He says: Jill & Kevin’s Wedding Entrance!!

This video is so cool! I love it! I have no choice but to post this here cos it’s so very very nice!

I got to do this!! Hahah… (Credit to Eko for sharing this with me)

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 324 days

He says: Road Trip Happenings.. (Part III)

It was nice meeting Aloysius and seeing what 39 East has to offer. As we were leaving the studio, we were talking about 39 East vs Feldberyl vs Gabriel Mendes. Gabriel Mendes is, in my opinion, the best in the business in Singapore today, but also the most expensive of them all. We do have a budget to keep so we did not choose him. Although we did not make a decision outright on that day, we both did have a slight preference for Feldberyl.

So it was time to move on from actual day photography to Holy Matrimony (HM) location. Hellen contacted Fort Canning and made an appointment with them. We are not going to Legends as most couples would choose but rather the other different venues for weddings that Fort Canning Park provides. The meeting was made with Lili, who is incidentally my good friend, Junhong’s future wife’s sister. Junhong will be one of my brothers for the wedding (there will be posts that honour the bridesmaids and brothers in this blog).

Fort Canning is a basically a small hill / park in the middle of the city, with a pretty storied history as the home of Sir Stamford Raffles and also a British Fort during WWII. For history buffs, refer here. We were looking for outdoor wedding venues and after surveying the different resources and websites, a particular place caught our eyes. It was Raffles House, the former residence of Mr Stamford.

Boy, were we disappointed when we saw Raffles House. The house itself was alright, cosy for a function. A wedding meal will do nicely too. The whole compound is not bad, but the garden that was reserved as the wedding spot is un-spectacular. Maybe our expectation was heightened by the pictures we found online. But the tree in the garden for the wedding is in reality smaller than expected, and the lawn coupled with the tree is not symmetrical but irregular in shape. It makes it hard to sit guests as it is too small, and quite odd in fact. As I asked the practical questions to Lili, Hellen went around snapping up pictures of the place.

The exterior of Raffles House during a wedding

The interior decoration, the interior is actually quite small.

A Muslim Wedding held under the Raffles House

After the disappointing stop, Lili told us there are other places in Fort Canning for weddings. We never really heard people talk about them, but oh well, since we are here, why not? So with her killer buggy-driving skill (which means she is extremely good), she drove us around and bring us to Fort Gate and Old Soldiers Married Quarters (OMSQ). Immediately when we reached, I can see a change in Hellen. I think she found ‘the place’. I felt good about it too. The tree near OMSQ is big, old and grand (sounds like a piano). Looked poised for a matrimony right there and then.

OK, so here I will try to explain the setting as well as I possibly could, with an amateurish diagram:

…..

On second thought, forget it. I think I will take some photos and repost it another time.

We think we found the place because:

1. The tree setting is cool (as in hip, not the weather. I foresee it being hot).

2. The little swing is cute and the gravel ground prevents rain from spoiling the ground and making it mushy for people when they walk on it during heavy rain.

3. The OMSQ can accommodate seating and food. We will prefer the guests to walk outside and eat though.

4. There is great potential for DIY decoration.

All in all, this seems to be the place for the HM. We will post the photos of our site visits another time. Although we liked the place, our day is far from over, as we have 2 more locations to recce. Next stop: Burkill Hall!

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 329 days

She says: The Quest of Finding the Gown

This is the sequel of my previous post on wedding gown.

I am not a big fan of wedding gowns, in fact I am a bit scared of choosing my dress. I deliberately postponed my search of the gown until I am ready to face my fear. I used of have a mild phobia of big fluffy wedding gown with lotsa beads and sparkles [Winston's Edit: That's a phobia??!!]. The idea of wearing a heavy, troublesome, over-the top wedding gown leaves me with a little nausea and goosebumps. So I turn to an unconventional and non-threatening option to choose the gown. By browsing through online shops that specially sell pre-owned wedding dress. This gesture freaks my fiance out.

For a month I went through www.oncewed.com and www.preownedweddingdress.com to look for my ideal wedding gown. From these websites I discovered my future favorite wedding gown designer, Monique Lhuillier. I was not impressed with Vera Wang and not part of Bride Wars frenzy.  I fell in love with a full Chantilly lace gown by Lhuillier with the code name Claire. The beautiful paisley pattern and full Chantilly lace doesn’t come with a hefty price tag, which was also a big plus. I was raving about this dress and started to contact a few sellers to get the best price. I found a seller with the best price possible which miraculously have the gown that fit my size. Most of the size are for Caucasians, so the odds of having a 5′ 2″ gown is depressingly low. So when the price went down to 1,100USD, I was blown away and ready to purchase.

