The Red Qi Pao/Cheongsam

My dream-online qi pao dress

Now I wasn't looking too forward to finding my Chinese outfit of the night, but I knew it was an important part of my culture to be wearing a form of red.

Qipao traditionally is very form fitting. If I lived in China, I would've had my own custom designed qipao. I wish I were able to visit there to have most of my wedding things done, but I don't think it would happen anytime soon. The fiance and I decided to check out some store down in China town. I tried on a couple of dresses. Some qipao had mermaid styles, some with lace, and some were completely flashy.

I was looking for...
1. Something that complicated my body, that had just the right curves.
2. The neckline in the center (If it were more off to the side, it was considered more of a "mui" dress. It was more elegant to have it centered.)
3. Something that represented me. Not too flashy.

If I had this dress...

After three stores in search, I finally found something! I don't want to show it just yet, but I completely fell in love! I brought my mom in the next day to make the purchase. She settled the pricing and we made a huge save=) I loved it very much because:
1. It fitted me perfectly. (It even had that extra breast cushion! double "yay"!)
2. The neckline was in the center. The neckline has a little sharpness to it.
3. It is a red. A matte material with red dragons embroiled all over the dress. The material is thick and firm. There's two slits on both sides (Sexy! haha).

Advice for bride to bes: I've googled and searched for different qipao dresses online. Seeing and trying it on makes a huge difference when it comes to these form-fitting dresses. Be sure to have a couple of opinions before making the purchase. I had my fiance, mom and dad come check it out.

If any brides in the Vancouver area needs some help with qipao shopping, please message me!


Update:  To all the brides out there. I've been receiving a lot of messages about qi pao dresses. This is the place to go for Qi Paos in Vancouver: KK Boutique.
http://www.kkboutique.ca/about.html

Just make sure you bring your fluent chinese skills with you. Bargaining will certainly be possible. They have quite a selection when I went there. You can rent or purchase qi paos there. 
154 East Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 1T3

Chinese Wedding Invitations

So... I really wanted my whimsical "Did it myself" invitation. Unfortunately, the parents set the record straight and I will be using these Chinese invitations. I really wanted to do it myself, but I will keep you posted if I do end up getting to use the ones that I made.

After a week full of defeat, my parents have nagged me enough to visit various Chinese Wedding Invitations. I have finally settled on full traditional Chinese wedding invitations. Gold and red. Can you guess which one I end up choosing?

"Double Happiness with attitude"

"Double Happiness in signature"

"Double Happiness formal as can be"

I honestly think these three invitations really define me. The Chinese "double happiness" are clearly smacked up front. Well, I have chosen #3. The one in melted in gold. It matched my "theme" =)

Wedding Show

On Sunday, my MOH and I attended  ENGAGE VC at The Vancouver Club.
A big thank you goes to Blush Occasions for the invitation.

I have to say, hands down on the best wedding show of the year.
What makes a show wonderful?

• Floral Gallery
• Cake Gallery
• Bridal Gallery
• Bridal Fashion Show
• Mini Spa and Beauty Room
• Wine Tastings
• Signature Cocktail Tastings
• Canapés and Chef Station
• Live Music
• Lavish Prizes

Furthermore, I have never seen so many men at a bridal show before!

I am so happy to be introduced to annaelizabethcakes, Blush Occasions, LuxeBeautyLounge and CountDownEvents. 

BRIDAL FEVER

There's a difference between Bridal Fever and Wedding Fever.
Bridal Fever: Wanting to be a Bride.
My term: I want to just marry my man.
The wedding never occurred to me. I just wanted to be married to my man.
(I didn't experience wedding fever just yet! Thank goodness!)

I must admit. At one point I really had bridal fever.

I think it all started when my friend got married.
Then it was the talk of the "years" involved.
Now dates are very important to the Chinese. One of the biggest worry was getting married in the year 2014. I really didn't like the number and it didn't give me a piece of mind. The year 2013 isn't that awesome either because they call it the "Widow Year".

I think as a child, the only thing I only planned about weddings was that I would get married by age 26 and that was it. But as years passed, not everything may have followed as scheduled. I have to say, the bridal fever stopped when I read a random blog, "Wouldn't you rather him surprise you? You wouldn't want to ruin that moment." That's true. My Bridal Fever stopped a month before he proposed. I remember going to a wedding and just enjoying our youth.

Bridal Fever Symptoms:
- Looking at Engagement rings
- Talking about weddings all the live-long-day
- Hinting the boyfriend too often
- You watch, eat, sleep and dream about it.


The Cure:
- Admit to it
- Talk to him about it and where the relationship is going.
- Calm yourself down or it may not even happen at all.
(What I mean by that is he may be scared away even more. Furthermore, it's a big turn-off.)

Stay strong. The right moment will come. For me, I left it to fate.

My Wedding Dress Journey

Image received from Bridal Guide

I had friends tell me that wedding dress takes a lot of time. I had friends that told me that they had to go through many stores and had headaches along the way. I had friends that found something on a sample sale in that one day.

Every women does it differently.
But for me, once I got engaged, I knew I had to prepare myself.
I knew exactly what I wanted
Sweet heart top with almost an A-line meshed with a mermaid ending.

I went wedding dress shopping by myself that first week in New Westminster, Vancouver. I just wanted to see it for myself and try it on for myself. I completely fell in love with the first one that I put on. It just felt completely right, but it wasn't fully. It just didn't define me well enough. Then I tried on the next, then several more. In the end I tried on about nine dresses and I liked them all. I put aside four dresses for a re-visit. It was pretty nice experience for myself. I think the only problem was, was that they were all so beautiful and I felt so confused into choosing the one I wanted.

