
• Confirm all final payment amounts with your vendors. Mail your payment checks or make arrangements for the wedding day.
• Shop and pack for the honeymoon.
• Confirm location, date and time with your photographer. Create your ‘must-take’ photo list.
• Confirm location, date and time with your videographer.
• Confirm your wedding day beauty appointments.
• Confirm all honeymoon travel plans.
• Pull together wedding gown, veil, shoes, stockings and a last-minute emergency kit (aspirin, make-up, hairspray, safety pins, mints, etc)
• Drop off favours, placecards, guest book, pens, cake knift, toasting flutes, and all other reception items at the reception venue.
• Rehearse the ceremony with your officiant and wedding party.
• Give wedding announcements to your maid of honour to be mailed on the wedding day.
• Write a note to your spouse-to-be to deliver tomorrow, just before or after you marry.
• Enjoy your wedding day! Take a moment to step back and enjoy a quiet moment with your new spouse.
• Help future brides by reviewing your wedding vendors!
• Ensure all your vendors have been paid in full.
• Arrange for gown and veil to be cleaned and preserved. Make sure the provider is experienced in preserving wedding gowns.
• Write thank-you notes for all the gifts you received at the wedding and before. Traditional etiquette gives you an 8-week grace period.
• Take a bridal bouquet to be preserved, or save a petal to be pressed for your scrapbook.
• Arrange for all insurance policies to include you and your future spouse: health, auto, homeowner’s and life insurance.
• Do paperwork for official documents if you are changing your name.
• Upload your wedding photos and share them.
• Review the remaining items in your registry.

I love Angry Birds. Can’t wait to show you my Angry Birds Rio and am working on Angry Birds Seasons.

Super super fun.

I was already told that we were having dinner on the beach and I could see the staff setting up our table from afar. It was suppose to be just another birthday dinner. Nothing extraordinary. I know I am one very fortunate girl because romantic dinners for me were, well, not unusual. He behaved and acted like any other normal day.

As we walked on the soft fine white sand towards our little cozy table, I couldn’t help but soak up the beauty of the evening. Nothing could be better than this.

Our table was a sight to behold. It was surrounded by many candles. Candles nestled in many wine glasses and placed meticulously in the shape of a heart, which could be seen easily from afar. I have a thing for candles and just the scene of this took my breath away.

The first thing that caught my eye was the unusual champagne glasses placed right in the center of the table. It came in a pair and they shared a single stand with the famous words “Moet & Chandon” encrypted on it. It was the cutest thing ever and I told him that we should look for a similar piece like that for ourselves. Another item on the table stood out very strongly. It was a blue box with the hue absolutely similar to the ever famous “Tiffany & Co.” and a white ribbon tied around it. “Oh no, this can’t be happening,” I remembered telling myself as the waitress led us to the table to be seated.

After she introduced us to the Chandon wine we were going to have that night, he told me to open that little blue box. As I untied the white ribbon, the words “Tiffany & Co.” were clearly printed in gold on it and I remember hearing the words “not now, not now, not now, not now” in my head. I lifted the lid to reveal what was inside the box which was…

…none other than…

…chocolates. Yup. You read that right.
Chocolates. Six of them squished inside the little box.
What were you thinking it was going to be?

“Phew”

Then I remembered him talking about what a memorable this day was, about our past and all the things we’ve gone through and that was when I heard something unusual.

Someone was singing accompanied with a guitar to my all time favorite love song.

“If there were no words, no way to speak,
I would still hear you.
If there were no tears, no way to feel inside,
I’d still feel for you.”

“Oh no.” My heart sank. It is happening.

A waitress came forward and presented me with a bouquet of roses. My heart did not just sank, but it started palpitating. I was getting nervous. I felt like I wasn’t prepared to face this situation even though I’ve dreamed of this very moment for a long time. What am I suppose to say? I could only remember hiding my anxiety with a lot of laughter with him. It’s an emotion which is a little difficult to describe. It’s a mix of shock, excitement, happiness and a little scared.

Then the second song came along.

“Forever and ever can never be long enough for me,
to feel like I’ve had long enough with you.
Forget the world now, we won’t let them see,
but there’s one thing left to do.”

This is so happening. The second waitress came with a platter plate with a dark blue ring box nestled ever so comfortably on it. My heart was not only palpitating louder than the music, I could feel my hands start to tremble and I think everything felt and looked blurry. I don’t think I even heard much of what he said and up till now, I can only remember him going down on one knee and vaguely hearing the words “marry me”… or was it the chorus to the background music the guitarist was singing away in the twilight of the evening? I remember being so overwhelmed by the moment that I couldn’t even utter any words and all I could do was nod my head (quite strongly too, I think). The picture below was taken almost immediately after that, and it’s quite evident that I look like I’m in a little shocked state of mind. Ruffled hair and almost pale looking.

I said yes to him that night… the same yes I gave about 2 years ago when we first started out. From that point on, I knew that he is the one I’d want to spend my entire life with. He has been my pillar of strength, my pillow of comfort, who has been ever so patient and loving, ever so loyal and true. I couldn’t have asked for more.

So here’s the announcement I promised I’d make from the last post.

I’m officially engaged.