May25

ROM venue – Checked. Finally found a place small enough and nice to accommodate 40 pax !

One thing off the list but soooo many more to go. I can’t wait for his PR application after our wedding so that we can get a house and start our little cozy family nest.

It’s been almost a month since my trip and photoshoot in Korea.

Quite a number of people asked me to help them to liase and refer to my bf’s friend. She is currently helping foreigners to liase with studios in Busan. She speaks good English and is my fiance’s long time childhood friend in Busan. So we do refer people to her and she will be there to accompany the bride and groom and help in translations. She speaks French , English and Korean. Someone we trust and know so some of my friends felt more comfortable that everything will be settle properly.

Here’s what happened on my photoshoot day.

I didnt get to try the dresses in SG unlike the studios here in SG. Where you try dresses over here , bring to the Korea studio and take the photos. I think that is why they are very expensive and range up to 6k 0r 7k for the shoot. Because you are paying for services on both sides. It is cheaper to liase directly with studios there. Trust me you save REALLY ALOT up to 50% or 60%.

So here’s what happens when i arrive in the studio.

I was lead to the make up room where the make up artist do my make up. I like the Korean bridal make up style because the make up enhances your features and i went out with the make up after my shoot. Because it is so natural and in the photos , look like you have really flawless skin and machiam you never put on any make up.

I was told by the assistant that on that day , i will be the princess. All i have to do is just to relax , smile and take pretty pictures.

Really felt like princess. The assistant insisted on helping me to wear my shoes. If i am thirsty , they will pour water for me. And also hold my dresses , shoes etc when we go up and down the studio ( studio has 5 storey and each storey has different themes ).

When the make up artist was working on my face , a lady brought me some brochures and ipad to choose the type of look and gown i want. I got to choose 4 white gowns.

After which i was lead to the changing room that was just meant for me where a helper will be there to help me dress up and the make up artist to touch up whatever after i wore the dress. She will check for my size and bring the dress that fits my size. But for some studios they pin the back of the dress. But lucky for mine , i had sizes to choose.

Here’s me all dressed up for my first white dress and waiting for the make up artist to finish up the final touches for my hair.

And then me and my 2nd dress.

I chose alot of laces and tulles.

One of the mermaid dress which i picked for my shoot. Super nice dress. I love the off shoulder laces.

I was given a booklet to choose the hair and make up style i want. You can mix and match.
eg Hair from one of the pic and eye make up from another

But i had done my own research and samples search. So i showed her the look i want and she replicated it.

Here’s one of the photos we took.

We were given 3 CDs with 1800++ photos and we are supposed to choose 50 of them for editing.

LOL so any photos and we haven’t even screen through every single one yet.

Hopefully to do so before mid June to send in for editing and printing. I think it maybe because of the Hanbok shoes LOL i looked like im floating leh…for hanbok , we have to wear a special traditional Korean shoes.

Uploaded a couple of new photos on my instag too !

And nowadays , i am searching for our march in songs and video songs. Im doing my videos with Framewerks.

And im doing a little bit different in Korean style.

Ahh im choosing a Korean march-in song for our SG ROM and an English song for our Korean ROM.

Sometimes when i go to wedding dinner in SG , a couple of wedding couples used Korean songs for their videos or march in. And Oppa and i realized that some songs had lyrics about break ups , love one who died or a bad quarrel. The tune may sound nice or romantic but the lyrics are abit off. So if you are keen in using a Korean song , try to find one that are meant for weddings or have lyrics about being in love. You can go to youtube to check for the songs you want with English lyrics to double confirm.

Here’s 2 of my shortlisted songs for march-in.

During weddings in Korea, there is someone who sing a Wedding Congratulatory song.
And i decided to go for this one. My brother-in-law’s friend will sing this song for us on our wedding in Korea.

To be continued…

Busan : My Wedding in Korea

Apr14

Well , in 6 months’ time. I will be known as Mrs Shin and “Hyung-su-nim” or “Ahjumma” in Korea.

“Hyung-su-nim” is like chinese equivalent of “da sao”. His friends who are younger than me ( irregardless if they are older than me) will call me that. And for married woman , must call Ahjumma liao. It is our local equivalent of “auntie”. Lol.

Hmm abit not used to it because his bro used to call me by name but now he called me “Hyung-su-nim”. I used to be served last at the table because i am the youngest but now i am served right after my hubby-to-be before anyone else who is younger than him. This is part of the table manners.

Hmm abit not used to it because everyone is very polite to me and being treated with respect. But this happens when im with people who are younger than him. Whereas if im with his hyungs ( older brother ) , they will call me “jae su ssi” which means younger brother’s wife and i will call them oppa. Hehe and they still dote on me.

Many people asked me “so what is life going to be like marrying a Korean ?”

