Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 1

Choosing the Dates

From the day we bought our bridal package, we have started with our preparations for our big day. From sourcing for hotel/restaurant to hold our wedding banquet, to a venue to hold out solemnization. Subsequently we were in discussion with our parents to choose a suitable date for both our banquet as well as solemnization. I must say this may sound easy, but it is in fact not as simple.

For us, our solemnization date was easy to choose, as we wanted to have it held on both our birthday month, (our birthdays happen to fall on the same month). And so we decided to have our solemnization done on the 9th Sept 2014. Reason being, 9914 in Chinese sounded like 久久一世 which directly translates to Long Long One Life, in other words, being together for a long long time, for the rest of our lives.

As for our wedding banquet, that’s the part where I’m having a headache. Having to take into consideration the inauspicious dates, siblings exam period, hotel availability, personal/parents date preference. And making sure that we do not offend either side of the family, and have everyone be happy. This alone is now giving me a headache, and our initial chosen date has to be changed, and til now we have yet to finalize on our actual date for our banquet to be held. Our initial chosen date was on 14thMar2015, Saturday. But as it was close to our sibling’s exam period, we were worried it might clash with their exams, especially since there was a possibility that their exams may fall on a Saturday based on past exam records. So we wanted to change it to a Sunday instead to play safe. Initially it was proposed to be changed to a Sunday on the 15thMar2015. But, my mum says that it is not an auspicious date for marriage and was not really for the idea, as she prefers that our wedding be held on an auspicious date for our own good. Not wanting to disappoint either of our parents, we decides to change the date altogether to another date which would make everyone happy. Since it is to be finalized, I’ll update on the actual date for our wedding soon! =)

Solemnization Date: 9 September 2014

Actual Wedding Date: Midst of discussion. Stay tune to find out!

Preparing the Guestlists

This is indeed another headache. Our INITIAL plan was to have approx 25 tables. But after discussion with both our parents, the numbers that came back became quite shocking. 37 tables. On top of this, you wont even know if they will end up turning up or not. Therefore ideally, we are able to prepare a main guestlist and a back up guestlist. So if the main guest are not able to turn up, you may want to “activate” the back up guest to fill up the tables. But even so, there is still a possibility that your back up may not turn up as well! Or another worry is, what if you forget to invite some people, or if you are not able to invite certain people because your tables are all full, and not able to add more tables due to the hotel’s table capacity constraints. Therefore when deciding hotel, it would be safer to take a hotel that have a higher table capacity in case you need to add more tables. Aside from it being a headache to us, I believe it is also a headache for your parents who have to decide which relatives to invite and which ones they can don’t invite. You’ll understand when its your turn to prepare this!

Choosing Our Solemnization Venue

Everyone have their dream wedding in mind. Especially the ladies. For me, my dream wedding would be by the poolside/beach/yacht/outdoor park or greenery areas. One filled with fresh pretty flowers, balloons and white ribbons/decos. With nice yummy pastries, nice music playing in the background, and most importantly to have all my love ones by my side. Namely my family, my in law family and our close good friends. Knowing its not practical for me to hold such a wedding banquet as Singapore is honestly a very Hot and Humid country, and most people would not like to eat while sweating. Therefore the only chance for me to hold my dream wedding would be to have it done for my solemnization instead! Just a small intimate event with no more than 20people would be perfect =)

But now I’m having a dilemma as to where I should hold my solemnization! With budget constraints and a small group of people, there were not many places that were suitable. After doing a lot of research online, I manage to narrow down to a few choices, which we are still considering before finalization and booking.

• Flutes at the fort
• Amara Sanctuary Outdoor Glass Pavillion
• Capella Hotel Suite / Villa
• Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa
• Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort
• Canopy @ Bishan Park
• On board a Yacht at ONE°15 Marina Club

Choosing Our Wedding Banquet Venue

This was not too tough a decision to make for us. Reason is because we have budget constraints and we kinda know the location we would like to have our wedding banquet. I didn't really want to hold it at a chinese restaurant either, as both of us agree that it would be nice to have a comfy hotel room to rest in after the whole ceremony considering we would likely be very much worn out! Therefore this alone narrows us down to only a few venues.

Things to consider:

• Location; Convenience for our 360 guest
• Budget; We wanted to make sure to spend within our means, and not overspend like the recent couple who spend a bomb and ended up in debts just for a day of extravagance and luxurious ceremony
• Table capacity; Some hotels are not able to hold too many tables, and so we had to find one that is able to hold at least 30 to 38 tables to be safe
• Service; Having friends who recently gotten married, we checked with them on the service of their hotels, and judge for ourselves if the service of the hotel is good when we attend their weddings.
• Appearance; It need not be SUPER GRAND, but at least with nice ambiance, presentable decor and outlook that will make our guest and of course ourselves comfortable

After our research and striking out of those hotel that didnt match our expectations and requirements, here are what we shortlisted:

• Swissôtel Merchant Court
• Furama Riverfront

Choosing a Bridal Studio

Honestly for us we didn't really do much research on this. Basically we didn’t look for it either. We happen to be at a wedding fair and were invited to sit down, and we kinda impulsively bought the package. (haha!) I guess it was a blessing in disguise as we have 1 thing less to worry and headache about. Choosing a Bridal studio sometimes really depends on fate. Sometimes going to a popular / branded bridal studio may be a good experience for some, but can also be a bad experience for the unlucky ones. It really depends on the coordinator/photographer/MUA that is servicing you. And it also depends on individual preference. Not 1 pleases all, different people have different expectations and preference.

Basically, here are some things to look out for when choosing a Bridal studio:

• Budget
• Location of bridal studio; for convenience sake if you will need to travel a couple of times to the place
• Photography skills; have a look at their portfolios and sample and see if the kinda of photos they had previously done are what you have in mind as difference photographers have different set of skills, preference and shooting style
• Gown and Suit selection; Especially for the ladies as we tend to have more expectations when it comes to our ideal/dream wedding gown. Look thru their photos to see if there are any gown that you like or alternatively, make a trip down to the shop to browse through what they have on the rack. For the vain guys, you may also have certain expectations of the kinda of suit you want, do make sure to have a look as well. Not all bridal studios have a wide range of selection for guys suit as they are more focused on the ladies. 
• What the Package consist; This is something you may need to do abit of research on. Check with your friends who had gotten married and find out what their package consist and how much they paid for it. So you will at least have an idea of what you should have and what you can negotiate for. I have got friends who didn’t check nor negotiate and they end up paying a high price for a package that doesn’t include a lot of things, and she ended up having to top up more money to add the other items that are required but not included.

Our Bridal Studio : Bridal Concept @ 16 A & B Liang Seah Street


Check Out My Other Post For a Continuation of My Journey Of Our Wedding Preparations!
(Links Below)

Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 2
- Choosing my Wedding Gown and his Suit

Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 3
- Wedding Photoshoot Location
- Props for photoshoot & DIY decor / props
- Solemnizer & ROM filing notice of marriage

Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 4
- Choosing Your Wedding Band

Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 5
- The Wedding Banquet Agreement (Cost payment, Red packet collection fund)
- Invitation Cards
- Confirmation of Guest
- Looking for a Actual Day Videographer
- Rental of Bridal Car
- Hiring / DIY Instant Phoot Booth/Roving (Optional)

Wedding Banquet & Solemnization Venue Finalized

Actual Day Morning Express Highlight Video

Our Journey Our Story

- Childhood Video Montage

Our Pre-Wedding Photoshoot Photos