Or if I wanted the roses to come out fuller, I could consider this type of arrangement:

I nee to find some green foilage because I like the effect of the first one, where you cant see the rose stems. These are the roses I was thinking of using:

This is my idea of using gardena for the bridesmaid’s bonquet:

Or a collection of smaller bunches of gardena:

So bridesmaids - Pauline, Julia and Linda - let me know which colour bonquet you would like. Im thinking the green would be to matchy with your green dresses. Would you prefer white bonquet or yellow ones?

And for the bridal bonquet, since I cant have my favourite peonies, the alternative was to use Columbian roses:

Not pink, but Im undecided between a white bonquet or a light green and white bonquet:

Obviously, I wouldnt want all those wires/sticks coming out of my bonquet!

And if I mix and matched the Columbian flowers with the idea for the square vases, I could do something like this:

Or do you think it looks slightly sloppy and its better to cover the stems? I also thought of this crazy idea to have a small goldfish in there. Maybe it would die. oh no!!!!

The address and opening times are:

New Covent Garden Market
London SW8 5NX
www.newcoventgardenmarket.com/

Tel: +44 (0)20 7720 2211
Fax: +44 (0)20 7622 5307

Monday - Friday: 4 am to 11 am
Saturday: 3 am to 10 am

And from their website -
“New Covent Garden Market is the largest fresh produce market in the UK. It plays a unique role in London’s market provision supplying fruit, vegetables, flowers, plants and many other catering needs. Customers include leading chefs and florists, restaurants and hotels, schools and hospitals. Over 2,800 people are employed here and the central location provides ready access to the West End, City and all parts of the Captial.”

So here are photos of what it looks like from the street. You will see the big green entrance and there is a smaller one marked “pedestrians.” I think if you bring a car, you pay for the parking.

You know you got it right when you see this:

We arrive around 9.30, being the lazy sleepers we are, and found that most of the shops had already closed down. I was able to speak to the two shop owners of Bloomfield of London and J.H. Hart (Flowers) Ltd.
These were the prices of the flowers they gave me:

Roses: £10 for 20 roses

We saw two types of roses which are undecided. I love the white with the slightly green tinge but white is considered unlucky in Chinese culture (as they wear white for funerals)

I think the no-white rule is going to drive me crazy and maybe I can call them ‘green roses”? Or… we found these beautiful yellow roses which I think will really liven the table up:

The other flowers I was considering were:
Columbia roses - £10 for a pack of short ones and £12 for a pack of longer stemmed ones. I think there were a dozen or ten roses per pack. I really dont want roses in my bonquet because I find them quite cheap and nasty (especially red roses) I think its backlash of Valentines Day over-commercialisation. haha. My first choice is actually peonies but they are a June flower and it will be impossible to have them for my August wedding. One of the stall owners even said it is rare for them to be here in July. So my second choice is the Columbian roses - to me, they look like a cross beteween peonies and the roses.

I also saw some beautiful hydrogena. At the Vera Wang Bridal store, they had a fake bonquet of hydrogena. I think they would look so cute as bridesmaids bonquets, and since they are already in a nice round bunch, you would just have to get a nice ribbon. They were £3 a bunch.

There were peonies for £1-2 each… aaaaaaah i wanted to take a bunch home for my mother in law.

They were also selling natural dried flowers as confetti for around £7 plus VAT. A HUGE reduction from a £25 overpriced confetti pack from the store Confetti.

And finally, for accessories and decoration, there were ribbons and vases for sale. I found the vases very pricey but I think Im spoilt by IKEA’s cheap range of vases that start £2. But if you wanted some unusual vases, this is definitely the place to go:

1. Get a Hydrator facial 10 days before wedding day.
2. Night before the wedding - sleep normal time or even later. Never go to bed earlier, you will wake up earlier and get more tired in the morning. Try to maintain your normal sleep pattern.
3. Dont drink any water after 10.30. Your face will retain this water and you will look bloated in the photos.
4. Wash your hair the night before, no need to wash that morning. Dont go to sleep with wet hair, get it dried 100%
5. Check your underarms, then double check.
6. Ask your bridesmaid to carry a cookie and water bottle for you.
7. Give your most responsible bridesmaids your jewellery and the money to keep.
8. Your fiance and you should prepare a big bag of items to take to the wedding. This way, on the day of the wedding, no body is stressed out and you can just carry that one bag to the venue. This also makes it unlikely for someone to forget small items, you will not ignore a big bag in the room.
9. During the ceremony, you may feel emotional. Remember to hold the tissue near your eye, then close your eyes, let the tear fall and then pat. If you rub your eyes vigorously, all your eye make up will be ruined. (dont know how well I can follow that tip since Im such a cry baby!)

