Tag Archives: Wedding

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Wedding Decor

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As we were having our wedding in a restaurant, not much decor or flowers were provided. So we came up with a few items to brighten up the place.

These are the signs that led from the carpark and main entrance to our ballroom.

Our wedding favours were Bonne Maman jams so we made this thank you sign for our guests.

We didn’t serve sharks’ fin so we created a note for our guest.

And for my reception table we had escort cards; it really made taking attendance and seating much easier!

For my guestbook, I went with a ‘Where’s Wally’ travel theme. I got the luggage from taobao and postcards from Book Depository.

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Qian Xi Lou Farrer Park

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This place deserves more than just 1/3 of a post. Although it was not always smooth sailing with them, everything fell into place on the actual day. Lots of credit goes to Dennis, our banquet manager for the actual day. Jack who is supposed to be the in charge did not give us a good impression. He was hardly ever around to discuss anything with us and even though we scheduled an appointment with him, he didn’t turn up and we ended up talking to the head waitress. The head waitress was great! She was really accommodating and answered all our queries.

Printing of Wedding Invites

 

It was a struggle because the first sample they showed us was just ugly. The phrasing was abrupt, the restaurants’ contact number was there (???), the placement and font size of the details were just weird. Adding a space or a line was close to impossible. So after a lot of emailing back and forth we finally got it settled. This was one of the most frustrating part of the process. But hey, its free, what can we expect?

Food Tasting

 

There are a total of 9 dishes on their menu (forgot to take pictures of the noodles). It might be due to the fact that I was hungry, but I thought the actual day dishes (those that I managed to taste) were better than the food tasting ones. Their menu is on their website and you can swap their dishes from the original menu, if the dish is more expensive you would have to top up and you get a discount if it is cheaper. My favourite dish is the scallops and broccoli. Thinking of it makes my mouth water!

Ang Bao Box

The angbao box gurantees that your angbao’s won’t drop out because the only way to get to them after they have been inserted is by tearing the box apart. We asked for two of this, although initially they only wanted to give us one.

Makeup Room

It is right at the back of the banquet hall and leads to the door where you start your march in. Not super big but gets the job done. There’s a fridge inside and there are lots of mirrors!

Actual Day
The banquet manager that day was Dennis. Dennis used to be the IC at Farrer Park outlet but he was pulled to other outlets to help. Luckily he was there on our banquet night. He is very experienced, accommodating, reassuring and generous. He really went out of his way to make sure everything goes smoothly and according to plan. Qian Xi Lou was also nice enough to cook fried rice (FOC) for our family and friends who were there earlier for the ROM and preparation. According to our guests, they love the food! Although there were some dishes that were not properly cooked, these dishes were replaced immediately by the kitchen without hesitation. The only problem was the lack of parking space.

Overall, we had a lovely time there. We think it is a really affordable place with good food, good sound system and a pretty nice ballroom. I am very happy with their service and I would suggest that other BTBs choose the Main ballroom (Level 1) instead of the Diamond ballroom (higher level) as the lift there is slower and smaller than a terrapin. Plus you need to pay more for the Diamond Ballroom.

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The People Behind The Scenes

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I had two photographers, Jiaren and Desmond.
Jiaren approached me when I put up my post in ClubSnap. I am really happy with the shots he took. He tries his very best to make sure that the shots turn out well. He doesn’t just point and shoot blindly; very professional service! His rates are pretty affordable too 🙂
Desmond is my friend who is just starting to venture into wedding photography. Visit his blog to look at his past work! If you are interested to get him to help you with any events just drop him or me an email.

My wedding car was a white BMW320i hired from White Wedding Cars.
Thomas (the boss) was our driver that day. I think the rates are pretty affordable for a white BMW. On the night before, he drove to our bridal studio for the floral decoration. He seemed to know his way around quite well. The normal timing is 7am to 5pm, any earlier or later and there will be a surcharge, any trips that requires him to ferry someone else other than the bride and groom will be an additional $50.
Very friendly, professional and punctual (usually arrives earlier than arranged time).

My bridal studio was Volans Couture. Nothing but praises for my makeup artist, Elbson. He is soooooo nice, meticulous, very experienced and takes pride in his work. He really made sure I was properly doll up and will use as much time as possible to ensure you look good i.e. before I was going for my second march in, he was still helping me touch up.
Another person to compliment is Jiaxuan, she is my assistant in Volans Couture. She is the nicest person I have met. She is very reassuring and accommodating. Just tell her what you need and she will try her best to make you happy. Although sometimes she can be forgetful at times, so just give her a quick reminder. She is really really busy though, it seems like she is the main assistant there (everyone that comes through the door is served by her, the rest of them seem much more idle).
Oh and we found out that there is a lift (say what?) that leads you to Volans Couture. So next time if you have heavy luggage, ask them where it is.

Mother’s makeup was done by Yan Ling, 2 pax at 80 each. She is very nice, flexible and accommodating. My mother felt that her makeup was too thick so we told her to make it lighter, after which it looked pretty good. The man’s mother also felt that way, so perhaps let her know if you are not comfortable with the way it looks. Although both mothers looked great on photos!

Solemnizer is Mr Tan Yan Boon Alex. The ROM was short and sweet. He had a good command of both English and Chinese. We were a little late to start the ceremony but he was very understanding and kindly waited for us. Hongbao rate is $88.

Our banquet location is at Qian Xi Lou Farrer Park.
**I decided they deserve more credit and a more detailed post. So go to this link for more details!

Buffet Catering was Meihao99 (bride) and Yan Palace (groom). I think Yan Palace is nicer, but it is also more expensive.

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Looking for a Solemnizer

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Our criteria: can speak mandarin well, non-preachy, short and sweet ceremony.
The following were some JPs we shortlisted.

Eric Wong 98483286 (HP) – overseas on AD

Lim Huan Chiang – Friend of a relative, we didn’t manage to contact him

Alex Tan Yan Boon 98500689 (HP) –  our solemnizer!

Chung Tang Fong 96729312(HP) – didn’t get to him since we already have Mr Tan, but he has good reviews online.

Lee Ka But 62829176 (O) – found him through ROM website, some reviews here and there about him and all are good. I was actually a little disappointed that I didn’t contact him first as supposedly he’s location is near my place.

This process was surprisingly easy for us. We called Mr Tan to ask if he was free on our AD, he replied within a few days to tell us that he is able to be our JP. So we scheduled a meetup at Woodlands Community Centre.

It was a very short and simple meet up:
he gave us a quick briefing while we were still seated in the vehicle: what he would do on that day, how long it would take, when we had to collect the documents from ROM, what we have to bring, then he signed the acknowledgement form.
Short and sweet. Just what we wanted. Oh and his hongbao fee is $88 (he told us the amount).
In a way it is good as we don’t have to headache. I guess if you go for the more popular ones, this is somewhat a standard rate?
But what do we do if he doesn’t perform up to expectations? Hmmm…