Designer Bridal Room, Pavilion KL

A mailer arrived in my inbox early yesterday morning, announcing the start of Designer Bridal Room's first ever sample sale today. Now, THIS sample sale was something I was keen on because this bridal house is completely unlike the proliferation of your traditional Malaysian-type wedding houses, which rent out their gowns for brides to wear at their dinner or for photoshoots.

Not only does Designer Bridal Room carry designer gowns (the name's quite self-explanatory right), they do not rent them out at all, hence the samples are in great quality because every bride that orders a gown from them will have hers made new from scratch by the designer overseas.

No such thing as altering and re-altering the gown, thank heavens. While bridal salons like this exist everywhere overseas in the US / UK, I find it real weird that DBR is probably the only of its kind here. We mostly have to go to SS2 or individual designers' boutiques like Carven Ong etc etc.

So in an effort to live up to the name bridezilla, I emailed AND called to ensure I got one of the earliest slots for the sale that started today 23rd August to 8th September. And when I entered, I felt really relieved that I insisted on an earlier slot because from what I saw there were only 2 racks of sample gowns, one at 50% off and the other at 70% off (average about 20-30 gowns per rack). 

The more unconventional gown shapes, colors and materials like beaded sheath and swathed chiffon and champagne colors were under the 70% discount rack. I think the 50% rack will clear off much faster as they had nicer satins and laces, with more A-lines / trumpets and 1 or 2 really beautiful looking mermaids. But that's just my personal opinion. Unfortunately the colored evening dresses were NOT on sale.

Brand-wise I saw mostly San Patricks, La Sposas, Pronovias', Lusan Mandongus. According to the saleslady, all generally from the 2010 and 2011 collections.

Pricing-wise, those at 70% discount would cost about RM4-5k (as the above 3 names usually average at RM12-15k normal price), and at 50% discount, between RM6-8k. The first bride before me (I got the 2nd slot) bought a dress, and I managed to as well, given we were the first few in.

Since my wedding photoshoot and actual wedding is only next year, I'll only be returning to the salon sometime in April / May for my fittings and alterations. I feel abit sad that the gown search is over so soon, but I suppose I got a designer gown at really good value that I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise. I just hope the fiance likes it more and more - he didn't look quite that impressed, but then again, he's the type that needs things to grow on him. :) 
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Some pictures of the inside of the salon - unfortunately no pictures allowed, so I had to take this off DBR's facebook page. However, once you buy a dress, they allow you to take pictures of your own dress. I find this somewhat pretentious and annoying, because 1) i can find pictures of these dresses online, anyway and 2) some bridal shops overseas allow you to snap photos of a few favourite dresses because you need to know how you look in a photo. But anyway, its 50-50 on this one. Some salons do, some don't.

Westin KL - The One

I must say, the search for the hotel venue was pretty painless. We hadn't yet engaged a wedding planner but still managed to sign and seal the deal to book the Westin KL in less than a month.

Although to be quite frank, we didn't bother with other hotels at all save for a cursory sniff around Mandarin Oriental (and we all know how THAT one turned out). Due to some parental controls in place (ie boo to Selangor state hotels), we had to stick to KL 4-5 star hotels. My personal opinion was that KL Hilton wasn't good value and Shangri-La was pure overpriced snobbery ala MO but with more dated banquet facilities.

Gold, black, deep wine red, all mashing together in one Shang ballroom. Kill me now.

On the other hand, Westin seemed just right from the start. Nice banquet manager (a jolly-looking accomodating type called Chester, whom we privately call Chestnut), cosy ballroom (45 tables max, but 40 tables would be comfortable), and very flexible in altering the contract terms per our request, and throwing more freebies into the package.

Here's some of the extras we negotiated for above the standard contract:-

1) To allow us free corkage for 2 bottles of liquor per table instead of just wine
2) One extra free hotel room (we now get 3 rooms + 1 bridal suite)
3) Free tea ceremony venue in one of the meeting rooms + tea and refreshments for 30pax
4) Flexibility to switch the soups into sharksfin soup at no extra charge 
5) Accrual of Starwood points from our wedding expenditure
6) 6 flower stands instead of 4
7) More flexible payment terms with larger back-loaded amount on the wedding day

If choosing a hotel was akin to making a marriage match, I'd say we were just about suited for Westin like how Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas suit each other. Beautiful, classy fit, EXCEPT for his shocking mane of brown-bronzey waggley locks which look like it needs a real big brush taken to it.

