More cooking and a gift honeymoon!

Ben: Goodwood is booked! Our venue is finally set and we are now free to move into the next stages of planning. There’s still a lot to do: guest lists need finalisation, entertainment needs arranging, decorations need to be sorted out, and food and drink need sorting (Miki: Ben I think there’re some problems with your priority). On top of all that there will inevitably be a million other details that we still need to get our teeth into; wedding planning isn’t easy (take it easy, there’s still another one waiting for us).

the contract and the envelope

    In other news we were visited on Monday by my Godfather, Father Howard James.

Ben with his Godfather Howard and Godmother Gina

24 years later~

    Miki put a great deal of effort into welcoming him with a fantastic Chinese meal of four different dishes, I helped a bit too (You helped loads!).



the ingredients

preserving the chicken and beef

Dinner Time!

    After dinner Howard told us about his planned wedding gift to us: 5 days in Rome with a guided tour of the Vatican! We are still in shock about this, it is a better honeymoon than I dared to dream of (originally we had planned to put off honeymooning until later on when our finances were better balanced). )Ö(

Rome and Vatican see you at New Year!

    I won’t write about the details of the trip because this blog is not for gloating and a honeymoon is something between a bride and groom, not for sharing with the whole world!

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♥The Flashback Corner♥

I’ve decided from this blog on I’m going to write a little something of our stories: i.e. how we met; how we started going out etc. Let’s start with my first impression of Ben today!

    Ben and I both studied at University of Westminster. His major was Chinese and mine was English. He had a 4-year programme with 1 year in China and I had a 3-year programme. The first time that I saw him (which he didn’t notice) was in the dining hall at uni. He was doing his homework (well I think, at least he was writing/drawing something with a pen) and I was walking by with a friend. Guess how I noticed this boy? Yeah of course because of his hair and the first movement I saw him doing was flipping back his hair. So my first impression of him is gay (please excuse my lack of knowledge of the distinction between hetro- and homosexual people).

Ben has inherited his mother’s beauty

Happy metal birthday, Ben!

It was Ben’s birthday on Tuesday. My fiancé turned 24! Haha, if I stop growing now he can catch up with me in a year… But wonderful things like that hardly ever happen so we need to be practical. = =|||

    Speaking of a birthday celebration, it is usually composed of 3 elements: a present, a card and a cake. Now let me show you step by step how I failed in each category. T_T

• Failed Element 1: Present

       This was the first birthday that I got to celebrate with Ben of minimal physical distance: 2 years ago he was in France and last year he was in China. Last year I calligraphically handwrote him a birthday love letter, sealed in a well-designed envelope and posted it to him, but it didn’t arrive at all…

    This year, with all the wedding planning going on and the fact that being with him nearly 24/7, I didn’t get much chance to “organise” a nice present for him. Instead, I went to seek help from our best friend Amazon, and bought him the luxurious “Philips Aquatouch AT890 Wet and Dry Rechargeable Electric Shaver with Pop Up Trimmer”! Ben’s always been quite lazy at shaving and often cuts himself when doing it, so I thought it’d be a good idea to get him an electric shaver.

    I forgot to take a picture of the wrapped box, instead this is a brief glance of the wrapping paper in the rubbish…

• Failed Element 2: Card

       There are very few “happy birthday my handsome fiancé” cards in the world and being with Ben all the time when going out to shopping malls doesn’t help with choosing those cards either. So this year I decided to DIY the card. I’ve been carefully studying Ben’s baby albums and old family photos of the Carters recently and came up with the idea of gathering together 24 pictures of him to make the cover of the card. The design in my mind was like 1 of those baby albums:

    And due to my lack of talent, I realised that design into an evolution chart… T_T

• Failed Element 3: Cake

       This was my first time baking a cake and here is the recipe I found and the following is the result I was hoping to achieve…

    But this was what really happened (and the inside wasn’t even done): T_T

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    The climax of Ben’s birthday celebration happened in the evening at the Star Inn in Guildford.

    His friends Bloodshot Dawn (YouTube) and 3 other metal bands had a gig that night. It was my first gig and I have to say I was very worried before going there, but Bloodshot Dawn completely blew me away! They even did a metal version of “Happy Birthday” for Ben! So touching! Such a shame I didn’t get a chance to record it… Kung-Fu and metal music are 2 large parts of Ben’s life, and being involved in both makes me feel closer to him than ever. ^ ^

Bloodshot Dawn - Vision *Official Music Video*

    Oh, by the way the guitarist, Mike Dawes, I mentioned in my last blog (who’s going to play at the wedding) released his new single also on the 19th!

Mike Dawes - Somebody That I Used To Know (Gotye) - Solo Guitar

Goodwood House it is!

Breaking news: after half a month of searching, visiting and comparing, we have finally decided the reception venue for our wedding! Here it is: Goodwood House.

