It all started with the idea of having a solemnisation at the poolside...

We first visited Goodwood Park Hotel.


The poolside location was fairly nice (somehow it looked nicer in photos), but unfortunately the hotel only had a slot in the evening at 7pm. It would be all dark and kind of defeats the point of a poolside wedding..

We then visited Marriott Singapore, which had a pool also.


The hotel is located in the middle of Orchard, hence the pool has a nice view of the iconic buildings in Orchard (eg. ION, Tangs etc). We even made a tentative booking with the hotel! However a few days later, the hotel called again to say that all their (backup) function rooms are all not available and asked whether we want to consider another date. I was quite annoyed. If there were no rooms available, then maybe you shouldn't have let us make the booking. Kind of defeats the point of a booking right?

After searching for quite a bit on the net, we found that Changi Village Hotel has a pool and does weddings quite frequently there. The photos that we found on the net looked gorgeous too!


However when we visited the hotel itself, it was a big let down. The hotel had a crumbly and not-so-well maintained feel. The poolside while having a nice view, was unimpressive at best. It really is much smaller than it appeared in the photos. Another strike-out.

The internet searches revealed Grandcopthorne Waterfront Hotel as a possible venue for a outdoor wedding. This was what we found on the net:


Looks really nice right? But it looked so different in real life. The Singapore River that ran beside the outdoor promenade looks like a big longkang (drain). The promenade itself looked dirty and there was rubbish in the surrounding "moat". It was immediately crossed out of our list. On the other hand, the staff appeared to be quite experienced in handling weddings and the function rooms were quite nice.

We then discovered Crowne Plaza Hotel (Changi Airport Terminal 3)


This hotel had a rather chic and modern feel. We were quite impressed with the pool too! We both felt that we quite liked the place and thought it would be THE location. However, the function rooms are a bit unimpressive. Nevertheless, we made a tentative booking and thought we'll look around some more first..

We then visited Swissotel: Merchant Court.


This is a fairly popular location for solemnisation/weddings as well. However the function rooms are really disappointing. The back-up room shown to us felt claustrophobic, and if I daresay, ugly.

We then checked out Fullerton Hotel.. the hotel had really nice function rooms of differing sizes. This is the Boardroom:


And this is the Straits Room:


However due to availability and the size of our function, the rooms that were recommended to us seemed a little claustrophobic. We were also looking for more of a outdoor location..

After some more searching on the internet, looking at photos, videos and forums, we discovered Fullerton Bay Hotel.

The hotel was very new and was really really beautiful - from the Lobby, to the Bar, corridors and the rooms.. And they had a rooftop pool with a killer view of Marina Bay..


This was the place where we could have our solemnisation.

The rooms have absolutely beautiful views of Marina Bay and the Singapore Skyline as well..


We were thoroughly impressed by the magnificence of the place and immediately placed a tentative booking. However, the service and professionalism of the staff there let us down. We are not sure whether it is because the hotel is new and the staff are inexperienced with weddings and or they genuinely couldn't be bothered much with us, but our experience with them really left us feeling very uneasy. And uneasiness isn't a feeling you want to feel in the lead up to your wedding...

Prior to our first site visit, a floor/seating plan was sent to us. However during the visit itself, the staff attending to us was actually surprised that we need chairs. Yes. When we asked how will the tables and chairs be positioned, the reply we got was, "you need chairs?" We were quite taken aback. We thought maybe she is new and thought we will clarify with the lady who has been corresponding with us via email.

The reply we got from the email was basically "what floor plan?" (The plan was sent to us initially by another staff). We were then asked to forward the floor plan to her. Come'on. Do you guys even communicate with each other? If you don't have a floor plan, you should ask your colleague who sent it to us for it, rather than asking your customers for it right? I felt that was a bit unprofessional.

Throughout our exchange with the staff, we just felt that they lacked enthusiasm and seemed not very interested in our event. It was like we are just some side attraction they can do with or without. There were also a lot of restrictions, like prohibition of use of AV equipment. No way we are going shout our wedding vows over the din of the adjacent bar.. Very very reluctantly, we resumed our search..

