Banquet Venue

So ironically after setting our heart's on The Regent from the start, we found ourselves leaning towards another venue and finally putting down a deposit for Marina Mandarin instead.

The Regent was my choice venue from the beginning. I loved that they included a jazz band in the package and the ambience as well. The staff were great and the food was good too. My heart was set from Day one and when I first brought E to see the place, he fell in love with the place too. However, one factor made all the difference to us and I'm sure many couples would have this problem.

Cost.

Though it wasn't the most expensive place around, the pricing is relatively competitive, but with prices rising everywhere, every cent counts for us, especially when we have to consider that we're getting a house at the same time. So that couple of thousand dollars difference matters to us.

In fact, like I've been telling my friends, Marina Mandarin was never on the list of consideration, but fate intervened. Everything just happened to fall into place at the right time, so we decided to take it as a sign from above. E says it's God, I say it's my grandparents blessing us. But whoever it is, it's still a sign to us, and so we went with the flow and so here we are. Come 2009, it's a Marina Mandarin wedding for us :)

The Photographer

So we've started looking into various aspects of the wedding. One major breakthrough is that we've managed to set the dates for our ROM this year as well as the AD next year, but I'ld like to keep the exact dates a secret for now. All I will say is that they will both fall in the month of August.

With the dates set, we're now trying to do a couple of things, one of which is to locate a photographer for the ROM, with any luck, if we're really pleased with the fotos, I think we'll probably stick to the same photog for the AD. I've sent out a couple of emails and received pretty prompt response. One photog is an old friend from way back while the other is a recent discovery but really I love both their works. But i think we might be going with the latter, pending a discussion with him.

I asked E to take a look at his portfolio and boy did I get a reaction. E loved his work and promptly decided that he should be the one. According to E, looking at this guy's work made him want to get married immediately. I guess we've found our photog then :) Yay!

Come to think of it, maybe I should hire him to do my graduation album. Hee!

Mr & Mrs C Wedding (12 Jan 2007)

It was a busy day yesterday. E and I attended his buddy's church wedding + dinner and E was the best man. He and Mr C met way back in jc and Mrs C was a schoolmate as well. This particular group of friends of E's accepted me into their fold from the start and I've always seen them as my friends too, so I was deeply touched to be invited to witness the events leading to their union. From the moment the bride entered the church, I saw a smile radiant and brought a tear to my eyes. It has been a long road for them and it's amazing that the journey was coming to an end, but of course it would mean the opening of a brand new chapter for them too.

The church ceremony was a first for me, I never had to attend one before and would probably be the only one I see before our turn arrives. So it was definitely useful for me to get an idea of how things go. Although it obviously doesn't hold as much significance for me religious-wise but it was a beautiful thing I saw. While the ROM formally recognises the legal aspects of the marriage, and the traditional ceremony signifies the acceptance of the family, the church ceremony, I guess, marks the spirituality of the union.

The dinner, while still sticking to various elements of the typical chinese wedding banquet, was anything but bland. The food was great and while I had my reservations about one particular idea initially, it turned out that this made the night memorable and fun. What am I talking about? They had a dance floor. Of course it was more than that. They did away with table shots and instead, chose to mingle amongst the crowds throughout the dinner. The atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.

These are probably things I should consider at ours, but ideas are still blurry. One step at a time. We better get started on the ROM planning before I even worry about the details of the banquet.

Oh yeah, one last thing. E and I were exhausted by the end of the day and we weren't even the bridal couple. I can't imagine what it'll be like at the end of our wedding. I'll probably be a big grouch and E will tactfully leave me alone, trotting off to bed. I'ld have to beat him to death then. What a start to a marriage. Haha!