Our Wedding Day 05.01.13

We finally collected our photos from Loud! Productions almost two months after our wedding day on 5 Jan 2013. They have already informed us in advance that they might need about two months to edit the photos due to peak period though hah. A total of 513 photos were given to us – 237 photos from day (gatecrash + tea ceremony + outdoor photoshoot) and 276 photos from night (solemnisation + wedding banquet). Out of all these, we selected about 400 photos to be printed and put into two albums for keepsake.

Our wedding photos by Loud! Productions

Printing and slotting into two albums

Overall, we were pretty pleased with the photos. However, it would be better if there were more artistic shots taken from different angles rather that in-your-face shots hah.

It has been almost three months since our wedding day! Recalling that day, could still remember that I was too excited (with some jittery) the night before to sleep much. Thoughts that kept running through my mind – Tomorrow will be the most important day of my life! How my life will be changed after tomorrow? Will the weather be good tomorrow? Will everything go as planned or will there be unexpected issues cropping up?

Anyway, I woke up early in the morning and my xiongdis also arrived promptly at my house. We set off to dear’s house at 7.30pm as planned and everything started off smoothly. Meanwhile, the bride’s house was also buzzing with activities – bride doing make-up and jiemeis busy preparing the stuff for gatecrashing.

Buzz at the bride’s house in the morning

As expected, I was perspiring throughout the gatecrash with my low tolerance of heat hah. Thanks to the kind jie meis, gatecrashing games were pretty mild and we all had fun. We also managed to keep to our schedule and departed from dear’s house to my house at 9am.

Gatecrashing

Gatecrashing and fetching the bride

My house at that time was filled with many relatives and the tea ceremony began. After which, we also took some family photos before dear changed into her chinese kua to return to her house. Another round of tea ceremony happened at her house and we had some nice catered lunch there as well.

Family portraits

Tea ceremonies

The morning part was almost over and it was time for some outdoor photoshoot with the xiongdis and jiemeis at Portsdown Road area. The weather was hot and it was not easy for the ladies to get to the lush greens for the shoot hah. We spent slightly more than 30 minutes there before calling it a day. Everyone went home to get some rest, while we got ready to head to the hotel for check-in.

Outdoor photoshoot at Portsdown Road area

Outdoor photoshoot at Portsdown Road area

My favourite picture from the photoshoot!

Arriving at the hotel at 2plus pm after collecting our mini cupcakes, we checked into our gorgeous bridal suite and had shower and a short rest, before getting busy again hah. Dear started her make-up at 3plus pm while I prepared some of the stuff to be used later during the solemnisation and cocktail reception. Of course, I also helped myself with some of the food the hotel has prepared for us hah.

Xiongdis and jiemeis arrived at the hotel by 4plus pm and started to help out with the decorations for solemnisation and cocktail reception. Other tasks like testing the audio/video and briefing by the hotel banquet manager etc were also carried out concurrently. Time seemed to pass quickly and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our solemnisation which was starting at 6pm sharp!

We were really thankful for the good weather, and hence did not need to activate our contingency plan of having our solemnisation in a function room instead of the poolside pavilion hah. Our solemnisation by Mr Soon Min Yam went smoothly, except for the microphones which were not functioning properly at some point of times. By 6.30pm, we were officially husband and wife, witnessed by our family and many good friends who took the time to be present.

Our solemnisation

Our solemnisation

After some photo-taking with the guests at the poolside pavilion, we headed back to our bridal suite to get ready for the banquet. While dear was doing her final preparation, I was out at the cocktail reception area to mingle with the guests.

Cocktail reception

The time finally came for our first march-in! It was rather emotional for me, to be walking down the aisle with my love one, in front of all our family and friends. Though it was just a short 1-2 minutes march, I was somehow overwhelmed with emotions, especially with our march-in song “A Moment Like This” playing in the background hah.

