Wedding Planning Chapter 9 – Our Gown Selection!



On 18 Feb, Sunshine and I had our first appointment with WhiteLink for our first gown selection! This is a day I had been looking forward to since we signed our bridal package last October. How time flies! About a week ago before our appointment, WhiteLink messaged us to remind us of our appointment. However, since most of the couples may not have any first-hand experience about gown selection, a suggestion would be for them to inform their couples about the things to expect and bring on the day of our gown selection. For example, when I asked, they suggested long sleeve white shirt for grooms and nubra for brides.

On the day of our appointment, I reached the studio at around 12.45pm while Sunshine was about five minutes late. Initially, our coordinator, J, had wanted to go through our package with me first but I wanted to wait for Sunshine. Just like I would not have wanted to miss anything, I did not want Sunshine to miss anything too. However, we both realised that it was a mistake because after going through our package again to refresh our memories, J passed me an iPad and got me to choose the gowns I liked from there by liking the individual photos. I had always thought that like in dramas, we would go through racks and racks of gowns and select from there. Lol. As WhiteLink had quite a selection of gowns to choose from, I took some time to browse through and select those I like while Sunshine looked bored. Lol. This was when we both realised that had I been told that this was what we would be doing, I would have asked J to start first. This was because I have my own opinion and knew what I like and dislike while Sunshine would have no comments and be okay with most of them. He would very much prefer to see me wear them instead. Lol. My mum, who had accompanied me there was very much like Sunshine. Hence, we all realised we could have saved some time if I had been given the iPad first.

After selecting the gowns I like, I realised things are getting more fun! I see J bringing out gowns after gowns for me to try on. Hehe. We started with the white wedding gowns first. J told Sunshine to help take picture of me in the gowns, both the front and back views. He said we would select my gowns from these photos after I had finished trying all of them. As there were more than one couple trying on gowns that day, I would happen to see the other brides-to-be in their selected gowns when I come out of the changing room. The bride-to-be in front of me looked so pretty in all that she tried! I then pointed those I think looked pretty on her to J and asked if I could try those as well. Haha. However, as my figure was not as good as her, whatever she tried looked ugly/weird on me. *sad* J told me not to compare myself with others and continued to help me with my gowns instead. Halfway through, I realised that some of the gowns I had “liked” on the iPad were not brought out for me to try. When I asked J about it, he said it was because those gowns will not be available on my wedding date =.= What??? Even though I may not be able to wear those gowns on my wedding date, I could still use them for my photoshoot if I liked them what! How could he just deny me of the chance to try those just because they are not available on my wedding date! Omg. I was surprised but I did not pursue it. Oh well… I also realised that J had brought me some gowns which I did not select. These gowns were not included in my package range and I had to top up $$$ for it. Aiyo! However, I believed that J brought those he felt would look good on me for me to try on and he had good intentions behind his actions (besides trying to earn more commission, I guess). Guess what? The two gowns he brought were from the “designer series” and I liked both of them! They looked so BLING!!! Haha. Though I like simple designs, I think my wedding is a very good excuse to wear till DAMN BLING!

Chapter 9 in changing room
In the changing room

After what seemed like hours, I saw J bring out coloured gowns and I thought “Oh! So I’ve finished trying white gowns le? Time for evening gowns!” Meanwhile, my sister whom I had asked to come select gowns with me, sighed and said that seeing me try on so many gowns just scared her away from this. She said that she would not want to have a bridal package (and banquet) after seeing all the trouble I had to go through. My mum, maternal grandmother and Sunshine were all getting less enthusiastic and tired by then. Oops! I, on the other hand, told her that I was enjoying the process. Though it was quite tiring, I had fun stripping, jumping from one gown to another and gowning up. I felt like a princess and thought I looked quite pretty in some of the photographs too! Hehe. After trying on evening gowns, J brought out five kua/cheongsam and three ROM short dresses for me to choose. I did not look through the iPad for their collections for these two as J explained that they do not stock up on tea dresses and ROM short dresses. Oh well. Thankfully, perhaps due to the limited collection for these two types of dresses, the choice was very clear for me when the time came for me to select my dresses. Both my father and Sunshine did not like the kua and hence, I chose a cheongsam (Sunshine said I looked old in the kua). There was only one choice each for the tea dress and ROM short dress. Woo! Fast!

