lips of an angel

I have been hearing voices in my head lately. I think it’s about time to blog again. Time flies and before I know it, it’s another weekend. Long before this, I was gallivanting all over the places and realized that I hadn’t done anything meaningful in my life at all.

Then I got depressed. I think I am moving but I go nowhere. Everyone tells me to be patient, I suppose they mean to say that good things come to those who wait. Yes, wait for what? The wait feels like a thousand years and my patience is soon wearing thin. Perhaps I am still in the age of rage.

Everyday I feel that I am so full of pent-up energy. I feel like I could run a marathon. I’m tempted to try, but I know it’s an illusion. It’s actually not so much physical energy as emotional energy. Yet I have nowhere to channel them and this energy soon turns to frustration.

Everyone knows that I cannot run for nuts. In fact the last time I really ran was probably in high school and even so that was done forcefully against my wish. So when I left a note on Facebook, Jennifer wants to go for Terry Fox run this Sunday but she has no running shoes :’( , pretty soon I was receiving comments which raised everyone’s eyebrows…

I think you can just walk instead.. running shoes not needed

Seriously, Jen ….. u running? 

Sigh, I must learn not to shock people with shocking statements like that anymore…

Anyway, so it turned out to be a good thing I am helping one of my best friends to plan for her wedding door games and hen’s night. I simply love planning and planning and planning. For others, if I may say so. I hardly plan for myself though. My day could float by me and I would have regretted at 8.00pm during dinner time because I was supposed to make hay while the sun shines and not trap flies with my mouth wide opened the whole day. I have to blame my horrible time management habits for that. Yep, it’s a classic saying that’s resonated with me which translates to: don’t waste time; take advantage of a brief opportunity while it is still there.

I am quite a familiar feature  in the planning of some of my friends’ and colleagues’ bridal shower and hen’s night, not to mention wedding planning, wedding gifts and bridal fittings. I won’t say I am good at those planning, but so far the brides-to-be seemed to be pleased with the outcome albeit some hiccups and shortcomings. Can I just blow my trumpet or would you have the honour?

The planning for my best friend’s wedding door games was exciting and fun. I have liaised with her to check her preference for the door games itinerary as well as the hen’s night. One important lesson I learnt throughout my planning with the brides-to-be is to never assume and plan the events as how I would love it to be, rather the setting of the event must always be aligned to the couple’s liking. It’s always vital to plan accordingly to the preference and taste of the couple. 

This sounds too rigid then, some would comment. Where’s the element of surprise if my best friend already knew what we had intended to do and get for her? Yes, it’s always nice to receive a surprise, a pleasant surprise…Would it not be fun if we just show up at her doorsteps, blindfold her and whisk her away in our getaway car? We could bring her to go clubbing at one of  the premier clubs and we could paint the town red in the process. That’s a brilliant idea I reckoned but again, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. It all boils down to the bride-to-be. It’s supposed (and going) to be a fun hen’s night, not a slaughter hen’s night. 

As we put our heads together, brainstorm and plan, we tend to get carried away and sometimes let our own judgment cloud the vision of the couple; who they truly are, what they truly like. In the end, everything turned out to be what we envisioned, but not what the couple would have liked. That’s why we hear of horror stories where overprotective parents and nosy aunties and overzealous uncles helped to plan the wedding which turned out to be what they never had in their own weddings and not what the couple would have loved for their wedding instead. The biggest mistake has always been people forgetting to plan the wedding for the couple and they had planned as if it was their wedding…instead of pink it was purple, instead of empire waistline it was can-can gown and the sorts. 

I guess in this aspect, communication is vital and it’s not always a bad thing to be frank and ask the couple what they would like to have during their wedding. While we may think this and that ideas of ours are fantastic, we also need to be flexible enough to know that this and that ideas of the couple’s are also great. It’s their wedding after all.  Respect plays an important role to avoid conflicts between the ones planning and the ones planned for.

I figured this important lesson will help me in my future role as a wedding planner. It’s a lucrative business and wedding is an expensive affair. Judging from the number of bridal house that mushroomed around SS2 within a short span of time, you can see the Law of supply and demand in action.

But more importantly, it’s the joy and satisfaction of helping the couple to realize and achieve their once in a lifetime wish. It’s not everyday that you get married…A best friend once included in her thank you note to me, marriage is fun, you should try it someday. Well, I guess helping to plan the wedding is as good as it gets, as close as it gets to that statement of her’s