However, Winston and Katryn were not comfortable with my decision of buying my wedding gown online. Katryn insisted me to try the real gown, with the real cutting and material before buying Claire. Good advice. So I went down to Tanjong Pagar with Winston, to have a taste of wedding gown. Reality stikes. Most of the gowns in bridal shops are exactly the type I’m avoiding, so I was quite desperate.

Until we went to our last stop Di Gio Bridal. The sales girl, Josephine, was smart enough to spot my taste of simple and minimalist gowns, she brought me a beautiful structural gown with minimal beadings on the neckline and a nice clean Duchess satin dress with Swarovski crystals. I was finally at ease. It  also open a possibility of finding my gown in the local bridal world. She mentioned that I am not like a typical Singaporean brides, who wants more blings on the gown. I think it’s not only for Singaporean, Indonesians also fancy heavy beadings and bling bling. It doesnt feel like a wedding gown, without all that, that’s what they always say. We chatted with their in-house designer, a flamboyant and talented Mr Casey. Surprisingly Monique Lhuillier is also his favorite designer and we shared the same opinion about her gowns.

We did not sign up with them that day, but they left us with good impression. The second bridal we went to was Margaret Brides. This time it was a better experience, because MB gowns suit my taste of simpler, subtle gowns. However their price is not subtle. Margaret the owner and the designer herself takes pride in her work, her gowns are gorgeous, but she also has the designer pride which unfortunately clashed with mine. Budget is also an issue. In order to materialize my dream wedding gown, we need to pay almost double our original budget. I wanted to use French Chantilly lace which adds about 4k to the basic package. So forget it!

In the end I did not have peace in my heart to buy Claire, so I let it go (Eugenia, one of my housemates, made it easier by cutting the printout picture into pieces!). It was not easy, because I have been clinging to Claire for some time, thinking that this is a good buy. But actually I knew that it is not a wise decision to buy your wedding gown online.

Just after I let it go, I spotted another dress from Monique Lhuillier Spring 2010 collection, Katya. I love it right away, there’s an uncanny feeling telling me that this is it! I rely a lot on my emotional connection when it comes to deciding on something. This is one of those moment. But Since there is no way I could buy this dress, unless I fly to Hong Kong or to Los Angeles to buy the orginal gown, I will have to tailor made locally.

My first and only choice is Casey from DiGio Bridal. I made an appointment with them, and this time I brought Clarissa and Dora (my housemates cum bridesmaids) with me. I trust their taste and opinion. It’s comforting to know that they agree with your choice. Cut the story short, we signed up with them.

I love working with passionate people and Casey is definitely one of them!

He says: Road Trip Happenings.. (Part II)

I love the warm and fuzzy feeling. All u need is love love love, love is all u need. Don't u think so?

So after setting up our joint account and having our lunch at the Ang Mo Kio Hub, we proceeded to our next checkpoint: 39 East Photography at Haji Lane. This is a pretty cool studio, with very good photographers located in a hip street.

Haji Lane is one of those places that cool, indie ppl goes to look for some clothes and stuff.. the truth is, I don’t know it well enough to give it a good intro. Oh well, what the heck, just know it’s a nice place.

In terms of photojournalism, this place can be considered one with premium quality yet competitive prices. There are 3 photographers in the studio, CK (I think the leader), Eng Hong (the experienced old-timer and partner-in-crime) and Aloysius (the new guy). They are setting up a branch in California and CK will be relocated there soon, I think. Each of the photographers have their own style and when you contact them via email, they will let you know about the difference of each of the photographer.

A simple extract of their email on Aloysius:

“Aloysius. With a passion for images created by toy cameras and other unusual pieces of photographic equipment, Aloysius spices up his wedding photography by using cameras from his toy camera collection in addition to his digital capture.”

Hence each of them has their own weapons such as toy cameras for Aloysius, while Eng Hong’s is predominately digital style. We met Aloysius as the rest were on overseas assignments (Eng Hong was in Greece or Paris I think, but either place is cool!) [Side-note: I noticed I used 'cool' way too many times in this post. Not good. I need to increase my vocabulary]. He is indeed down-to-earth and friendly, making us feel warm by politely offering us drinks and views of the various portfolio. The good thing is he actually showed us different pictures from all 3 so that we could sample works from all 3 photographers. The reason we choose Feldberyl over them is not the quality of the photos, but the feel and moment-capturing vibe which Hellen felt Wansheng could bring. In essence, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of 39 East’s photos. Art is very subjective, so it’s hard to pinpoint why one is better than the other. After meeting Wansheng and Aloysius and already being aware of Mindy’s work, we made a hard choice of choosing Wansheng based purely on ‘feeling’. But if you are looking for a photographer with a photojournalistic inclination, 39 East and Mindy Photographer are awesome choices too.

