Our Wedding Photos

Finally found some time to upload the wedding photos today. Check out the link below for our wedding pics:

http://www2.snapfish.com.sg/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=243562778/a=74683230_74683230/t_=74683230

Also uploaded some of the engagement photos we took in Melbourne in July:

http://www2.snapfish.com.sg/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=243728832/a=74683230_74683230/t_=74683230

Enjoy!

Our Honeymoon, Day 2, The Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Our second day as husband and wife gave us an opportunity to work as a team as we took The Raffles Hotel to task with the list of issues that had occurred during the dinner. (More on that in other subsequent blog entries. This is the honeymoon blog.)

We had the buffet breakfast at the Tiffin Room, our first buffet in as many months as we could remember.



After the sumptuous breakfast buffet spread, we headed to our room and prepare for our meeting with the Raffles staff before we finally checked-out from the hotel at 3pm.

First stop was my "ex-home" where I packed more clothes for the flight that night. Bidding goodbyes, we made our way to our new home where we unpack more stuffs and packed new stuffs and bid goodbye to our matrimonial home. Last stop was at Boo's "ex-home" where we had a very good home-cooked meal cooked by my mum-in-law. She even made us bird's nest soup for dessert!

Finally, we drove our Mazda with my parent-in-laws to Changi Airport where we bid goodbyes first to the Mazda and then to our parents and board the flight to Melbourne.

Our Honeymoon, Day 1, The Raffles Hotel, Singapore

After our wedding dinner, we spent our first 2 nights at the Raffles Hotel and flew to Melbourne where we spent another 2 nights before flying off to Tahiti.

This was our honeymoon story.

Day 1, The Raffles Hotel, Singapore:

The morning after the wedding, we were too tired to enjoy a buffet breakfast so we ordered in. Boo had a Spa Breakfast while I had a Japanese Breakfast in the dining area of our room.

We went for our spa appointment after our breakfast. Boo wore her own clothes while I wore the hotel bath robe and just my boxers as I had forgotten to pack my clothes for the hotel stay. It was a good thing that Raffles Amarita Spa was able to provide me with a pair of black shorts.

After the spa session, we stopped by the Raffles shop and bought ourselves each a t-shirt with the Raffles logo that commemorated their 120 years in existence. I never changed back to the bath robe. Instead opting to sign for the polo tee and walked out of the shop wearing it.

Lunch had to be something we may not be able to find as we may be away from Singapore for a while. So we headed for Suntec City to deposit our Ang Pow money and change some of it to AUD and USD. We finally decided to have tonkatsu at Tonkichi as Japanese food tend not to taste very authentic in Melbourne.

The butler service provided by The Raffles Hotel was very good. I had an allergic reaction that evening and rashes were breaking out all over my body. I paged for the butler and told her that I need antihistamines and she actually helped me to get it from me from the pharmacy.

Our Wedding!

Our wedding is finally over and we are now in cold Melbourne. Will continue blogging after our honeymoon in Tahiti and Bora Bora...

Meanwhile, do get a glimpse of our wedding at

http://gilbertchua.blogspot.com/2008/09/sweet-romance.html

and

http://alittledream02.livejournal.com/193561.html

Guo Da Li

Today is the day we had the Chinese traditional gifts exchange between the bride's and groom's families. Both families are so happy and excited!

Thereafter we went to the temple. We catered vegetarian food for all religious followers who were present. This is known as the act of giving Dāna. As a token of appreciation for our goodwill, we received blessings from the Venerables on behalf of Buddha =)

As the act of giving Dāna was characterized by unattached and unconditional generosity, we therefore donated any congratulatory ang pows that were given to us from close friends at the temple.

Bear then went back to Melbourne via the usual 9pm SQ227 flight. See bear soon in 9 days time! Miss ya already ;p

Star Treatment

Today Boo went for a spa treatment @ SK-II Scotts using the gift voucher from the very sweet groom :) Boo had body polish and the signature aromatherapy massage. It was not as fantastic as one'd expect though. The masseur is an auntie who claimed to be from Bangkok but spoke fluent Mandarin. Her strokes were too gentle for my liking. Banyan Tree is still the best :P

Boo also had her hair colored and hair treatment done a week ago in preparation for the wedding:

Food Tasting

Today, we finally went for the long awaited food tasting held at the Raffles Culinary 2 days before Bear leaves for Melbourne. Before the food tasting, we were so worried that the guests might not be full as we are going for the 4-course fusion / western set. But it turns out that we were so full (maybe from the bread haha...). It'd be fun to come here for a couple cooking class sometime.

