The Kiasu Singaporean Strikes Twice!

So, we received an email from greymatter before the weekend. He's now available on the 7th July 2007. It seems like the couple who had prevented us from getting him are indecisive and, i guess, this must be making him nervous. I would be too, even though the date is about a year away and he is a fantastic photographer and most likely to be able to find another client. When you enter into a relationship, you'll definately want to feel like you can trust the other party! In this way, the photographer-bride/groom relationship is very much like a marriage, although i don't think anyone has used this metaphor before. Hmm..this sounds like an entry for a very different themed blog...or marketing research...ah, i digress.

Anyway, the degree of kiasu-ism in wedding planning in Singapore has struck me as shocking and well, frankly, rather annoying. It's bad enough that restaurants get booked up 1, sometimes 2, years in advance - think 8th August 2008 (888). "Good" JPs/solemnisers, who come highly reccomended i guess for their ability to manage the event, are also likely to be booked up but because they don't commit before 3 months in advance, it has flashed images of people sitting by the phone for the 9am clock to ring before frantically dialling up the various solemnisers. And, i've learnt, the hard way, that good photographers are also booked up, A YEAR IN ADVANCE!!! So, despite the advice that has been given to brides-to-be in these American/British wedding planning guides, i think a new one needs to be designed for Singaporean Brides. One that starts planning 3 years in advance, way before you've been proposed to, or even, maybe, have a boyfriend. Because at the rate at which kiasu-ism is spreading, it won't be long before water needs to be pre-booked for a wedding in Singapore!

So, my advice. Plan for your wedding the day you're born! Prepare a wedding scrapbook like Monica in Friends, and start putting together your dream wedding. You might not be able to afford it all but at least you're halfway there in terms of the planning process and will definately be ahead of the kiasu Singaporean brides pack!

Confetti of Ideas

Walked down Tottenham Court Road yesterday and saw this shop! So, I thought I'll put up a quick post for those who might be interested in picking up some fun ideas for their own wedding.



Confetti is a UK company but it's still great browsing for those who aren't Brits. David's cousin Simon got married two years ago and he and Debbie put a box of wedding trivia cards from Confetti on each table to entertain guests. I thought it was quite fun and defnitely enjoyed finding out the answers.

Photographer

So it seems as though we might have our photographer, who you can see here. Fingers crossed!!

An agonising wait (or weight)...

So, as we said, we went back to the drawing board and realised that there was another photographer that we loved - Greymatter! In fact, he (the only one) got a VDY (Very Definitely Yes) when we first started looking for wedding photographers. But, of course, since he is so good at what he does, he was already sus'd by another couple; so now, we're waiting, waiting for him to come back to us and let us know if they still want him or not.

I spoke to him last week telling him of our intentions to 'book' him for the day and we've emailed him again on Tuesday to ask how things were. We still haven't heard. I am still keeping my fingers crossed. How long is too long?

At the moment, we've found another who is still available (yes, unbelievable given that I seem to be so worried about finding the right one but since we've been in touch, FOUR other couples have enquired about his services!). I like his unobstrusive style of capturing the bride and groom in their moments together, it reminds me a lot of Robert Doisneau, my favourite photographer. I am quite happy to have him on the day instead, although i am a little concerned over the emphasis on B&W pictures but i am sure that can be discussed.

So, perhaps the issue isn't that we haven't heard from greymatter; perhaps the issue is that i am torn apart between the two. I like both a lot, what am i to do? What's David's thoughts on this...well, i think the fence is starting t o hurt his butt really.