A couple of weeks later, I went with my MOH and bridesmaid. We made an appointment to try at this store in Hastings, Vancouver. I had to say, I was not impressed at all. We browsed through another store and nada, nothing! Funny thing was, I went to check out this store that was "just for fun" on Renfrew, Vancouver and I fell in love with a dress. I tried on many that day too. But for some reason, this one dress that was way over big on me felt like "the one".

What I learned through this experience:
1. Make sure it's within your budget (which mine really was and was on sale!)
2. Do your research online
3. Try on several dresses
4. Keep an open mind
5. Focus on the style, not the size
6. Plan early!
7. Does it make you giddy? (because it did for me! I'm not the crying type!)
8. The material and color may make your decision as well! Is it off white? ivory? pearl?

I will show my dress in August. It will be a surprise=)
But I have to say, it's similar to a "Trumpet" shape.

DIY: Save the Dates

I've made this "Save the Date" not too long ago.

These classroom photos weren't my engagement ones. Instead, it was taken as a pre-engagement shoot by my talented sister. Honestly, I'm nervous to have my official engagement photos taken. We will see when that happens. I am still deciding on several things... mainly, the location.

The reason why I chose a classroom shot was because my fiance and I met in high school. We had English class together and that was when we started dating. Yes, highschool sweet hearts. We dated for over 9 years now. It will be ten years this August when we wed. Quite exciting indeed.

I know in Chinese traditions, we just called each other and that would be "good enough" for saving the date. Since the parents will be choosing Chinese red invitations, I decided to make a "run for it" for the Save the Dates. I wanted to create my own. Something that portrayed my fiance and I. After playing around on paint and GIMPshop, I managed to produce something I really liked. Clean and simple. I should send them out soon. Especially when everyone is booking their vacations early this year.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Photo I found on a Pinterest. I really like these dresses.

Having your best friends/family members by your side on your special day is important.

My wish is to make sure they are dressed well for such an occasion.

The biggest challenge is choosing a dress that fits several women.

Then you think about the other things:

1. Does it compliment your dress?

2. Will it do justice in your photos?

3. Is it affordable?

I thought of bridesmaid dresses long before my wedding dress. For some reason, I always thought I had it all planned out.

{PLAN A}At first I thought of henkaa where my fiance's cousin's friend owned such a creative shop. Wouldn't it be awesome for all the girls to design their own dresses and chisel it to their own likings?

{PLAN B} Then i thought of cute and simple dresses from forever 21 or h&m because it can naturally be "pulled off" in a summer wedding. There's always a good load of dresses to look through.

{PLAN C} I hope I don't have to resort to this, but CUSTOM-MADE could be one of the options. My mom has made my prom dresses for my older sister and I. She has even made me countless of clothing items. She even recently made bridesmaid dresses for a friend of mine. However, I hate to put this load on her. I would hate to put this stress on her.

Help me out!!!

DIY Invitation

I decided to make my own Wedding Invitation.
After much conversation, I went home one day and was playing around with paint. My laptop being it's cheezy old crap-a-roo could not handle photoshop or any other fancy art studio workshops. Within a half hour of doodling around, I have completed something that I hope to use...

but I highly doubt I'd be able to use it because I just found out my parents want my invitations to be red and gold. Sigh, traditions.

I've really fallen in love with it. I really have.

Table Cloths

If this was to be my wedding... I will not survive such things...

The first time my parents and my in-laws met was at the Chinese Restaurant we chose for the Banquet. I honestly wanted a Western wedding because I felt the food would be more fitted for me. I was talking to one of my clients today and he told me that the wedding was to fit the guests and the elders more than the bride. How can I complain. I will get into detail more later in the blogs. 

The first problem I had was my dad wanted a wedding where all the table cloths were bright red. He is completely traditional. Furthermore, if I couldn't do red, it would have to be pink. Can you honestly imagine a room full of red or pink? Eventually after a week, my parents said it was fine for me to choose the "beige" I wanted. I feel that this incident will be the first of many. 

May I have your daughter's hand in marriage?

Now let's skip back a few steps. 

First thing was for my (truly glad to call him) fiance to ask my parents for permission to have my hand in marriage. It's a good gesture to show the father-in-law what a gentleman you are. I know it's more of an old tradition but it shows courtesy and respect to the family you are about to be united with. Having this blessing from the parents is the first step in building a positive relationship with the in-laws. My fiance have met with my parents in many different occasions and maintained a good connection.

So when it came to asking for permission, in Western cultures:

- Your man should meet with your father in person
- Have a good private conversation
- Express your feelings for her daughter

- Sincerely ask for his blessing

Our experience was more of an Asian culture that just ended up happening in a good note.

 My mom was more of "the boss" in the family. My dad was easy going. Knowing how my parents were, I don't think they could keep a secret. Furthermore, I bet my mom would lose sleep over it. I must admit, the fiance was pretty smart about it. He called my parents an hour before he popped the question. The main events in that phone call was:

Him: "I would like to marry your daughter, can I have your blessing?"

Mom: "About Time."

As traditional as I am about this subject, I was kinda happy about it. I got to be surprised and my parents got a phone call hours later when I got engaged.

The Proposal

I couldn't be happier with how my man did it. It truly took my breath away. It happened amongst all our friends. It was caught on video and pictures were taken in a 360 degrees angle by everyone.

It was at a Halloween Party. We had a Pumpkin carving contest. Everyone waited outside and slowly each one went in to judge the pumpkins. I was the last one to enter escorted by my fiance. Then I saw it. A large pumpkin in the middle that said "Will You Marry Me?" I turned around and there he was, down on one knee.

It was a sensational feeling. A time where my heart skipped a beat. I remember everything moving so slowly and I completely cherished every second of it. After dating for nine+ years, it was worth the wait.