Getting Weddy: Choosing Our Location for the Solemnization

Pardon the hiatus, but it's time we continued thinking about location, location, location! This time for the solemnization (holy matrimony) part of the wedding!

 

We're both Catholic so that narrowed our options down a lot. We couldn't hold it at Risen Christ (where we both attend Sunday Mass) because the Saturday Novena services were going to be held there for 2 years from this October, so we had to expand our search!

Here was our criteria for choosing the church:

1. Had to be easily accessible from our homes in Braddell/Toa Payoh.
2. Non-air conditioned church is ok, but we would like to have an air conditioned reception area at least.
3. The venue had to accomodate at least 200 guests
4. Since we're not doing any pre-wedding photography, we want to schedule a short session for photo taking after service. So the venue has to be pretty!

And we narrowed our options down to 2 churches!


Church of the Holy Spirit, Thomson

COST

• Chapel - $200
• Canteen - $400
• Total Cost - $600

MASS TIMES

• 930am, 1130am

 PROS

• Extremely close to both our homes.
• Air conditioning both in the chapel and canteen.

CONS

• We wouldn't be allowed to use the main church - just the chapel, so space might be an issue for the nuptials.
• Not many places for photos.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hougang

COST

• Church - $200
• Canteen - $350
• AV Projection - $50
• Powerpoint - $20
• Total Cost - $620

MASS TIMES

• 9am, 11am, 1pm

PROS

• I mean, it's gorg.
  
• My family has a lot of history with this church. Marriages, baptisms and even funerals.
• Definitely enough room to accomodate a larger number of guests.

CONS

• The church is non-air conditioned, but the canteen area is.

Okay so I guess it's pretty obvious which one we went for...

NATIVITY CHURCH!

No, we didn't already get married. This is the Nativity marriage renewal mass. Check out the album here.

It's gorgeous ... I mean the vaulted ceilings, spanish tiles and antique wood pews are e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Added bonus is that it makes my grandmother so happy that we're doing the nuptials here - she used to attend mass here as a little girl!

Now to think of what I'm gonna wear down the aisle and how I'm going to decorate the church!

The possibilities are endless!

xx,
Miss D.

Getting Weddy: Choosing Our Location for the Dinner Reception (Part 2)

It's so unreal that the wedding going to be in 4 months!

Kristen, I hear ya grrrl

(Brace yourselves. It's gonna be a long ass post)

SO. In part I we covered ALL locations that we considered, shortlisting to 3 possible venues. We decided to meet with the event executives from these venues not just to look at the venues but also to see the actual vibes of the place - do lots of random people walk past? is there a lot of noise from the road?, and also to see if we could "gel" with the events executives.

I have to say that all the events people we met with were super nice and accommodating and bothered to stay late after work to meet us, because we both have 9-6 jobs and couldn't schedule meetings during working hours.

ok so here goes!

Option #1: Nosh, Rochester Park

Katrina + Isaac via Samuel Goh

Joanne + Joseph via Ivan Tan

CAPACITY

• 220pax across the entire venue
• 150pax for the greenhouse alfresco area (pictured)

COST

• Minimum spend $15,000++
• Buffet menus from $60++ per pax, (we were looking at the menu for $80++ per pax which includes 3 appetizers, 4 mains, 3 sides and 2 desserts)
• Set menus start from $65++ per pax
• Free flow beverages start from $15++ per pax, and alcoholic free flow beverages start from $55++ per pax

AMBIANCE

• Super dreamy and makes for beautiful photos
• They're open to DIY-ing your decor, if not they have a recommended vendor for you to work with

FOOD

• Fairly exciting menu
• They can do dessert tables if you're interested because the selection on their recommended menu isn't that extensive

 

PROS

• Wonderful venue with ample space to do what we want
• They're very experienced with weddings and private events
• Food sounds good
• We'd be able to work with their bartender to customize his/her cocktails for the event
• Within budget