Wedding banquet

The rest of the banquet proceeded with the customary cake-cutting, 2nd march-in, champagne popping (thanks to my sister who bought for us a huge magnum bottle all the way from France hah) and the yum-seng! The most memorable part of the wedding banquet for me would be the time I was making my speech. I was really nervous about that, to be speaking in front of more than 400 people in the ballroom. It was a scary thought for me to have everyone putting down the things they were doing to listen to me speak hah. I was glad despite this jittery, I still managed to deliver the scripted speech without any hiccups heh.

Yum seng!

Finally, the banquet was coming to an end soon and it was time to make the rounds to take table shots with all the guests. It was really tiring to go around all 43 tables and our smiles became kind of unnatural hah. And expectedly, we had some friends toasting us with weird concoctions but it was all in the name of fun! And how to forget my army buddies who made me wear a red beret before toasting me with drinks hah.

Toasting and goodbye

The whole day finally ended after we bade goodbye to our last guest. We were totally exhausted from the whole day of activities. The feeling was surreal. After a year of planning for this big day, it has really come to an end. However, a new chapter began for us as newly-weds!

A BIG thank you to our families for all the help in planning our wedding, to our xiongdis and jiemeis who were working tirelessly to ensure everything was running smoothly, to our emcees for bringing life to the banquet, to all our guests who took time to share in our wedding joy, and to everyone for their blessings and gifts. 5 January 2013 will be a memorable day for us, thanks to each and every one of you. Of course, to my wife, thanks for making my life complete.

 

Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part Three

It was already 4plus 5pm by the time we got back to our villa after the cycling tour. But after a short rest, it was time to venture out again hah. We wanted to go to Spa Bali in Seminyak area (888 Jalan Dyanapura) but when we reached there, we couldnt get a slot. Hence, we made an appointment for 9pm instead and headed to Potato Head to take a look.

Potato Head

Potato Head is a happening beach club and I quite like its design and decor!

A pretty beach club with great vibe, decor and view!

The place was very crowded and all the prime seats were taken already hah. We managed to only get a bar counter seat and ordered a mojito. Since it is a touristy place like Ku De Ta, the prices are on the high side (in Bali standards) as well. But for the ambience and sea view and breeze, it is quite worth a visit.

Dinner was at Naughty Nuri’s Warung (Jalan Batubelig, 41) – famed for its BBQ pork ribs. We read about this place from a number of different sources and all have rave reviews for their ribs. The atmosphere there was fun and casual and we were seated in the outdoor area on a long table, sharing with some angmoh strangers.

Naughty Nuri’s Warung – the place for ribs

Of course, we ordered the famous pork ribs, and we also tried its grilled chicken (which dear likes alot hah), potato wedges and nachos. Food was inexpensive, and generally good. However, I thought the ribs were alittle overhyped and could be more tender hah. Anyway, it was a satisfying dinner! Oh, and we were quite tickled by the martini shaking “performance” by staff to customers who order their martinis hah. Pretty entertaining!

Glorious food

Post dinner activity was 2-hour spa at Spa Bali.

Relaxing at Spa Bali

I had body massage and scrub, while dear chose foot massage as well as manicure and pedicure. Prices were not too cheap but the ambience was quite good. Treatments were not bad as well, easing the aches from the cycling earlier in the day hah.

Finally it was the last day of our short mini honeymoon. After our last in-villa breakfast, we checked out and got the driver to drive us to another spa – De Nyuh Spa, which is located at Grandma’s hotel (funny hotel name I know hah) in Seminyak area.

Last in-villa breakfast at Oazia

Prices were comparably cheaper here and each of us took a 2-hour package of body massage, scrub and facial. It cost less than $30 for each person for this indulgence! We liked our treatments there definitely, very value for money.

Value-for-money spa at De Nyuh Spa

After the relaxing spa, it was time for some lunch before we headed to the airport. Lunch was at Sardine (Jalan Petitenget 21, Kerobokan), another place with good reviews. This restaurant has a very nice view of lush padi fields and looks especially pretty when the wind blows.

Lunch at Sardine restaurant

However, the food was quite disappointing or maybe it was just not to our taste. It was quite expensive as well.

This concluded our 4 days 3 nights of Bali trip! It was a great start of our lives as husband and wife. Now we are back to reality and back to work. We are also adjusting well to our new journey together. Next highlight to look forward to – Europe honeymoon in May 2013!

 

Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part Two

On the second third day of our Bali, we signed up for a cycling tour in Ubud with Bali Eco Cycling. The tour cost RP 360,000 (about $46) per person. We were picked up at our villa early in the morning and we started with a breakfast – with awesome view of an active volcano, Mt Batur, and its crater lake. We also met the other members of the cycling tour and there were 7 of us in the group.

Breakfast with a view

After the breakfast (which was nothing great), we were brought to a coffee plantation for a visit. At the place, we were also introduced to the famed luwak coffee, although I dont know if that is the authentic one hah.

Coffee plantation visit

Finally it was time for the highlight – cycling! We chose our bikes and helmets, and are ready to go!

Choosing our bikes and helmets

Before signing up for this tour, dear was a little apprehensive as she thought it might be too tiring. But my sis told us it is down-slope cycling and even grandmas can do it hah. Indeed, the whole 2-hour or so cycling was mostly down-slope and all we had to do was to hold on to our brakes!

We stopped by a typical Balinese house as part of the tour. It gave us a rare opportunity to look outside the touristy Bali which most tourists are familiar with, and have a peek at how a typical Balinese family lives. Though very backwards, but could sense their contentment and happiness, something hard to find in city living!

A peek into a typical Balinese house

We also had a stop among the padi fields and our guide shared more knowledge about Bali with us, and also shared his life stories too.

Lush padi fields!

Along the way, we also cycled past many villagers and the kids are ever energetic and welcoming, kept waving their hands and saying “Hello!” to us hah. The tour ended with a yummy Balinese lunch and we were driven back to our villa.

Yummy lunch to end the tour

It was overall a great experience and we enjoyed the tour. I would recommend this tour, to see another side of Bali less seen by tourists!

To be continued.

 

Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part One

Two days after our wedding, we went on our mini honeymoon to Bali! It was just a short 4 days 3 nights getaway, before our proper honeymoon to Europe this coming May hah. Our Airasia flight on 7 Jan 2013 was at noon and we arrived in Bali at about 3plus pm. Our driver from Oazia Spa Villas was already waiting for us outside the airport, holding a signboard with my name hah.

Our friendly driver

The journey to the villa was more than an hour and it was drizzling when we reached. We were being led to Villa Orchid, its one-bedroom villa, and the friendly staff showed us around the spacious compound where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. It was nice, except for the bugs and mosquitoes in the outdoor area. But this is expected, and is part and parcel of nature.

Villa Orchid, our home for 3 nights in Bali

After resting a while, we met up with my sis and her boyfriend for dinner since they were holidaying in Bali as well hah. Dinner was at Waroeng Bonita at Seminyak area. Quite a nice place but the food was average at best.

Dinner with sis and James at Waroeng Bonita

After a filling dinner, we headed to Ku De Ta for some drinks despite the heavy downpour!

After-dinner drinks at Ku De Ta

The next day, we woke up pretty early for white water rafting. I booked at Ayung River in advance with Sobek at USD 50 per person, which is pretty steep actually! The rafting itself lasted about 2 hours but the whole thing was overall quite mild, not very exciting. Many times, we have to paddle hard which was pretty tiring hah. Lunch was included after the rafting, but was nothing to shout about.

White water raffting at Ayung River

The afternoon was spent enjoying the 1-hour complimentary massage at the spa and sightseeing at Tenah Lot, a temple which is a famous tourist destination. Our villa provides free use of car and driver, and that really saved us a lot of hassle (and money hah). Tenah Lot was about 30mins drive away from our villa and the scenary there was quite nice. And expectedly, the place was crowded with tourists. We have wanted to go to Uluwatu (another famous temple) as well, but that was kind of too far away.

Pretty Tenah Lot

We headed for dinner at Seminyak area after Tenah Lot. We went to this italian restaurant called Ultimo, which enjoys rave reviews and highly recommended by some friends. The place was already very crowded at 6plus pm, but luckily we managed to get a table still. Food was decent and affordable. We ordered 3 main courses and a dessert to share hah.

Nice italian dinner at Ultimo

We decided to rest early for the night as it has been a long day and we got to wake up early (again!) the next day for our cycling tour hah.

To be continued.

 

Our New Chapter Begins!

Our wedding has finally come and passed, after more than one year of preparation. Everything went smoothly on our big day (great weather too!) and we are really thankful to all who have helped in one way or another – Our parents for getting busy with all the customary wedding stuff; our Xiong Dis and Jie Meis for the morning gatecrash and all the great help before and during the wedding banquet; our emcees for bringing life to the banquet; our photographer Kenny and videographer Jennifer for capturing the precious moments; our solemniser Mr Soon Min Yam. And of course, all our relatives, friends and colleagues for their blessings and for being present to share our love and joy!

It was indeed a memorable day for us which we will remember for a long time to come. And that day marked the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, and the start of a journey as husband and wife which we are very much looking forward to!

Blog posts on our wedding day will follow once I have received the photos from Loud! Productions.

 

Our Pretty Wedding Ring Dish

Some time back, we were thinking of ideas for a holder for our wedding bands during solemnisation as we dont really like the idea of using the usual ring pillow. While googling, I chanced upon a wedding ring dish, which is something new and fresh for me. And from there, I discovered Etsy – “A place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage…”

It is indeed a great virtual marketplace filled with lots of nice ideas for weddings. After browsing around, I finally found 2 wedding ring dishes that I like, and within our budget. Both are from the same shop – Promise Pottery, whose owner is based in the United States. She hand-made all the pottery items for sale, and could customise them as well. Eventually, I chose a design that can be customised with our intitals. I also requested Julie (the owner) to include our wedding date to make it even more personalised!

As this was a customised piece, it took some time for Julie to make and our wedding ring dish was only shipped on 21 Dec 2012 via USPS First Class. I was worried that it could not reach in time as from some forums, seems like USPS is not that reliable. Some shipment from United States to Singapore actually took more than 14 days! So when I still did not receive the package this week, I was already mentally prepared, that it might not reach in time.

To my pleasant surprise, the package arrived today, just 2 days before our wedding hah.

The much-awaited package!

Our pretty wedding ring dish!

The wedding ring dish turned out great, just as I would like it to be! Thanks Julie for the wonderful job! I would recommend her shop anytime, if you are keen in customised pottery stuff.

 

Collection of Marriage Certificate

Today is our appointment to collect our Certificate of Marriage at the Registries of Marriages at Fort Canning. We reached the place at about 10am and took a queue number. As the wait was quite long, we walked around the compound (since it was our first time there hah) and read some of their publications while waiting.

Exploring ROM compound

It was then our turn and we produced the necessary documents to the registrar and verified the details. We were also required to read out some declarations before being handed the Certificate of Marriage!

Our Certificate of Marriage!

After all is done, we informed our Solemniser, Mr Soon Min Yam, and everything is settled!

We then headed for lunch before going down to La Belle again to collect the remaining gowns, since some alterations were still needed after last Sunday’s final fitting.

 

24 Dec 2012: An Chuang

An Chuang, or the installation of bridal bed, is yet another one of the many Chinese wedding customs. We bought a new queen bed (and bed frame) from Courts a while back for this purpose. I am not really sure how is the whole An Chuang process like, as my parents took care of everything on 24 Dec 2012 while I was working hah.

I was not allowed into the room for 3 days after An Chuang, and am also not supposed to sleep on this new bed until our wedding. Hence, I am now temporarily sleeping in my sister’s room, on my old bed which as been shifted there hah. With the bright red wedding bedsheet and quilt cover, and our framed wedding photo and a few “Double Happiness” word stickers here and there, my bedroom is 100% ready for our Big day in one week’s time!

Our bridal room

And yes, time flies! Our wedding is exactly one week away and I am now feeling some pre-marital jittery hah.

 

22 Dec 2012: Guo Da Li

Yesterday was our Guo Da Li, which is the delivery of betrothal gifts by the groom to the bride’s family, as part of a typical Chinese customary wedding tradition. My aunt accompanied me for this and we reached dear’s home at about 9plus in the morning. In fact, my uncle came with us too as there were simply too much stuff to deliver hah.

Guo Da Li stuff from the groom’s side

The bride’s family then returned a portion of the gifts we have given, and they also presented the bride’s dowry. The Guo Da Li ceremony was then completed, and we were another step closer to our wedding!

Returning of gifts and bride’s dowry

The whole afternoon was then spent driving around Singapore with dear and her family to distribute the Guo Da Li cakes and the wedding invites. Though it rained a little, thankfully most of the time the weather was fine which made the delivery easier. It was also nice meeting dear’s relatives and family friends for the first time. But at the end of it, I was pretty tired hah.

Next up: An Chuang (installation of the bridal bed) on 24 Dec 2012!

 

DIY Monday

Both of us took leave yesterday to get our hands dirty and do some DIY decoration stuff for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. It is nothing elaborate, just something simple and easy-to-do.

Firstly we planned to make a “Bride” and “Groom” signs to be hung on the back of our chairs during solemnisation (and the signs can be reused on the reception table during cocktail reception hah). Next, we wanted to make a signage for our mini candy bar during cocktail reception. We would also be decorating some glass jars with ribbons, to be used for the mini candy bar.

After a few hours of hard work, we finally completed our mini DIY project hah.

Our DIY decoratuon project

Pretty pleased with the results of our hard work! Hopefully these DIY decoration stuff could add some personalised touches to our wedding.

 

Busy Weekend with Wedding Errands

In exactly 18 days time, it will be the day where we will make one of our most important decisions in life. In these 18 days, there are only 2 weekends left and hence they are very precious. Nowadays, weekends are for us to talk about wedding stuff and to run wedding errands. I think it has quite been some time where our conversations/ activities do not revolve around the wedding hah.

1. Shopping for Guo Da Li stuff

We spent some time last Saturday (together with my mum and dear’s parents) shopping for Guo Da Li stuff at Amanda Dreamweaver, which is located at People’s Park Centre. There are so many customary things to note for Chinese weddings, and the list of things to buy is quite long. After spending about an hour at the small shop, we were more or less done. The bill came up to be a shocking $270 for dear’s parents! This is indeed one profitable business as since it is for wedding, most people will not scrimp and save too much. Anyway, our Guo Da Li will be this coming Saturday on 22 Dec 2012.

Photo credit: minelifeaffairs.blogspot.sg

2. Collection of photo album and photo frame

On Sunday, we dropped by La Belle to collect our 20-page photo album and our photo frame to be hung on the wall. The album is so freaking heavy hah. We are quite pleased with how the album turns out but are not overly wowed or what. During the visit, we also chose the hand bouquet design and the car decoration to be used on our wedding day. The next time we meet La Belle will be during the final fitting on 30 Dec 2012.

Our wedding album by La Belle

3. Finalisation meeting with Swissotel Merchant Court

Right after La Belle, we headed to the hotel to meet up with Francis for the finalisation meeting, where we discussed the details of our banquet. We covered stuff like the ballroom layout, the guest attendance and seating arrangement, the confirmed menu and other nitty gritty details. We also chose the decoration theme and the wedding favours for our guests. Francis also brought us to view the cocktail reception area and the poolside pavilion again upon our request.

Finalisation meeting with Francis

4. Shopping for DIY decoration materials

We also went to Art Friend at Buona Vista MRT to shop for some decoration materials we need for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. We planned to do some DIY stuff to personalise our wedding a little hah.

5. Wedding Montage

We will be making our own childhood montage to be screened during the wedding banquet. We have each shortlisted some pictures to be used, from the different stages of our lives. We have also decided on the song to be used and the last step now is to put everything together and add on some words, using Animoto. This is still work-in-progress and hopefully it will be completed by this weekend hah.

 

Sweet Treats by Whips Cupcakes

One more thing settled! We have placed our order for 100 mini cupcakes from Whips Cupcakes, to be served during the cocktail reception. Besides the mini cupcakes, we are also looking at other sweet treats such as some old school biscuits etc. In fact, we have already bought some glass containers from IKEA for this little sweet treats corner hah.

Whips cupcakes for the cocktail reception

Whips Cupcakes is located at ICON at Tanjong Pagar. Although they do delivery, it is chargeable at $30 per location within 5km of ICON. Hence, we decided to self-collect on our way to the hotel. Pricing is pretty reasonable, at $20 for 25 mini cupcakes. Hope the guests will enjoy the little sweet treats we have specially prepared!

 

Meeting Kenny and Jennifer

Last week, a reader left a comment regarding Loud! Productions (the comment was not published) expressing her concerns as they have been uncontactable and they have not been updating their website and Facebook since August. Seriously that got me very worried as we are less than one month from our Big day and we have paid in full for the AD Photography and Videography. We immediately contacted La Belle (since we signed up Loud! Productions through them), and they reassured us that they will get Loud! Productions to contact us soon.

On Monday, Kenny texted me and introduced himself as the photographer from Loud! Productions. A meet-up was swiftly arranged for the next day hah. We met up with the photographer, Kenny, and the videographer, Jennifer, at Raffles City Mac.

Meet-up with our AD photographer and videographer

In the one-hour session, they showed us some of their past works and tried to understand the photo and video editing styles that we like. We also discussed the time schedule and other logistical matters. Though they are both pretty young, they seems relatively experienced and are very friendly too. Throughout the session, they were also taking down pointers on what were discussed, and they confirmed with us the main points covered during the meet-up via email in two days.

To be honest, I am still feeling a little uneasy that Loud! Productions did not update their new address and contact number (they have moved office) on their website and Facebook, and have not been uploading new works for people to view. We are keeping our fingers crossed, and are trusting that Kenny and Jennifer will turn up on our wedding day and deliver a good job for us!

 

Recent Updates

With less than one month to our big day, there are still quite a bit of major things to be done, such as creating our wedding montage, and preparing the decoration stuff for our solemnisation and cocktail reception. There are even more nitty gritty stuff that needs to be taken care of hah. Since my last blog post, there were some updates recently in our wedding preparation journey.

1. The Xiong Dis and Jie Meis Meet-up

On 1 Dec 2012, we arranged a meet-up session for all other Xiong Dis and Jie Meis. The main objectives include getting to meet and know each other, and to run through with everyone their roles and responsibilities, and the detailed program on our wedding day. We met at Cedele at Raffles City at 5pm. Unfortunately, three of the Jie Meis could not make it due to work/personal commitments, and one of the Xiong Dis also could not be present as he is in London for work.

Our detailed program flow

We spent quite some time to come up with a detailed (maybe overly detailed hah) program flow and define the roles and responsibilities of each of them during the different parts of the day: Gatecrash, Solemnisation, Cocktail Reception and Banquet. But we understand that things are not likely to go as planned perfectly. Hence, it serves more as a general guide and hopefully, it doesnt deviate too much from plan hah. Everyone should be more or less sure of their job after this session! But it is a pity that the Xiong Dis and Jie Meis did not really mingle hah.

2. Wedding Album Design

We went down to La Belle last Sunday to look at the wedding album layout designs. As requested, they kept the designs pretty simple by minimising those special effects processing, motifs etc. But we still requested for slight modifications to the layout designs hah. During that session, we also chose the picture and frame design, as well as the album cover design. They completed the modifications in two days and we were satisfied with the revised layout designs. We have given the green light to proceed for printing, and it should be ready in two weeks! We have also received the soft copies of the edited 65 selected poses in hi-res.

3. Sending Wedding Invites to Relatives

Today was a tiring day driving all around Singapore to give wedding invites to my relatives.

Wedding invites for my relatives

We started at 10am and only finished at about 8pm (including lunch and dinner stops hah). A total of 140km was covered, travelling from Jurong to Bukit Panjang to Yew Tee to Sembawang to Upper Thomson to Ang Mo Kio to Hougang to Seng Kang!

