Update - Wai Ling and Sang’s wedding
Posted on August 12, 2007 in the Real Weddings category
Oops, I have been bad, I haven’t written a post for quite sometime. My excuse is I have been busy ………
A few weeks ago, I went to a friends wedding in Birmingham. Wai - Ling and Sang got married at Birmingham Registry Office on the 31st July. Me and Dave were lucky enough to see them tie the knot. They had their Chinese banquet in China Court in Birmingham followed by an after party at The Cotton Club. Wai Ling looked stunning, Sang is a very lucky guy. There was a special tribute to the couple when everyone arrived at the restaurant. They arranged to have a photo slideshow of the couple playing on the flat screen’s at the restaurant before they made their grand entrance. I thought it was really sweet as there were pics of young wai ling and sang and also pics of them together.
They completely filled out China Court which had me and Dave discussing how many tables we are going to have at our wedding as theres no way we can even fill half of the restaurant. Everyone even received a wedding favour, which was a nice pair of chopsticks which had their names and the date of their wedding printed on them and also a napkin and placement. I bet that set them back abit.
Wai ling had 3 other dress changes, the kwa, her red dress and also the traditional cheong sam. Every dress change had a new hairstyle and different make up to go with it. Which might have been quite hectic but the make-up and hair artist she used was very good.
Their wedding seemed to go smoothly, which makes me relax a little bit as their wedding party was massive and ours will be alot smaller so if they got through it, we can too LOL
I nearly forgot to mention about their wedding cars, they hired 2 hummer limousines, one black and one white. They looked massive and looked really nice inside, although the only downside was on the side on the vehicles there was a big sign of their company name printed on it.
The happy couple sealing the deal
After the Civil Ceremony
The Phan’s
Me and Dave
Wai Ling in her kwa
The wedding cake
Second dress change for the part of going round to the tables
3rd dress change, the cheongsam for saying goodbye to everyone at the door
Direct line for Parcelforce
Posted on August 4, 2007 in the Tips/Reviews category
Here’s another number which might help people who don’t want to call the 0870 number which s an automated line and you may have to wait over 1hr to speak to someone. Call this number and you get through to someone straight away.
0191 5127003
I’m not too impressed with Parcelforce, I’m still waiting on a parcel that got sent from China on the 20th July and now its the 4th August and still haven’t got it. When I tracked it on the Parcelforce website its status ‘advised’ so after 30mins of searching for a direct number to my local parcelforce office (which by the way the number doesn’t exist) I came across the number above on http://www.saynoto0870.com (this website is very handy). I rang them and the guy said that it arrived in UK on the 30th July thats where the tracking ends. He said that someone would get back to me so I’m waiting for that call. Does it really take 2 weeks to send a parcel from China??
Direct number for Barclays Worcester
Posted on August 4, 2007 in the Tips/Reviews category
I had a nightmare trying to find the direct phone number for my local Barclays branch in Worcester so now that I have it, I will share it so people don’t have the same problems as me.
01905 684802
Stress aaaaarrrrrgh!!!!
Posted on August 3, 2007 in the General Wedding Plans category
Oh My God, it has just hit me that I’m going to plan my own wedding. I mean I knew that I have to but I’ve just realised the scale of it. There is so much to do and I haven’t done much.
I need to figure out deadlines for each aspect of our wedding. Things that I need to do this year and things that can wait til after christmas.
So far me and Dave have roughly worked out our budget, I don’t know if Dave wants me to put the figures online so I won’t just yet.
The Dress is my main concern, I still need to get one so thats something that needs doing ASAP.
We also need to find our auspicious date for our wedding in 2008 as Dave will be going to Hong Kong in October so we need the date so that he can sort out the invitations.
The venue for the Civil Ceremony is one major problem, we need to seriously look at all options and select 3 or 4 so that we can visit the place. I think the deadline for this should be at the end of this month.
The Honeymoon is a big problem aswell but I’m not going to worry about that just yet as we can sort that out after Dave comes back from HK.
I think that the suits for Dave and his best men can be left after Christmas as I don’t think it takes that long to hire them.
Bridesmaids dresses will have to be ordered around december.
Flowers will have to be ordered around december time aswell.
The wedding car is Dave’s responsibility LOL
Hair and Make up - I need to find suitable people by january
Photographer will have to be booked by november.
Mmmmmm what else is there?? what am I missing out??
Oh yea the banquet which is also Dave’s responsibility.
and also the wedding bands which will be custom made so we need to start looking for a reliable jeweller
I think I won’t have any time to social so apologises to my friends who may or may not read my website. I will be officially unavailiable to attend any social meetings from now until my wedding.
The venue search
Posted on July 30, 2007 in the Wedding Venues category
I’m still searching………..