1) Housework and Cooking – Alot or should i say ALL Singaporeans i know asked me ” So does he expects you to cook and do house work ? “.

To be honest , yes he did. But i told him i will do over the weekend. Because i am working and my appointments end at 9pm sometimes. Housework is easy for me because i do my own housework at home but for cooking , i am still learning to cook chinese food. I find it easier to cook Korean dishes than local dishes. So most of the time i will cook Korean food at home. Not all but i know about 10 dishes only. So why does he expect me to learn how to cook and do housework ? Because in Korea , it is not common to have maids like we do in Singapore. Most women became stay home mum after having babies and the man will be the one bringing the bread home. Women look after their children and the house. The man will be the one outside working. I guess that is one of the reason why family bondings are very strong in Korea. But in Singapore , i don’t think it is possible for one person to work only because our standard of living is very high. Whereas in Korea, education and health care are very cheap due to government subsidies. IV drips cost only $3 so you can imagine how cheap.

2) Will you move to Korea ? – No , our aim is to bring up our children here so they can learn 3 languages – English , Chinese and Korean. So that will be at least 25 years. To be honest if i were to retire , i will retire in Korea. If i have the $ , i will dream to buy a house at a countryside to enjoy the nature and retire peacefully. Being a financial planner , i plan up retirement planning for my clients and figures needed can be quite shocking if you want to retire at a comfortable and simple pace. So yup , at last the next 25-30 years here and then retire in Korea.

3) Korean husbands are MCP – Hmm..sometimes but i find it more like they think it is their responsibility to look after their family and wife. So it makes them look like they want to have alot of control. I am actually quite touched to know that my hubby felt that it is his responsibility to provide for his future family and to work hard so that he can earn enough for me to stop working.

4) Fierce mother-in-law – Maybe it is the way drama portrays Korean mil . But not all are like that. My friends’ mil are very nice to her even though she is a Singaporean. My mil is also very kind and nice. She had 2 sons and always wanted a daughter. So she treats me really well and she is quite open and not conservative. If she is very conservative , i don’t she will even approve this marriage.

If you have a Korean bf/fiance , always remember to have a good relationship with his mother.

Here’s about it…anything else you want to ask or know ? Let me see if i can help to answer that.

Some dos and don’ts here :

Do not act like a spoilt brat. Don’t expect to ORDER your bf/fiance to serve you this and that. Learn to wash your own dishes/cups after use because most household do not have maids or helpers.

Do not SMOKE infront of them. Girls smoking is still a taboo in Korea. That’s why when you go out to the streets , you will see some people hiding along the dark alleys to smoke. Ya , the girls have to “hide” to smoke. Not common to see girls smoking opening on the streets like what you see in SG.

Do not wear too revealing clothes that shows off your shoulders/cleavages or skirts that are sooo short . They are pretty conservative. Wear tights if you are wearing short skirts. I wore tube tops when i went holidaying in Korea back in 2012 and it attracted alot of stares from locals.

Learn to address her properly and always remember to serve her food or “kiap” food for her.

Hook your arms around hers when you walk around or go shopping with her. Girls there lock their arms together if they are very close friends. And you can go to jimjibang with her. Now i know why some girls there have really smooth skin. I ever met a 75 year old grandma and her skin ( hands and legs ) are sooo smooth..they are even smoother than mine !

Learn to aegyo abit. And if she wants to buy you something , let her buy. If you feel paiseh and want to reject , just reject once and if she insisted , just let her buy. After that say thank you in Korean and aegyo abit. They will be very happy that you like her gifts.

Whip up some dishes for HER SON. At least Korean dishes so that she knows are you are trying and learning despite being a foreigner.

Most importantly , LEARN KOREAN and the CULTURE. Bo bian , this one really have to .Not just learn basic table manners sentences but really LEARN to speak and understand. No need to be too fluent. They will find it cute and they can understand you. To be honest , my written , reading and listening is good and much better than my speaking because no one speaks to me here. Now my hub to be is learning Chinese and English , so i speak Chinese and English to him. Nobody converse with me in Korean over here leh. His Busan accent is very strong sometimes i also cannot catch what he says. Haha but when i watched Korean drama or variety shows, i can understand.

As for the culture , ask your bf/fiance to explain to you. Try to visit during their new year or thanks giving. That is when you really can get to experience their traditional cultures , food and meet his relatives.

When his mother is busy doing housework or cooking, try to ask and offer your help. Don’t sit there and do nothing. I think this is quite basic common sense because even in SG , if your SG mother in law is busy , you will also offer your help instead of sitting there and do nothing or watch tv right ? Unless she insist that you do not need to help , then you can do your own things guilt free. I think this is basic manners when you go people house EVERYWHERE YOU GO no matter whether is it Korea , Singapore or anywhere else.