Search under “Bridesmaid’s tote bag”. This also made me realise that it would make for a very handy diaper bag with the baby’s name embossed or embroidered. I know Suri Cruise, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter already has one but I didnt realise it was this cheap.

For my other bridesmaid who loves Yoga, I was actually thinking of getting a personalised yoga bag:

These were about $30.

Or her name on her personalised Yoga mat:

About $40.

and then I realised the whole industry around personalised Yoga mats where you could create your own design or print a photo. Somehow the image of a photo of us and her foot on it didnt seem so appealing after all:

And then just when I was about to complete the order, the website didnt allow me to buy the item because Im using a British Credit card and was asking for the items to be shipped to a US address. How annoying is that? i guess for security purposes, they were not allowed to process the payment.

Anyways, I was too annoyed to proceed and try to find a friend in America who would let me use their credit card. So we decided that I would buy the bridesmaids and groomsmen presents in the US and I found them some amazing presents at the Marc Jacobs store there. i cant reveal what they are because some of my bridesmaids religiously read this blog…. yes, Linda, you may be reading this now…

For anyone who is interested in buying jewellery for their bridesmaids, the Links of London sweetie bracelet is absolutely stunning. I was about to buy it but my fiance says that it may not be the style of his sisters (who are bridesmaids) This is a bit pricey at £150 but is absolutely stunning. I saw it on my friend’s arm the other day and thought it would just make such a lovely present for a bridesmaids:

I really couldnt find any card that actually said “Thank you for being our bridesmaid”, all the cards were just Thank you or a photo. So I decided to make my own cards. One of my sisters in law is really good at it too.

A few weeks ago, I saw some cards at a card shop where the designer used text from newspapers and magazines. I think even serial killers used to write letters like this in the past

Anyways, ignore my totally inappropriate comment above. Here are the cards I made:

The materials needed for this card are:
Blank folded paper (A 5 size) and matching envelope
Embellishment from craft store
One magazine or newspaper with different colour text
Scissors
Glue

Basically I just cut out all sizes of text and keeping in mind the names of my bridesmaids, particularly words like “J” which dont come up quite often, I searched for text with these letters. Then I just mix and matched and glued them on.

I had their names on the insides of the cards so they know that I made it with only them in mind:

These were the embellishments I used, aren’t they so sweet?

Making these cards can be quite labour intensive but hugely rewarding. I actually found it really relaxing and made a few more - with happy birthday text on them. But then again, I love arts and crafts……

So when I recounted my dilemma to my cousin, he offered to make a veil for me (or did I sigh so loudly that he felt sorry for me and make it?

The inspiration behind the veil was Jessica Simpson’s bridal look. She had a simple tulle veil that was quite puffy and had a lot of volume. My veil has two layers as well.

Anyways, I went over yesterday to pick up the veil my cousin had made. We bought the material in Soho from a fabric store. I was so touched to see that my cousin had even hand stitched the veil on the comb when he had this terrible backache. This makes the veil so much more special knowing that he made it with so much care.

Here are the photos of my finished veil:

Side view:

and back view:

and veil’s comb:

You will notice how close he has stitched the head piece on to the comb so that it can hardly show.

I am so lucky to have such a talented and generous cousin to help me. For those brides who want to attempt to make their own veil, here are some instructions I found online:

Making a Bridal Veil Materials:

Fabric - Tulle, organza, chiffon, silk, etc. The veil pictured is tulle and cost only $1.99 per yard. Most come in standard 108″ width, but I cut mine in half so it was only 54″ wide because I wanted it sheer and not bunchy. Length is up to you! Measure the length from where on your head it will attach down to where you’d like it to fall. For more info go to the article Veil Info to Keep In Mind When Making a Bridal Veil which has different length measurements and fabric options.
Thread - Select thread that matches the color of your veil or use silver metallic thread if your edging will be silver metallic.
Comb - Any plastic comb will do, but clear is probably the best color. I purchased mine at a craft store for $2.99.
Trims - Options include crystal beads, pearl colored beads, sequins, ready made trims, satin cording and ribbon. Any trim that is ready made will be faster than sewing on individal beads or sequins when making a bridal veil.
Making a Bridal Veil Instructions:

Once you have the piece of fabric cut to desired length and width you will need to sew on your trim. Some fabrics actually do not need trim as they won’t unravel, but most look best trimmed. You will only need to trim three sides of the veil since the top of the veil will be sewn onto your comb. Fold over the edge of the veil and add your trim to the three sides using a needle and thread. The trim shown is white satin cord.

Before trimming, you may want to round out the bottom edges of the veil. Place a CD disc on the corner and trace the round contour and then cut the rounded corner with scissors. This is optional.
To attach the trimmed veil to the comb, find the center of the top edge of your veil and sew it onto the center of your comb. Bunch up the veil and continue to sew it onto the comb. Make sure you sew it onto the outside of the comb, the convex (rounded out) side.