CONS

• Alfresco dining is beautiful but not very practical in the May heat
• No handicap access for elderly guests
• 2 bathrooms for the whole venue
• Can't customise the menu with food options from their regular menu

 Option 2: HOUSE, Dempsey Hill

yes I know my photos are mortifyingly bad

via the HOUSE facebook page

CAPACITY

• 150pax seated (although the ideal party size would be 120pax)
• 300pax standing

COST

• Minimum spend $20,000++
• Buffet menus from $48++ per pax, (we were looking at the menu for $68++ per pax)
• Free flow beverages start from $10++ per pax for 3h, and alcoholic free flow beverages start from $54++ per pax for 3h

AMBIENCE

• Very casual and hipster
• They're open to DIY-ing your decor

FOOD

• Great looking menu
• You can add on items from the regular menu at additional costs and as long as the item is buffet-friendly

 

PROS

• Venue vibes are very casual and very "us"
• Food is really good
• They're open to us having a "french fry bar" and adding their beef sliders which are super good
• We had super good chemistry with the event executive
• Air conditioning with an alfresco deck which we can use for cocktails
• 2 private dining rooms we can use for changing/makeup
• Ample and spacious bathrooms

CONS

• Space may be a little tight with our number of guests and a dance floor
• The space at the back of the restaurant would be the dance floor is a little separated from the dining area
• No handicap access
• We'd have to add on a lot of unnecessary extras to hit the minimum spend, which would leave us with less room to bring in external vendors for some things if we want

Option 3: Food for Thought, Singapore Botanic Gardens

hm + jy via Ivan Tan

Kenneth + Karen via Wedley

CAPACITY

• 180pax seated

COST

• Minimum spend $10,000
• Buffet menu is $70 nett per pax including iced lime tea and hot brewed coffee/tea
• You can pre-order soft drinks and alcoholic drinks (beer & wine only) from them, if not you can bring in your own and pay for corkage

AMBIANCE

• Very casual and hipster
• They're open to DIY-ing your decor, if not they have a recommended vendor for you to work with (in fact they have an extensive list of external vendors you can take advantage of)

FOOD

• Great looking menu
• You can add on or exchange items from the event OR regular menus, as long as they're buffet-friendly

 

PROS

• Venue vibes are very casual and very "us"
• Huge (okay huge in relation to the other venues we looked at) venue
• Food is good
• They've got the option for a buger bar at an additional price per pax (we love burgers!)
• Air conditioned
• Ample toilets
• Handicap access
• Minimum spend is low, which gives us a lot of room to add on fun extras (um, hello, ice cream cookie sandwiches???)

CONS

• The outdoor grill will still be open to public, and the bathrooms are common
• Venue is open till 9pm, and to extend to 11pm there's a charge of $300 per hour
• A lot of work and time and money will go into decor for the space since it's so massive
• Bringing in drinks from outside vendors because the available options aren't suuuuper great

And we decided on... (Are you ready for that drumroll again??)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

via singaporebrides

It was really a toughie deciding on the venue, I tell ya.

HOUSE was our favourite because of the food, and because Dempsey is where we had our first date. We weren't too keen on FFT because the menu they proposed at first was a little "meh-looking". When we found out that neither nosh nor HOUSE had handicap access, we decided to be more open and went to meet with FFT anyway, and WHAT A GOOD DECISION THAT WAS!

It turned out that we could customise the buffet menu with virtually ANYTHING from their menus (the menu they proposed was meh but their regular menu is awesome btw). The grill being opened was easily solved by putting up long streamer curtains (um, hello, photobooth backdrop). And they're willing to let us come in on a weekday to put some of the decor up!

One of the most important factors of all is that he asked me to be his girlfriend at the botanics so everything kind of worked out!

Okay but now everything's decided, it's time to get realz and start DIY-ing my life (and weekends) away.. FUN TIMES! (no I mean it)

xx,
Miss D.