Try not to drink until drunk. Heng i don’t drink and i cannot drink. Does not give a good impression.

Here are somethings and tips i can think of. If i can think of anymore then i will add on next time.

Wedding prep 101 –

Face care is very important. Damn scared got one ugly zit or whataever.

Wah now i put on masks almost twice a day on weekends (Mask sheets and a overnight cream mask) and everynight on weekdays.

Need to find time for new hair colour.

Going with my bro and his fiancee to Busan together this trip. Helped them to arrange their photoshoots there and booked their hotel stay. You can actually check in any time at a nice motel or this hotel. Not expensive. I booked for them 3 days 2 night for KRW 132,000 which works about $150 for 3 days 2 night ( double room ) with breakfast provided.

They have a few branches. The one i booked for them is at Seo-myeon right opposite a shopping mall and the shopping street. If not you can book the one at Haeundae or the one next to Busan Station.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00221/

Drafting half way on the “Smart Lady” post…maybe will publish the post tomorrow.

Busan : My Wedding in Korea

Feb21

Date fixed. October.

Hotel booked.

What caught my attention was the guest reception area lol. I like this kind of interiors. I heard from oppa’s friends and family that the hotel food was quite famous. I went there for Korean semi-fine dining food before and it was really good.

And this is the hall. I wasn’t there to do recce the place so i grabbed these pictures from Naver.com

Wedding photoshoot also booked. I helped my brother to book at the same studio too. He was surprised by the package price. You can save up to 60% if you arranged on your own. The photostudio package includes 3 wedding gowns , 3 suits , albums , make-up artist , framed photographs , soft copies of photos etc.

I decided to go for this studio because of their dresses, photography and studio style. But we are also considering another studio.

I am also thinking of having a photoshoot in SG. Not a full scale one but probably 2-3 hours.

I have shortlisted these local photographers. I knew some of them and i like to work with sincere and down to earth photographers.

Framewerks Photography http://www.framewerks.sg/ . I met the owners before and they are very down-to-earth and happy couple. I like working with sincere people. I like their works because it feels very personable.

Clarence Aw http://www.clarenceaw.com/documentation – A friend of mine who lensed some of Agneselle’s photos and his works are very unique. Looks like postcards and has the tumblr feel which i really like. His clients even pay him to travel overseas to shoot their wedding dinner/ceremony.

Bobby Kiran http://bobbykiranyeo.com/# – I have not met the photographer but have talked to him abit. His work is unique and it looks elegant.

I sort of decided who to go for the SG photoshoot and im just waiting for my hanbok and perhaps my cheongsam to be done.

Im not sure how many international marriage readers i have here but i think most will agree with me.

Marriage preparation is more tiring and stressful. Eg in my case , the main wedding is in Korea and both of us are working here in SG. So there are alot that cannot be done and can only be done if we flew back. We can’t take too many leave and when we are there , we have to make sure we get everything done before we fly back. Cost is also a problem – Air tickets.
Fortunately , Korea isn’t far and Vietnam air has pretty decent and affordable plane tickets to Busan.

There is still so much for me to prepare on my side. I have to understand and learn the Korean wedding culture. They are very different from our local wedding culture. Even the rituals are different. Fortunately i have a supportive fiance who helps me to do most of the planning and his mother to book the venue for us. So this coming trip in April to Korea is pretty important and packed. Photo shoot and also preparing all the necessary in April and the next flight to Korea in Oct is the real deal Damn fast lah.

I haven’t even got time to think about our ROM in SG.

Time flies and it is almost the end of Feb already. The last year i will spend CNY as a single and next year have to give ang bao liao. But next year , we will probably spend it in Korea. My life is so much happier now and so much more relaxed.

I find myself enjoying my overseas trip more. I spend more time relaxing and enjoying the sightseeing and food instead of taking alot of time to take an OOTD picture. That is why my instagram isn’t that active. I enjoyed my work because i met more people and i learnt more new things. Also i learnt to leave things for people to hand and settle on their own ( Agneselle.com ). I used to be a “worry-er” . That was what some of my ex bosses and friends called me because i worry too much. Even when i was overseas , i will call back to SG and check and nag hahaha.

And i also enjoy my work. I met more people from different walks of life.

Who says that you will lose more friends if you go into this line ? I made more friends. instead.

From strangers we met on the street to becoming my client and now a friend.

This is my first CNY kai-gong ang bao from my first cold client who is a CEO of a company. A CNY angbao for good luck when i went to his office.

Tomorrow is the last day of lunar new year . Hope all of you have a good and healthy year ahead !
Btw i replied to almost 50% of the emails regarding the online shop where i bought my winter wears. I still have alot to go but i think i may do a blog post on shopping on Korean sites soon.

Take care and enjoy your weekend !