Monday 28 February 2011

San Francisco trunk show!


I've collaborated with Duchess on many a wedding (including this one), and I'm thrilled to announce we are taking our his + hers wedding apparel show on the road. The smashing sisters of Hello! Lucky will graciously host us for a San Francisco weekend event featuring my dresses for the ladies, Duchess suits for the gentlemen (or ladies, as the case may be), and copious amounts of prosecco for all. If you're looking to dress up for a wedding in the Bay Area and would like to attend, just email for more details!

Oscar Winners 2011

Congratulations to all Oscar Winners 2011.

1. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Melissa Leo for “The Fighter”
2. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3”
3. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Aaron Sorkin
4. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - avid Seidler
5. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - Susanne Bier for “In a Better World” Denmark
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Christian Bale for “The Fighter”
7. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
8. BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs for “Inside Job”
9. BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM - Luke Matheny
10 BEST ORIGINAL SONG - Randy Newman
11. BEST DIRECTOR - Tom Hooper for The King's Speech”
12. BEST ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE - Natalie Portman for “Black Swan”
13. BEST ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE - Colin Firth for “The King's Speech”
14. BEST PICTURE - The King's Speech - Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
15 - BEST Makeup - Rick Baker and Dave Elsey for “The Wolfman”

Let's be a blessing to someone

You can click the photo and zoom in to see the details

I'm happy and blessed.
I thank God for everything He has done in my life!

As a simple way of giving back or sharing,
I have decided to sell this amazing wedding gown
for only Php 50,000.00

YES!

Measurements:
Bust 32-34 inches
Waist 24-26 inches
Hips 34-36 inches

The money will go to a deserving scholar.

I'm looking for someone who is passionate, determined,
willing to learn, and interested to take up a short course
in Fashion.
(Future details will follow..)

If you are interested to fit the gown, please come to my office on
March 20, 2011
10:00am

First come, first serve basis.

Please help me.

Let's be a blessing to someone.

I hope you are the "Cinderella" that would fit in the dress!

Thank you!

IVOIRE - Evening Dresses



















Sunday 27 February 2011

IVOIRE Range - Bridesmaid Dresses























WEDDING INFO : ADAT MELAYU (MERISIK, BERTUNANG, NIKAH, BERSANDING)

Meowternoon...
Salam ladies... ;)



For those yg masih baru couple2, baru nak chinta2, baru nak berbunga2, bf baru ajak kawen,B2B freshies, or yg kawen lambat lagi (like me! haha)... meh2 i share some info on adat2 melayu dlm perkahwinan... saje nak share cos i pon xreti sgt bab2 nie..haha (ayat awal2 mcm terer je kan ;p). I love weddings, but still clueless bab2 adat2 ni... Kalau kite tgk skang ni kalau bleh sumer nak modern kan, but i rase kite kene respect adat n oso respect our parent's wishes.. Wedding is not about you, it's also your parent's occasion...dorang kan 'letting go' their daughter to somebody else, n oso meraikan kedatangan menantu.. So definitely most parents and org tua2 nak ikut adat.. tp depends la kan, ade parents yg xkisah n modern..

Ok back to the original topic, jom share these info.. i bagi yg general je, later on baru i post yg detail2 sket..

