Paper Quilling Test – DIY Project
One of my plan to decorate the signing table was to create our wedding logo (seen here on our website) using paper quilling and framing it with a 5″ x 7″ frame from Ikea that comes with an easel. Here’s my first practice at getting the paper coiled nicely:
[Paper Quilling - Practicing various basic shapes]
I didn’t glue the coil end together but I was trying to make a tight coil, a closed coil, a heart and I guess a “S” shape. To practice, I cut little strips of the origami paper I had lying around and used a big needle to do the coiling. I wasn’t able to find a coiling tool at Daiso and didn’t feel like forking out money for it yet since I don’t know how it will turn out. Also, I’m not sure if I should cut my own strips of paper or by read-cut paper quilling strips. I think making my own will be cheaper but it’ll take longer as I’ll have to cut each strip of paper.
What do you think? I think the needle worked pretty well at least for practicing. I just found this website which tells you how to make the various paper quilling shapes so I’ll try some of those later.
7 Months Away
Time is ticking and we’re under 7 months away till the big day! I’m already starting to feel the pressure of making sure everything will be done on time. So far I still haven’t started on the invitations and considering I have to make 125 of them by hand, I should really get that started. About 100 of the invitations have their pieces cut into the right size and just need to be assembled. But I still need to find the wording for the insert piece. I wanted something fun, yet not too informal since we have a lot of elderly guests. If you have suggestions on how I should go about this, please share!
Aside from the invites, Al and I met our florist from Proline Trading – Kathleen, as recommended by a reader. She’s knowledgeable and fantastic to work with. We spent an hour going over our floral budget as well as finding ideas for our center pieces. Kathleen had given us some great suggestions (and very affordable) which I think we’ll most likely go with. This means I won’t have to spend hours slaving away making center pieces and spend the time planning the wedding cake event instead!
During the holidays, I’m planning on doing a couple paper quill decorations for the reception table. I have this idea of making our initials and the word “double happiness” with paper quilling and framing it with a small 4×6 wooden frame with easel that I got from Ikea for about $2. Looks like I’ll be in craft mode for the next few months to get all this finished.
Wedding Cake Event – Are You Interested?
After attending Vancouver’s 1st Cupcake Contest back in June, I thought it’d be great if there’s an event that features wedding cakes and edible wedding favors. My vision is an event where the brides get to meet the bakers in a fun and casual setting to learn about wedding cakes and favors. I’m in the process of finding talented, independent patissiers around town to feature unique cake flavors and edible wedding gifts you might not be able to find in a bakery store. If you are a bride in the lower mainland and are interested attending an event about wedding cakes and favors, please fill out this form.
If you are an independent patissier and are interested in participating in the wedding cake event, please contact me via the contact form. Thanks!
Update (Feb 11, 2011): Had a chance to meet Pastry Chef Marco Ropke, who own Pastry Training Center of Vancouver, today about holding the Wedding Cake seminar. We’re hoping to have it on Saturday, March 19 at 10:00am. There are only 12 seats available. I’m getting ready a registration form ready and should have a post about it in a couple of days.
Please fill out the form above to receive event details in the future if you are interested in attending.
Update (Feb 10, 2011): Due to conflicting schedules, the event is now being push back. I’m still hoping to have it before the wedding season starts, so maybe March or April. I’ll be meeting a baker tomorrow to discuss the possibility of hosting a wedding cake seminar and will post an update after the meeting.
Wedopia Wedding Show Highlights – Top It Off, Vancouver Photobooth & Flipbook
[Wedopia Fall Wedding Show]
Last weekend I attended my first wedding show put together by Wedopia. It’s my first because even though there are so many wedding shows through out the year, I’ve been reluctant to attend any of them due to the admission cost and the fact that I feel I won’t get anything out of the show (see reasons from this post).
I’ve only heard of Wedopia not too long ago and it seemed like this is their first wedding show. Although it’s small, it was pretty well organized. There were a lot of vendors that I’ve never seen before but since I already have my venue and photography taken care of, the majority of the vendors were not of my interest. What I did find were some interesting wedding favor ideas and hair accessories to make a wedding unique.