Wedding Cards

We went for pre-marital checkup @ Raffles Medical early this morning.

Afternoon we went to Dreamweavers and confirmed the layout for our wedding cards. So glad that they will be able to customize the wedding favor to suit our wedding theme.

Here's our wedding bands from Tiffany which we bought last weekend at the start of GSS.

Videographer confirmed

We signed up for videography with Moomedia together with FYT and Bruce on Monday evening. We didn't manage to clinch a discount for signing up together though. Good news is the boss Andrew will be our videographer.

Accomodation for Overseas Relatives

We had wanted to book the Chevrons chalets near IMM to put up Boo's relatives from overseas. Location is near our home and the exclusive 6 pool-facing chalets were newly renovated. But they became fully booked :(

No choice. We checked out several other places to host our guests:
CDANS @ Bukit Batok
Harbour Ville Hotel
New 7th Storey Hotel
Hotel Alternatives

Finally we decided on the Strand Hotel which has family rooms for 5-7 guests with 2 bathrooms attached. Location is pretty good too. It is right opposite Kopitiam and 7-11. A few mins walk will bring us to the National Museum, Plaza Singapura and our wedding banquet venue, Raffles Hotel.

We also bought the bedsheets for our bridal bed at the Robinsons sale using the gift vouchers from souls. Thanks gals!

Marriage Preparation Course / Band

Today we finally confirmed "A Little Dream" as our wedding band. We'll be having 4 piece band consisting a keyboardist, a violinist and 2 singers (one of the singers will double up as our emcee).

Yesterday was a fruitful day. Afternoon we went to a Marriage Preparation Course organized by Fei Yue. It was quite fun. We met an Australian couple who had been here for 8 years. They were surprised how we think that 100 guests is considered a small wedding. To them, 50-80 guests is the norm.


We had a smashing time in the evening at David Tao's concert. The music was literally blasting in our ears. But we liked the refreshing new music arrangements. It was hard to believe that he had just recovered from tonsillitis on the day itself.

Raffles Wedding Show

We finally signed up for our wedding banquet on 6 Apr @ Raffles Wedding Show. We will be having our solemnization at the Palm Gardens followed by western set dinner or buffet @ East India Rooms. So excited!

AD Photographer, Gowns, Suit, Flowers & MUA

Yesterday was exactly 2 months after Bear proposed to Boo. It is also the day we confirmed our actual day photographer and the bridal studio we will work with :)

We met up with Gilbert Chua from 9 Frames. He is the first and only photographer we talked to. He started off with questions on what we perceived ourselves to be and what kinda pictures we like. After viewing some albums, it was time for us to leave. Bear suddenly said we want to sign up. Gilbert was shocked! Haha... or so it seems to us. We should have negotiated for more :P

Here's some pics to commemorate our first purchase for the wedding:

Taken using our Sony T200:

Taken using Gilbert's Canon:

Thereafter, we went to sign up with Ted Wu immediately. Boo also confirmed Kenneth Lee as her makeup artist for the wedding!

We also met up with 2 videographers - Cliff from Auspicious Criteria and Derrick Lim from PisTis Studio. We accomplished so much in a day... hehe....

Meet the Parents

Today is the day Bear officially "ti qing". Bear chose Tung Lok's Noble House as the venue as he heard that the food is good and they offer private room and dim sum buffet which includes mini buddha jump over the wall. The Chinese name of this restaurant - "Jin Yu Man Tang" - is perfect for the occassion. From Bear's side, his parents, god parents and Da Yi were present. From Boo's side, her parents, brothers and Er yi attended.

Wedding Gown

Bear made an appt with Ted Wu tomorrow 3pm. To prepare ourselves on what to expect, tonight we went to 2 bridal shops @ Tanjong Pagar to try some gowns - Sofia and Sattine. Boo thinks Sofia's dresses were not suitable and Sattine's bustier satin gown is nice but the package is not flexible enough.

Ted Wu's package is more flexible and allow us to get makeup by TG (top up $300) and photography from Chris Ling himself.

We also dropped by Emmanuel B, MTM package is only $3,500 and includes WG, EG, Men's suit, MUA, flowers, jewellery and photography from Kevin from Chris Ling.