Getting Weddy: Choosing Our Location for the Dinner Reception (Part 1)

So before we got down to deciding on party size, etc, we looked at a couple of venues to see what options were available. No point planning a party size of 200 only to find out the venues you liked can't accomodate it.

We did some reseach (and by research I mean out of 2h on the internet, I spend 1.5h on pinterest and maybe 30mins on google) and had a long long long list of restaurants. From the list, we shortened the list to 13 based on super simple criteria.

So our criteria for the dinner location is:

1. Food has to be good - we'd prefer restaurants vs hotel banquets
2. Our budget for food only is $20,000, including any external vendors we'd like to bring in
3. There has to be room for a dancefloor and photobooth
4. It has to be pretty! 

 Then we emailed and/or called these locations (I've included some basic information if it was made available to us during our preliminary search):

1. The Chapel @ Sculpture Square, Middle Road

sagg

Cost: $1,800 for the venue from 3-11pm. Food must be catered separately.

Capacity: 60pax comfortably with a dacefloor

Notes: Sculpture Square is now defunct so I'm not sure what's going to happen to the venue. It was my dream venue for the longest time, though.

Overall: Well, obviously not. haha

2. 22 Dempsey, Dempsey Hill

22 Dempsey

no information for this venue

Notes: There's a tender open for this venue, so I'm not sure if they're going to retain the place. Why all my venues like that ah. Anyway this restaurant used to be Oosh! and it's where we had our first date!

Overall: Since they can't confirm whether they're retaining the space until next February and the wedding is in May, we'll have to say no.

3. HOUSE, Dempsey Hill

via the HOUSE facebook page

Cost: $20,000++ minimum spend

Capacity: 120pax seated, 300pax standing

Notes: Food here is really good - brought Daryl here for his birthday!

Overall: Favourite option so far!

4. The White Rabbit, Dempsey Hill

Julien + Theora via theweddingscoop

Cost: $25,000++ minimum spend

Capacity: 120pax seated indoors, 60pax outdoors

Notes: Lots of people do their wedding here so I guess they must be quite adept at handling weddings!

Overall: The minimum spend is over budget, and too many people have had their weddings here so we'd rather not anyway.

5. Burkill Hall, Singapore Botanic Gardens

Dinesh + Janani via theweddingscoop

Cost: $4495 for the venue from 1-10pm. Food must be catered separately.

Capacity: 80pax on Level 1, 100pax on Level 2

Notes: Only classical or light music is allowed and dancing is "discouraged".

Overall: No dancing??? nuuuuup.

 6. Halia, Singapore Botanic Gardens

journalisticmoments

Cost: From $108+ per person for food only

Capacity: 200 people for the entire venue. Any less and you may not get the entire venue.

Notes: The events executive is super nice. If your party size can't fit into 1 dining area, they'll separate your guests into 2 dining areas. I've not eaten at the SBG branch, but the food at Halia Raffles Hotel was really good!

Overall: Not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no.

7. Food For Thought, Singapore Botanic Gardens

Kenneth + Karen via Wedley

Cost: $10,000 minimum spend, from $70 nett per person

Capacity: 180pax

Notes: The outdoor grill must remain open to public - a regulation from NParks.

Overall: Menu doesn't look suuuper interesting but it's not too shabby overall!

8. Boathouse, Fullerton Road

Beven + Jennie via theweddingscoop

Cost: $16,000++ minimum spend for both indoor and outdoor areas (or $8000++ each), and $3000 for use of the patio area. Buffet at $98++ per pax.

Capacity: 60pax indoors, 150pax outdoors

Notes: The food looks amazing if you like French food (which Daryl, sadly, doesn't)

Overall: No, parce que c'est français (I would've looked into it further if not for that haha)

9. Da Paolo BistroBar, Rochester

jeraldinephneah

check out their wedding brochure here

Capacity: The total capacity is 199pax but they're all separated into different areas

Notes: I've heard rave reviews of da paolo weddings from my colleagues and food at da paolo itself is pretty good!

