Secret Garden Lifestyle @ Lorong Yap Kwan Seng

OK, so we have the wedding date set.

Next order of business is to scout for the location of the wedding.

I've read stories of brides and grooms booking hotels and restaurants at least a year before the actual day, so I started mine pretty early. 1 year and 3 months before the big day to be exact.

Kiasu (literally afraid to lose in Chinese) much? Not if you want to celebrate your big day at your 1st choice of location.

Thanks to endless googling of garden weddings in KL, I found this chic venue tucked away in a corner of Lorong Yap Kwan Seng.

Exchanging vows on the second floor of a former residence facing KLCC? Yes please!

Night view. Amazeballs no?

The lawn has been transformed into a dining area capable of holding 186 guests.

The indoors seat 92 guests.

The owner of the place is Jade, a very pleasant and helpful lady who gets a tick in my book. More often than not you'd have to deal with someone snobbish and cold, and I say get out of there. First impression here is important because you'd want a cooperative facilitator with you on your big day.

Secret Garden Lifestyle offers Asian (RM120 per pax) and International (RM130 per pax) buffet. There's also a stage, an outdoor bar, changing room, surau and a parlour on the second floor for various needs (e.g.: tea ceremony).

I was pretty excited about this place because it wasn't the conventional Chinese restaurant weddings that I frequent, but then I thought about the weather. I didn't know if the wall fans and coolers were enough to keep the guests cool, and separating those who wants air conditioner into indoors might mean they would lose out from the festivities going on outside.

The second floor balcony for the ceremony can only hold up 91 guests, so not all might be able to squeeze in and watch us. For a weekend wedding, there was also going to have a minimum guests count (I think it was 150) and no way we have 150 close friends and family members. Anyways when I spoke to my dad about it, he wasn't keen on having a buffet dinner, specifically because of the long queues.

So I guess I won't be having a wedding facing KLCC unless we can't find anything better. Hmphr.

Pageant Predictions: Miss USA 2015

TGIF y'all! The 2015 edition of Miss USA is this Sunday, which means I'll be very distracted on Monday morning (we're 8 hours ahead) refreshing social media pages and all. 

Favorites based on headshots, interviews and the comments fans leave on pageantry forums.

Arizona - Maureen Montagne

Georgia - Brooke Fletcher

Kansas - Alexis Railsback

Kentucky - Katie George

Massachusetts - Polikseni Manxhari

Michigan - Rashontae Wawrzyniak

Mississippi - Courtney Byrd

North Carolina - Julia Dalton

North Dakota - Molly Ketterling

South Carolina - Sarah Weishuhn

South Dakota - Lexy Schenk

Texas - Ylianna Guerra

Virginia - Laura Puleo

Credits - Advan Ramirez, AJ Day, Andrew Kung, Dan Compton, Fadil Berisha, Miss USA Fans, Kristy Belcher, Carter Studios Inc, Miss Texas USA

June 18, 2016

First things first, I'm 11 months away from the big day.

I do not know if I'll morph into a bridezilla as the days go by but here's my promise - I'll try not to. I have specifically informed my maid of honor and 2 bridesmaids to keep me sane. Oh, and the future groom as well because he knows my temper too darn well.

So here's the thing,

I am a big fan of western things, and my cousin's garden wedding in 2008 might have fueled the obsession. Then in 2013 Pinterest blew up in our faces and then I got to know this two words, rustic wedding.

What is rustic and can it even be done in Malaysia, you ask?

Rustic is defined as of or relating to the countryside and constructed or made in a plain and simple fashion.

In that sense, rustic incorporates outdoor and nature inspired elements. Think wood, tree barks, burlap, lace, plaid, twines and mason jars. And good news, it can be done in Malaysia. A lot of these can be accomplished through research, DIYs or hiring a wedding planner. And I'm talking about a fairly priced wedding here. A wedding of your dreams need not to be expensive, it's the small non-expensive touches that when combined leads it to be elaborate and extravagant.

In a nutshell, this post does not condone going overboard and then landing yourself in debt. Not worth it.

And speaking of debt, the fiance and I are pretty much frugal people, and more often than not, borderline cheapskate. We are okay to forgo a live band, elaborate centerpieces, a videographer, photo booth, expensive wedding rings and anything that we deem is too expensive.

So, bye bye Grand Hyatt. They charge RM3,400+ per table of 10.

Oh right, we're having the ceremony and reception in KL, mainly because it's convenient for us to plan a wedding since we work and live here and most of our close friends are here as well. Most of our relatives have homes in KL too so that will save accommodation costs. Having the events at the same location will also save time and lessen logistics nightmares.

I enlisted my cousin Philip to be the emcee. My maid of honor will be my cousin Bea and my bridesmaids are Shannen, my buddy since 7 and Nalz, my ex colleague.

There. Now I just need to scout for a location, the dress, flowers, decor, oh my, what did I get myself into ..