Alter-ego

studio-mew
Originally uploaded by aurorin.

UltraMew

0272nh050108
Originally uploaded by aurorin.

Collected my photos... Very very happy... Heeee

On the way of being wed : The Photoshoot

On the day of the photoshoot and we did some studio shots first from 11-12.30 of us in our wedding gown/suit in colour & b/w more for keepsakes and our parents than anything else. The bouquet which shirley did was superb. Very exotic looking marooon calla lilies and orchids.

Once the studio shots were done, we change into causal and went to bugis junction where we met my "powerpuff girls" from work for sushi But we had to take photos secretly there which was also quite fun.. sort of like guerilla-style photography. Very paparazzi and in the end the manager came by to ask us to stop. *heh heh* After that we also took some shots at breadtalk (again, secretly) and some places at The Edge.

Later we went to little india and stopped at our art studio to change into our 'bohemian' + tourist get-up before getting another group of our friends to go down to mustafa with us where we took quirky shots at the supermarket and toys dept (supermarkets and toys are a hugh part of our lives). Very entertaining, esp for the indian staff there and they were so nice despite knowing what we were doing, no one came to stop us. One of our friends even came down in his pyjamas and a tie after learning about our 'theme'. We had tons of fun and one of our regular 'prop' was a canvas that Wilk had painted on a UFO, which sort of hover around us in various photos. Very B-grade movie and cheesy but hey, that's us! :D

After Mustafa, we changed into pyjamas and furry slippers and went down to the corner coffeeshop near the studio with our friends for kopi & toast before. The look on the old uncles there when they saw us was priceless! One of the little boys helping out the kopi uncle couldn't stop smiling at us and my furry piggie slippers.

Last stop was changi airport, another venue which was meaningful to us because in the beginning of our r/s, we were often plagued with a sense of transcient and dislocation. I also remembered picking up wilk and sending him at the airport back when he was studying in UK and somehow, flying away and flying back always had a special significance for us, even til now. Our friends featured quite a bit in our photoshoot and it was wonderful having them joining us. We also had my fav soft toy cat and wilk's various ultraman in alot of the shots too, like a running thread which tied everything together.

We didn't take any photos of the wedding gown/suit outdoors because we didn't think it made much sense. The chances of seeing someone in PJs at the coffeeshop is infinitely more possible that a wedding couple sitting there drinking coffee no? Whatever make-up i had on in the morning studio session was what i had for the rest of the day and i tied my hair the same way i usually do. Not much fuss, just the way i like it. :)

On the way of being wed : The Photographer

Just completed our photoshoot on tuesday and it has been such a fun-filled and interesting day that i would love to do it all over again! The photographer is from The Pond and he was fantastic! We knew right from the start this is the kinda photographer we wanted after viewing tons of portfolio from various different photographers.

It wasn't so much about having beautiful images of us in our wedding finery... but what was meaningful to us would be to have photos of us that showcase our love, our lives, our interest and it is the truth that neither wilk & I are that sort of beautiful people to begin with! In reality we are wannabe quirky normal people wanting to be crazy artists and we enjoy being with friends, being alone and just being ourselves. So why should our wedding album denote us any differently? So we set out to find someone who can show us as we are, what we aspire to be and the kind of love between us. And we found him in Ngiap Heng, our photographer. Initially, we were seriously contemplating forgoing having a photoshoot altogether after looking at other albums but when we chanced upon The Pond, something just clicked. I guess it was his philosophy of creating albums which are meaningful to the individual couples and the way he composed his images that shows a little something special of the couple themselves.

We only met up with The Pond once and we decided on the spot that it had to be this or nothing. And we haven't look back since. :)

On the way of being wed : The Wedding Invite

The invites are out! Credit truly goes to Wilk and his wonderful design, and his friend who printed them out FOC for us as a wedding present. We had a great time setting up his camera in our studio and taking silly 'neoprint-like' pictures one saturday afternoon before taking those images to make the 'postcard'-invites for the wedding. I have to admit it is abit 'heow' but i really love the colours and cheeky shots of wilk & i on the invite. Perhaps we are really breaking with tradition here (think creamy cards with gold/silver embrossed letter) since our card doesn't even have our surnames on it. Was initially quite worried what parents would think since usually the wedding invites has both parents names and our full names on the cards in some formal sounding invitation wordings. Thankfully, both set of parents were okie with it or perhaps, since we have been doing things differently, they have just gotten used to letting us have 'our way'.

I think right from the start, it wasn't so much that we wanted to be "different" or that we snub the kind of weddings that most people have, rather we wanted to have a wedding that made sense and appeal to us. Sadly, what most people do on their wedding dont quite cut it with us though i have been to many beautiful weddings. I want to have a beautiful wedding too... but unfortunately, after talking to other brides or brides-to-be, our idea of a 'beautiful wedding' doesn't quite match up to what other people want. It is the same for the venue, the type of gown, the wedding invitation, the photoshoot, the actual program. It was a little tough initially because it meant that, for us to have the wedding WE would like to have, we really have to do everything on our own because there wasn't many people out there who has similar experience in the kind of things we wanted.

Still, no regrets because it is our party and we are entitled to doing it the way we like it right? So hopefully our guests will feel the same way too and give us their blessing.

On the way of being wed : The Gown

Well.. the gown is finished and am really pleased with it. It seems crazy to obsess about a dress but heck.. it is THE DRESS. The *hopefully* once-in-a-lifetime gown which you'll remember in years to come and probably not be able to ever fit into again. Shirley, the designer at Flamingo Bridal, was really nice to work with and the lady does everything! From designing the gown, the detailing of the gown, the hairstyle, the make-up, the flower bouquet, i doubt that there are many designers out there that is so involved in a bride's wedding process. Absolutely no regrets whatsoever, despite initial apprehension of not using more 'famous' designers. Looks like now i have gotten the cake and eaten it too, because i managed to kept the cost below budget and got a gown that i am very happy with.

Training and Holidays

First week of the hols was devoted to training of the teachers. Would have loved to be on leave then but i guess work always comes first. From the responses of the teachers from the two schools, i have to say that our teachers have a longer way to go. The good thing is, the teachers themselves seems very interested in learning and taking the training seriously, rather unlike their previous 'i don't care' attitude. In fact saw a couple of teachers back in school during the hols preparing their classrooms and had a few good prep meeting with some classes and restructuring their classroom. Hopefully the training had truly spark off some real interest and get the teachers to be more involve and committed to teaching the children.