We left the photography leg of our day to proceed to the outdoor venue leg. On to Fort Canning!

Below are some of my personal favourites from Aloysius’ portfolio:

Always great to see a touching wedding... but I think mine will be too fun and funny to cry about...

Incredible sky coupled with flowing veil.. Perfect!

Inanimate objects can exude emotions too...

This guy's from my sec sch, but I dun know him personally. Frankly, with a sword by his side, how to not marry him...

39 East Photography Main Webpage: http://www.39eastimages.com/main.php

39 East Blog: http://39east.bigfolioblog.com/

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 336 days

He says: Road-Trip Happenings.. (Part I)

This is a recap on one of the most intensive wedding preparation day Hellen and I had. It was on 18 May 09, almost 2 months ago. We had our Vesak Day off and we decided we want to make trips to different wedding vendors for several items. Initially, we wanted to go to Fullerton to take a look and we have already made an appointment with them. But after feedbacks from our friends and the outstanding impression (and sentimental inclination from me) of Conrad, we scrapped that off and decided with Conrad before 18 May.

 

First stop, Feldberyl Images! Hellen made the appointment with Wansheng,  and at that point of time, I have yet to really look through his photos. But Hellen was raving about him, so I was convinced before meeting him that his standard is high. He does not have a shop or office space, but instead does his business negotiation in his humble abode. We were quite lost when we were looking for his place, as there are 2 streets that were named very similarly and both streets have his house number. The first one we went to was wrong and we saw a Thai deity statue there. Our first thought at that time was hmmmm… But it was OK as we got to the right house eventually.

He showed us his portfolio, some of which was pasted on the wall, some of which was through his laptop. Hellen was familiar with his work so we were satisfied at the get-go. I asked the more practical questions like his transport, his food, how he would be following us etc. I remembered his comment that we asked a lot more questions than a typical couple. He mentioned that there are couples he never even met until the actual wedding day. Oh well… I guess, that’s just me, Singaporean Kiasu-ism at work. He did shared a bit about his career decision. As mentioned before in an earlier post, he was an engineer but always have a keen interest in photography, especially inanimate objects and sceneries. He was asked to be a wedding photographer by a friend, and found out he was great in it. Marrying his interest and career seemed like a natural process and he became a full-time wedding photographer. He was laid back in his conversations and in a subtle reassuring way, made me feel really comfortable about getting him to do the job.

The thing is this: for someone taking my wedding photos.. I felt the best person must be someone that can stay in the background, not draw attention to himself but most of all, think like the bride and groom. In a way, he gave me the assurance that he is able to achieve that and he can take the important moments of the wedding just like how I want it to be seen. I remembered that as we stepped out of his place, I was telling Hellen I really liked him, but I am comfortable with having him (would have felt better if the price tag is not so hefty).   

Below are 2 of his recent photos that I liked a lot:

Nice flowing feel prior to throwing the bouquet

The groom’s dad had the Double-O 7 look in him..

2nd stop of the day: the Bank! Not going into too much details, we finally got our joint account done, which is a must for couples planning their finances for their wedding.

I will share the next few stops in subsequent posts, cheerio!

 

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 341 days

 

She says: Nice Ideas for Wedding

Recently I added Wedding Blog to my Google Reader. I am already a devotee for a few wedding blogs like www.snippetandink.blogspot.com , www.oncewed.com , www.stylemepretty.com. Maybe it seems like I am becoming Bridezilla, too obsessed with my own wedding! But I realized the wedding thingy channels my passion and interest on crafts, paper and design.

It is refreshing to see very nice, color-coordinated, thoughtful intimate wedding. I am a big fan of intimate and DIY wedding. I guess every wedding have to show the personality of its couple. Both Winston and I have great friends to support us in the making of this wedding. Girlfriends are the ultimate wedding secret!

I promise to dedicate a post for my wedding troopers!

Here are the cute ideas I got from the blogs :

He says: Things to Do

Off-topic: I LOVE cute wedding cake toppers!

Since my Jakarta trip, I have pretty much slacked off in the things we need to plan for the wedding. There are still a few things I got to plan for big money purchases. Putting my checklist here to remind myself!

