Saturday 29 August 2015

Our Big Day Part 2

Day 2
 
Next day, we woke up early for breakfast with his relatives, rushed back to Singapore to have our sweet mee suan with 2 eggs prepared by my mum. It was too sweet for my liking but J loves it :s
After that, we headed to MBS to check-in. Took a quick shower before heading down for a bite at the lounge before having my makeup done. We love our room- we were given the city view! Super romantic when night falls.. 
 
 
5pm was the tea ceremony session for my side and @ 6pm was our ROM. By the way, we DIY-ed the 'Just Married' Bunting, and J drew the 'Here Comes the Bride' signage plus the chalk board! :D Isn't it pretty? :)
 

Bought our rose-gold wedding bands from Sookee during a sale for less than S$2K. Feeling super nervous to say my vow in front of my relatives.- we wrote our own vows as requested by the JP, Mr Lim Tze Beng.  J memorized his vows and speeches but I didn't so I had to read off the paper haha. Made me feel like the bo-chup person :s

We are now Husband & Wife! ^^

After the ROM ceremony, we went to the banquet hall for our march-in practice, while looking around and admiring the works of Sing See Soon (SSS) and MBS, the pretty sparkly lights on the stage caught my eyes! And gosh was I surprise that the stage drape was decorated with fairy lights! I turned to J and asked why were there fairy lights when I told SSS that we do not want it anymore and he just gave a cheeky smile and asked me to focus on the trial-run. Haha yes it was his wedding gift to me!
 
You see the fairy lights go a long way back... I have always wanted a fairy light themed wedding from the start and have been driving myself nuts with all the Pinterest photos. Checked with SSS on their price but after much contemplation, I decided not to have it as I wanted to save the money for our renovation despite J's persuasion to go ahead with it. 
 
So he plotted the surprise by going through my email for our coordinator contact details at SSS's and informed our coordinator to go ahead with the fairy lights and on the wedding day, he went down to oversee the setting up of the stage decor. Felt so loved for his effort to give me the wedding that I dream of! XOXO! ^^
After our thank you speech, J surprised me again with a song- Frank Sinatra's Fly me to the moon! Haha this sneaky fellow! Think he was so stress over the wedding that he lost so much weight, poor thing! J, sorry for being a bridezilla (at times.. ;p)
The dinner ended at 10.30pm, we said our good byes, packed up before heading back to the suite to shower and FINALLY, dinner @ 1am! One word... STARVED!
 
Yay so happy, can finally pig-out after healthy diet for months.. 
We ordered room service- vongole, pan-seared salmon and 2 milkshakes! The food was great! Very flavourful yet not salty :)
We spent the next morning lazing around the room and spending time with the family. We were too exhausted and lazy to go for a dip so we just walked along the infinity pool to check out the view and hot babes (no hunks @ all) haha..
 
To end of the post on our wedding celebration, here are my reviews on the vendors & services hired:
Aisle Bridal
Coordinator: Jia Xuan
MUA: Yuki
1st Day's Photographer: Ah Kok
 
Ok here's the much awaited review on Aisle Bridal. Our experience with them was an emotionally draining one, it was like a rollercoaster ride. At first when we first signed and did our first fitting, they were so nice and patient and very prompt with the replies and call back. But after the pre-wedding shoot, things seem to have gone downhill which was super worrying especially for me.
 
When we wanted to make an appointment or clarify some matters, we have to call till the cows come home and each time we call, they will say the coordinator is busy and will give us a call back when she's done with the current task but the call never came even after a week or 2. And we had to call again & again till they finally call us back! Seriously frustrating especially when there's lots of things to see to when you are a bride. Anyone agree with me?
 
For the final fitting, it was quite upsetting! Despite making an appointment, we had to wait an hour for our turn. We rushed down from work and didn't have dinner and had to wait till 8pm to try and to make things worse, they got our measurements all messed up, had to keep trying and wait for the seamstress to adjust again & again. And we were done only at 10.30pm -.- our tiredness level was like sky high and was having gastric -.-
 
Looking at the brighter side, even though they do have limited gowns that I like, I'm glad I managed to find what I needed and I like them very much! :) And at least I didn't have such a bad experience compared to my poor friend (also an Aisle bride) - her photographer was late for a good 1 to 2 hours? and did a super lousy job with the photos...   
 