*credit Mr Oogley (google) & b2b yg share info kat BBF :D


adat melayu tepak sireh

ADAT MERISIK & MEMINANG
The adat merisik (asking ceremony, or more literally 'spying custom') is the traditional Malay system for arranging marriages. When it is time for a young man to get married, his family will look around to identify a number of potential brides. Nowadays, the man might suggest to his family who he would like them to consider, and it may be that a romantic link already exists between the man and woman. Having decided upon one particular woman, the merisik, or investigation process, takes place.
For this ceremony one or more representatives (wakil) of the man's family pay a friendly visit to the family of the woman whom they have in mind as his potential bride. The visit is purely for the purpose of further investigation, and it gives the visitors the chance to see the woman. A hint will be given to her parents regarding the purpose of the visit, and their reaction will be assessed. The woman's parents may also give the visitors some idea as to whether or not their daughter would be interested in the match. The merisik does not constitute a formal proposal. Following the visit both sides can begin to think more seriously about the possibility or otherwise of a marriage. It is possible that no progress may take place, and the man's parents or representatives will then look for another possible bride.
(errr ye ke dulu2 camnie? hurmm skang bila dah couple n ur bf serious, then hantar wakil for merisik+masuk minang kan..xde dah mcm dulu2 xkenal tp trus nk masuk minang..haha. Slalunyer merisik+meminang ni ada cincin tanda satu utk si gadis..)


 ADAT BERTUNANG
As soon as a man announces his wish to marry, an engagement date will be set when families of the couple meet to discuss the wedding plans. The adat bertunang (engagement custom) is normally held at the bride's home.
(ha ni mcm zmn skang la kan..depends ngan family nak wat majlis simple2 or besar-besaran. Pihak lelaki akan bawa atleast sireh junjung, cincin n manisan. Belah pompuan lak akan membalas 5dulang camtu.. then upacara sarung cincin by future MIL menandakan ur booked! hehe. From there oso parents akan discuss benda2 penting macam tarikh, wang hantaran, etc,etc..)


ADAT NIKAH
A Malay wedding proper begins with the akad nikah (marriage contract) ceremony. The groom signs the marriage contract and agrees to provide the bride with a mas kahwin (mahar,literally 'marriage gold' in form of money or goods or anything as requested by the bride).It is opposite to dowry where the mas khawin is paid by the groom to the bride. The mas khawin is a symbol to show that the men is willing and are prepared to build a family with the lady he chose to get married to. The contract signing is done before a religious official and is accompanied by prayer.
If the bersanding is to take place the next day, the couple's hands are dyed with henna during the berinai besar (great henna-ing) ceremony. The bride's hair is also trimmed, eyebrows shaped and make-up applied by a beautician, known as the mak andam. Then the bride puts on her tudunghijab or headscarf) to cover their hair and a selendang, or embroidered and beaded shawl over that. A crown is also placed on top of the shawl. If the bersanding does not take place on the day following the nikah, these preparation customs are delayed until the bersanding. (well, yg ni mcm biase la..the most imporant stage of our life- bertukar status!! time nikah tu ada tokkadi, saksi, groom n wali. hantaran2 sudah pasti dgn nombor2 yg ganjil.contoh yg kebiasaan is 7vs9 atau 9vs11. Time ni juga akan ada upacara batal air smayang after d couple is successfully di ijabkabulkan.. ;) )


ADAT BERSANDING
The actual wedding day is the Bersanding. This literally means the "sitting together of the bride and bridegroom on the bridal couch". Known as the Pelamin, this couch is the centrepiece of the whole ceremony, and two pelamins are required - one in the bride's house and the other in the bridegroom's. As the Bersanding ceremony customarily takes place in the afternoon, the bridegroom entertains guests at his own house in the morning. The bersanding (enthronement) ceremony begins with the groom's procession with friends, relatives, musicians and people waving bunga manggar (palm blossom) to meet the bride. Often various good-humoured attempts are made to waylay or stop the groom from getting to the bride. The main part of the bersandingbunga telur (egg flower), a decorated egg with a fabric flower, as a sign of fertility. The couple are considered royalty for the day, and so various royal customs are performed for them, including musicians playing court music and 'bodyguards' performing a display of pencak silat (traditional Malay martial arts). involves the seating of the bridal couple on a dais and sprinkling them with yellow rice and scented water by family members, relatives and guests as a sign of blessing. Each guest will receive a bunga telur or doorgift in a way to say thank you. 
(kalau kite tgk zaman dulu2 serious meriah kan.. i mean so many things going on.. reason org bersanding is untuk memberitahu masyarakat yg kita dah kawin untuk mengelakkan fitnah n etc..betul x? kalau i salah tlg betulkan..hehe.. Majlis bersanding skang2 ni maybe kite buat simpler.. yg penting makanan sedap n tetamu happy...)