Overall: Not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no again.

10. Nosh, Rochester

Katrina + Isaac via Samuel Goh

 Cost: $15,000++ minimum. Buffet from $60++ per pax, set menu from $65++ per pax.

Capacity: 220pax for entire venue and 150pax for the alfresco area

Notes: The food looks good enough but the venue is goooorrrggggg.

Overall: Definitely will consider this for the sake of photos! I am superficial and proud of it.

11. Spruce, Phoenix Park

chope

no information for this venue

Notes: the menu looks pretty good!

Overall: Location a bit out of the way and there are prettier venues on our list... So we'll say no.

12. Shangri-La Hotel, Azalea Room

mysolitairewedding

 Cost: $1,588++ per table, minimum 150 guests

Capacity: 150pax minimum, 200pax maximum

Notes: The food fairly okay. I actually contacted the Shang with the garden terrace in mind but they proposed... this.

Overall: Noope.

13. Masons, Gillman Barracks

Lu + Kat via theweddingscoop

 Cost: From $8,000++ per 50 guests

Capacity: 120pax seated, 150pax standing, separated into indoor and alfresco areas

Notes: The menu looks suuuuuuuper amaziiinnngggg.

Overall: Sadly, it's a bit too out of the way and, again, we're not too keen on separating guests so we'll have to say no yet again.

And there you have it. One dozen PLUS ONE (lol wedding pun) venues that we (or I) considered.

Don Draper is my spirit animal right now

It was actually REALLY DIFFICULT to find and shortlist venues that suited our party size, budget, and food preferences. Some venues were too big, some too small, some took FOREVER to answer my emails, some of the locations were too out of the way...

But we've finally decided to shortlist

HOUSE, nosh & Food for Thought

And based on this, we're going to work on a party size of about 120pax.

I'll do a more detailed post about our 3 shortlisted venues soon!

xx,

Miss D.

Getting Weddy : DIY Wedding Binder

I don't know about anyone else, but I find it easier to plan and remember things when I physically write them down vs making a note on my smartphone or laptop. With the initial stages of wedding planning taking on a life of their own, I really needed to put all my notes and ideas in a binder.

In Singapore, wedding binders aren't super easy to find. More than that, I couldn't find a binder that was very me. Most binders I found online were very white and feminine, and the closest I came was the wedding binder from Kikki.k which was also white and a tad... boring. (also it was S$50)

your binder is boring and you should feel bad

I also don't really like that a lot of binders come with "useful tips". Most binders weren't made specifically for Singapore (or basically anywhere outside the US or Australia) so a lot of things were unnecessary or irrelevant. Also, I'm gonna plan my own wedding my own way! No outside interference!

So what's this bride-with-a-design-background to do?

I made one myself!

The cost? S$40!
Binder - S$27.50 on sale for S$13.75 at Prints
Plastic Pockets - $1.40 from Popular
Plastic Dividers - $6 from Prints
Kraft Paper - $4 from Art Friend (Pack of 50 sheets)
Ivory Paper - $5 from Art Friend (Pack of 50 sheets)
Stickers - $6.12 from Popular ($1.53 per pack)

Okay okay so it's almost the same price as one from kikki.k but here's a super budget version if you're interested:

Binder - $2 from Daiso
Plastic Pockets - $1 from Popular
Paper Dividers - $1.17 from Popular
Construction Paper - $3.20 from Popular (Pack of 50 sheets)
Stickers - $6.12 from Popular (ok this is pretty much as cheap as you're gonna get)
So for a real budget binder, you're looking at under $20!

Then there's miscellaneous stuff like pens and tape and glue but I have those sitting around the house anyway.

And here's the end result!

#hdbcorridorbackground

Looks pretty good if I may say so myself. I really love the combination of the kraft paper and ivory paper against my red dividers and navy binder. And I love that it's super no frills - no ad placements, no unnecessary sections I'll never use, and my freedom to expand and decrease what's in my binder whenever I choose!

