My Dream Garden

After a month of research and browsing, here are the list of hotel banquets which has been shortlisted. The wedding theme I currently have in mind in a Garden Theme.. It is really difficult to tell which is a better pick until we really recee the place to have a look and feel of the ambiance. Anyway, each of these selection has their own specialty and uniqueness which stood them out from others, besides cost (^o^)

1. Mandarin Oriental

Have heard about friends and relatives raving about this hotel since it was renovated in 2004. A quick step into the hotel last week also gave us a very good impression of the lobby setting. What is most attractive is their 4 new themes. I particularly like the garden theme where the whole ballroom is decorated into a huge fan-shaped garden! Birdcages, twigs and sunflowers.. its like a walk in a park! Natural and surreal feeling, nothing exaggerated!

2. Conrad Centennial

Love their magnificent foyer reception in front of the Grand Ballroom and the long titanic winding stairway at the lobby leading up to the ballroom! The most fairy tale march in we can ever ask for! Although I have only been there once for a wedding in 2006, it still left a deep impression in my mind until now. It was the only shortlisted banquet which has tables for 12 which may pose a problem as we do not have so many guests to fill their minimum 30 table criteria.

3. Carlton Hotel

Not the 6-star Ritz Carlton, but Carlton Hotel at Bras Basah Road. According to my sis, this hotel's Wah Lok Restaurant serves the best Cantonese Cuisine in town. This alone is attractive enough to draw me in as delectable food is my top priority. Too bad we can only have food tasting after confirmation for the banquet.

4. Swissotel Merchant Court

Colonial feel never fails to mesmerise me. Although my top colonial choices: Goodwood Park and Hotel Intercontinental falls out of our budget, Merchant Court will be a good substitute. The reception area is also spacious and wide, and can be conveniently decorated to the graden theme.

5. Restaurants

Imagining converting all the perks that hotels offer to wedding couples, such as bridal suite, favours, vouchers into better food quality... that is what restaurants can offer. For the same amount of money, restaurant food will be of superior quality in the expense of ambiance. That will be a very selfless way to hold weddings as the guests will get a better value for "Ang-Bao".

Most importantly, a wedding banquet must elude genuinity and sincerity regardless of the venue. In 2005, I attended a really warm and lovely wedding at Peony Jade Restaurant (above) at Clarke Quay which has such strong oriental and overwhelming homely feel that I wanted to have mine there!

On the contrary, I once attended a wedding at a 6-star hotel, which was at one glance, an extraordinary expensive affair. Rolls Royce bridal car, all night Mediterranean live band, and 4 changes of bridal gowns! Everything was gold plated and glittery but to me, it was over-commercialised, emotionless and bland. The whole night, I was left feeling with a lack of warmth and love that a wedding banquet should have.

That, in my opinion, loses all its appeal as compared to a simple restaurant wedding =)

Its Too Stiff

This is how my neck bones look like under X ray, after a car collision on Thursday. Stiff as a bamboo, the doctor at Mt Alvernia said.

It was a freak car incident at NYP compound on Thursday, when a car hit my dad's cab shortly after I removed my seat belt. It was less than 50m from my destination and both cars are already travelling at snail speed!

The slight collision actually threw my body in all directions as my instincts told me to hold on to the seat in front of me to prevent further vibrations. Nevertheless, the impact was too big on my neck such that it felt sprained and twisted after I went home the same night. It hurt my left arm as well as it knocked hard on the car door.

As all kinds of injuries / medical conditions post accident are claimable, the agent brought me to Mt Alvernia to get my neck checked on Friday evening. By then, my central neck bone and nerves were so painful that I can hardly turn 90 degrees to my right. My neck was swollen and stiff.

Luckily there were no complications, as the X ray films showed. But a normal neck is C shape, as suggested by the doctor. And mine, is as straight as a bamboo, which seems to imply to me that I need to resume my new massage package at Kenko Wellness Spa. Heh.

Muffin Tops

I need to get rid of my muffin tops!!!

Of course, the picture below is not me, but due to months of sloth, my muffin tops are growing. I can still remember a year ago, I follow a strict regime to ensure my figure is kept in check:

1) Stand and walk for at least 30 min after every meal
2) Never sleep less than an hour after a meal
3) 30-50 upper and lower abdomen crunches every morning
4) Dumbell (2 kg) training twice a week
5) Bedtime stretched to tone side abdomen muscles

But I no longer do that now. Where has the health and exercise freak Lilian gone to? Nevertheless, in order to ensure I get the best figure for my bridal PS at the end of this year, I am giving myself 3 months to resume the above. Moreover, the bridal pictures are going to last me a lifetime.

The stakes are way too high to be lazy.

Hunt for BS - Part II

The search is over.

It was amazing how we did this. It was a long and gruelling 4-hour discussion, which started from 9pm last night. And we finally signed on the dotted line at 1am +.

And I am now an official Sophia BTB!

Sophia Wedding Collection was my sister's BS 6 years ago. And that was also how long I have heard of their gorgeous gowns and excellent customer service. But it was coincidence that we dropped by the shop last night, after being utterly disappointed with the hard selling techniques seen at Suntec Wedding Festival the same evening. We did not plan to sign any plan so early, but I guess their whole service and persuasion from Sophia Wedding moved us to bits =)

Anyways, let start off with their gowns from "Latest Collection". It is heavenly! And it is an understatement as their OTR gowns look so classy and gorgeous that it will make you feel and look like a queen. The enormous amount of embroidery, crystals and french laces are unlike what was seen in other BS. Served by Ms Lynn the designer, she is such as a pro in describing and explaining the cut and design of each gown that we wowed with excitement as she brought pieces after pieces off the racks for our salivation. How I wished I could take photographs of the gowns!