Ok ni jer ler basic2 adat melayu in perkahwinan..i pun masih nak blaja2 in details. will share with all soon.. Hurrmmm mesti ade yg terpikir apsal tetiber je i nak post pasal merisik,meminang,bertunang,blabla nie kannnn?? dlm fb BBF pon dah ade hint2 sket..hehehe..oh well, u all will know soon.. hehe. *winkwink*



❤hearttsss...
 





Stylist Stalking :)


One of my favourite stylists is Selina Lake, I was first introduced to her work via my sister, who works for Ryland Peters and Small. My sister brings me the most beautiful books when she visits, for me to study and do lots of oohs and ahhs :) One of my favourite recent books was one styled by Selina called Bazaar style.
My coveted books are studied from page to page for me personally to use as decoration ideas for my own home and of course inspirations for our weddings.
I love this inspiration board, it is filled with divine colours, I know my two older daughters love this style as their bedrooms are decorated in these colours. LIttle Twinks is still lurid pink and princesses at the moment but we are working on her!
Again we are moving away from the very pale washed out tones of the vintage that has been so popular and moving to slightly bolder sorbet colours to brighten everything up slightly just in time for the Spring weddings.

I am just dying to know where that last photo of the pastel coloured fairground ride came from, in fact I am desperate to do a fairground themed wedding after seeing the fabulously glorious one on Preston Bailey's website, you must go and check this amazing wedding out, it is jaw dropping!

I was toying with feria ideas last week for events and weddings here :) A seed was sown which is always dangerous!

Alternative Guest Book Ideas for Weddings


As a Wedding and Event Stylist, I am always looking for different ideas and love this one sent to me of a fingerprint wedding tree :) What a fabulous alternative idea to a guest book and rather than put it in a cupboard after your wedding, you can frame it and proudly hang this on your wall as a piece of wall art.

These trees are made by Love from the Thumb on Etsy, they are the unique idea of Ricky and Ashely after they created one for their own wedding and you can order your own personalised tree and some really cute sets of inkpads for your guests to personalise your tree.

What I also like about this idea, again if you are planning a destination wedding, is that this is easily transportable back home.

Saturday 26 February 2011

Almond Blossoms in Andalucia


After a dismal winter last year with months of rain, the Costa del Sol is living up to its name this spring with fabulously sunny days and we are being truly spoilt at the moment.

I am in love with Andalucia, I decided I was going to live here as a small child when my parents first bought me here, I have been in love with Spain from year dot and moved here permanently 10 years ago and my parents live next door.

Spring here is beautiful and I wanted to share these gorgeous photos with you from Anna Gazda of the almond blossoms that are springing up all over the countryside in this sunny weather, they are beautiful and everytime I see them my heart leaps with joy as it signifies the summer is coming!

Last year we were involved in the decoration of the Haiti Fundraiser night and used the almond blossoms to decorate this event, it was a fabulous evening that raised a huge amount of money for this disaster and we were thrilled to be involved.

MY WEDDING PREP - BEAUTY - FACE SKIN CARE

Meooooww.. hyeeeeee allllll.... :D


Sape nak kulit muka halus,mulus,chantek n licin??? sayeeeeee...hehehe.. ;p hmmm asyik wat post wedding review je kan.. so let's share about beauty pulak eh.. saje nk share ngan u all my new beauty regime.. well since i have 1year to go, this is the best time to start prepping myself...start dari muka, rambut, kaki,body yg bulats nie...sumerlah agar mase wedding nanti nmpak perfecto.. ye la, ade org born perfect kulit putih licin, dah plak bulu licin, rambut straight lebat, kire perfect lah xyah wat pape.. i ni plak jenis yg totally opposite...sometimes i wonder wat makes my meowsayang likes me.. (selain dari cute).. haha.! ;p

