Wednesday 29 February 2012

Natural Beauty

 Here's a take on natural beauty.
You dont work it too hard. 
All it needs is a bit of grooming.
It's meant to be appreciated as it is.



Pics courtesy of Style Me Pretty
The only accessories here were the perfect shades of satin, the gorgeous blooms, the beautiful lavender garden, and the beautiful smiles

Monday 13 February 2012

Of props and such....

Mariah and I are scratching our heads now, thinking about the props and inventory we have to start collecting and housing for our Mariah & Sham Couture Event Styling. The idea of renting a warehouse is tempting but that is totally out of our budget right now. Lucky for us, we have great contacts all around, and they've been in this business long enough to have collected gorgeous gorgeous props of their own for us to borrow from.

For our recent maiden event styling project, we rented a beautiful chesterfield sofa from Najihah of The Wedding Chateau. It was a perfect complementary piece for our Monte Carlo Photography Isle! Love it! We were close to getting one ourselves, but stopped short at the idea of having to stash a gorgeous seat away after an event. (Though I'm pretty sure most of our friends wont mind having us park the chesterfield at their homes). So anyway, imagine our ecstasy when we managed to rent one from her. I just have to commend TWC for their unrelenting resourcefulness. On this note, I'm also totally sure they were the first to have brought in the Chiavari Chairs and induced it into the local wedding scene years ago.

And then we have glasswares, silverwares, and yards and yards of ribbon to worry about, among all the other bulkier props like french doors, roman columns, floral flutes and whatever nots, now already seeking refuge in our filled-to-the-brim store and backyard.

I'm still figuring where to keep our boxes, canopies and stationeries by the way. So please, new would-be entrepeneurs....consider starting up props rental businesses, and let us get our hands on them, delicious details. We still love collecting our own props....that's part of the fun, actually....but it doesnt hurt to have more variety ;)


Sunday 12 February 2012

The Essence of Beauty

 Caution.
An occassional "deep" rambling ahead :)

We've been asked why it took us so long to delve into the event decorating busines eversince we started Mariah & Sham few years ago. We've turned down fat offers for home makeovers, and we've passed on too many requests for service and product quotations too. Close friends think we are crazy for doing that. After all, who wouldn't want business and profit, especially when it's sought?

Well, yes businesses need to profit to sustain and evolve. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a business now would it? But we believe the heart of a good business lies in the love, fervour, sincerity and belief in the product or service one is delivering.

We got into this biz out of our love and passion for beauty. And the essence of beauty, mum and dad taught us, should come from deep within, only emanating into physical existence, after one has learned its value as being honest and unforced.

Outward beauty without inner kindness and humility is fakeness. Inner beauty without outward discipline is laziness. And yet, for all the consciousness one has to partake in living beautifully, it shouldnt be forced and pursued without regard for objectivity and affordability.
Sis and I are not artists or designers by training. Sis being a counsellor, and myself being a pharmacist, we were trained in psychology and medicinal science respectively, with a next-to-zilch training in anything 'arty' for that matter. We pursued those careers, despite having in-born artistic inclinations, because we believe by helping others, we will learn to appreciate beauty in its true essence, and should we delve into an artistic business like Mariah & Sham someday, we will remain grounded with what's important and truly beautiful in life, instead of just producing beautiful things and materials, devoid of purposes and meanings. Hopefully, with that realization, we will produce works which are beautiful and honest not just in appearance, but in principle as well. This is something an official training or apprenticeship cannot offer. That is not to say that they are not necessary either. We acknowledge the importance of acquiring those skills, and we're learning more definitely, but at least we know we must keep to the true essence of beauty to produce products like such.

Our works should evoke warmth and kindness....not superficial beauty and snobbish extravagance. They should look and feel good not just in photos. They should taste as nice as they look. They should be of honest and uncompromised quality. They should be delicately thought of and not rushed through. They should look natural and unforced. They shouldn't just be 'placed' without regard for purpose and balance. They should elicit not just visual, but emotional harmony too. They should not just be themed, but conceptualized. They should be given attention to details. It's an all-or-nothing rule for us....we either do it well inside and out, or not do it at all.