At this point, we were getting kind of frustrated and tired.. We thought of just going back to Crowne Plaza. Then the search on the internet turned out Mandarin Oriental. We actually had considered this place for our actual wedding banquet, but somehow didn't think of it at all for ROM. Our reaction was "why didn't we think of it right from the start!"

It has a awesome rooftop pool:


And the indoor venue has a awesome view of Marina Bay as well:


Most of all, the staff were very professional and experienced at handling weddings. They were very helpful and replied our emails very promptly. Within 2 weeks, we made a deposit and confirmed our booking.

And so ends our long and arduous search for the perfect ROM location... Excited and looking forward to the actual day :)

To add a personal touch to our solemnization, we decided to make our own invitation cards :)

It was a nice process just like how i've always enjoyed working on things with Weixiang.

I must say that it was rather tedious from conceptualizing the design to choosing the right materials and finally completing the cards.

Here's starting with the first sketch.


We tried several combinations of paper textures and colours




We decided on white with a hint of shimmer as the background in the end.

Here's the prototype:


To me, the toughest was cutting these trees..



I quite enjoy sticking my hard work on pretty paper :)
First the trees...


Then the hearts, one at a time :)


We had a mini assembly line! Weixiang added the big hearts and i added the small ones with forceps :)


And before we knew it, we were done!



YAY!

I hope all those who received these will be able to share our joy :)

Continued from The Quest for The Ring

The Ring boarded the plane with me to New Zealand. Weeks prior, I have mulled over ideas for the proposal. I had decided it shall be a simple, intimate affair - no fireworks, explosions or large audiences. As we were planning for the trip, I mentally took note of possible locations and timings for proposal - sunrises, sunsets, under the stars, on top of glaciers, on a hot air balloon...

Potential Proposal Site 1 was Lake Matheson. We first went there in the afternoon of 1st Jan 2012. As we walked around the trail, I took note of the various places that I could propose. The photo below was taken from the "View of Views". I then suggested to return tomorrow morning for the sunrise, when we could take the famous photo of Mt Cook being reflected in the lake.


We then woke up at 4am the next day. Drove and trekked in the dark to reach the lake. But alas! I was thwarted by thick clouds which shrouded the sky. The sunrise ended up less than spectacular and there was no reflection in the lake. Our spirits were both dampened, and hence, the ring stayed inside the bag..


We took this photo to amuse ourselves while waiting for the sun to rise and the clouds to clear.


In the end, the mountains stayed hidden..

Potential Proposal Site 2 was Fox Glacier. We had previously booked a helihike trip to the top of Fox Glacier. It would be so beautiful proposing on a shiny white glacier isn't it? No. The weather had to destroy our plans again. The cloud cover was too heavy for the helicopter to take off and our trip was cancelled.


In the end we signed up for a half-day hike on foot instead.


The hike was tiring but fun. We were constantly on the move and there were lots of other people around, so the ring stayed in the bag once again...


I had half a mind to propose during this awesome sunset on the long drive from Fox Glacier to Queenstown, but the light was fading very fast and we were rushing to set up our photography equipment, so I let it pass..

Potential Proposal Site 3 - Queenstown. We went for the Luge ride on Bob's Peak in the afternoon of 3rd Jan 2012, and I shortlisted the location.


Bob's peak had a panoramic view of Queenstown and the adjacent Lake Wakatipu.


The Luge ride was fun too :)


You only had to pay for the ride at the top of the hill, so you could keep taking the gondola for free... which was what we did. Hahaha. I then suggested to return for the sunset...


The clouds started to shimmer with the golden colour of the evening light at about 8pm. There were a number of fellow photography enthusiasts there too.


Such a magical sunset right? I thought so too. So I asked dear to walk up with me to the top of the hill, where the start of the Luge ride was, to "get a better view". It was almost 10pm and the place was closing. The crowd was dwindling and the hill top was all but deserted. As she was setting up her tripod, I dug out The Ring from my bag and surprised her her behind...

"Will you marry me?"

And the rest is history.


There were many other Potential Proposal Sites which followed, but all were ruined by the weather.. Our observatory/star gazing trip was terminated by the rain and our hot-air balloon flight was cancelled twice due to "unfavorable weather conditions". I was lucky to have managed to propose successfully before the trip ended!