Journey of Our Wedding Preparation Part 3

Thanks for following up on my wedding preparations!! 3 things I wanna talk about today.

• Wedding photoshoot location
• Props for photoshoot & DIY decor / props
• Solemnizer & ROM filing notice of marriage

We finally done our photoshoot about 2 weeks back, after waiting for a couple of months and getting ourselves all excited about it! I must say it was a long and tiring, yet fun and enjoyable day! Though some hiccups along the way, a rainy morning, stupid renovation that almost obstruct our desired location, lotsa red ants that bite all of us and some forgotten items~ But in God's grace, everything eventually fall in place! Thank God for a lovely day with nice weather, bright sky, a fun and nice photographer, Kino who made us feel comfortable and guided us throughout the photoshoot, awesome makeup artist, Tiffany who made us look fabulous, and a happy and cheerful Muffin Darling that brighten our photos! Cant wait to see all the photos!! Meanwhile here are 2 selfies we took in the midst of our photoshot! I'll post up another blogpost to share more selfies taken! =)

Photoshoot Location

For the photoshoot location, we wanted a cathedral/church that looks really majestic and Victorian, and so without much consideration, we both agreed on Chijmes! The building is really really nice and we both love it! Not being able to hold a holy matrimony or church wedding, we decided we must at least have a photo with the cathedral/church!

Aside from that, what I had in mind was to have at least 1 casual shoot by the park/beach, which is why we ended up with East Coast Park. Reason being, it was along the way and convenient and near my place so we could go back home to pick my Muffin Darling and my Mum to tag along for this photoshoot. Also I wanted a Picnic themed shoot which I think is really lovely! For this shoot, we prepared quite a number of items and spend quite a bit! (I'll share more about the props later)

The last location is chosen by my fiancé, as it's only fair we both agree on 1, he chose 1 and I choose one since there is 3 outdoor shooting location! And he chose a nightshoot at Gardens By The Bay for its pretty neon lightings which lits up by late evening!

After experiencing it for myself, I personally feel that you have to consider a couple of thing when choosing your photoshoot location. (No one told us these which was why we ended up spending slightly more money than we had thought we would!)

1. Any dream photoshoot you both have in mind? This MUST be discussed.
2. Venue and Route to get from place to place. Would it be convenient?
3. The time restriction of getting from place to place, including the time to change and make up, and also you MUST factor in possibility of traffic jams (if you choose peak hours or weekends), finding a parking lot, finding a toilet to change, and setting up props if you have any.
4. Budget constraint: Certain place requires a fee to enter for photoshoot (e.g Chijmes, at $107nett, and you have to make sure to make a booking in their website at least 4 days in advanced and they need time to verify you payment and approve)
5. ERP CHARGES & Parking Charges! It wasnt exactly a wise choice to be at Bugis -> Chijmes -> East Coast Park -> Garden By the Bay! Throughout our trip we kept hearing, "teed, teed, teed..." and the parking at Chijmes is really not exactly "cheap". So my advice is to choose a places that would not be within the City area, or plan the route such that you dont have to go in and out and back in again, which is what happened to us! *ouch*
6. Think of a back up plan in case it rains, and make sure that the gowns/suits you chose would still be able to fit into the setting of the back up places.

Props for photoshoot & DIY decor/props

Like I mentioned earlier, when I first chose the theme Picnic, I honestly did not realize that doing a Picnic Photoshoot would require soooo many items! Only after I set out to shop for things that I realize it is so troublesome~ Here are some of the items which I bought or brought along for my Picnic themed photoshoot which you can consider bringing as wel if you are also doing a Picnic theme!.