Finish making your bridal veil by adding matching trim or beads to the top of the sewn on part of your comb. This will cover up any visible stitches.

Always a good idea to have someone help you with your veil. I advise that even with a comb, a few bobby pins should be used to secure the veil in place.

So get yourself to a fabric store and start looking for veil fabric and trims so you can start making a bridal veil!

Anyways, there were only four men on the tour versus fifty screaming women. One looked like he was tortured into coming there by his girlfriend/wife/slave driver. The other two were gay and the last one was my good friend Mike who was asked if he wanted to replace my cousin who was sick at the time. The tour guide pointed out to my very straight friend at the back as most people notice a man on a bus full of women. The tour guides are amazing because they point out to very interesting facts throughout the evening (did you notice that in the opening credits, there are people on the bus, and then when Sarah Jessica Parker turns around, there are no people on the bus?) The most interesting fact I learnt was that the baby that Aiden has was actually James Wilkie - Sarah Jessica Parker’s son. That is why the baby just lights up because he saw his real life mummy.

The tour is supposed to last 3.5 hours but it usually takes longer because we wait for most people to get back on the bus. They play a combination of video clips from the movie and the series on HBO and point out to the different neighbourhoods. Two of my friends who went on the tour with me live in the city but they said that they wouldnt have gone to all the locations unless it was on a tour bus and that they never really fit all the pieces of the movie like a puzzle. Some of the stops I really enjoyed was having a drink at Steve and Aiden’s bar and cupcakes at Magnolia’s bakery. The funniest part of the tour was a visit to Pleasure Island, the sex store.

The tour also provides a booklet with discounts. For example, we get 20% off Juicy Couture which is on the street where Magnolia’s Bakery is. My best friend took advantage of that offer and bought me the sweetest cupcake necklace there. I still dont understand why Americans do not put the tax on the price tag. Perhaps its marketing but it is very annoying for us non Americans!

Anyways, one of the discounts we used was a free drink at the bar Lucky Chengs. Lucky Chengs is a drag queen bar, most people go eat dinner and then watch the show. Even the bartender is a drag queen. It has a distinctly oriental theme - the walls are painted red, more chinese lanterns, etc. Their signature drink is a Pink Pussy. To be honest, it tasted like nail polish varnish - or atleast what I think nail polish varnish would taste like. Despite the drink, the best part of the evening was watching a drag queen give a lap dance to a (un)lucky bride. These women were amazing!! I think Lucky Chengs is the perfect location for any bachelorette party. In fact, there were about 6 brides there that evening.

When we were doing our dares as part of the bachelorette festivities, my friend’s boyfriend had to go up to someone and say “I’m horny” He chose the bartender who cooly replied “I recommend Chocolate… with nuts” only to find out that it was actually…. a drag queen called Chocolate.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend both the Sex and City tour (which is about $40) and the Lucky Chen venue. It made for an unforgettable evening.

I then saw that my friend attended a wedding where another bride had used similar lamp shades:

I think the effect is lovely but could look even more stylish if there were hanging lamp shades of various sizes and shades:

You could also alternate between the wedding colours:

When I was at IKEA the other weekend, we picked up three different lamp shades, they are labelled REGOLIT and cost:
small (30 cm) £1.59
medium (45 cm) £1.95
large (60 cm) £2.53

Personally, I think the large ones are too big and so I will only buy about 3 of them so they dont look too overbearing. Im thinking of buying more of the small ones and painting them green and gold and yellow. Too many colours and you spoil the colour scheme! Now please dont go to the IKEA in Croyden and buy out the entire stock for RENGOLIT, I need some for my wedding!

I’ve also tried to match the place cards to the friends seated at the different flowers. For example, I looooved the significance of lilly, it means 100 years of love. I thought it would be best to keep that for the head table. My fiance often says that he will find me in my next life and marry me as well

So here are the place cards we made in case any other bride wants to copy the idea as well.

桃花

Peach

Peach flowers are considered in Chinese to signify lucky in love

杜 鵑

Azalea

Azalea is considered in Chinese to signify elegance and wealth

蓮花

Lotus

Lotus is considered in Chinese to signify scent, purity, softness and loveliness

蘭花

Orchid

Orchid is considered in Chinese to signify love and fertility

水仙

Daffodil

Daffodil is considered in Chinese to signify positive change

樱花

Blossom

Blossom is considered in Chinese to signify life, growth and prosperity

牡丹

Peony

Peony is considered in Chinese to signify
riches and feminine beauty

玫瑰

Rose

Rose is considered in Chinese to signify
ultimate joy

and my favourite….

百合

Lily

Lily is considered in Chinese to signify
100 years of love

I think it actually has an oriental touch to it, and resembles orchids.

These are photos to instruct you how to make them yourselves. Here are the materials:

And for the templates to make the individual flowers: