We actually kept this under wrap very very well, but for people who don’t know, Raymond and I are getting married next year, and we we have about 5-6 months to go before our big day! *hyperventilate*
We feel excited, nervous, happy, stressed, helpless, frustrated and a whole lot of other emotions at the same time. Notice there are more negative ones than the positive ones? Hahaha! That’s because we are extremely busy with work, and we tend to concentrate on our couples’ wedding than our own. That probably is a bad thing, but it’s definitely a good thing for our couples. Hahahaha!!
So the other day I was looking through the checklist of the standard 15 months before the wedding, 6 months before wedding and stuffs. I took a pen and wanted to tick the boxes of all the things that we’ve done so far since there’s only 6 months left to our big day. After reading through the entire checklist, I ended up with a whole lot of unticked boxes. Should I panic? I think I should, right? Sigh…
I then decided that’s it. I need to spend some time thinking about what I want but at the same time balance it a little with what the folks want. I know it’s my once in a lifetime and I used to tell couples it is THEIR once in a lifetime, don’t have to care much about what other people will say, because it’s YOUR life, you do what makes YOU happy. I don’t know if it’s the effect of eating too much oatmeal that makes me become more and more of a philosophical person (recently I ponder over a lot on Life and the mechanics, so much so that it makes Raymond feels that I’m thinking deep). Hmm…
Anyway, people who don’t know me won’t know that I love colors, but I don’t show it. I wear dull clothings and recycle them and all but that’s because we haven’t got a lot of time for ourselves to go shopping. I love to daydream, I love cartoons, I love a world where everyone is sincere and honest with each other and money doesn’t make the world go round. So I wanted a wedding where I can have colorful rainbow as the runner (carpet) for the march in aisle, every table has a super colorful table cloth, truckloads of colorful balloons, a super colorful real wedding cake where I can gobble the whole thing up afterwards (I’m a cake monster), wear an octopus mascot costume instead of a wedding gown and all. That is/was what I want/wanted.
But, wedding is not only about me and Raymond, not only a celebration of our Love. It’s also about two families coming together, about being thankful to our families for who we are and where we stand today. It’s about appreciation, gratitude, for without them we wouldn’t even be here today. And nobody else will know how much our families have sacrificed for us and love us. Sometimes even in ways that we wouldn’t even know.. ways like faithfully saying a prayer for us everyday before bedtime. They could have pursued their lifelong dream if not for the fact that they have a family to feed and they needed to be practical in terms of finances. It’s because of what they’ve done for us that we have what we have today.
So, we’ll need to do a lot of give and takes. You know, sometimes they love you so much that they will rather you do the things that will make you happy even if it doesn’t make them feel the same. If you love them as much as they love you, you’ll know what are the things you should do. 🙂
Back to prioritising and budgeting. It doesn’t make a lot of sense in spending so much money decorating the banquet venue, no point getting your gown designer to focus so much detail on the gown embroidery, no point getting a hand full of nicely manicured/pedicured nails, if you didn’t have a Photographer / Cinematographer who is capable of capturing all these little nitty grittys that makes up the entire wedding for you. Of course being in the wedding photography industry, we value Photography / Cinematography more than anything else, besides food. Hahahahaha!! It’s a major headache for us and a great dilemma especially when most of Photographers / Cinematographers are like dear friends to us. We like their works, but at the same time we want them to enjoy. For once, sit down and eat and not work!
I know the wedding expenses make up a huge amount of money. Everything is so costly. It is especially unfair for people to say that Raymond and I will never understand only because you get the impression that we make a lot of money. I still don’t understand why couples think we are expensive. I wonder who are they comparing our photography work and dedication with. What you see is only the surface, and based on superficial judgment, I can say the same of you too, can I?
Some couples spend no less than a million on the entire wedding, some maybe no more than 10 thousand dollars. I’m a tad surprised that some couples choose to spend thousands of dollars on flowers to spruce up the banquet venue, but choose to trust someone inexperienced to document the whole wedding. Yes, sprucing up the banquet venue might wow the guests. But the impression probably won’t last more than a month or two. The next time when they attend another wedding which is even more “wow-er” than yours, they might just forget about yours. BUT the photographs are the only thing that will last for a LIFETIME. Don’t you think it’s much more valuable and precious than anything else? You can engage the company to redo the entire same set up which you had for your wedding, but you can never ever recreate the same emotions you or your guests experienced on your wedding day. Once it’s gone, it’s all gone. Memories is something that money can never buy. You wouldn’t want to end up with nothing decent to remember and reminisce when you and your partner grow old, right?
Do spend some time and think about it. 🙂
Just some of my personal random ramblings to share as a bride-to-be! Finally get this off my chest. Alrighty, you guys have fun with the wedding preparation, I’m gonna start writing down what is required on my big day too!
Have a great week! 🙂
Lots of Love,
Angeline
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