• Muffin Darling (my furkid, doggy)
• A wedding suit with bow tie for Muffin Darling
• Ended up buying the wrong size and had to buy again so I am trying to sell of the smaller size suit right now! Anyone keen? See photos below! Do drop me a comment if you are interested!
• Picnic Basket
• I DIY the decorations of the basket, as I wanted something different and sweet and suits my color theme! See photos below! Up for RENTAL now! Do contact me for more details!
• Picnic Mat
• I was contemplating to get the cloth type from Spotlight, but firstly it is no cheap considering I dont think I will really use it often and will most likely be forgotten about after this. Secondly if it rains and the place is muddy it will be SUPER dirty and probably even soak up the muds and dirty water!
• I hunt very long for this as there arent many places selling picnic mats especially not those nice ones that I had in mind, and mostly are pretty small in size and didnt meet my requirement. And so eventually I found a really CHEAP alternative which is Plastic so no fear for raining muddy days, and since it is cheap and disposable you wont need to bother washing or keeping it, and you can throw it right after that so it saves time since you will need to rush from place to place! I bought mine from NTUC, disposable table cloths! They have 3 different colors (red, blue, green) in checkers which is what I was looking for, and I got mine in RED! Bright and contrast well against the greenery
• Hello Kitty 2-tier cake tray
• Hello Kitty Thermal Water Bottle
• Hello Kitty Plate
• Colorful Fruits, to brighten up the setting - Green Apple, Red Strawberries, Yellow Banana
• A bottle of wine/sparkling wine
• 2 wine glasses (which 1 ended up broken as my mum accidentally stepped on it while trying to get hold of Muffin Darling!)
• Macaroons! Nice pretty colors to brighten up the setting making it more cheerful, plus it would be a good snack to munch in between a tiring photoshoot!
• Fruit Tarts
• Looks pretty and nice, but I dont think it is advisable unless you are able to keep it well enough to not melt away or break into pieces which was what happened to ours so we ended up throwing them away without using it for props at all! :( What a waste!
• Ukelele
• Just for show to looka little more cutesy and classy at the same time! I have a pink Ukelele which I gotten for one of my birthday presents from my brother but I still cant play it at all! Up for RENTAL as well for photoshoot purposes!
• Guitar
• Would be nice as props especially if the both or either one of you can play it, its really romantic! Or if 1 of you hold the guitar while the other holds a ukelele, it will be a really cute sight! I didnt bring my black beauty along as we had too many things to bring! My Black Beauty can be up for RENTAL as well if you would like to use it as props for photoshoot purposes.
• Sunhats & Sunglasses (depending on your outfit. I was wearing a short ballerina-like tootsie dress so I didnt use these for the shoot, but you can consider if you would be wearing something more casual!)
• Flowers - For us, our photographer brought along a bouquet of sunflowers so its really beautiful!)
• Balloons - A pity we didnt manage to get it for the day as we had too much on hand to manage!

 Muffin looking real cute and smart in his wedding suit!

 Selling the M Size of this Wedding suit! Brand New! Leave me a comment to find out more details or to deal! =)

 My pretty nails for the photoshoot! A MUST have!! =)

 

 

 

 My DIY decorated Picnic Basket! Up for RENTAL if anyone is interested feel free to drop me a comment or PM me! =)

 This is the disposable table mat which I used for the picnic mat! Looks alright and works well for me!

 

 

 My Hello Kitty Plate, 2tier Cake Tray and Thermal Water Bottle!

My PINK Ukelele which is also up for RENTAL if you are keen to use as prop for your photoshoot! Feel free to drop me a message or comment~

DIY Decor

DIY Decor/Props is really fun! Especially if you are doing it together with your loves ones. Shopping for materials together, drafting up designs and putting it into pieces together! It creates beautiful memories as well as build up the relationship and strengthen the bond and improve the tacit understanding of each other! Also everytime you look at it it brings back memories and meaning, rather than getting something off the rack! Here are some items we DIY together so far, and I am thinking to DIY some more items soon!


Solemnizer (if you are holding your solemnization ceremony outside of ROM)

Honestly this was something we totally overlooked! No one told us it would be difficult to find a solemnizer, so NOW I am telling all of you who are getting ready to be hitched, IT IS REALLY NOT EASY to find a solemnizer!! So do make sure to start finding for one and book him/her early, especially if your solemnization date is going to be a HOT & POPULAR DATE!!