Chapter 9 tea dress

Then, things got a little more complicated when I was asked to choose my white wedding gown and evening gown. J asked me to narrow down by “liking” those gowns I would like to shortlist first, review them then decide. My evening gown was a piece I shortlisted way before I had stepped into WhiteLink today. Hehe. I thought it looked pretty on their website photos and on me! In the end, I narrowed the white gowns to the two designer pieces (cos they were really pretty and I think I looked good in them)! J recommended one of them out of these two and offered to bring it out for me to try again for my father, who had arrived to fetch us home, to see. J tried to convince me based on two reasons: (i) the evening gown I chose was a sweetheart cut with off-shoulder design. The gown I eventually eliminated was also a sweetheart cut with off-shoulder design. I preferred to have something different for the white and evening gowns and this was one of the main reasons why I chose what I chose eventually. (ii) J said that the white gown I chose eventually, with blue linings at its helm, also complemented the light blue evening gown I chose. In the end, my father chose what J recommended and Sunshine also said ok to it (and the additional $$$ price tag =/). I liked it too as it was gorgeous! Bling bling! Yay! J later cheekily confessed that he was biased towards this gown as he was its designer! Lol. So cheeky! No wonder he took out this gown in the first place and eventually recommended me this! However, despite this, I was still satisfied with my choice!

It was finally Sunshine’s turn to try on suits! J recommended pieces he thought would match my gowns and we eventually managed to choose four suits. I totally did not know that I should take photos of Sunshine in his suits and by the time J reminded me, Sunshine was already trying on his last set. Sian. Initially, Sunshine and I were only entitled to three sets of gowns/suits. My mum had earlier tried to bargain down the additional $$$ top-up but J would not bulge. Hence, she asked for another extra set of gown/suit which J readily agreed. =.= I told my mum that J only agreed because with more gowns/suits, we might top-up and buy more photos and hence, the studio would make more money. J, who was at the same table with us, sniggered and immediately said “Aiyo! Why are you so smart?” Lol. I had chanced upon WhiteLink’s couple bears when I researched online after I signed my bridal package. As I did not want the bears for practicality reasons when I signed up for my package, I really regretted when I saw how cute they were! Hence, seeing how J was in a good mood (I topped up $$$ and it was the gown he designed!), I took a chance and asked if he could spare us one pair of the cute couple bears. He hesitated for a while but relented after a bit of persuasion, went to check if they still had any stock and… came back with them!!! Yay!!!

Chapter 9 WhiteLinks cuteee bears
WhiteLink’s cute couple bears!!!

After choosing our gowns/suits, J did a quick check again to ensure that those are not taken on our wedding day and also booked them for us immediately. He then told us that he would send us pictures of those gowns which I had chosen. Aiyo! He should have said so earlier! Had I known the pictures would be sent to us, I would have asked Sunshine to take better pictures! Most of the pictures Sunshine took were either blurred or did not have the gowns properly laid out. Meh… J then asked if we have any preference for photographer for our pre-wedding shoot and showed us their portfolios. As we could not tell the difference in the styles, we asked J for someone who would be easier to work with (since both Sunshine and myself are camera-shy) and would make us comfortable. He recommended J2 which we agreed. He then proceeded to help us book a slot for our pre-wedding indoor shoot in end-Apr and explained to us the things we need to take note of for the shoot: He suggested Sunshine to buy brown shoes and me to buy champagne gold heels and to dry my hair chestnut brown if I wanted the plaits to look more obvious on photos. As I wanted to use my ROM short dress and trial make-up for my casual photoshoot by another company, J also helped me check the make-up artist’s availability for the date I want. After settling everything, Sunshine paid the $$$ and we finally left the bridal studio seven hours after we first stepped in. Haha. We were exhausted but damn happy!

Afternote: I offered to pay for the additional top-up for the gown as I felt that it was something which I, not Sunshine, wanted (he sounded nonchalant during gown selection, as usual). However, I got a shock when Sunshine confessed that he was swiped off his feet when he first saw me in that gown. Apparently, he loves it (cos it is sexy)! =.= He still sounded very willing and happy even when I told him I was not going to pay for the $$$ then. Lol.

Chapter 9 my wedding gown
My wedding gown

Read about my solemniser in Wedding Planning Chapter 8 – The Hunt for a Solemniser here.
Read about our wedding bands in Wedding Planning Chapter 10 – We Bought Our Wedding Bands! ^.^ here.


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Rainbow

A novice baker =)

1 thought on “Wedding Planning Chapter 9 – Our Gown Selection!”

  1. (To Cheryl)

    Please resubmit your enquiry via the contact form. Due to an error in the contact form, your previous enquiry did not contain your email address. Hence, I am unable to send the requested picture to you.

    Reply

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