Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wedding - #38 More handicrafts
Wedding - #34 1st fitting
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Wedding - #4 Choosing the Right BANDwidth
With so many choices in the market nowadays, jewellers are definitely spoiling all wedding couples. However, with a fixed budget, it will definitely get you somewhere or rather 'restrict' other choices. We started without a budget. I know I know! We are crazy people. And because my proposal ring was already of a certain price, we thought that our wedding bands combined will never amount to that much. So without much ado, let me introduce you to some of the jewellers which we went, browsed, chatted with, and of cos share their prices. The most important component of all when choosing a ring.
Fairy's Inc (if you want customised rings at affordable prices)
Address: 402 Orchard Road #03-03 Delfi Orchard
Tel: 6235 5570 Fax: 6235 5030
http://www.fairysinc.com/
Mondays - Fridays 1pm till 8pm
Saturdays 1pm till 6pm
This little local jeweller [i highly recommend them if you want customised rings] Both ladies at Fairy's Inc are very thoughtful and 'personal'. They actually care for customers! and love what they are doing. They spend quality time with individual couples and so please make an appointment with them if you want to schedule a timing with them to see their rings and prices. Because i was on my bridal hunt at Delfi Orchard, Mr Goh and I just popped in to see their little shop. We didn't make any appointments with them so we didn't expect them to gave us much attention. However one of the ladies was really helpful despite that they had 2 couples with them and there were only 2 of them in the shop to talk to each couple. She showed us a few trays of their customised rings and let us try many rings by ourselves while she attended to the other couple. So Mr Goh and I just amused ourselves in their shop for awhile. We didn't mind it actually. So thumbs up for their service really! Fairy Inc diamonds are of at least C colour and VS2 if I'm not wrong. Their prices range from $800 [plain bands] to $2000 plus for small pave diamonds. They also do embroidery on their rings [quite their signature] and they even do fingerprints [OMG right!] on rings, cartoons or caricature on rings! Anything , everything. As long as you know what you want, I'm sure they can materialise something for you.
I almost got my wedding band from there because I fell in love with their braided ring series which is a double band with an empty slot where you can insert your engagement ring. If you do not want to put your engagement ring in, you could customise a small pave diamond ring instead. How lovely! Finally, just don't take too long to decide cos i think they need 2 months to get the rings ready for that big day.
Bvlgari Monologo Rings (if you want something fancy)
Price $2475 and above (prices ranges from yellow gold being the lowest, followed by white gold and pink gold; most expensive being the ones with diamonds.)
You can find Bvlgari rings at:
Ngee Ann City Tower A
391A Orchard Road #02-1/3
The Bvlgari at Paragon does not cover rings.
Bvlgari Monologo Rings were our first choice actually. And because we already checked out their prices. So we sort of set aside $5000 for our wedding bands. And still within budget. However when we got to the store and tried on these rings. We realised that although they looked really pretty but they were too fashionable for wedding bands. Just too funky! It was those rings which you wore to a gala party or to a fashion show to SHOW. Just wearing it to work everyday makes it too conspicuous. Beside this fact of being abit too showy, the ring was also quite bulgey and when you wear it, you won't be able to 'close' your middle and pinky finger together with your ring finger. *sigh*
Cartier's LOVE ring (Very simple and elegant)
Ngee Ann City
# 01-33 & # 02-02-04
After a visit to Tiffanys, we went over to Cartier one weekend. We, or rather I decided that since my engagement ring was from Tiffanys, I really wanted something different on my other finger. I'm not that a total die-hard Tiffany fan.
At Cartiers, Mr Goh tried the Love ring for men which is the thicker version; cost $1955. Hey hey, i though to myself, it's quite affordable. While i tried on the mini Love ring which is EVEN cheaper! Cost $1215 because it was the thinnest band. It gets pricer as the band gets thicker.