That was exactly how I felt when we viewed the ballroom itself. Can you see that weird spiky brown monstrosity sticking out of the ceiling?

Apparently it's art. Chestnut could see it on our faces, and hurried to defend his spiky brown monstrosity by saying it looks good with the spotlights, and he suggested we not drape the ceiling otherwise the effect would be lost.

Damn him, how did he know we were thinking of doing exactly just that?!!

Below is the standard Westin Weddings signage, but I've commissioned a good friend to design our couple logo (for lack of a better word). And we've decided to be cheeky and not put our names up, instead just a J&J. This is so we can sneakily enjoy the uncomfortable looks of guests who barely know us and who we barely know (but were arm-twisted forced persuaded to invite) when they try to sneak a look at the stage to learn our names when greeting us. *evil cackle*

 Westin also offers a variety of table linen designs, in sand and pearl colors. I initially didn't want dark tablecloths, but after seeing them at one wedding (as below), it's starting to grow on me. This bears a further think in coming days.

Armadale Wedding Gallery

The bridal gown hunt and research process has diverged into 2 angles.
1) Search for cheapest cheap-ass (but nice) gown for the ROM / garden wedding

2) Find the ONE dress to rule them all for the main event - Doesn't every bride hope for something unique? And by unique in Malaysia, it means, like hell I'm going to get it here if I can help it. And definitely not at SS2. My mother thinks Melaka falls under the definition of "unique" but I must beg to differ.

I'll leave the ONE dress hunt for another post and talk about the cheap-ass (but nice) gown search.

How to find (and successfully buy) cheap-ass gowns

1) Keep trawling bridal house Facebook sites - I think Malaysia Brides Forum does a pretty good job at it, and I have so far been to the Wedding Boutique close-down sale (i think they're still clearing their gowns) and Armadale Wedding's clearance sale.

2) Buy simple - See, the thing about looking for cheap-ass gowns is to keep it simple. It can be real tough when gowns on clearance racks typically consist of beaded horrors and sequinned nightmares you wouldn't be caught dead in, ie you'd rather DIE, but if you just a) focus and b) look for simple and ageless, you should be able to luck out one day. So just keep your expectations low when going for the sale and you might just get surprised.

And please for goodness' sake, if the clearance gown is 400 bucks, don't hemm and haww like it is bloody 40 thousand like I saw one picky nitwit bride behave at Armadale over the weekend.  

Armadale is located near Jalan Semantan. Turn left from Jalan Semantan before the Shell (if you're coming from Jalan Duta), then immediately hang right between the Shell and ECM Libra building. Go down Persiaran Damansara Endah, and take the first left uphill and go right to the end where Armadale is located in the last house on your right.

While the selection isn't as massive as the SS2 houses, it felt much less like a factory they were out to empty your pockets cut-throat, and I immediately relaxed (you have no idea how defensive you can become when you are a constantly assaulted bride to be during bridal fairs or step into bridal houses).

There are 2-3 gown changing areas, and about 6-7 racks of dresses on the ground floor. The two racks you see in the above picture are gowns for brides who choose their photography packages from Armadale (yes, as mentioned, not an extensive selection, but they looked quite tasteful to me). The outdoor area is where they take some pre-wedding shots, I believe.  

If I'm not mistaken, most of the clearance gowns are going from RM400-500. I narrowed down to 4 gowns after 20 minutes and they were all quoted to me at a price of RM500. After I paid RM500 and left with my gown, they called me back and said they made a mistake and had overcharged me by RM100, which they will transfer back to my bank account. Well, I never!!!!

Below 3 were one of the more classic and simple (ie unfussy, un-massively beaded and un-horribly sequinned and un-shinily laced) gowns I whittled down to. The first 2 are by designer Carven Ong (for RM500 a gown wtf in a good way shit are you joking dot dot dot ya Tuhan its cheap). And the bottom gown has a wonderful classy beading detail. The duchess satin skirt has quite a strong crinoline that it stands on its own like a giant wedding cake.

And lastly, the one I bought.

I tell you, with the veritable ambush of beads, sequins, flower appliques, lace trains, ribbons, detachable sashes, and various other addendums available to horror spice up a gown nowadays, I can understand how hard it is to stick to simple. And keep reminding yourself, less is more less is more less is more less is more. Especially so when you're going for a non-designer factory line type bridal house gown. Just leave the addendums and intricate gown dan-lain-lains to the Vera Wangs, Jenny Packhams and Pronovias' of the world, lor.