    Ben: on Saturday we finally found a venue that meets our strict expectations: Goodwood House. Like others we have seen before it is a grand and imposing stately home with a long history, it is also by far the grandest of all the places we have visited. The building’s exterior is not as beautiful as Rhinefield but as soon as you are inside it is glorious and huge and had us drooling everywhere. Just right for a winter wedding. (Miki: personally I still prefer Rhinefield in my heart because its exterior is pretty much unbeatable and Brockenhurst is such a picturesque town. Goodwood is too grand for us 2 humble people. You all know Ben & I so far are not the material for a Lord or Lordess… But we need to bear in mind that the wedding is going to take place in winter, so whatever the exterior of Rhinefield can offer now is likely to be non-applicable in December. In that case, Goodwood is the place we’re going for. The wedding is going to take place in the church, and that should be the most important place for that day. After that we just want to offer a good place for our family and friends to relax and be entertained, and we believe that Goodwood can do a better job than Rhinefield. After letting my parents see the pictures and their tongue-dragging price we will make some further moves.)

the Egyptian Dining Room



)Ö(



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    On top of this, because we won’t be in the country from August (we’re leaving for China on 11th August), we feel that finding a supportive and reliable team will be essential to preparing a joyful day for everyone. Goodwood House is often used as a wedding venue so the team is very experienced and will provide comprehensive, five-star service. When we visited we were greeted at the door by a planner and house staff and were then given a tour and detailed explanation of a basic plan, we were even given champagne (that was the first time I saw a genuinely living walking 3D butler)! This level of service lets us relax and makes us feel like all the guests will be comfortable and satisfied.

    In conclusion we both strongly feel that this is a great venue and look forward to the reception on December 28th!

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Some catch-up: on Wednesday Ali made us taco! It was the first time I had tacos and they were delicious! Thank you Ali!

    Our Thursday chicken noodle fiasco:

    On Friday we went to have a catch-up with Ben’s friends at the pub, among them are our bestman Doug, and Mike Dawes (YouTube), the first musician we booked for our wedding! Thank you Mike!

Boogie Shred - Percussive Acoustic Guitar - Mike Dawes

    News from my bridesmaid: my lovely bridesmaid Miss Isabella Collett has designed her dress and posted it to me! Such a dedicated bridesmaid! I received it a week ago but decided to keep it a secret but then thought why not let everyone appreciate her talent and hard work she’s done for me and the wedding?! It’s a wonderful design Isabella, and I can see you already have an excellent understanding of a Cheongsam. But I think some winter elements will make it even prettier and Auntie Nicola suggested a mandarin collar with a ballerina bottom. How does that sound to you? ;P



Stansted’s disappointment and Goodwood House in waiting

Sorry for the delay guys!

    Ben: 2 days ago we paid a visit to Stansted Park, a charming and grand estate that very much reflected the ‘Englishness’ we want to demonstrate in our wedding.

    Initially we were very impressed and excited to get in and have a look around (particularly because the rain was so torrential). On getting inside the receptionist was faintly puzzled to see us, she called the lady in charge of weddings with an air of suspicion while we waited.

    Online and through phone conversations we had seen that the venue could hold the 110 guests we hope to invite, so we were somewhat surprised to find that the house itself is capable of seating 50. More than that may be seated in the servant’s quarters in the basement or in a marquee provided by us. However majestic and beautiful the upstairs would be our wedding party would only be able to enjoy it for a short time before being shepherded underground and the doors being locked. Not great, really.

a pretty but useless room for 50+ guests

    After being shown around the wedding dungeon we were given a few pamphlets and a contract to sign (once the date for the wedding, which we had already confirmed over the phone, was deemed available), we were then summarily shown the door. No tea or further comment, no ‘sit down and have a think about it’, just ‘that’s your lot, see you at the wedding! Parked over there are you? Better be on your way.’ Thanks Stansted Park for the understanding you showed regarding our busy schedules, we probably won’t be back.


a short video taken at Stansted

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    On Saturday we’re going to visit Goodwood House (a place Nicola’s friend Carolyn recommended), and that is possibly the last venue we’re gonna see. Seeing too many places will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money and give us tough choices to make.  So far Rhinefield still tops our list, but Goodwood might be the strongest competitor ever, judging by its stunning pictures and breath-taking cost (£6,000 just to hire the venue! Even that is just half the summer price).

    However, they spelt my name wrong on the welcoming pack which has tremendously put me off (Ben has spelt out for them over the phone).

4 action-packed days!

The last 4 days have been a bit hectic but we made different achievements every day. First of all, we visited another venue (Loseley Park) on Friday and it was the first venue we visited in the rain. It was good, because obviously we shouldn’t put our hopes high for the weather on our wedding day. I’m actually secretly (now openly) wishing for a white Christmas, after seeing the shots of Rhinefield Park in the snow. And I’m a bit camera-shy anyway, so I can blend in well with the background.