[Top It Off - handcrafted wedding hats]
The booth where I stayed the longest was Top It Off. They have handcrafted wedding hats that will make all the ones you’ve seen look dull. Each hair accessory (or hat) is unique and made by hand and you can also incorporate any items you’d like. One of them have pictures of the couple, another had lace from the bride’s grandmother’s wedding dress! The price for these custom made hair accessories starts from $60. With an average price of $150 I think it’s very reasonable. I’m going to see if our budget would allow us to get one (maybe a simple one), that’d match the wedding dress I pick or the qi pao.
[More hats. See more at their website.]
Other fun booths include Vancouver Photo Booth and Flipbook, both of which I had heard of before. I had a chance to try the photo booth but passed on the flipbook. Although I like these ideas as wedding favors or just adding another element to the party, I’m not sure how they will work out for our wedding. With a Chinese wedding where majority of the guests are older and more conservative, they might not make use of the photo booth or flipbook booth if we have one. I’ll have to look more into it and maybe survey my guests (haha).
[Vancouver Flipbook]
I just want to point out that the above vendors would be awesome to have for a themed wedding! I had wanted a masquerade wedding but since we’ve already decided to have a Chinese banquet, it doesn’t quit fit in very well. But if I could have it, I’d definitely have hats made from Top It Off and a photo booth for people to take fun photos.
Talking to Parents About Not Serving Shark Fin Soup At Wedding – Part II
After deciding that I’d like to remove shark fin soup from our wedding menu and trying to get Al’s support on this matter (see Part I), I’ve taken the next step which is to talk to our parents. So during dinner, I asked my mom casually “What do you think about not having shark fin soup at weddings?” She said she had heard about this from her coworkers and support this idea. However the elderly (aka my grandparents) and the traditional (I think she’s referring to my dad) might have a problem with it. So now the ball is on my dad’s court. His initial reaction was a bit negative, saying that shark fin soup is a traditional at wedding banquets and that the older generation will see it as losing face if we don’t serve it. It didn’t look like he wanted to continue the conversation so I left it at that.
A week later, I had to drive my dad to Canadian Tire and since we’re alone, I decided to ask him again about the shark fin soup issue:
Jan: So, are you OK with us not serving shark fin soup at the wedding?
Dad: Well I’m not opposed to the idea. But what about the older guests? They might think you are not respecting them or are being cheap.
Jan: We will make sure to let the guests know during the banquet why we are not serving the soup. If we don’t say anything, they might think that we’re being cheap for not serving the shark fin soup but if we explain the reason, I’m sure they will understand.
Dad: What are you planning to replace it with?
Jan: We’re not sure yet. I wanted to get the OK from both parents before we ask the restaurant for some suggestions. Maybe something like Abalone Chicken Soup or a broth instead of a thick soup.
Dad: But the restaruant will most likely not reduce the price of the banquet menu even if you replace the shark fin soup.
Jan: Money isn’t the issue here! We’re not trying to cheap out by not serving shark fin soup! This is about spreading the word on shark finning and how it is unsustainable way of obtaining shark fins. If any of the guests still thinks we’re being cheap by not serving shark fin soup then there’s nothing I can do. I can’t change their mind.
Dad: Alright, how about you talk to the restaurant on alternative soup options?
Yay! Looked like both my parents are alright with us serving an alternative to shark fin soup. Al had talked to his mom and she had the same concern as my dad. So our next step is to talk to Fortune House Restaurant to see what we can use to replace the soup.
Side Note:
I attended Shark Truth’s seminar and found that the biggest problem people face is getting their parents or significant other to support them in this idea. From my experience, the biggest obstacles when dealing with parents are a) losing face b) cost (restaurant won’t lower the price so why not just serve the shark fin soup) and c) they don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge the impact of shark finning. If you are facing these problems when trying to convince your parents about not serving the shark fin soup, maybe start off by having them watch the documentary Shark Waters. It’s informative yet not pushy.