I have seen so many random brides on Facebook (not my kawan-kawan of course) whom I think have completely lost their minds. Lastly before anyone thinks I'm getting to be a bit too snotty to handle, let me post a completely fail picture of my dress trying here.

Don't understand where the "fail" part comes from? Well, it's the back portion. The v-split on the back ain't due to any ingenious styling on the designer's part. Its about how far the zip can be pulled up. :D

Flashback to the visit to the Wedding Boutique where the saleslady said to me while huffing and puffing and tugging the laces of a particularly tight gown around my ribs, "You actually look very slim, but actually right, you are not."

Needless to say, I didn't buy a gown that day.

Mandarin Oriental KL - Where All Brides Want To Be?

After a 30 minute viewing and discussion session at the MO, we now knew why this was considered THE place if you wanted to have the poshest, most exclusive wedding in KL town. 

Snobby upper-class speaking banquet manager - Check

Crazily terribly insanely expensive exorbitant minimum spending amount if you wanted their Grand Ballroom - Check. It's RM170,000. Yes, with 4 zeroes. As in a hundred and seventy thousand dollars and zero cents. 

Inflexible immovable non-negotiable a lot of stuff - Check 

Massive ballroom big enough to fit an Avengers smackdown match (and that includes the Hulk too) - Check 

I suppose that's why most society weddings take place here, either that, or they go to Shangri-la.  (which incidentally also imposes a crazy minimum spend to keep the middle class out) 

Big as it may be though, everything about the MO just didn't fit. I nearly hyperventilated thinking about the amount to be poured in if I wanted to drape the huge-ass ballroom (which fits 100 tables). When something makes you feel bad enough to want to call off the wedding, I say just run get the hell out of there.

I casually mentioned how somebody I knew got married there last week, and the banquet manager's face lighted up like the Rockefeller Xmas tree and she enthusiastically asked me if I attended. 

Errr, you're not getting this business regardless if I attended or not. 

I didn't attend, but I have it on the best authority that it was large, expensive and.... tacky. Other people's words, not mine. 

We want cosy, not large, and we don't have enough people we like to fill 100 tables (see Grand Ballroom picture below). It would have been easier to fill it if we had to choose people we DON'T like. Ha ha.

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A few other administrative details of the MO package. 

Package from RM2088++, RM2588++, RM2988++ per table 

Free corkage for 1st bottle of wine (for RM2088++ package) - the most they could move was 2 bottles of wine, but didn't allow us to change to liquor 

Their tablecloths and linen choices are maroon, beige and gold (say hello, 1995?) 

Their smaller ballroom the Diamond ballroom fits only max 30 tables. No mid-range sized ballrooms (we need about 40 - 45). And they used to allow a splitting up of the Grand Ballroom for people who don't need or want 100 tables, but they no longer do it anymore on account of the rationale that they wouldn't be able to rent out the other half of the space. 

And lastly they will be closing down the ballroom for renovation from Dec 2012 to Mar 2013. 

In short, its a 'nay' for MO KL. Only society brides need apply. Or those who plan to spend RM300,000 and above to impress people you mostly hate or don't know. (C'mon, who are you kidding that you'd be able to fill 100 tables of nearest, dearest and loved ones?!) 

And so the hunt continues. Stay tuned.

The White House SS2

Turning left off the LDP (coming from TTDI / Kepong / Curve) , The White House is that corner double storey converted house on your left, almost immediately after you make that turn. 


Given the shocking mushrooming of bridal houses in the SS2 area, I figured one good way to keep track of my visits is to start from the outside and geographically work my way in. Anyway, we did not have an appointment so we parked and went in. 


Main aim - look for a dress. We were met by a Steven Cheong (whose name card says Operation Manager), a somewhat quiet and reserved character who took us upstairs on our request to see the gowns. (He probably thought we were spies, but what the heck, can't you see the ring on my finger?!) 


Not a very extensive selection from what I could see. Most of the gowns were A-line strapless tube tops with beaded bodices and an assortment of skirt materials - creamy thick satin, can can. I quite detest those layered skirts that remind me of anything except how I want to look like on my wedding day, so about half the selection is out. There were about 7-8 metal rows, and on my estimate of about 10 gowns a row, you've got about 70-80 gowns upstairs? And about 60% was white. Some use quite a lot of faux cubic zirconia on the bodices which again I don't quite like (and herein is the disclaimer - views expressed are the author's opinions and you can't kill sue murder fault anyone for having an opinion) 


Pricing? Surprisingly cheap. They tag the sale prices onto the gowns (which I initially mistook for rental prices!) - and they range from RM799 to RM1699 for the bridal gowns (most made in China). The bridesmaids dresses range from RM100-200 and I saw some evening gowns at RM499. Selection quite limited though. 


