Recommended books for your relationship

My husband and I have recently passed the one year mark of our marriage (woohoo!). I know it’s just the start of a life long commitment but I had always heard that the first year was the toughest. Thankfully we made it through without any major hiccups and it’s been such a blessing having my husband around everyday (and not just for getting rid of insects…)

wedding photos | micheleng.com We’ve definitely had our share of disagreements – especially with the baby’s arrival – but a few books we read before our engagement and wedding really helped adjust our perspectives to make our first year of adjustments much easier.

I’ve been sharing this list with a lot of friends and thought I’d post it here in case anyone else finds it useful. These aren’t in any order of preference as we found each book helpful in its own way…. 

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Stand-in engagement rings

It’s been a pretty hectic month and I apologize for being so absent! Trying to launch a camera handbag business, planning a wedding, finding a new home (and now learning about renovation) has certainly made life a little… different, for lack of a better word.

But one thing that has been following me around on occasion is my stand-in engagement ring. What’s that again?  There’s probably a better term for it but that’s what I’ve been calling it for now :)

This is the one I decided on from LulisPlace on Etsy:

LulisPlace knot engagement ring | micheleng.com

I love how it’s a different type of knot in a simple but classic type of way. It was the only one I couldn’t stop thinking about after searching through countless product pages!

Lulu, the shop owner, was also really patient and prompt in answering my questions about international ring sizes, nickel allergies and having it shipped to Singapore. It even came with a polishing cloth. A month of bashing it about and it’s still perfect. I highly recommend her and her shop! :)

Here’s the full story of how it came about:

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Make potpourri from flowers

Have you ever gotten flowers from a loved one but aren’t too sure what to do with them after? (Perfect for valentines day or any other special occasion…)

This time, I was determined to do something more with the flowers that Dan proposed with (find out more here). I’m not a fan of dried flowers lying around the room collecting dust, but I’m a huge fan of rooms smelling nice. So what better than to make potpourri! :)

I decided to use the rose petals only instead of the eustomas as they dry better and my fave potpourri scent is rose. I tried searching for directions but most required a lot more work and items I didn’t have, so here goes a simpler version that I concocted:

roses3a

Here’s how:

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The proposal

Hello everyone!

Tiny disclaimer: this post is more to do with my personal life and not a fashion/ beauty/ craft post (although I can assure you there will be plenty to come in preparation for the wedding!)… In short, we’re engaged!

As we won’t be setting up a completely separate wedding site, we’ve decided to share it here for our friends and family who have been asking for more details.

So if you are interested, click here for the full story of how my best friend, a very amazing man, asked me to spend the rest of my life with him :)

the proposal 1

candle hearts

For everyone else, hang on tight – I’m quite excited to do more DIY wedding tutorials to share with you!