1. Site Visit of OMSQ with Sin Hiap Mui (why I so lazy to call them up!!)

2. Find a AD Videographer (criteria: can’t make me look fat)

3. Find a caterer for Holy Matrimony (should be using a fellow leader’s catering, cos I loved the rendang!! Wahahaha)

4. Plan my Honeymoon (NATAS Fair in end Aug?)

5. Meet up with Di Gio for the Gown design (For my bride-to-be, WOW!)

6. Buy Wedding Bands (suggestions anyone?)

7. Register with the church (I am procrastinating!!! Oh no!!)

Need to buck up, too many things, too little time??!!!

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 346 days

He says: Presenting Mindy Tan Photography!

It’s always great to see someone you know do really well in their own field. Mindy was my secondary school classmate and I knew she became a New Paper journalist subsequently (after seeing her articles on the paper). [Side-note: Mervin Tay, another classmate of mine, is now a Chinese journalist in My Paper. Wow.. a lot of writers in my class.][Another side-note: JJ Lin was my JC schoolmate! And to think I thought he was a nerdy dreamer when he was playing his guitar in the canteen. I don't know him personally though. Hai.. how our life can change in a few years...] 

Ok, enough about that side-pitying. I am going to provide some pictures that I liked from Mindy’s portfolio. She’s a wedding photo-journalist and I will provide some links later. Enjoy! 

    

Links as promised:

Mindy’s Blog: http://mindytan.com/blog/

Mindy’s Wedding Photography Webpage: http://www.mindytanweddings.com/

Join Mindy’s Facebook Group as a fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mindy-Tan-Photography/103762129544

Got to buck up if I want to fulfil my dream!

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

- Anatole France

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 348 days

He says: Outdoor Venue Thoughts – One Twenty-Six

From the traffic of the blog, I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of people are looking for more information on outdoor wedding venues. I try my best to provide that, but I think I will provide more opinions instead of info.

We went to several locations, and one of the places we heard people raving about would be One Rochester and One Twenty-Six. They are under the same management, with the former located in Rochester Park (near Buena Vista MRT) and the other located in East Coast (near the big Carl’s Junior building, formerly Big Splash, I think).

For me personally, I wanted to have it at One Rochester initially. But when we first arranged a meetup with the person-in-charge, Janet, she was at One-26 for another wedding on the day we wanted. So we went to One-26 instead. Below are some pictures I found from the One-26 Wedding Fair (credits to Outdoor Wedding Specialist.com).

                                      Dinner / Banquet set-up for One-26

Notice the One-26 sign on the right? If I am not wrong, this is a tent set-up on the grass field near One-26. The One-26 restaurant / chillout place is actually on the elevated ground on the right. I got to say, if you have lots of guests… maybe One-26 is not an ideal place. Below 100, it is still pretty ideal. They will basically set-up the tentage required, and round tables may not be that good of an idea here. With the long tables above, it looks more like an American wedding, which is a good thing.

The wedding altar by the beach near One-26.

Since we are planning to do our Holy Matrimony outdoors, the altar is important. Hellen and I walked on the sand and although I did not sound out then, I am particular about sand. And no sand in Singapore can compare to Redang sand (from a prior experience). The weather plays a factor here and the backdrop of the container ships is not that nice. But then again, if you do not mind that and your photographer can do a good job, this can be done.

Another altar set-up with benches instead.

This is the tentage set-up during the evening

So we met Janet in the evening, and she was rather busy with the wedding preparation earlier. Although my mind was not on a beach wedding, I did walk along the beach with Hellen, contemplating the possibility of having our wedding by the beach while waiting for Janet. I always felt that if you want a beach wedding, there are better alternatives than East Coast and even Sentosa. So I was personally not too high up on the idea. During the night time, while we were talking to Janet, I do find the surrounding too dark. And as ours will be a Holy Matrimony, I was thinking that an open HM such as the beach altar setting is not that conducive for Pastor. Decisions, decisions, decisions..

 

To be fair, Janet is a good coordinator and attentive to our questions. She’s frank and does not hard-sell the product but instead willing to cater to your needs. The drawback for me is that for One-26: it is not exactly ‘by the beach’. The East Coast sea backdrop is not that nice with the container ships. A beach wedding is not what we were looking for. The place itself is not as big as I thought it will be though. Lastly, it is above my personal budget.

Just my 2 cents, so consider it my frank opinion.

 

Countdown to Wedding Day (19-06-10): 352 days