 

The Red Mailbox

I have been hunting high and low for those vintage-looking red mailbox to use it as our Angbao box. I finally came across someone selling it a few weeks back on Carousell, an iPhone app to shop and sell stuff. The price quoted by the seller was $100 for a gently-used one (the seller has only used it once, so it is still in almost mint condition)! I thought that was a little too steep even for a brand new one. Hence, I offered $60 but the deal failed to be closed hah. The lowest the seller could go was $85.

I  was very tempted to be honest. But we decided to think about it and secretly, hoped to find this red mailbox in our upcoming Bangkok trip then hah. Though in our Bangkok trip, we managed to buy some wedding stuff such as cupcake stand ($10 from Chatuchak!), we did not manage to find the red mailbox sadly.

Just when I was about to go for the $85 deal, I chanced upon a shop selling these mailboxes on Facebook! I immediately emailed them to enquire and was so happy to know they are selling it at $59.90 hah. Besides red, they have just launched some other colours as well. All very nice, but we chose red for auspiciousness and timelessness hah.

We headed down to their shop in Haji Lane last Saturday and bought it!

Shop Wonderland at 53 Haji Lane

The shop is called Shop Wonderland, by Wonderland for Detailed Planners. Do drop by this charming little shop for some wedding decor and other finds! In fact, I think Haji Lane is quite a nice place to hunt for such treasures hah. We will soon visit again for our next target: A wedding ring dish for use during our solemnisation.

 

Guo Da Li Cakes

We are getting our Guo Da Li cakes from LE Cafe Confectionery & Pastry, which is located at Middle Road.

“Steeped in tradition, we are one of Singapore’s oldest and finest cake and pastry shops. Our long and illustrious history (over 50 years) will attest to our growing reputation for the renowned quality and unique taste of our products. Our selections are 100% crafted by hand, and contain no pork or lard. From award-winning pastries to customised cakes, we have something perfect for any occasion.”

Guo Da Li cakes from LE Cafe

This is specially requested by dear and her family, as they find their cakes tasty. Last week, I called and placed an order for 22 boxes at $10.80 each. We went down to the shop yesterday to make the full payment for the cakes. Collection will be on 22 Dec 2012 (Sat) 8.30am which is the day of our Guo Da Li. The rest of the Guo Da Li stuff will be taken care of by our parents thankfully. If not, it will be more headache for us hah.

 

Wedding Wines Ordered

Swissotel Merchant Court provides 1 bottle of red wine per table for our wedding as part of their perks. However, we are afraid that that may not be sufficient, since according to the forums/ friends’ experiences, 1.5 bottle of wine per table is a better gauge. It will be a little ugly if we run out of wines halfway through the banquet.

Of course, the hotel can provide additional bottles of wine. But at $25 per bottle, it is not exactly cheap. Hence, we were thinking of getting more wines from other sources. We considered buying wines on promotion from supermarkets hah (sometimes can be really cheap!). But as there is no free delivery, it is a little inconvenient. Also, they do not have consignment program, hence if there is any unconsumed wines, we will have to absorb them.

We chanced upon Barworks Wines & Spirits, which seems not bad. Their wedding wines range from $18.80 to $32 nett per bottle, inclusive of delivery and pick-up of unconsumed wines on consignment. We were also considering Wine BOS, whose wedding wines are at $18.75 per bottle. They even provide complimentary wine-tasting hah. Hence, yesterday, we went down to their restaurant/ winebar at North Bridge Road and met up with Hannah. She let us try the 4 types of wines they offer for wedding – 2 reds and 2 whites.

After some consideration, we decided to order from Wine BOS (although they do not have pick-up service for unconsumed wines) mainly because of the wine-tasting session. We are no wine connoisseurs, but the wine-tasting session at least gave us some assurance hah. Anyway, we ordered 3 cases of wines (12 bottles per case) – 2 reds (Rosso Leggero Cabernet Sauvignon, Maule Valley, Chile) and 1 white (Bianco Leggero Sauvignon Blanc Muscatel, Maule Valley, Chile), and of which 1 case is on consignment. The wines will be delivered to the hotel one day before our wedding day. Hopefully our wines will be sufficient to flow freely for our whole banquet hah.

