Wedding + Food Blog

As much as I love food, wedding planning is what takes most of my time these days. Negotiating is something I am absolutely horrible at but I've learnt a lot the last few weeks. Thanks to tips from a former bride, we managed to get the location we wanted but thought we could not afford. I hadn't bothered to bargain because the difference was HUGE- we are talking like RM60 000 worth of venue hire charges which now has reduced to just a few thousand (like really little, not even 3k!) so ladies, don't forget to bargain! Unfortunately, I didn't get the prices I wanted for the rest (ie. same as her) but I just didn't feel like bouncing emails back and forth just for a few hundred here and there. Plus, I think she had more to bargain with- my wedding is about 15% smaller so that makes it fair, right? :-)

Weddings in Malaysia are cut throat. You book your venue a year in advance (more if it's a popular date), your make-up artist, your photographer, florist, band (if any) immediately after and you pay through your nose- much more than I would pay in The Netherlands. Heck, an unknown make-up artist in KL actually dared to quote me RM3000+ flight+ 2 nights accomodation+ RM600 outstation fee. Er.. hello?! RM4200 (1000 euro) for 4 hours worth of work (incl. waiting) is just mad. If I'd known make-up artists could make that much, I would've gone to some kind of beauty school instead of going to uni. The famous one actually gave me a very reasonable quote- much better than the newbies and semi-famous. Weird, right...

Back to food: not much happening on this front although I will be entertaining a small after-dinner party tomorrow. Must try to remember to take photos. Haven't actually made pastry cream since 2006 or so, so I desperately hope my tart will not have to be binned.