Yuki and Ah Kok neutralized much of the negative experiences with Aisle Bridal. Yuki's make up skill was really good, I just showed her some photos from Pinterest and she try to replicate it to suit me as much as possible and agreed to my request of having a natural look instead of the thick cakey sort of style. Ah Kok was awesome, he was very friendly and energetic, our guests love him. He checks every photo he takes to ensure nobody's blinking and no red eye - very meticulous. His photos are pretty classic but it's still very acceptable :D
 
Shyan Makeup Services
Shyan was my MUA for Johor's reception, she was very nice and chatty. I wasn't 100% convinced when I did the trial session with her because it was slightly too thick for my liking. But after giving some feedbacks to her, the make up was pretty good on the actual day and I love the hairstyle she did for me :)
 

Restoran Pekin
Oh gosh, J & I were so glad that the Malaysia wedding was over & done with because we had such a torturing time trying to liaise with them - they weren't prompt with replies nor follow-ups! And there was a hiccup on the actual day- the projector went haywire and couldn't play our videos well and the quality output was horrendous!
 
On a positive note, we had quite good feedback on the food! Even though we only managed to try the first 3 dishes, I must say the food was better than what we tasted during the random restaurant visit. And their decoration (other than the 2 teddy bear figurines at the VIP table) wasn't too bad after all.
 
MBS
Coordinator: Ms Aih Kim
Florist: Sing See Soon - Jing Yi
 
Immaculate service from MBS, which was honestly a pleasant surprise for us. After we signed with MBS, we read lots of negative reviews which got us very worried. After reading the reviews, we lowered our expectations and just went with the flow which might have contributed to our happiness too haha. Aih Kim was pretty patient with us and we do receive her reply on our enquiries pretty promptly (not longer than a week I think). Even though she isn't super smiley as what people might hope for, she remembered our request exactly and coordinated everything promptly and tried to meet our requests as much as possible. We do like her hahaha..
 
As for Sing See Soon, OMG what can I say! They made me so happy ^^
After so much contemplation between June florist and SSS, we decided with SSS and had no regrets! Jing Yi was in-charged of the MBS account and she's such a nice & patient lady. Ok, she wasn't prompt with the reply until nearer the date but MBS BTBs please be patient with her as I understand she's the only one whose coordinating all MBS wedding accounts.
 
Even though they do not have the dusty pink roses that I wanted, Jingyi tried her best to match my ideal colour theme which I very much appreciated. And the fairy lights done up by her technician was lovely! Flowers and fairy lights can really romanced up the venue ♥♥♥
 
And for the ground staff @ MBS, sorry I didn't get their names but they were so awesome - the servers to the banquet managers to the front desk personnels. They made the whole experience so VIP-ish. They do pay a lot of attention to J & I and made me less nervous about my march-ins and speeches :)
 
For a more objective perspective, we gathered and received many many delightful feedbacks from friends and relatives. They said the food was great and service was exceptional. They loved the decorations and thought the whole feel of the reception was very romantic and one of the best that they have been to! And yes, we ended promptly at 10.30pm, zero delays- very important for a Sunday wedding! ^^
 
Justice of Peace
Our JP was Mr Lim Tze Beng (as seen above). Once he confirmed his availability to solemnize our wedding, he requested for a meet-up to sign the confirmation letter and to brief us on the process which was awesome. During the meet-up, he told us the reason for him being a JP was the happiness he receive when he marry 2 people together and all and when asked if he requires any special arrangements such as valet parking and whatsoever, he said not to worry, anything that's convenient for us. And at that point of time, we felt we were lucky to get him as a JP. BUT....the shitty thing happened right after our ROM which I affected my mood greatly before the first march-in.
 
He texted me saying "Congratulations to both of you!! So happy for you. Hope that the token amount does not reflect your hubby displeasure about my service to both of you. I didn't mean to compel him to sing. Just wanted to make the ceremony more lively".
 
