Some W@W Questions of Interest:

1.) How Long Should One's Wedding Veil Be?

This was one of the questions that one of the brides of W@W posted for people to answer. I was pretty interested in this one especially since (a) I was at first concern about my own veil...having it on that is; (b) I saw so many choices when I was trying on gowns at trunk shows and it can get pretty confusing to be honest; and (c) I had some first hand information about them.

I answered the query with the letter below:

Dear Addaline (Mark),
I went around and got a few things that determines how long a wedding veil is: (1) the type of gown you have / style-wise (2) the mood/feel that you want to invoke with your gown, were some of the things to consider based on a recent magazine I've read. There are websites that help in the whole wedding gown decision making also. I have listed a few below for your reference.
http://www.weddingwardrobe.co.uk/HelpMenu.htm
http://www.planawedding.ca/womens_wedding_attire.html
http://www.jeanneriche.com/link.jsp?id=1535http://www.bridalfashionmall.com/choose_veil.html
I check on some veils and some can go 98 inches or about 105 inches as what I check here in HK. The latter one is the longest I was shown and offered. Though, of course, you can have it longer as long as it balances out with your gown. I think bridal designers/stores will be able to shed some light on this too. :)

2.) Sotto-Pingris Nuptial: No "WOW" dress? Reception Designer's design not worn on the wedding day?

There was so much buzz about Danica Sotto's wedding gown...about how the bride was not satisfied with one of her reception gowns. The thing is that the reception gown's designer was not mentioned anywhere so the brides assume that this was also done by the wedding gown's designer. Kind of sad that associations and pre-conclusions like this

For those who want to see Danica's gown, please see link below. It's a lovely gown compared to what the other panic brides are concern about. I love her train. :)
http://pep.ph/






Thanks to Rianne (rianne and archie / june 9, 2007 / mtq /ww) for her postings on this.
This would somehow help disspell bad rumors about the dress being not-up-to-celebrity standards or in general...just let people know that wedding gowns are the wearer's own preferrence. There are so many others that do not have those sort of things...what about Cindy Crawford's slip dress for her beach wedding? That's the simplest as they come around.
http://www.weddingsatwork.com/newsitem_070327.shtml

3.) No Dove Release or Alternatives?

A fellow W@W replied to this query as below:

"i still don't know if we'll be having this 'cuz from what i heard, some hotels don't allow this anymore, even the butterfly release which i was supposed to have :( my fiance's cousin who's the manager of century seafood told him that it would be better for us not to have the butterfly release since the old and traditional chinese really don't like it because butterflies don't live long and it won't really be a good symbolism for a wedding...sa indian wedding daw iyon...oh well, chinese-inspired with butterflies pa naman dapat ang theme namin. i wonder if i should remove even the butterflies on our wedding cake and invites? pati sa train ng gown ko, may pink and green butterflies!
~ suzzy
& howell
paco park/century park hotel ballroom
june 30, 2007"

What's up with butterflies? I was taught early on a child that for weddings, butterflies are not acceptable as a motiff...something about it is mostly believed to be souls of the dead.

"...It is possible also that some weird Japanese beliefs about butterflies are of Chinese derivation; but these beliefs might be older than China herself. The most interesting one, I think, is that the soul of a living person may wander about in the form of a butterfly. Some pretty fancies have been evolved out of this belief,--such as the notion that if a butterfly enters your guest-room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. That a butterfly may be the spirit of somebody is not a reason for being afraid of it.

Nevertheless there are times when even butterflies can inspire fear by appearing in prodigious numbers; and Japanese history records such an event. When Taira-no-Masakado was secretly preparing for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so vast a swarm of butterflies that the people were frightened,--thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil... Perhaps those butterflies were supposed to be the spirits of the thousands doomed to perish in battle, and agitated on the eve of war by some mysterious premonition of death.

However, in Japanese belief, a butterfly may be the soul of a dead person as well as of a living person. Indeed it is a custom of souls to take butterfly-shape in order to announce the fact of their final departure from the body; and for this reason any butterfly which enters a house ought to be kindly treated..."

The article also included butterflies in weddings...which is totally tangent to the above. Note that this came totally from the same article. Though as usual, this is only one side of the story because it goes on further on butterflies in weddings -

"...those big paper butterflies (o-cho and me-cho) which figure at weddings must not be thought of as having any ghostly signification. As emblems they only express the joy of living union, and the hope that the newly married couple may pass through life together as a pair of butterflies flit lightly through some pleasant garden,--now hovering upward, now downward, but never widely separating..."

See link for further details or for the whole article:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kwaidan/kwai19.htm
I was able to google a few more findings on this topic, below is another one of those conflicting articles that goes tangents to the old traditions or teachings that was ingrained to Chinese kids like me to take to heart.

Butterfly: The Chinese animal symbol Butterfly represents love, specifically young love. Happily flitting from flower to flower – it signifies a happy social life for the young and young- at-heart. Chinese legend has it that the Butterfly symbolizes an undying bond between lovers. All romantics-at-heart would do well to place an image of a Butterfly in their home. A perfect gift for a new couple is this design embroidered on towels for the couple's home.
Representative of the Yang energy, this symbol can energize you or a loved one –
particularly when embroidered on clothing – it reminds us of the energy of love.

I guess, at the end of the day, Chinese would rather not have it mis-read in general so it's not very common to have butterfly themes for Chinese weddings.