Friends and relatives from near and far made it to your wedding to especially share and celebrate the joyous occasion with both of you and your families. Shouldn’t you reciprocate with a token of appreciation? The question is what wedding favours to give. We had many brainstorming sessions before deciding on our wedding favours. We wanted one that not only ties in with our theme but also is a remembrance of our wedding. In the end we opted for potpourri because the floral scent and colourful petals fitted our garden theme perfectly.

I part DIY my wedding favours. I bought the potpourri and packed it into organza pouches decorated with tiny roses on the front. I printed our names, wedding date and a thank you note onto a small card which was then threaded with a gold string to the potpourri pouches. In total, I spend less than RM500 for 700 wedding favours.

With a little creativity, you can have great wedding favours without spending much. If you have some creative ideas and would like to personalized a gift for your guests, what better time to do it than now! Show your appreciation with a personal touch. If you like to bake, you can bake some cookies, cup cakes or even brownies and packed them in small decorated plastic bags, boxes or tins. You can even make kaya, preserves and chutneys, which can all be presented in miniature jars with your very own label.

For the music lover, you can compile a list of love songs that you played during your wedding onto a CD for each of your guests to take home to remind them of the wonderful evening.

1, 2, 3 say cheeze! Photographs are a great memento of the special day. This is an excellent idea for a wedding favour. Most guests will appreciate a copy of the photos they take with the bride and bridegroom. Compile photographs of the day’s event and all the candid moments you share with your love ones, relatives and friends. Place them onto a CD for each guest. They will love you for the beautiful memories.

Whatever you decide to give as favours, the most important thing to make sure (other than there being enough to go around) is that your favours are meaningful. It is a piece of memory for your guests to remember you by.

It was 16 July 2006. He had to stop by his mum’s place to grab some stuff and I went along with him. The moment he open the door, we were greeted by family members for my surprised birthday party. After blowing out the candles, he gave me three choices on a dessert tray. What are the odds? I actually chose correctly i.e. a slice of moist chocolate cake. Well, everyone was fooled. It was actually a ring box wrapped in a water proof paper and coated with chocolate syrup. He got down on one knee and he proposed.

Love is in the air. You’ve found your perfect other half and it’s time to pop the question. How will you propose? Will you get down on one knee at a romantic dinner? Or are you looking for something more creative? If you are someone who is fond of PDA “Public display of affection” you can follow in the footsteps of David Tan who pop his RM54,000 proposal on the billboard along the LDP on 14 February 2008.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/15/nation/20336463&sec=nation

Here are 10 creative ideas

1. Nothing is more sexy than a man showing his talent in the kitchen for the woman he love. Cook and set a romantic candlelight dinner for two. Serve her a glass of her favorite drink with the ring frozen in an ice cube. When she realizes what is in her drink, get down on one knee and ask her to marry you.

2. Arrange with your local bakery or restaurant to bake a cake with your proposal written on it. Remember to personalized it with her name and put it on the display case. Take her to the joint for dinner and ask her to choose a cake for dessert. When she sees the cake, drop down on one knee, pull out the ring, and ask her to marry you.

3. If you like the idea of being on top of the world. You can propose to her 500 feet from the ground by arranging a hot air balloon ride. As both of you enjoy the beautiful sunset, tell her how much you love her and ask her to marry you.(www.airshipflight.com)

4. Learn some magic tricks to entertain her. As a finale, mysteriously make a ring box appear and propose to her.

5. Make a booking at the cinema for a private screening and rent an ad space for your proposal. If you like to make your proposal a family affair, you could also invite them along. It is a really fabulous opportunity to experience the exclusivity. One very important detail though, other than popcorn make sure you have the ring with you! (For more details check out www.tgv.com.my and www.gsc.com.my)

6. Make a dedication on her usual radio station. Time it with your drive to a romantic spot. Preferably have the car top down. When she hears your public declaration, proposed to her under the blanket of stars and top it off with champagne and strawberries.

7. Bring her to a funfair. Pre-arrange with the game stall vendor to win her a “prize” when you throw the ball and hit the target (make sure you practice your throw, you wouldn’t want to be there the whole night!). When she realises the prize is a diamond ring, proposed to her.

8. If she’s an animal lover, get her a puppy. Tie the ring to it’s collar ribbon. When she sees the ring, get down on your knees and propose.

9. Create a scrapbook, filled with love letters, cards, photographs, mementos and the list is endless. Do a journaling on each page so that the scrapbook can tell a story. Preserving precious memories is a great way to show your love and let her know you cherish your time together. And what better ways for the closing then with a marriage proposal?

10. Organize a party and play pass the parcel. In preparation for the game, wrap the ring in several layers of wrapping paper. Whoever is holding the parcel when the music stops removes one layer of wrapping and perform a challenge or forfeit (go wild with your ideas and have fun!) that has been pre-written on each layer. Arrange with the person who starts and stops the music to ensure the ring stops at her. When she unwraps it and gets to the ring, and ask her to marry you.

What other ideas do you have? Share it with us!

Do you think the charges of a wedding make up artist (MUA) are over priced? My MUA charged me RM600 for a day and night session. If I were to do a make-over for an event/function, the charges are only less than half of it. Although weddings are important affairs but expenses like these can often prove to be budget busters.

Other than relying on professional make up artists, why not indulge in the following tips to get an “extreme” makeover at a fraction of the price?

If you are on a tight budget and if you have more than one wedding dinner at different locations, finding a reliable make up artist can prove to be an impossible task. Consider the may self-help guides available on the internet. There are many helpful make up tutorials online and I’ve linked a few videos below for your perusal.

For those who can’t doll up to save their lives, fret not, here’s another alternative – Take up a beauty make up course. After surveying the market for the fees on make up courses, I realise that it’s probably more economical and practical in the long run to pick up a set of life skills which could prove to be a lifesaver for me and my girlfriends! There’s an abundance of make up courses in the market and it is worth exploring this option, seeing that the fees is probably only a couple of hundreds more than what you have to pay for just one full day wedding session (i.e. day and night make up). Go for the reputable brands and survey the schools for their training facilities and credentials before you make a decision. Who knows, you might even decide to venture into your own business of providing make up!

Last but not least, dig up your address book for contacts in the fashion industry! They are probably more in tuned with the latest make up tricks and trends, plus I’m sure your friends will not mind to help you out in your hour of need!