If you wondering how much does the mini Love with 1 Diamond cost. Hey hey again, cheaper than Bvlgari's Monologo rings. mini Love with 1 diamond embedded right in the centre cost $2215. And the same goes for Cartier like Bvlgari. Yellow gold is the lowest followed by pink and white gold. The price which i quoted above are for the yellow gold series. We tried the white gold ones, although it looked much more modern compared to their yellow counterparts but somehow they looked like they can be gotten from perlini's silver!!!! They really look like SILVER! + cheap (sorry if i offended anyone here)
Below: A series of Cartiers's Love series
And you can see the varying thickness of the rings.
Cartier Love Ring - suitable for men
Cartier Love Ring with 1 Diamond - suitable for ladies!!! (of cos ladies get all the bling!)
Piaget's Possession Rings (Hmm...)
http://en.piaget.com/
The Possession Outlying ring MOVES! This ring has an outer band. The 2 bands are inseparably link, turn freely around each other in pepetual motion. It is an invisible mechanism , unique in the world of jewellery design!!! Prices start from $6,750 (WHOA + jawdrop) for the diamond ones while the plain band starts from $3750. Yellow gold plain band will start from $2k grand and above.
Celebrity Buzz on the rings:
Eva Longoria’s diamond wedding band from Piaget, features two rows of round diamonds separated by a row of 27 Asscher cut diamonds down the center (total of 107 diamonds). Tony’s wedding band from Piaget is a timeless and elegant 18kt. white gold wedding band. Per the couple’s request, both wedding bands have a personalized French engraving on the inside of the shank.
Somehow, I didnt have much of an affinity to their rings. I dunno why. It's like marrying a guy. You know it when the time comes. SO does the ring.
Ring a bell?
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Wedding - #2 Tag them!
Yah...Marriage is truly a mind boggling experience for me! Because firstly I have never done it. Secondly, I only get to do it once, and i want it to be right and beautiful. I want all my guests to remember that ours was the most memorable, the prettiest, the food was great, the venue was perfect, the service was impeccable, everything perfect, down to the nitty gritty details. I think every bride deserves that because she only gets married once [hopefully every after that is].
The married ones told me. "OMG, it was so tiring, every weekend just flew pass. And all for just a day. The money we spend just for that single day!!!" But, you could tell it in their eyes that it was a day to remember, a day that they will never forget their entire lives. Because it was that day that changed everything.
So after Mr Goh proposed, immediately the next day i went to arm myself with wedding magazines from Borders!!! And OMG, wedding magazines are like double the price of a normal one! Well, understandably after reading the covers, these magazines are like quarterly issues and most of them are doubly thick with loads of information for us newbies to read.
here's a collection of all my wedding magazines to date. Not many cos it only gets me more confused as to what i eventually want! Yes yes, i even bought the 8 days issue with Michelle chia and Sean on the front cover to spy on what they were planning for their wedding! And i learnt so much from their wedding preparations too!If i get the time, i might scan the pages and show what they have been up to and all the traditions that they are following. Cos it happened to the both of us too, clueless as to what traditions to follow. It was all very mind-boggling.
Tag them!!! Look at the number of tags i have on all my magazines!! Yes you can say that I'm very "yaogui"!!! I wanted a bit of this, a bit of that, EVERYTHING!
Finally, flipping through all the magazines were really tiring just to look for that item which i tagged before so i decided to start my own scrapbook which only has the most important item which i have finally decided on and paste it in. This is very effective too, because this little book shows my photographer, my gown designer and even my wedding coordinator [flowers, decor, wedding favours, hand bouquet etc etc] what i really want immediately rather than bringing all my magazines down and flipping it infront of them. The down side is, it just takes a bit more effort to tear that page out, stick it down to the book. All-in-all, the magazines are very useful for a newbie, it lists down a checklist of the THINGS-TO-DO [from a year down to last few weeks], wedding venues, bridal studios and photography studios with all their addresses, although no maps! etc etc. Plus i really enjoyed reading all the scoops and highlights of other people's wedding too. Then I can also apply for mine as well!