Problems we encountered & Number of Solemnizer we contacted :

1. We initially wanted my fiance's parent's pastor to be our JP. His mom had already spoken to him and given him the consent form to sign and arrange a day to meet us. But alas it seemed he was too busy and didnt revert back to us, and his mom later found out that usually he would be occupied on Tuesdays which was suppose to be our chosen solemnization date. And so his mom suggested we look for another solemnizer just in case her pastor is really too busy for us.
2. His mom then gave us a contact of a solemnizer that solemnize one of her friend's recent wedding. But alas we contacted him and he was fully booked for the day and couldnt solemnize our big day.
3. I then remember seeing a friend's recent solemnization ceremony and commented that his solemnizer seems nice fun and friendly and so I asked him for his contact. Tried contacting him only to realize he had changed hp number but the person using the number is kind enough to provide us with his new number. Contacted him and he is also fully booked for the day.
4. I then got really worried and desperate as I dont wish to change the date since both of us like that date and we had already booked the venue for our ceremony. And so, i posted on facebook asking for recommendations. Thankfully, I gotten quite a fair bit of response from my kind & helpful friends! Contacted the 1st lady JP, but she is not available on weekdays as she has a full time job and only does it on weekends.
5. Contacted the 5th solemnizer, but he was booked during that particular time slot we wanted. We contemplated about changing out time to suit the JP's timing. But alas I decided it would be better if I look for another JP who can suit our timing. Reason being, we wanted it to be held at 11.30am, so by 12pm or latest 12.30pm the ceremony and main bulk of phototaking would be done before we proceed for a lunch buffet together at the same hotel restaurant. IF we change the timing to start at 1.15pm, it would mean the ceremony and phototaking will probably end at 2pm. AND the restaurant LUNCH buffet ends at 2.30pm. Thus we might need to get everyone to head over to another location for lunch since the hotel restaurant does not have Hi-Tea, and it would be really troublesome for our family and friends, especially those who dont drive, and specially take leave to witness our special day with us. I just dont think it is a very good idea, and so we decided to drop this solemnizer.
6. The 6th solemnizer seemed pretty weird. Called him but he said he was driving and told us to drop him an SMS. Asked if he was available for the day at the time slot, and his reply was pretty epic. "Its Ok, Thanks" Erm.....so does it mean he can make it? or saying that he cant make it? I really couldnt comprehend. And so I decided to reply "Oh Great Thanks! When would you be free to meet up to sign the consent form?" Well I was thinking if he couldnt make it, he would reply so, or if he meant that he can, he would reply me with a date to meet. But alas we waited for quite long but no reply from him. And so I decided to hunt for yet another solemnizer just in case! And after I finally found my solemnizer, I smsed him to tell him that I had found another solemnizer and thanks anyway, and thats when he FINALLY replied saying "Ok thats good, congrats to you and your partner" -.-"
7. A friend of mine gave me a home/office number and a email address of a JP. But as it was pretty late at night, I guessed it wasnt nice to be calling a house number and if it is a office number surely there wont be anyone picking up. So I tried emailing the solemnizer. AND THANK GOD!!! FINALLY!!! A positive reply the next day!!! The solemnizer replied that he is available and immediately gave us his license no. for us to File the Notice of Marriage in the ROM website. And we subsequently arranged for a day to meet up to sign the consent form before our appointment with ROM.

So you see, only after 7 tries that we finally manage to secure a solemnizer that is recommended to be good and trustworthy. So dont even think about doing this last minute! Make sure to do it at least 2-3 months before your chosen solemnization date especially if it is a hot and popular date!!


Filing Notice of Marriage

• Visit this website www.rom.gov.sg
• Make sure you file for notice at least 21days before your actual chosen date! and you can only file for notice starting 3 months before your actual chosen date!
• Prepare both your personal details (NRIC, BirthDate, Telephone, Address), 2 Witness, NRIC and Fullname, Actual Date, Venue (Either within ROM or outside of ROM), Solemnizer's license number and full name!
• Make a payment of $26
• Get a acknowledgement of successful filing with an appointment date
• Go down to ROM on appointment date and bring along both your NRIC original, 2 Witness NRIC photocopy, Letter of Consent from Solemnizer
• Collect certificate of marriage!

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

Journey of Our Wedding Preparations Part 1
- Choosing the Dates
- Preparing the Guestlist
- Choosing Our SolemnizationVenue
- Choosing Wedding Banquet Venue
- Choosing Bridal Studio

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

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