We then asked to see the "Non-Latest Collection" gowns. I would say they look pretty good too. But the package comes with a classic album which does not include any digital design nor hot pressed seams. We were then shown the digital albums by the inhouse photography Mr Shawn and photography styles of at least 5 other couples, before we settled down to discuss further on the details of the package.

As it grows deeper into the night at 11pm, we were served by Ms Ann the consultant, who also happens to be the consultant for Tianyou and Ziyi. She was so friendly and accommodating to our needs and budget. Even though she was having a mild flu, but she was still very patient with our long list of enquires. (Luckily I bought the Bridal checklist together with me and we have the lap top with use to check online!)

After another hour of long discussion with Desmond on what the priorities in the package are, we managed to prepare for the most important task. NEGOTIATIONS! For more freebies, bargains and discounts!! By that time, my eyes were already red and dry and very very tired, so Desmond did a good job on the negotiation part single-handed. Also we are the only couple left in the shop, and the consultants are anxious to go home, so I thought it was the best time to negotiate for the best deals. Here is finally what we will be getting from their OTR package!

1. Actual Wedding Day
Wedding Gown - 1 set OTR (Latest Collection)
Evening Gown - 1 set OTR (Latest Collection)
Tea Dress (Cheong Sum) or KUA - 1 set OTR
Accessories for the Gown - 1 set
Gent's Suits - 2 sets OTR
Father's jackets - 2 sets OTR
Bridal Makeup & Hairdo (Morning and Evening)
Bridal Hand Bouquet (Fresh Flowers) and 6 Corsages
Bridal Car Decoration with Netting and Artificial Flowers
Decoration for following cars with ribbons (unlimited)

2. ROM package
ROM dress - 1 set OTR
ROM Makeup & Hairdo
Hand Bouquet (Fresh Flowers)
Accessories for dress - 1 set
Gent's Suit - 1 set OTR

3. Photography Session
Bridal Gown - 4 sets (Can be different from the 2 sets above)
Accessories for the Gown - 1 set
Bridal Makeup and Hairdo including fake eyelashes and wig - 4 changes
Artificial flowers for Hairdo
Gent's suit - 2 sets
Gent's makeup and hairstyling
Indoor and Outdoor Photography - Unlimited locations
4. Momentos to Keep
50 poses with Digital Album and Hot pressed seam (15' x 24') - 20 pages
50 poses with CD JPEG format (Duplicate of above)
24' x 30' Canvas Portrait - 1 piece with frame
8R Table top - 1 piece with frame
4R photos - 24pcs OR Thank You :Photo cards - 200 pcs with 2 poses
4R photos in mini album - 20pcs
Wedding Night Signature Book - 1 set
8R Anniversary Photo shot - 1 piece/ year

We wanted to bargained for more poses, but was unable to do so. I believed that 60 poses will be the perfect quantity to fit into the storybook album, but I guess we can still make do with 50. And yes! They are giving us 24 pcs of 4R loose photos, which I can then make them into my beautiful beautiful wedding scrapbooks!

I was especially fascinated at how they were able to throw in the ROM package for me as well. Now I am thinking whether to have the ROM on separate days in other to make use of this special offer. And there will be Cheong Sum for the tea ceremony! Excited!

Since we still have a long way to AD, we decided to make the PS early, likely to be late Sept this year during my 2 month semester break. This will mean that we will be choosing the gowns around June/July during my 2 week term break. And because I am taking my PS a year before AD, they will allow me to choose two fresh AD gowns, instead of the gowns I wore for the PS! Amazing deal! All in all, this means that pre-wedding bridal work will be completed by early 2010, giving us another 6 months to prepare for other stuffs for AD in Sept 2010.

The hunt for BS has ended, but happiness has just begun!

Hunt for Bridal Studio (BS) - Part I

It was 5th day of CNY and we decided to visit LaBelle Couture to take a look at their wedding collection and packages =)

We have shortlisted a number of bridal shops based on friend's recommendations and forum ratings. To date, the shortlisted BS are Sophia Wedding Collection, The Wedding Present, My Bridal Room, Golden Horse Awards, Divine Couture and La Belle Couture. Good reviews from forum and beautiful gown designs featured in magazines were the main reasons why we approached this bridal shop first at Tanjong Pagar. Anyway many of the bridal shops were not opened yet after CNY, and the consultant at the door impressed me with his politeness, well-mannered and non-pushy nature. An recent award winning evening gown displayed at the shop helped too =)

And what can I say! Its great fun and excitement shopping for WG! The experienced image consultant Kath left a strong impression in my mind as she has an eye for details, by just one look at our faces and figures. She was already able to suggest gown types, colours, makeup and types of hairdos which will compliment each other's look =D. Also, we like the simple and classy styles of their photography. Their package price for OTR gowns also fits and meets our humble budget!

What was originally planned to be a 10min enquiry on package prices, turned out to be more than an hour's cosy discussion at the shop. I must admit that I took a strong liking to their WG which are predominantly simple and classy gowns with lots and lots of embroidery and laces. Nevertheless, we had absolutely no pressure to sign up the package. The frank and professional services provided by the staff was really impressive.

All in all... although it is still too early to talk about securing a package, it was a good and fun way to start our BS hunt!