If you follow me on
Twitter/Instagram, you would know that Wallace and I recently took a big
step in wedding preparations at the start of June! We were looking for a
dinner venue for a few weeks, looking up the different hotel websites
and their wedding dinner packages. We considered a few like
Intercontinental, Grand Hyatt, St Regis, Capella, etc. But they weren't
suitable because they were pretty expensive, or inaccessible, and one of
them (I can't remember which of the first 2) will be having renovations
next year. Then, Wallace thought of Sheraton Towers. One of his
criteria for the hotel was that it must have good food. He remembered he
went to Sheraton a few years back for a rugby dinner and that the food
was amazing. So he visited the website and it just so happened that
Sheraton was having a wedding workshop that coming weekend. There would
be promotions for couples who signed up on that day. So on 3 June (I
remember cos it was the day after Wallace's birthday), we headed down to
our first ever wedding fair.
The first thing we saw was the cake display!
No surprises as to which one caught my eye ;) They are all fake of course.
There were also stationary and favour displays.
In the Grand Ballroom, they had displays set up of their different themes.
I quite like the tree branch effect of this one.
Tiffany
theme. I don't really like the way the beads hang on the display stand
though. And the blue lighting (only for before the dinner starts) seems a
bit cheesy.
Chairs.
Guest table
Another theme. I like the beads on this one better. The roses are pretty too!
Before
we even went to the fair, I think we were pretty much decided on
Sheraton. Their dinner package on the website looked good, and it was
quite affordable compared to other hotels. For some hotels, they charge
extra for alcohol (beer and wine) but for Sheraton, it was already
included in the package. The tables also seat 12 instead of the usual 10
people.
Wallace
was telling me on the way to the hotel that he was going to milk them
for as much freebies they can give him! But honestly when we saw the
extra stuff they were throwing in (for couples who signed up at the
fair), there was nothing much else we could milk them for already.
Lol.They also gave us a high-tea voucher for 2 which we are planning to
redeem soon during my birthday period :)
And so, one major aspect of the wedding was settled! Wedding dinner venue - checked!
After
we had signed for our wedding dinner, we went out to the lobby where
there were a few booths set up for some vendors (e.g. live music,
photography, jewellry) and there was a booth for a bridal studio as
well.
Previously,
I had been looking at many bridal magazines for gowns/bridal studios. I
knew that we'd probably for a "package deal" since it was much more
convenient and fuss-free. I don't need a branded gown or anything too
fancy. So for a few months, Wallace and I had also been browsing
different bridal studios at Tanjong Pagar Road, where most of the bridal
studios in Singapore are located. We also went to Bugis but there were
only 3 and they weren't very nice (except 1 called Bridal Concept I
think which had good service). Wallace's older brother and 2 of my
church friends had gotten their packages at Thomson Weddings. My other
church friend who just got married a few weeks ago also recommended
Sophia Wedding Collection because she felt that the gowns were of much
better quality. I was focusing more on looking for the right gown,
because that's the most important part for me. But after a few rounds of
visiting these bridal studios, none of them had anything similar to
what I wanted, and I never really really loved any the gowns that
I tried on. I never had the "Gasp! This is the one!" kind of feelings
you see in the movies. Haha. So we decided that I would have a MTM (Made
To Measure) gown. Then the next step was to decide WHICH studio to do
it at. What we had to consider:
1. the existing gown designs
2. photography (some are honestly super cheesy)
3. service (some are quite pushy, or want to impose their own ideas on you)
To
be honest, we didn't really bother to look at the packages of the
Tanjong Pagar stores when we visited them because at that time I wasn't
very satisfied with any of their gowns.
Fast forwarding to the day at Sheraton, the bridal studio which set up a booth there was called La Belle Couture.
Wallace and I decided to have a look since we were there. After looking
through their gown catalog, we were quite impressed, because it was the
first time Wallace had gone "Wow, their designs are quite nice", which I
agreed with. Their catalog had some of the nicest designs we had seen
thus far, and quite alot of similar cuttings to what I was looking for.
So we decided to take a seat, and we spoke to one of the gown designers,
Kent. I told him that the most important thing for me is the gown, so
he asked me what I was looking for, and on the spot, he drew a rough
design for me! We were pretty impressed, and he seemed quite
knowledgeable and honest about the details of custom making a wedding
gown. He wasn't pushy too, compared to many of the bridal studios we've
been to, which was nice.
Then
we looked at the photography samples, which were not too bad. They have
3 main photographers, so we can choose who we want for pre-wedding
photos. He showed us their packages, and in a nutshell, it was pretty
good. And because it was an event, they threw in some freebies like
extra pages/poses for the pre-wedding photos and even bridesmaid dresses
to keep! After discussing the price, Wallace was happy with what he saw
and told me "If you're happy, I'll gladly sign." I was slightly
apprehensive because it's still more than a year till our wedding date,
plus we had never gone to their store to try on any of their gowns
before. In addition, I was actually planning to go for a wedding fair 2
weeks later. What if they had better deals there! But Wallace brought up
the point that at wedding shows, it can be stressful with so many booth
offering you different packages and pushing you to sign with them and
all. If I liked what La Belle was offering and the price was good, why
not just sign and settle it once and for all? We wouldn't have to worry
about which bridal studio to go with after that. After considering for
awhile (I am pretty indecisive when it comes to such things. I always
think of the "what ifs"), I finally decided to do it! We discussed the
details, signed, paid the deposit, and it was done. Phew!
In
the end, I was glad we settled it so early. It's a load off our minds
now and we don't have to go to browse more bridal studios over the
weekends anymore! After that Wallace went to look up La Belle on a forum
and turns out that most people thought they were good and liked it, but
it was too expensive for their budget. We were lucky to get a good
price (in our opinion)!
What a day!
Decked out in Victoria's Secret for the day.
It was a really big day for us - 2 major things ticked off our
checklist! Now the last big thing to settle is the venue for our
ceremony. Hope everything goes smoothly! :)
Since
then, we've been to La Belle Couture twice (also at Tanjong Pagar but
we never went there because it was further down from where we normally
stop walking), and I'm glad to say that I've confirmed my wedding gown
design! It's a secret for now though. ;)