Wedding - #1 The Proposal
I have finally decided to blog about my wedding preparations. Actually I thought of keeping everything mum. But now i have decided to spill the beans. Let everything out. So that others can learn from my mistakes and of cos hopefully those not-yet-married ones can benefit from what I've encountered.
Everything has its beginnings...so this is how it went.The story began soon after Mr Goh proposed on Valentine's day. ok. Now everyone will ask: where! where! He proposed in a very hush-hush manner, in a room, no XX at the Ritz Carlton hotel.
Next everyone will ask: how! how!
Well, it was our time to exchange presents like we usually do on Vday. So he took out a Tiffany bag. Nothing suspicious cos he knows that I really like their stuff. And I took out my little gift too. and voila! a Turqoise looking bag. Yah...same brand again.
And I gave him a rose too! heeheee...yup he was quite shocked. usually gals get all the flowers rite? *smirk* anyway he opened his first and it was a ring. Yup it's the Coin-edge ring in Titanum. It is a Black thick and solid band, cost me hmm...i think it was $600 SGD. The first ring I ever bought for anyone. Next it's my turn. I opened my little box and there was a locket for my charm bracelet. And on top of the locket, it wrote..."Marry Me". At that point of time, my heart stopped. Literally. I think i didnt even have the time to think "er..." And he was THERE! beside me, bended on one knee with a tiffany black box, opened. There lying inside that velvety box. LAID THE RING.
okay, next few events going to sound really terrible.
scene 1:I grabbed the ring from the box and stared at it really hard!!!! and OMG! it was so pretty!!! and HUGE of cos. hee hee...almost grinning from east coast to west coast now.
scene 2: Then someone went "eh-hem...you haven't answered my question yet."
oh dear, mr goh was still on bended knee beside me while i was oohing and aahing at the ring. hmm the stone probably. anyway time flew very fast then. You only get this kind of moment like a few seconds or so.REALLY.
scene 3: i went"ohh!! sorry sorry!!!" and i put the ring back to the box. Composed myself and smiled my most radiant smile ever and my face turned to him, looking ever lovingly to his eyes, although my heart yearns for the ring. [i interpret: I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!]
"Can you repeat your question again?" I cooed.
" Will you marry me?" he repeated again.
"Yes!!!"
scene4: he puts the ring on my 4th finger and the ring rolled to the sides cos it was too big! muahahahaha. After that, I could only see the ring and not the proposer. And i held it up above my head and kept smiling and smiling to myself.
Description from Tiffanys: An Engine-turned engraving creates a masculine motif. [i interpret: for men ONLY] Ring in sterling silver and titanium, midnight.
For more related info:
http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/GroomsGuide/
The Ring: A Round Brillance solitaire with 6 prongs, set in a Tiffany setting.
The ring that Mr Goh proposed to me was the Tiffany Setting.
First created in 1886, these prong settings quickly became the signature design of Tiffany &Co. , the noted jewelry design company that focuses on the stunning clarity and precision of beautiful gems rather than overwhelming the eye with elaborate styles and settings.
The Tiffany mount is simple: four or six prongs securely hold the diamond around its girdle(the thickest portion of the stone), elevating it above a plain metal band. The prongs are spaced equally around the circumference of the stone, mimicking the symmetry of the diamond’s cut.
Today, Tiffany-style settings are the most popular option for brides-to-be, particularly for solitaire rings.Tiffany settings are the best option to highlight a stunning diamond, which is why the famed designer first created the open setting. Because Tiffany & Co. uses only the most perfect gems in their designs, simple, open settings are useful to highlight the startling beauty of those gems. The openness of the setting can also create the illusion of a larger carat size, giving couples the option of choosing a higher quality though smaller stone without losing the appeal of an immaculate ring.