Other bridal shops to check out:
Tan Yoong
Silhouette
Silver Lining - Wendy's
Kai
Amanda Lee

Cheongsum:
Shanghai Tang
Lady Xiang
Dang
Madame Butterfly
Amor Meus @ Purvis St - Emily's designer is Francis Louis Ler, 63366930 / 97508963

Wendy's recommendation:
Lacy gowns - Margaret Brides - Hui's
Clean Cut - Bridal Veil
Embriodery & Cheongsum - Ted Wu
Dreamy Gown - Divine
Jawn Happy Ever After

Wendy's MUA - Jerlyn
Hui's MUA - Kelly

June's recommendation:
Actual day photographer
39 East
Greymatter Photography
LightedPixels
Segami Images

Photoshoot
Photo Language (Ray Ong)
Andrew Choi Photography
Studio D'fia by Kim

Bear's choice:
http://www.expressivelyjoho.com/ - Unavailable on our AD :(

Wedding Venue

Last night marks the start of the hunt for our wedding venue. We are looking at inviting only 120-150 guests. The theme will be greek in tiffany blue & white colors.

Amara Sanctuary offers a glass pavillion good for solemnization. Solemnization package also includes wedding favors and a deluxe room which can be upgraded to 1 bedroom villa @ $300+. Like their idea of having a miniature wedding cake as wedding favor. But the ballroom is located a distance away from the glass pavillion which would be inconvenient for the old people. Spa was also not ready even though this is called a "sanctuary".

After discussion and a round of drinks @ their Shutters restuarant, the wedding consultant, Irene Loh, sent a buggy to drive us to the garden pool - splendid place for bbq. We had a good sea view at the infinity pool before we leave.

Then we went to check out the Siloso Beach Resort where we could potentially put up our foreign guests. Nice big pools with waterfall on the backdrop but cafe doesn't look inviting at all. Promotion rate for superior room is $150++ (sun-thur) and $190++ (fri & sat).

Evening was followed by an enjoyable dinner at Cafe Del Mar. Love their deco of blue & white theme. Lamp chops were succulent and spring chicken was crispy on the outside and pretty tender inside. Bear thought the place would be good for his company event(s) and requested for a quotation. They are offering $35 for buffet for corporate function. Sounds like a good deal. Boo will like to have HP party held here too :P

Dropped by One 15 Marina Club before we leave Sentosa and bOy! We were impressed. There was a function going on and it just exude exclusive elegance. If only we could hold our wedding on board one of the yachts here......

Other venues that we have shortlisted are:
Four Seasons - 14 Sep unavailable
Fullerton - Straits Room Renaissance Wedding, love the room but unavailable
Ritz Carlton - Only Chihuly room fits the min req but has a pillar
Raffles Hotel - Casuarina suite and ballroom are available for lunch, East India room is available for both lunch and dinner
St Regis - Out of Scope cos need min 350
Botanical Gardens (Burkill Hall or Au Jardin) - Got mosquitos
National Museum
Asian Civilization Museum
Royal Caribbean

Things that can negotiate with hotel:
a. Free corkage
b. Free beer
c. Use of hotel room as day room for helpers
d. Extra night stay
e. Projector?

Wedding Dates

We got the wedding dates from master Jin Zi Long on 21 Feb which is the 15th day of CNY known as "yuan xiao".

Bear had called the master 2 days before and gave him our birthdates and our parents' chinese horoscope in order for the wedding dates to be calculated based on our "sheng chen ba zi".

The first wedding date suggested by the master is on mid-autumn festival aka mooncake festival which is 15 Aug of the lunar calendar. This is a special date for Boo as Boo's parents had married during this special festival. Bear's godfather who studies the lunar calendar religiously also says this is a best date to get married. Hence we decided to try to get a venue on this date 14 Sep 2008. If not possible, then we'll try for 1 Nov 2008 which "is an easier date to remember" exclaimed Bear.

P/S: Bear found out the next day that the winners for the first and second price of the grand toto draw had bought the toto from the outlet just below Jin Zi Long's shop! We could have won if we'd bought toto before we leave. Ha...

Announcement

Bear announced our engagement to Boo's family on 2 Feb 2008 @ Penang Place.
Bear later announced to his family during CNY reunion lunch on 6 Feb @ Imperial Treasure (Teochew Cuisine) , Ngee Ann City.

The Proposal

Bear proposed to Boo on 26 Jan 2008 armed with Feb issue of Home & Decor magazine (which featured our freshly renovated home on the cover), a tiffany ring and a diary (which he wrote down all his thoughts over the past few months using the Mont Blanc pen Boo gave).