    Ok, um Loseley Park. It is a really nice place, although the house looks a bit haunted in my shot (and in our eyes too because of the weather):

    But there is a but. They won’t allow us to have the reception IN the house (that is just for the welcoming drink and fancy pictures with several-hundred-year-old sofas and cushions and portraits of its still residing masters and mistresses); instead, we’ll have to walk over a lawn to a newly-built barn to have the wedding breakfast and evening entertainment. And they don’t seem to welcome children which is a bit… Hmm… I think the most uncomfortable thing about it is it’s still a stately home, so the lords and lordesses (or whatever you call them) and their family are still living there. It’ll be like us breaking into their family to have a wedding reception. Although it was very nice for them to agree with us using it in the Christmas period, in which case Downton Abbey turned us down… T_T

the lawn

a trousers-shaped door in the garden

a small fountain


a short video taken at Loseley 

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    On Saturday we went to a translation seminar at our university and I think it could be the turning point of my career life. I seem to have got a first in my degree according to all the marks I received so far:

Just in case they might change their mind, I’m taking a screenshot here:
the best 105 credits (in red): (70+67+74+66x2+78+71)/7 ≈ 70.3 = a first!

    So I need to be a bit more ambitious than wanting to be a copy-girl at some language centre. I’m seriously considering being a translator now (while Ben is going to be an English teacher to start with). I’ve looked at courses and qualifications I need to attend and get and am ready to take that route. Ben will join me in a couple of years maybe, when his Chinese level gets up to his standard.

    After the seminar Ben and I went to my ex-landlady’s house to have dinner. She took care of me for 3 years and is a good friend of my grandmother’s. She and her husband are going to Australia to visit their daughter’s family soon so I won’t be able to see them again until the wedding (we’re inviting her and her husband).

I used to live in South Croydon

    It was also Ben’s friend, Mihails’ birthday on Saturday! I’m so glad we made it to his place before midnight with card and present and everything. Happy birthday Mihails! Sorry I dosed off at your place, the music was very soothing. ^^

    And on Sunday we went for a belated birthday dinner for Marcus’ 14th birthday at TGI Friday’s. It was my first time there and we had a lovely time. I think this will make a great fascinator for Marcus to wear at the wedding~

    So much for today. I’ll write about Monday’s adventure tomorrow which is our surprised visit to Stansted and another grand place to see.

Cooking day with updates

It’s Thursday again, the day that Ben and I cook for the family! Since I did most of the cooking last week, Ben was the Master Chef today, look at him go!

    Today we made bacon:

    And spaghetti with broccoli (2 eggs will come in later):

    A short video of our Master Chef Ben cooking:

Miki: say something Chinese.
Ben: I’m cooking! Does everyone like bacon? Is it called bacon?

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    On Tuesday we held a barbecue at Forest Glen, and the Potter seniors, the Potters and the Colletts all came and we had a lovely time. Breaking news: Miss Isabella Collett has officially agreed to be my bridesmaid! Thank you Isabella! I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job! James/Suzanne/Megan/Lucie/Thomas it’ll be great if you can send me some pictures/videos of that exciting moment: zhuojun_zhang@hotmail.com.

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    Tomorrow we’re going to view Loseley Park in Guildford and we also had Stansted Park booked for Monday morning. Will be back with more info and pics then!

Potential venue booked with many pictures

Ben wrote an entry in Chinese today, and I’m very honoured to translate it for you.
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    Hello everybody!

    Today’s entry was written by Ben, please excuse any mistakes there may be.

    Yesterday we viewed another wedding venue, Rhinefield House Hotel. This place is quite far from home and it took us an hour and a half by train, so it isn’t as convenient as Old Thorns or Elvetham. But we still think it’s worth considering.

    Picture time!

a happy arrival into Brockenhurst

our first impression

second impression

the trees

the fountain

the bridge

main building continued

another angle

WOW

the ground

the view

Ben at the blue gate, with his face enlarged ^^

ha-ha?

me

Ben

At last, not on Southwest Trains anymore~

the reception room

from above

lovely~

the gallery

the ceiling

the fireplace

The King’s Room

Brockenhurst Catholic Church

a short video taken at Rhinefield, watch out for 00:16

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    Looking at the pictures Miki took, the readers should be able to imagine the charming magnificence of Rhinefield. We fell in love with it at the first glance. I believe a wedding here will be very successful and go forward with great strength and vigour (Ben used a very peculiar adjective here…).

    Because we both really like the place, we got very excited knowing that they will be available on 27th December. We’re seriously considering it now, it looks highly hopeful. We’ve got another place to visit on Friday, Loseley Park in Guildford. Although we already found an amazing place, our vision has grown wider and we think we’re gonna find an even better place. The pictures of Losely Park make Miki drip saliva (?!) so we’re looking forward to seeing it with our own eyes.

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    Apart from the wedding, we are busy with a lot of other things too. We need to look for jobs, get a TEFL and say proper good-byes to family and friends in England. Oh, yeah! It was my littlest brother’s birthday yesterday! He’s already 14! Growing fast that boy! He’s starting to learn Chinese in September, so if he wants to read Miki’s Chinese blog I’ll leave a message for him now: 马刻死祝你生日快乐、身体健康、学习进步、天天开心！Ok, so much for today. Please excuse for the weird flavour of this entry!

    Bye!