Ok so I think we can honestly say that areas between Worcester and Birmingham is what we’re looking for. Areas north of Birmingham city centre are a no go.
I have been going through all the sites on Worcester’s City Council website which lists the approved premises for Civil Wedding’s in Worcestershire and I really can’t find any that are in the selected area and that I like. I’m beginning to think that this search is impossible. I have sent Dave the link for these venues and have told him to take a look. There is also a website just like this one for Birmingham and I still can’t find a suitable venue.
I have a good tip for Brides to be in my situation. If you’re looking for a venue, a good way to find one and look and what the venue is like then do a search for some wedding photographers in your area. Go on to their website and they should have a gallery or a list of the venues that they have photographed for weddings. That way you get to see what the venue is really like.
Most venue’s that I have contacted have said that they only do exclusive hire, which means you have to hire the whole place and it would cost a few thousand pounds which we are not willing to pay. I’m now starting to wonder if we should widen our search, it just means doing everything earlier so we have enough time to get to the venue and the restaurant for the banquet after.
Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
Posted on July 29, 2007 in the The Wedding Look, Tips/Reviews category
I recieved this book as a present for my 25th birthday, I think that it was only because of the title that they bought it for me. The read the book in 1 day, well I didn’t read all of it because there were some parts that were very “American” as the writers are from USA, the topics and wording they use kinda put me off the book. There was a part where they talked about how the US government don’t care about your health because they allow foods that are very bad for you to be purchased and about all the chemicals/pesticides that are still being used in food manufacture. I skipped that chapter, which was quite long in fact.
The book is quite a harsh and very straight forward attempt to make people see the reality of what they are actually eating. They talk about the effects of sugar and how it is the devil which is very true. I learnt that sugar is acidic and that when you put acidic foods into your body, in order to protect your organs, your body produces fat cells. If you eat too much acidic food i.e coffee, meat, bread etc your PH balance becomes overly acidic which can become a dangerous condition that weakens all body systems. That really opened my eyes as I never knew that I was putting so many acidic foods into my body. There is also a chapter about “carbs” and how you should not avoid them i.e the atkins diet.
There is a chapter on cruelty to animals, I also skipped that bit as I don’t want to get turned into a vegetarian. The chapter is called ” you are what you eat” and its their attempt at making you realise you are putting dead animals into your body and why you shouldn’t.
The chapter about dairy is quite an eye opener about how much fat is in milk and how cow’s milk can grow a calf in 2 months. That is quite scary.
At the back of the book, there is a section on foods you can buy and a 30 day diet that you can follow. They really preach about eating fruit for breakfast and that in time your body will learn to get full on it n the morning and how fruit juice will wake you up like coffee.
In my opinion, this book is only useful if you are american cos the foods that are listed, we can’t get in UK. If you want to be terrified into becoming a vegetarian, actually no a vegan then buy this book or you can buy mine off me.
The Mill Hotel in Alveley
Posted on July 29, 2007 in the Wedding Venues category
Another contender for our Civil Wedding Venue. The Mill Hotel is located in Shropshire which is about 22 miles away from Worcester, according to Google maps. The website doesn’t have many pics of the hotel exterior so I’m not sure what to think, if it can’t show any good pics online, is that meant to say that the building is ugly?? The interior seems ok from the little pics on the website
New Hall Hotel Sutton Coldfield Birmingham
Posted on July 28, 2007 in the Wedding Venues category
Possible venue for our Civil wedding Ceremony
New Hall Hotel
Its in Sutton Colefield so its in our traveling range. I’m not too sure about the rooms available for our ceremony, they don’t look that great.
Its abit too dark for my liking
I dunno why but these rooms look small for me
We’ll have to go and visit, once Dave has made his choices about the venues too
Lunch at World Service Nottingham
Posted on July 28, 2007 in the Tips/Reviews category
My fiancee took me out for a surprise birthday lunch at World Service the other day. When you get to the restaurant, you have to walk through the garden terrace to get to the front door which is quite nice as you feel secluded and away from the city. When we went through the front door we were greeted with a waiter who asked us if we wanted to have a drink in the lounge or go straight to our table. We said we just wanted to go to our table and so he said we could have our pick of the tables available which was nice as I wanted to be sat in a private corner away from the other customers.
The restaurant feels a little small, well I expected it to be bigger as its meant to be the best restaurant in Nottingham after winning The Nottingham Restaurant Awards in 2005 & 2007. The decor was nice, its very mellow and relaxing. The tables and cutlery were quality so it was thumbs up so far. The lunch menu was quite limited which was expected. You can go for the light lunch at £12.95 for 2 courses, I forgot how much it was for 3 course or you can choose from the A la carte menu. I choose the Goats cheese tartlet to start and Dave went for the Soft Shell Crab. For mains, I went for the Rack Of Lamb and Dave went for the fillet of beef.