One more thing settled!

 

Wedding Invites are Ready

Swissotel Merchant Court provides complimentary wedding invites for 70% of confirmed tables with their vendor, Lil’Art Cards and Bridal Favours. However, the printing of inserts are not included and we decided to just get Lil’Art to print the inserts too (instead of sourcing cheaper printers elsewhere, so as to save some hassles hah). We printed 300 pieces at $130.

Though the hotel did send us an e-brochure on the designs available for us to choose from, we still made our way to Lil’Art to take a look at the actual cards before deciding. We both like the same design thankfully hah. Once the design is settled, and the wordings on the insert confirmed, they are ready for printing. And within 2 weeks, our wedding invites are ready for collection!

Before collecting the cards yesterday, we headed to 126 for dim sum breakfast since Lil’Art is just nearby. Yummy dim sum as always hah.

Dim sum breakfast at 126

After the hearty breakfast, we collected the wedding invites. 2 full bags of the cards, envelops, inserts and hotel maps!

Wedding invites collection

We are still in the midst of confirming guest attendance, and doing up the seat arrangement. But for those confirmed guests, we will be giving out the wedding invites soon! First batch will be out tomorrow to BBS clique hah.

 

Photo Booth Recce

We have been thinking for some time if we should engage instant print services during our cocktail reception. As our solemnisation is at about 6pm, it will be over by 6.30pm or so. Hence, guests attending the solemnisation will have nothing much to do until the dinner starts at about 8.30pm (of course they can head to The Central for some shopping hah). Thats why we are thinking of having a photo booth to provide some entertainment during this period. But having this will obviously mean burning more cash!

Prices can vary quite a bit from vendor to vendor. I have seen some vendors offering instant print services at $500plus, and some at more than $1,200plus. The more affordable vendors include Fabfoto, Baicapture, Instant Fotos, Busybody Studios and Blackcurrantworkz. There are also two main types of instant print services. The first kind is really a photo booth where the pictures are taken by a machine, just like taking Neoprints. For this kind, usually there are props available for guests to play with, and it will be at a fixed spot against some backdrop. The other kind is where a photographer roams around to take pictures for guests.

After looking through their portfolios and comparing their packages and rates, we are inclined to engage Fabfoto. Hence, they arranged for us to head down to a wedding today where they were engaged, to see how the set-up is like and for their staff to answer any queries we might have.

To avoid interrupting people’s wedding, we waited till the newly-weds marched in and when there are no guests at the photo booth before we proceeded to look at the set-up and meet the staff from Fabfoto hah.

The Fabfoto set-up

We were quite pleased with what we saw and probably we will be engaging them for 2 hours, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm hah. So, to guests who will be attending our solemnisation, now there will be some entertainment for you guys to kill some time while waiting for the dinner!

 

The Food Tasting

Just back from our food tasting! Our appointment was at 6.30pm at Elmwood room and we reached Swissotel Merchant Court earlier to take a look at the ballroom area again hah. Although the food tasting is for 10 people, there were only 8 of us – dear’s family of four, my parents and and my grandma.

Food tasting

The waitress handed us a feedback form for us to rate the food presentation and quality, and to jot down any comments for each dish. Francis, the Catering Sales Manager, also took time to meet us. This was our first face-to-face meeting as our previous correspondences were all via emails.

The menu and feedback form

Food was served at about 7pm and the portion was huge!

Food tasting in progress!

Food quality wise was not too bad also. But I understand that food tasting is usually much better than actual day as the hotel wants to impress and it is far easier to cook for one table as compared to more than 40 tables.

The filling 8-course dinner

We were all so full after the 8-course dinner. After the dinner, the chef also came out to ask for feedback. Overall pretty satisfied with the food, but we did make slight changes to the original menu. Hope that the standards can be maintained for the actual day hah.