I'm not sure if they have more dresses - I had already asked quite a fair share of questions to the reticent manager AND tried on 2 dresses AND had him record down the dress reference code should i need to come back.


I think I've now devised my wedding gown acquisition modus operandi. Walk into a store, hope all the sales assistants are busy tending to their overpaying standard factory bought package esteemed clients, zero in on the only male staff there, get him to walk you through the clothes, pick out the best, try them, have him record down the dress reference code and leave your contact number (to make the store happy that they've got your contact details) in case you want that dress. 


The White House also does custom made gowns - locally made gowns cost about RM2000, depending on material, etc. Email them pictures of a gown design you like and they can try to replicate it the best they can. 

First Things First

First things first, I'm 1 year 2 months and about a week away from my planned almost 80% confirmed dang-it-neither-hail-nor-hellfire-can-change-it wedding date of 28 September 2013.

I've barely started to skim the surface of wedding planning, but already I think there is a high chance of me morphing into bridezilla as the days go by. Or so I've been told. Hence the fairly pre-emptive blogtitle - there ain't gonna be no quiet and / or sympathetic behind my back whispers about this as the weeks pass. Stay loud, hang proud. 

The probability of me morphing into bridezilla is about 70%, I reckon. I have worked in jobs which require me to dissect, analyze, foretell, and assign probabilities to such and such an event occurring which should then prompt such and such a course of action, which ultimately should lead to such and such a conclusion, 5 years later. And I was Chairperson of the Activities committee in university, so it seems quite obvious that it should in some way impact my approach to such a once-in-a-lifetime never-gonna-effing-come-again this-better-not-screw-up.. ahem... uniquely personal milestone for me. 

Oh, and for my fiance of course. Naturally. :D 

But the good part about having been trained in a fast-paced career where split second judgment calls and spur of the moment presentations and meetings occur just about all the time is - 

1) I believe in fighting (and winning!) the big fights

2) I have very little time to waste, so I don't believe in wasting other people's time - I'll go in, get what I want and get out. Although, I am having a bit of a problem deciding on the right wedding dress design so I'm planning to get a lot of some counselling on that front. 

3) I weigh options pretty fast, once all the information is in - And if I don't expect the variables to fluctuate beyond a certain acceptance level, I'll make a decision pretty fast. But caveat - all the information must be in. Go broad, then dig down. That's how I work at my job anyway. The first week after the proposal, I'd already tabulated an Excel file with different sheets to collate all my information in one place. 

4) I do my very best - Which means I can be meticulous as hell pre-event, and will troubleshoot and tabulate even the probability of a meteor crash landing on my garden wedding tent, but it also means that if something unpredictable and totally no one's fault occurs, it really is no one's fault. Shit does happen, even if you think it shouldn't happen to you. 

5) Differentiate, differentiate, differentiate - While I appreciate that Malaysian brides would have a budget, which limits their options on location, bridal house, menu, and all the other wedding thingamajiggies, the one thing I believe that should not be limited is one's imagination. Differentiation need not be expensive. Its easier to differentiate if you have money, but that shouldn't be a prerequisite for a good idea. And that can only be enhanced through thorough research. Yay, that's up my alley too. I have some set ideas against certain accepted wedding norms, so I'll probably not be focusing on that too much - case in point, I think all-in packages from bridal houses are morphing into a huge factory-line type product - seriously, it feels like I'm going through a specs list for a car or a computer - 30 poses for pre-wedding, 7 gowns, corsage, 50 hardcopies for album, pay extra for VIP gowns.... WTF? Thanks, but no thanks. People say it will cost if you source everything separately, but its all about personalizing, individualizing. And I don't believe it can't be done at a reasonable cost. 

And what does my fiance think about all this shebang? 

He told me a few weeks ago after his proposal that all he wants is a happy bride. 

The guy really had no idea what that would entail, I think. He's pretty much in for it now. Ha ha.

Well, did I mention I told him I'll be quite kind? I like to think it's my middle name, written in invisible ink somewhere in my IC.