We ordered mineral water to drink as I couldn’t stomach another glass of alcohol cos I was still recovering from my birthday the night before. The waiter was quite funny, cos as he poured our water, I said “thank you” then he said thank you back to me. LOL I found that weird, he did it to Dave aswell. Maybe World Service makes all the waiters do that or is it just him?
You can tell you’re in a quality restaurant, even the bread they serve was top notch. That must have been the best bread roll I’ve ever had, I dunno what they added to it but it was kinda sweet. Very yummy though.
Our starters arrived in less than 10 mins, the presentation was 10/10. The goats cheese was very yummy and the pastry was so light. Dave’s soft shell crab was to die for, OMG it was unbelievably delicious. We were both impressed with how the crab was cook, so crunchy and yet not dripping in oil.
The mains arrived roughly 10 mins after we finished our starters. Dave’s fillet of beef done rare was perfect. I had the Lamb, after a few mouthfuls I realised that this was not what I ordered. I wanted the Lamb from the a la carte menu not from the set lunch menu. I didn’t say anything but now I know that when theres 2 dishes of Lamb on the menu, you have to actually say the full dish, actually the waiter should have asked me which one I wanted to be fair. If we ordered our starters from the a la carte menu and my partner ordered his main from the a la carte menu of course when I say “I would like the lamb” I’m ordering from the a la carte menu too. Anyway the lamb was still good, not as good as Dave’s beef as mine was quite rich, the sauce was abit on the salty side and the mash was very buttery.
The bill came to about £45 which included the 10% service charge. I looked on the bill and saw that my lamb was indeed from the set menu which was only £7.50, which meant Dave’s starter and main was more expensive than my main and it was supposed to be my birthday treat. LOL. I’m not ranting. It was very very nice of my fiancee to take me out to somewhere nice, maybe we can go back sometime for dinner.
I would recommend this place for a special occasion unless you are really loaded and can afford to go there most days. Don’t forget the thing about the Lamb. Don’t just say Lamb and expect the waiter to know which one you want, either point to it on the menu or say the full title of the dish.
My 25th Birthday Dinner at Fat Cat Nottingham and Revolution bar Nottingham
Posted on July 27, 2007 in the Personal, Tips/Reviews category
L-R - Thoi, Helen, Fion, Me, Pauline, Wai - Ling & Marina
I’m officially 25!!! My birthday turned out to be a great gathering of friends and family. There were 29 people who made it to dinner at Fat Cat in Nottingham. I booked the tables for 7.30pm but we didn’t even sit down until about 9pm, time flies when you’re having fun.
Nearly everyone pre-ordered which meant the starters came out quick. I have to say, Fat Cat actually did badly on the starters, maybe cos we were standing around for ages and they couldn’t keep it all warm but some of the starters were cold. I had the Garlic Chilli Tiger Prawns to start and they were more like shrimp, not prawns (rip off!). They were swimming in oil so I did not enjoy that at all. The mains were better though. I had the Fat Cat pie which looked quite big, I took pics on my fiancee’s camera but I can’t upload them as I don’t have the cables for it. The mash and buttered greens which accompanied it was yummy but the pie itself could have had alot more steak in it. I think any restaurant would have struggled to produce very good food for a party of 29 so I won’t be too hard on them. Although I won’t ever have a large dinner party there again!!
I didn’t get too drunk in the end, I had a few drinks in Fat Cat then we moved on to Revolution Bar and had 4 different flavoured vodka shots. After that, I got abit dizzy so my Dave stopped me from drinking anymore. He had a few shots for me as the girls were determined to get me drunk, bless him, he’s my hero. Then we went to casino after, we had some more food, which was free and I played roulette as I was feeling lucky on my birthday. I ended up winning £15 so I was dead chuffed with myself.
It was so good to see everyone but I didn’t really have enough of me to go round so it was kinda hard spending time with them all. I have to say, my closest friend Fion who came all the way from Manchester, got me a LV bag which I love, its a very expensive gift and I can’t believe that silly girl got it for me. My hunny surprised me with some Tiffany earrings which are gorgeous, he has very good taste for a guy. He also bought me some lingerie which is more of a gift for him rather than for me and he also sorted out my birthday cake. What a sweety huh? Thats not all though, the next day he took me out for a surprise lunch at World Service Nottingham which is the best restaurant in Nottingham, it has won so many awards. I’m writing a post about it later.
Some pics from Marina’s camera on my birthday
The LV bag from Fion
Me at the end of the night
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