Honestly speaking, this has been a tall order for us. Keeping up with our own expectations have cost us many potential clients. Because we just refuse to commit unless we know we can give the best, 
and unless we know for sure, our clients can appreciate the best. We've turned down projects which entail reproducing or replicating somebody else's design, or those which entail producing something utterly substandard in appearance, probably only looking good in photos, just to fit a fixed budget.
Because we believe such works, even if they can generate faster income for us, do not sit well with our conscience and style.

Our event decorating service is hence a long time coming. Because we do not want it to be just that - an event decorating service. We're doing it couture style. It's a highly exclusive and personaslised couture styling service we're offering for serious Mariah & Sham-seeking customers. We're calling it Mariah & Sham Couture Event Styling and we're only committing a few slots every year as sis and I are still very much involved in and contributing to our professions. We're still biting only what we can chew, but we're biting a little bit more variety now... ;)

Thursday 9 February 2012

Our Maiden Venue Decor

We've been steering away from major venue-decor projects for the longest time.
Everytime we had a request for one, we'd cite unreadiness as defence.
But we've finally decided to take the plunge!
Not exactly the perfect time to start something new,
what with sis handling a first trimester pregnancy
and myself sitting for my oncology exams....
but we had a great team behind us making it all possible.

We did a venue decor for a solemnization ceremony, and sis was the project manager. 
I remember kissing and hugging her for her diligent and marvellous job.
Her coordination was exceptionally flawless, 
and our project turned out beautiful, our inexperiences notwithstanding.

 In this maiden project, we were tasked with transforming the SIA Sports Club into a garden -
suitable for Zayed's and Azean's solemnization ceremony.
They wanted a natural ambience that wasn't overly done, yet classy and substantial.
It was pretty challenging cos the infrastructure there was not as congruent to the theme
as Burkill Hall or Arts House or Hort Park would have been.
Transforming the place would require us to do more than just arranging flowers.
But we took up the challenge still....
because we could totally understand and respect their resolve
in having their guests attend their solemnization ceremony at a convenient location.


So we dreamed big on this idea of bringing Monte Carlo into the picture.
It was a monumental task, starting everything from scratch...
but we certainly hope we've delivered what we promised.

This picture didnt do much justice to our Monte Carlo paradise, I guess.
I can still remember stepping into this cool, romantic dimly lit garden,
greeted by lush greeneries, fresh flowers, the serene sound of trickling water and soft music.


The dreamy reception tables against our monte carlo backdrop, for their guests to enjoy...

Introducing another new concept by Mariah & Sham.
A solemnization isle for our groom to take his marriage vow at.

   
The three-dimensional backdrop we designed and created from scratch,
hopefully different from the conventional cloth-draped pelamin.

 A vanity corner the bride wanted us to create at the corner of the multi-purpose room...

A natural bouquet to add that subtle touch of sweetness to our already beautiful bride.






And yes, here's the lovely couple....
Zayed & Azean.
May they be blessed with a beautiful life together forever.
Photo copyright: Simplifai studios media design and photography
Our sincere and heartfelt thanks to our wonderful crew!!!
Mum, our chief seamstress who sewed everything from
table cloths to satin floral cones to our famed canopy.
Hazrin, our chief engineer and artisan who single-handedly made our french door,
and handled the cabling works and logistics.
Fadly, our saving grace who financed some of our expenses,
and our artisan cum muscle man handling the logistics.
Hamzah and Sirajuddin, our reliable and experienced staging artists and muscle men.
Dad, our on-site surveyor.
Mint, our saviour helping us out with the bunga rampai.
Cik Wati, our helpful aunt who helped cook for us and babysit our kids.
 Cik Yati, sis's mother-in-law who helped babysit her kids at the drop of a pin.
 Abang Naz and sister Sha, our main financier and advisor respectively.
And of course, our kids, our source of joy, comfort and distraction :)
You guys rock!!!