artsy one

{paris series :: je t'aime}

{paris series :: paris obsession is here to stay}

{paris series :: every city has a sex and an age which have nothing to do with demography. rome is feminine. so is odessa. london is a teenager ... paris, i believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman.}

... interesting portrayal of paris by john berger, an english painter.

its amazing how unlike singapore, paris hasnt changed much since the 1800s. this, people, gives the city its rich character.

La rue Soufflot in 1850 and 158 yrs later

Le Carrefour de l’Odéon in 1850 and today.

The 6th arrondissement back in the 1800’s and today.

{for more, click here. all pics via pia jane bijkerk}

{wedding re-cap :: 09.19.09 dinner reception}

my gown was a vera wang replica. my designer, kenji from the silhouette atelier made a detachable one-shoulder strap with huge flowers so that i can have 2 different looks for the ceremony (day) and dinner reception.

as we wanted to create a relaxed, casual vibe with lots of mingling, we served an international buffet - some drool worthy delights included roast chicken duck with orange and sesame seeds, caprese salad with grilled eggplant, fresh oysters, tandoori chicken, pilaf rice, potato gratin, braised lamb with chickpeas and okra, steak, slipper lobsters ... and the mushroom soup was a big hit.

as i have a sweet tooth, deciding on a dessert buffet *yeay* was a no brainer. but i had a big problem deciding on what to desserts to have. some of my favorite desserts included - profiteroles with chocolate mousse, chocolate royaltine and pineapple coconut tarts.

we wanted to do away with some of the traditions like cake cutting and instead gave all our guests a slice of homemade fruit cake made by my aunt with love - nicely wrapped and packaged in a little golden box.

during dinner, our siblings gave toasts, we had energetic bhangra performances (complete with stunts) and sultry salsa nicely put together by gurmit's friends. bhangra was injected into our wedding reception to honor gurmit's culture as he is of punjabi descent.

before we danced the night away, gurmit and i changed to indian inspired outfits. gurmit wore a sherwani and i wore a yellow, slightly below the knee dress with gorgeous embellishments at the back of the dress.

we gave our thank you speech which was prepared just a couple of hours earlier and danced like 7th graders for our first dance. i am still secretly hoping people forget these things.

... and then everyone danced the night away.

the day was over in a blink of an eye.

{paris series :: autumn in paris}

{via garance dore}

{humanity is awesome}

"The morning of one of my best friend's wedding was spent driving around town looking for an orchid for her hair. Of course it was a magical morning, with excitement in the air and smiles gleaming bright. However....she and her entourage traveled to several florists searching for an orchid with zero success. Until, that is, they walked into the last shop in town. That was were she saw the plant with three perfect blossoms behind the glass.

She promptly inquired about the price to the shop owner, and was slightly discouraged by the $80 price tag. But this was her wedding, and she dreamed of having an orchid in her hair. She was excited to purchase that orchid, it was a flawless orchid after all. She promptly told the shopkeeper she would love to buy it to complete her bridal ensemble.

The shop keeper looked at her. Looked at the orchid. Looked back at her. Looked at the orchid. Looked back at her. He charged her $8 instead.

Humanity is awesome."

{thanks for sharing a.mountain.bride}

Total chic! statement jewelery.

{via le fashion}

{wedding re-cap :: 09.19.09 dinner reception details}

we couldn't wait for dusk. it was PARTY TIME!!! i loved the entire slew of stationery. we had aussie wine, gin, whiskey and tons of local beer to get the party going even before it started! the flowers were arranged by talented jane from simply flowers.

still at decor, my brother-in-law lugged 10 moroccan lamps all the way from Doha, Qatar where he's based. we decided against topping up an additional SGD75 per table for flowers and decided on the lamps as they are definitely re-usable (definitely some are gonna be in our new apartment). the entire room felt incredibly cozy with the glowing lamps.

{wedding re-cap :: 09.19.09 beaufort sentosa}

we wanted our dinner reception to have a relaxed vibe so it just felt right when we set foot in The Beaufort in Sentosa, Singapore. it's a cosy tropical resort by the south china sea. this was the closest we could get to a destination wedding.