The Wedding, September 8th.

A wedding is personal thing.

I remember the day I got married. It was September 9th, a humid Sunday morning. I've been jittery all night (well, 3 nights actually) about the day. I woke up at 3 after my not-so-good-sleep, got ready, and said a little prayer that everything was gonna be alright. Turned out is was. I was relieved. I knew I thought about other people a lot, while I was so nervous inside. And yes, it was one of the happiest day in my life.

Back to few months before the wedding, I am gonna share the preparation for this. It was 10 months before the wedding, that Nico and I set the date (well 2 dates, tbh). I researched that the venue was the first thing we had to deal with, after the date was fixed. Looking for our venue was kinda easy peasy, because we did want a garden ceremony for the blessing, and we know that outdoor venue in Jakarta was not so many in quantity. Ayana Jakarta (@ayanajakarta) is one option we had in mind. We fell in love with the venue at the first visit. The ballroom was decorated with beautiful lamp and in neutral color. The garden beside the ballroom was effortlessly pretty. We wanted in straight away, and thank God Ayana Jakarta was available on one of my date. Ci Christien, who helped us with our wedding preparation, was very helpful, too!

After dealing with the wedding venue, we had to look for another main vendors. Some said it was the make up artist that you should book right away. But I have my own priority. Photography and videography was what I had in mind, and I've been admiring Atipattra's magic work (@atipattra.co) after quite some time. I love the color, the tone, the people behind the work (you're gonna love Alvin and Carleen too!) , and of course the results of it. They made it so personal. Atipattra was the second vendor I contacted, and glad I could have them on the date. I also did my preceding photo and video with them, and it was lovely! And yes, all photos here were taken by Atipattra. Aren't they amazing?

I did some researched in picking my make up artist, and I was glad I chose Archangela Chelsea (@archangelachelsea) for my wedding. Before I met her in person I was quite nervous for the makeup, mostly because I know my eyes were not the easiest to deal with. I can assure you, Chelsea is the best. I met her on the makeup test day, and she learned my face like magic. I was also indecisive about what to do with my hair, but she tried some styles that she thought might suit me well. On my wedding day, she made me felt like the prettiest girl indeed. The makeup was flawless, the hair was so lovely. Thank you Chelsea and ka Ocha!

The garden sketch came to life

My choices of vendor after that would be the wedding organizer, the decoration, and the wedding dress. A friend of mine suggested Excellent wedding organiser (@excellent.wo) and we agreed to use their service after meeting ci Rita. She was very detail in preparation, knowing every process well, and helped us to check some deals we had with another vendor. The team also helped a lot on the wedding day, they kept me calm, they were good on timing, and run every details well. Our parents liked the way they worked too!

For the decoration, we had Classy decoration (@classydecor_id) in mind. Amor was great with details, she knew my preferred style after our first meeting. I could say the decoration was beyond my expectation. Everything is pretty and very much like what I had in mind. Almost every part were my favourites, the garden decoration, the photo corner, the ballroom decor. It was very beautiful.

And last but not least, I've been eyeing ko Bramanta (@bramantawijaya) for quite some time, and very glad I got through the wedding preparation with him. He was very supportive, a fairy god mother who worked the magic for the dress. I told him what I liked, and he combined my style with his beautiful work. I love love love the dress. I could not ask for a better designer for my wedding dress.

Those are the choices of main vendor we use for our wedding. Each of them delivered a very delicate work and we are satisfied with the results. On top of that, we are really happy everything went well on our wedding day. It was one of the happiest day of our life. The weather was nice (thank God!), everyone was happy, food was great. It's good to see our families and friends' happy faces. 

xo,

Jess

@jechristy

A pre-wedding.

A pre-wedding is one special moment that I could not wait to prepare at that time. I remembered seeing those people having their pre-wedding photos overseas, wondering if I will do the same when my time comes. Turned out I was lucky enough to do my pre-wedding photoshoot at my favourite country, Japan.

Never crossed my mind to do an overseas photoshoot. I did thinking about Bali, because Bali is pretty indeed, has many awesome spots, and we could manage the budget like we want. But when Atipattra had their open trip for to Japan, how could we say no to this?

We use Atipattra (@Atipattra.co) for our wedding and pre-wedding photos and videos, because I really like the moody tone and their creativity. I understand that some people have different preferences when it comes to photography, but I have some suggestions if you have similar preferences like me. They are Kimi and Smith Pictures (@kimiandsmithpictures) , Derai (@derai.studio), Morden (@morden.co), and Masa Photography (@masakemasa). (yes you can easily find them on instagram)

First thing on my mind, the outfit. But apparently we have to choose the photo spots first before matched it with the outfits and theme. We undoubtedly picked Kawaguchiko as our first spot. We did go there in 2017 but will won't mind to go there once more. We did not have any difficulties to pick spots for our shoots. Japan is surely one beautiful country, where the alleys, ramen shops, and the people made me fall in love and always will. 

Here are some spots on our mind, but we did not have time to visit it all:

Yakizaki park in spring. Wearing Bramanta Wijaya's.

Ohashi Bridge, chasing the sunrise

• Kawaguchiko area ( search for Ohashi Bridge and Yakizaki Park, its my 2 favorite spots there)
• Showa Kinen Park (check the flower season first)
• Zenpukuji Park (if you're into green nature)
• Coffee shops, such as Onibus coffee, About Life, Fuglen, Little Nap, Blue Bottle (remember that not all cafes allow you to take pictures and videos for pre-wedding stuffs)
• Sangenjaya area
• Chidorigafuchi, for Sakura season.

Secondly, after we pick the spots, we choose the outfit. The photographer team usually offered the stying service too. You can discuss the outfit you want, and you can ask some suggestions from the stylist too! Few weeks before we left, the stylist sent me the mood board which helped me to choose the accessories and properties as well. 

Choosing the outfit is not easy, too! I have to say setting the budget is one important thing to do before choosing them. I got 2 dresses from my wedding dress designer, Bramanta Wijaya so I just needed to look for few dresses left. The renting service is not cheap as well (for the quality I wanted). So here are my best finding for pre-wedding outfits:

Fressia Auburn from Songerie Atelier

Wearing From Her Studio

• Her Rental Studio (@fromherstudio) is one affordable renting service based in Jakarta. Started from 199.000.
• Sovi (@soviatelier). This is my favorite for sure!
• Songerie Atelier (@songerie.atelier). They are located in Surabaya, and I cannot try it on first. But mostly the sizes fit to XS-small M.
• The bride with style (@thebridewithstyle)
• Le Felle (@le_felle)

Wearing Bramanta Wijaya's

My Sovi Ateliers' matched the sakura season

For shoots in the city, I just brought some coats, sweaters, and jeans. 

This one we had at Urth Cafe, Omotesando.

Pre-wedding is surely one pleasing part of preparing the wedding. I am blessed to experience the overseas pre-wedding and loving every minute of it. I honestly thought that we won't make it because of the extreme weather we had on the first morning, but the team made it bearable. Loving every piece of the results too!

Thank you for reading. Have an awesome wedding preparation!
@jechristy