And we were like feeling WTH after reading his message. He's a solemnizer and he shouldn't be directly/indirectly saying that the angbao was too small or whatsoever. And we actually gave him based on a market price that we saw online -.-
 
J told him he only wanted to sing at the banquet instead which he was agreeable to but at the end he still sent us this text. Pfft such a mood spoiler! We didn't feedback to ROM but I would like BTBs to be careful of who they choose as their JP as it can be a real deal breaker. Arghhhh his face is in my video and photos -.- 
 
Videography: True Love Stories
Mr Benny Loy was our videographer, he's super nice and friendly. I forgot the exact amount we paid but its was around $2500 for 10 hours as we had to pay for the spilt day charge. For that price, we also received 3 DVD copies (enough to distribute to the parents and in-laws).
 
We were both very satisfied with the video output and would highly recommend him based on the following reasons:
+ Prompt with answering enquiries
+ Arrives earlier than the scheduled time
+ Very approachable & patient
+ Does a good job with the video editing
+ Fast! - Deliver the consolidated (morning highlights & banquet) video within 2 weeks
 
2nd Day Photographer: Glen Sin's Photography
Glen was prompt with his reply and always seemingly patient & calm. He was a vast different from our photographer on the first day. Glen was a man of few words, the whole night he silently walked around with his camera, helping us capture moments that we couldn't take in amidst the hosting. We both love his work (as above), a very different feel from Ah Kok's, but we have zero regret hiring him for his services. Thumbs up!
 
Thank you guys for reading all my wedding posts.
Will start to write about my renovation process soon, so do keep a look out :) 
 
XOXO,
PetiteFreckles ♥

Sunday 23 August 2015

Our Big Day Part 1

Finally had some time to complete the post on our big day ^^
 
Day 1
 
The night before I spent tossing and turning till it was time for me to get up @ 4am. Took a shower before Yuki (Singapore's MUA) arrives. Benny, the videographer arrived early too and started video-ing away.
J arrived in Singapore from Johor at 5.30am, a whole hour earlier than expected! So he and groomsmen went to McD to have their breakfast while it was a mad rush at my place haha..
 
While I was doing my makeup, the girls were preparing the gatecrash games with my mum and aunties busy preparing the food for relatives and my Teochew breakfast.
 
Feeling super nervous while trying to practice my thank you speech in Chinese for that night's dinner in Johor! -.-

Ta-dah! My specially made floral bouquet from Fiorella! Isn't it pretty? :D  
P.S. Quote petitefreckles for a 10% off your purchase with Fiorella ^^

Done with my makeup! Love how Yuki always does my hairstyle and makeup. She's the same MUA for my pre-wedding shoot. All my guests and family members love her work :D
And yes, a compulsory selfie while waiting for the groom to enter :P
The prompt arrival of my groom! He looked so awkward in front of the camera haha.
Games played:
 
 1. 酸甜苦辣 welcome drink
2. Guess which lipstick mark belongs to me 
Forfeit for not guessing correctly: Form the word YOGA with their body
3. Blindfold makeup session
4. Write a song in 1 minute and sing it out loud

Done with the not-so-torturing games! Didn't want him to perspire @ all thus the easy-peasy games, not because I heartache for him haha..
 
Ah Kok, the photographer was so hilarious, he made us do lots of silly old school/cliche poses haha..
Making good time, we headed for Johor. Took less than 2 hours to reach his house. To side track, I really didn't like the car decor, too retro... 
After the prayers and tea ceremony, we treated his relatives to lunch at a simple restaurant before heading back to rest for an hour. Zombie-fied! My eyes were so puffy and dark circles were looming scarily, so sad that the make up couldn't cover it!
 
Arrived early at Restoran Pekin, mingled around with the guests and spot-checked the venue haha.. Do you like the rosette table number?! Gotten the idea from Pinterest and decided to DIY! Most of the hardwork goes to J and my mum, they painstakingly sewed the numbers onto the rosette! *love*
First time cutting a dummy cake, so hilarious! By the way, J and our aisle bridal coordinator coined my gown as the Frozen dress. J was joking that kids will be dancing and singing 'Let it go' around me -.-
The first of 2 celebration ended at 11pm. Exhausted but super excited about the next day because J and I placed lots of effort in organzing it so that it will have the super romantic feel and I get to have the whole venue in my chosen colour theme :D

PetiteFreckles ♥