Actually my skin is not dat bad.. Alhamdulillah zaman acne only mase darjah6+form1..pastu bile masuk form2 trus berubah n skin ok.. tp skang ni bila dah agak tua, my skin mcm teruk sket..my skin macam uneven n i ade brown spots..!!! huwaa.. T_T kalau dlm pics mmg xnmpak sgt..tp kalau tgk real life mmg bleh nmpak..mcm freackles pun ade (chewah prasan mat salleh ;p)..hehe.... so arituh mase my meowgagah's sis bertunang, one of his aunty (makteh) sgt generous share petua ngan i untuk fair n glowy skin. TQ makteh!! (sesape yg single nk kenal anak laki dia yg hot bleh email me..haha ;p) eh tertukar topic plak.. And another petua i dpt ni is from one of my fb frens who happens to be a hot maknyah..seriously hot.!!!!! mmg jeles i tawwwww...

OK, my normal product sebelum ni is NIVEA or OLAY or fair&lovely bila time miskin..hehe ;p. i pakai both facial wash n mosturizer..emm ok la mmg bagus, tapi kalau dah pakai lama bertahun2, my skin mcm da xberkesan sgt dah..skin tu sameeee je instead of vanishing d brown spots n make my skin even. 

So last week i changed to Malaysian product Safi Balqis..ala yg duta shila tu.. Safi Balqis perfect 10, so far ok la jugak...tgh tgk my skin ok ke x nanti.. And oso lately ni i berazam nk try petua2 yg mention atas tadi...mane tau berkesan kan..  ;p  i xtry lagi, but will do maybe next week ke..  i nak share ngan u all, so kalau ok kite bleh amalkan togeder2 so sumer b2b n ex b2b hot2 belaka.. hehehee...

BEFORE
okeh nampak x muka i ade brown2 spots tu?? ni je pic yg paling clear n dekat i ade(yg nmpak spots)...kalau skang nih my hp xleh nk amek pic dekat2 dia jadik blurry..huhu..
 pic ni juge bleh dijadikan sekadar hiasan..haha ;p
*tolong abaikan tgn i yg besar n xmenariks tu yer..i have man-hands..huhu T_T*


CURRENT FACIAL PRODUCT
SAFI BALQIS PERFECT 10 (RM25 TRIAL PACK-facial wash+ toner + lotion) 
*trial pack yg berbaloi cos bottle besar n quantity utk pakai sikit jer -jimat n tahan lama* 
MY VERDICT (1WEEK OF USAGE) 4/5
my skin so far nampak better, even skin tone, n most important-brown spots makin pudar.. weee.. ala xde before+after pics plak kan,my hp xleh nak amek dekat2..hp cikai.. T_T
kite tgk kalau pakai lama2 pulak yea..

*i told my meowgagah im using new product now, trus dia ckp y not pakai SimplySiti punye product?i said mahal le sayang.. then dia reply, kalau pakai product SimplySiti nanti u lagi nmpak mcm siti..u kan klon dia..hehhehee senyum kambing dia.. i jwb dlm hati-klon yg terlebih dose kot..haha ;p


PETUA 1
AIR BERAS
Masa u all nak masak nasik, simpan air beras yg dicuci tu..jgn buang.. air beras tu u all buat cuci muka tiap hari..bilas sebersih-bersih..u all akan nmpak effect kulit cerah,gebu n mulus... (chewah ayat).. i blum try lagi petua makteh meowsayang i nie.. but tgk kulit dia pun chun lagi altho da berumur, dia citer mase muda2 adik-bradik dia amalkan petua nie.. khasiat dia mcm pakai bedak sejuk gak.. even SKII pun pakai petua beras gak, i think same concept kan..
Tp kalau bleh pakai air beras yg bersih, jgn la yg ada kutu2 tu..just imagine u all pakai air kutu letak kat muka.. eeeWwwwWww T_T


VERDICT : blum lagi try.. will share the outcome wif u all kay...