And in case you haven't figured it out, this is my wedding colour theme! It was pretty clear from the get-go. No deliberation and long thought process required haha.

In total, my first round of printing was 50 pages, but since I printed on both sides, I used 25 sheets of paper!

I'm gonna post a link for a free printable download of the binder soon so errbody can plan they weddin'!

xx,
Miss D.

Getting Weddy : The Proposal in Tokyo

It was a cool Friday morning in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The 9th of May 2014, exactly 5 years since he asked me officially if I'd be his girlfriend - I said yes. I knew he was going to do something special today. I didn't know what, where or how. But I knew. The air was buzzing with a quiet anticipation; a quiet knowing.

One of the first things he did was whip out a sticker book of my favourite Japanese cartoon as an early morning "anniversary gift". It doesn't sound like much, but I loved it!

We took a train to Shimokitazawa, a hip neighbourhood in Tokyo to explore - starting with brunch!They were playing classical music over a speaker system as we milled around the streets deciding on where we should settle down . Incredibly magical. Eventually, though, we walked over to the south side (the more "hipster" side) and had a glorious pancake brunch at JS Pancake Cafe.

Halfway through brunch, he whips out a scrapbook with 60 photos - for the 60 months of official couplehood, ending off with a cute note - I was blissfully unaware that first alphabet of every first line spelt "WILL YOU MARRY ME".

We then walked leisurely around, soaking in the artsy, chill vibes of the place and stumbled upon a cute record store with records from as early as the 1920s. It was a real hole-in-the-wall, and I got myself a 1920s foxtrot record.

Outside, dark clouds were looming and winds were getting pretty strong.

Not long after leaving our second record store, the rain pelted down.

There weren't many places we could take shelter in, and we weren't nearly hungry enough for a second meal.Our only option was to run into a game station and wait out the rain. The only problem was, the game stations were pretty small and there was only so much we could do at each one before there wasn't anything left to do.

The rain wasn't too heavy anymore, so we began darting from one game station to the next in this tiny alley littered with vending machines. Eventually, we arrived at a 3-storey game station - arcade games abound!

We were just walking around the arcade, looking for games to play and things to do when we decided to go for Purikura on the 3rd floor! It was a pretty intense place -Japanese girls seem to take their Purikura pretty seriously. There were lit mirrors lining an entire wall, hair dryers, curling irons, and a couple of Japanese girls unabashedly doing hair and makeup before taking their photos.

We randomly decided on a machine and went in! The first machine was pretty insane. They had a software to automatically enlarge your eyes and we both looked kinda extraterrestrial-y in the photos. But we weren't going to allow our Purikura experience be tainted by just one machine! We figured that the older machines probably would make us look more "normal" and went ahead for another round!

It was great, our skin looked great (as it always does with Purikura. those machines are magic), a high-pitched Japanese voice squealing instructions at you...

When suddenly...

He gets down on one knee, whips out a white glossy box and opens it to reveal the ring I'd been fantasising about for months. He customised the colour and added a couple more diamonds to make it really, truly the ring of my dreams.

"KJ, will you marry me?"

There was no hesitation and no second thoughts. As cliche as it may be, I said yes!

"Will you go on fun adventures with me the rest of our lives?"

"Of course!"

So in a swirl of lights, green screen, and Japanese frenzy, we got engaged!

It was everything I wanted it to be - I gave him a whole bunch of conditions before the proposal. I didn't want it to be a public spectacle (definitely no flash mobs), I wanted it to be fun, and I didn't want it to be overly mushy.

I couldn't be happier to be planning my wedding with my nutcase fiance, and whether it's quirky and fun like mine, public and loud, or mushy and teary, I hope every girl finds the right man to propose to them in a way they've always wanted.

Or even that some girls propose to the right men in a way they've always wanted, too ;)

xx,
Miss D.