PETUA2
PAPAYA+YOGURT
Ooohhh dis one mmg i xsabar nk share.. so far i penah try once mmg berkesan.. u all jeles x tgk nyah2 yg gebu n cerah je kan?kalau yg stok2 gojes tu adohai jelesnyer gueeee.y lar chantek sgt kalah pompuan tulen okkkkkeeeyyy..Ahem, cut to the chase.i dpt petua ni from one of them (tu pun mcm terpecah rahsia..haha ;p) 

Dapatkan betik yg muda (jgn keras sgt, n jgn yg masak sgt).. lecekkan hancur2 n mix dgn plain yogurt.. kalau nk campur ngan honey pun bleh, ikut selera (eh mcm nk makan plak ;p) bile da mix semua bahan tu, then u all letak kat muka mcm mask.. wait around 5-10minutes then wash off jer sampai bersih.. insyallah skin nmpak cerah, rata n gebu.. kalau bleh jgn amal slalu sgt, maybe 1-2 times a week cukup..cos buahan2 kite xtau acidity levels dia kan..takut terlebeh pakai kulit jd sensitive plak kan..Kalau jenis malas, n manelah tau akan termakan betik tu ;p, i suggest u all beli papaya yogurt mask kat skinfood.. yg tu pun bleh ganti diy mask tu.. i blum try lagi (skinfood punyer), but definitely will share bile da try kay..


DIY papaya + yogurt + honey (optional) mask
SKINFOOD PAPAYA YOGURT MASK

VERDICT :baru try sekali dah bleh nmpak results (DIY papaya).. kulit nmpak cerah.. tapi temporary of course.. kalau amalkan 1-2times a week insyallah berkesan.. we'll see...! :D


sape2 ade lagi petua2 n tips to share? meh le share2 togeder2.... :D








Friday 25 February 2011

Natalie Portman Gowns

The well known celebrities do not need any introduction. Natalie Portman fall in the same category of famous celebrities, these are some elegant gowns in which Natalie is looking gorgeous. Dark and Light colors both are in trend for gown, here we can see her in Lanvin gown, light Pink and Black gown. One shouldered strap gown seems very beautiful it is different from the regular gowns, Strapless gowns are always in fashion but the color combination in this gown is exotic because of red rose and the clutch is again of red color which is in contrast with gown. The black gown with beautiful neckline changes the personality, the choice of lipstick by Natalie is also very nice. According to occasion different hairstyle can made as done by this celebrity, which will make you as center of attraction.
lanvin gown
Natalie in golden globe award
black gown

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Fresa


Fresa.. a very unique name!

I still remember how I met her. We had our first meeting at Starbucks, Powerplant Mall. I forgot to bring my sketch pad that time, so I did rough sketches on my notebook. ;-)

She works as a flight attendant in an international airline. In short, scheduling a fitting with her was a bit challenging, but I was wrong! She was very organized. She will advise me her flight details in advance, dates of arrival, etc. The over-all work was really fun and exciting!

I'm truly blessed to have her as one of my brides. She's an amazing woman! Humble, thoughtful, understanding, appreciative, and sweet. She gave me a gift last Christmas (beauty products! haha) but what I liked the most was a cute small card with a cute cover, and her lovely message that made me cry (almost!) haha.. I'm so senti! haha

To Mike and Fresa,

Thank you for everything. It was not work actually.. it was more of bonding! I'm very happy I've found true friends! See u soon! I'm still hoping I will see u in one of my trips! haha.. I dont know how or when, but when it happens, upgrade me in business class ah! hahaha ;-)


amazing "red sole" shoes ;-) I want one! haha

she doesn't want it heavily beaded

layers of skirt with random draping!

beautiful designer and bride! (pwede? tama!!!)



cobalt blue dresses with silver beading

a lovely couple!

Photos: Arlene Briones, Imagine Nation
Groom's suit: Odelon Simpao

Wedding gown, entourage gowns,
mother of the bride gown: Veejay Floresca